The Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur (“Department of the Interior” / “Department of Internal Administration”) was the Dutch colonial department responsible for the general internal administration of the Netherlands East Indies, including the Outer Possessions and Atjeh. In the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s volume De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, the Department is the principal colonial department under whose authority the post-pacification order in Atjeh was consolidated — including the Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, the Adviseur voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, and the Encyclopaedisch Bureau itself.
Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur
The Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s volume opens with the chapter “Het Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur” — the first of the colonial departments whose werkkring (sphere of activity) in the Buitenbezittingen the Bureau surveys. The Bureau’s account identifies the 1908 creation of the Adviseur voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen — simultaneously the Chef of the Afdeeling voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen attached to the Department — as the principal institutional innovation of the 1904–1914 decade for the administration of the Buitenbezittingen.
The Department’s oversight of the Buitenbezittingen, the Bureau notes, was extended in the 1904–1914 decade both “in breadth and in depth” — that is, both in the geographic scope of direct administration and in the depth of administrative intervention. The expansion is documented in the Bureau’s table of bestuursvestigingen (administrative establishments) and Europeesche bestuursambtenaren (European administrative officials): from 204 vestigingen and 250 officials in 1885, to 529 vestigingen and 401 officials in 1915. The Department is also the colonial authority under whose oversight the landschapskassen were centralised in 1910–1911, the Korte Verklaring regime was extended from 1899 onward, and the Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie was promulgated in 1914.
The Department’s oversight of the Gewapende Politie (armed police) is likewise noted by the Bureau: “the technical leadership, under the orders of the Director of Binnenlandsch-Bestuur, is entrusted to a chef, simultaneously head of the Afdeeling Gewapende Politie of the Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur.” The Department is thus the colonial authority under whose oversight the post-pacification administrative order in Atjeh was consolidated across all its principal dimensions: administrative, financial, police, and legal.
Significance
The Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur is, in the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account, the principal colonial department under whose authority the post-pacification order in Atjeh was consolidated. The 1908 creation of the Adviseur and the Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen within the Department is the principal institutional innovation of the 1904–1914 decade for the administration of the Buitenbezittingen; the 1910–1911 centralisation of the landschapskassen under the Bureau van Financieele aangelegenheden is the principal financial innovation; and the 1914 Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie is the principal legal consolidation.
See Also
- Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen
- Adviseur voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen
- Encyclopaedisch Bureau
- Bureau van Financieele aangelegenheden
- Gewapende Politie
- Landschapskassen
- Korte Verklaring
- Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- Buitenbezittingen
- Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- Aceh War
- 1908
- 1910
- 1914
Sources
De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, Deel I, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 1–8 (Het Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur), pp. 18–20 (Politie).
The Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur (“Department of the Interior” / “Department of Internal Administration”) was the Dutch colonial department responsible for the general internal administration of the Netherlands East Indies, including the Outer Possessions and Atjeh. In the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s volume De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, the Department is the principal colonial department under whose authority the post-pacification order in Atjeh was consolidated — including the Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, the Adviseur voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, and the Encyclopaedisch Bureau itself.
Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur
The Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s volume opens with the chapter “Het Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur” — the first of the colonial departments whose werkkring (sphere of activity) in the Buitenbezittingen the Bureau surveys. The Bureau’s account identifies the 1908 creation of the Adviseur voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen — simultaneously the Chef of the Afdeeling voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen attached to the Department — as the principal institutional innovation of the 1904–1914 decade for the administration of the Buitenbezittingen.
The Department’s oversight of the Buitenbezittingen, the Bureau notes, was extended in the 1904–1914 decade both “in breadth and in depth” — that is, both in the geographic scope of direct administration and in the depth of administrative intervention. The expansion is documented in the Bureau’s table of bestuursvestigingen (administrative establishments) and Europeesche bestuursambtenaren (European administrative officials): from 204 vestigingen and 250 officials in 1885, to 529 vestigingen and 401 officials in 1915. The Department is also the colonial authority under whose oversight the landschapskassen were centralised in 1910–1911, the Korte Verklaring regime was extended from 1899 onward, and the Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie was promulgated in 1914.
The Department’s oversight of the Gewapende Politie (armed police) is likewise noted by the Bureau: “the technical leadership, under the orders of the Director of Binnenlandsch-Bestuur, is entrusted to a chef, simultaneously head of the Afdeeling Gewapende Politie of the Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur.” The Department is thus the colonial authority under whose oversight the post-pacification administrative order in Atjeh was consolidated across all its principal dimensions: administrative, financial, police, and legal.
Significance
The Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur is, in the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account, the principal colonial department under whose authority the post-pacification order in Atjeh was consolidated. The 1908 creation of the Adviseur and the Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen within the Department is the principal institutional innovation of the 1904–1914 decade for the administration of the Buitenbezittingen; the 1910–1911 centralisation of the landschapskassen under the Bureau van Financieele aangelegenheden is the principal financial innovation; and the 1914 Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie is the principal legal consolidation.
See Also
- Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen
- Adviseur voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen
- Encyclopaedisch Bureau
- Bureau van Financieele aangelegenheden
- Gewapende Politie
- Landschapskassen
- Korte Verklaring
- Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- Buitenbezittingen
- Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- Aceh War
- 1908
- 1910
- 1914
Sources
De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, Deel I, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 1–8 (Het Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur), pp. 18–20 (Politie).