Het nieuw beleid in Atjeh (1908) — the new policy in Atjeh of 1908 — was the colonial government’s change of policy in Atjeh after the harsh measures of Governor Van Daalen had aroused doubt in the Netherlands as to the correctness of the governor’s conduct. The new policy was entrusted to Governor Swart in 1908 and is marked in Atjeh-politics by ‘de weldaden des vredes’ — the blessings of peace.
Background
When in 1903 the last sultan ceded his realm to the Dutch government, and the oeléebalangs and oelama followed him, there was a twilight of peace; but before a year had passed there was a strong appearance of final submission, except on the Westkust. The Dutch government behaved at once peaceably: Sabang was established as a station at sea with a future, and in September 1903 the governor greeted the first ship of the Kon. Paketvaart-Mij., the Nederland, the Willem III. Kota Radja received broad roads and a peace-park, offices, shops and houses. The tram-line southward was worked with speed.
But not three years had this life been led, when raids of roving bands disturbed the land, chiefs fell away, tram-line and telephone were damaged, and there were klewangaanvallen — klewang-attacks — on our posts. And the oelama declared that it was a favourable year for the struggle against the kafirs. Then doubt arose in the Netherlands as to the correctness of the policy of the governor, then Van Daalen, who had shown himself averse to soft measures, who imposed heavy fines, withheld revenues, and used imprisonment of chiefs and relatives to force the surrender of weapons. Minister Fock invited the Governor-General Van Heutsz to convince himself with his own eyes of the situation. Van Daalen and the harsh measures were dropped; only the severity against bands and against kampongs that connived with them was retained, and gradually restored order.
The New Policy
The new policy, entrusted to Governor Swart in 1908, is marked in Atjeh-politics by the blessings of peace. Henceforth no chiefs were to be punished by withholdings, no fines imposed on kampongs, no imprisonment used as a means of compulsion to surrender weapons. Against the power of the oelama the force of people’s education was to be tried; the sons of chiefs were to be educated elsewhere and taught. The irrigation of Peusangan was to be undertaken, a credit-bank founded at Kota Radja, an agricultural expert appointed. The gewest was to be divided into five afdeelingen with many onderafdeelingen, so that there would be much administrative supervision. And beside this costly economy, the new government could set the repayment of what the previous government had withheld from the chiefs, while from ample funds, under the official term ‘ter voorziening bij wijze van rentelooze voorschotten in de eerste behoeften van in onderwerping gekomen hulpbehoevende personen’ — for provision by way of interest-free advances in the first needs of submitting needy persons — generous gifts were made.
The Fist and the Money-Bag
The new policy was provided with a fist and a money-bag, and both did their work. Broersma likens it to Oscar Wilde’s story of the selfish giant: when he was stern and angry, the children avoided his splendid garden, and the lovely spring with its young plants did not come; but when he was friendly, the new life returned with its joy. When the Dutch government reduced its fist and applied in Atjeh measures to strengthen the people’s prosperity, the population returned from its remote hiding-places in the mountains to the hearths in the plain, and founded on its fields the joy of agriculture. The children of Atjeh feel much for the friendliness that comes with a money-bag. The intentions of the Dutch government are now clear to them; only priests of smaller spirit see in the distillery their advantage, and unite their influence on the youth with that of old women who still see before their eyes the blood of fallen men and sons.
The Civil Governor of 1919
The first civilian governor came in 1919, and with him a further reduction of the fist and a diminution of the interest-free advances, but the policy remained friendly-cautious towards the peaceful population and stern towards the inciters. There is no doubt that Atjeh is now brought to obedience, provided that a fist remains that is not too small to be seen everywhere in the gewest. For a general disposition free of hatred, the time is still far off. Education and a mild administration will bring it nearer, provided that on the other side the conviction remains that every resistance would be further useless. Then will cripples, body-and-spirit ruined, going over to an act of despair, not spoil the situation.
Significance
The new policy of 1908 is the principal political event of the early civilian period in Atjeh, and the frame within which the whole of Broersma’s Verkenningen is set. The policy of the fist and the money-bag — friendly-cautious towards the peaceful, stern towards the inciters — is the doctrine that governed the Atjehnese landschappen in the years before the depression.
See Also
- G. C. E. van Daalen
- Johannes van Heutsz
- Swart (governor of Atjeh)
- Fock
- Sabang
- Kota Radja
- Atjeh-tram
- Peusangan
- Aceh War
- Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)
- 1903
- 1908
- 1919
Source
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), chapter XX, ‘Ten slotte over staatkunde’, pp. 136–139.
Source
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), passim.