Commission Ritter–Van Loon was a Government commission sent to Atjèh in 1837 with secret instructions to investigate the country and report “op wat wijze de peperhandel dienstbaar zoude te maken zijn aan onze nationale belangen” — “in what manner the pepper trade could be made to serve our national interests.” Its report proposed coercive measures including blockade of the Atjèhnese coast — a policy that influenced Dutch strategy during the Atjèh-oorlog.
The report
The Commission — comprising W. L. Ritter and Van Loon — reported that “of the sixty ships that annually visit the coast, fewer than three fly the Dutch flag; indeed, communication with those lands has virtually ceased, and even the small trade is entirely run down.” The Commission recognised that the Atjèhnese had little need for trade with the Dutch, since they were adequately supplied by other nations at much fairer prices, and that Dutch duties were too high and Dutch goods sometimes 100% more expensive than those of foreigners.
The proposed blockade
The Commission’s conclusion proposed coercive measures: “Om Atjin gedwee te maken … om Atjin voor alle euveldaden te straffen … is niets meer noodig, dan het bezetten der reede van Atjin en de verder oostwaarts gelegen havens met een geringe zeemagt, met last, allen handel en gemeenschap op deze plaatsen tegen te gaan en te stremmen, vaartuigen te vernielen, de langs de stranden gelegene kampongs of eenzame huizen te verbranden, en alle bij een blokkade gebruikelijke militaire handelingen en bemoeijingen ten uitvoer te leggen” — “To make Atjèh submissive … to punish Atjèh for all the outrages it has committed in our waters in recent years … nothing more is needed than to occupy the roadstead of Atjèh and the harbours further east with a small naval force, with orders to prevent and obstruct all trade and communication, to destroy vessels, to burn the kampongs or isolated houses along the beaches, and to carry out all military actions customary in a blockade.”
Influence on the Atjèh-oorlog
The Dutch Indische Regeering did not immediately adopt the Commission’s proposals for armed action, but the idea of closing the Atjèhnese coast remained, after the outbreak of the Atjèh-krijg in 1873, “het eenig overgebleven middel, om Atjèh te onderwerpen” — “the only remaining means to subdue Atjèh.” However, the blockade did not achieve its goal: it impoverished and embittered the population, deprived the chiefs of their main income sources (import/export duties), made fishing and coastal traffic impossible, and caused international complications with Pinang traders.
Sources
The secret report was published in extract in Tijdschrift voor Ned.-Indië 1838 dl. II, p. 454–476; 1839 dl. I, p. 3–27, 67–90, and later in Ritter’s Indische Herinneringen, aanteekeningen en tafereelen uit vroegeren en lateren tijd (Amsterdam, 1843) p. 209 vg. The proposals themselves were not included there; a report is found in the 24th chapter of the 2nd deel of H. J. J. L. Ridder de Stuers’s De vestiging en uitbreiding der Nederlanders ter Westkust van Sumatra (1850).
See Also
Source
Atjèh. Algemeen samenvattend overzicht van land en volk van Atjèh en onderhoorigheden, door J. Kreemer, Archivaris van het Atjèh Instituut. Tweede Deel. Leiden: N.V. Boekhandel en Drukkerij voorheen E.J. Brill, 1923.
Identifier: Delpher MMKB02B:000001798; PPN 395084288. Koninklijke Bibliotheek.