The Indische Gids was a Dutch colonial periodical cited by H. van Kol in the Tweede Kamer on 17 November 1897 as the source of his account of the commercial beneficiaries of the Atjeh-oorlog.
The Penang passage
From the number of July 1897 Van Kol quoted: “Pinang heeft aan dezen langdurigen oorlog zeer veel te danken; millioenen van de uitgegeven gelden kwamen in de zakken van firma’s, handelshuizen, aannemers, leveranciers en andere elementen van den handelsstand in Pinang. Vooral werden vele winsten gemaakt met slachtvee, houtwerken, rijst en petroleum.” — Pinang has very much to thank this long war for; millions of the money spent came into the pockets of firms, trading houses, contractors, suppliers and other elements of the merchant class in Pinang. Great profits were made especially with slaughter cattle, timber, rice and petroleum.
The smuggling passage
From p. 893 of the same volume he quoted: “De verdere winsten waren voor de smokkelaars, ondanks het uitvoerverbod der Britsche autoriteiten, en de verbodsbepalingen op den invoer, en de blokkaden der Nederlandsche Regeering; ondanks de sluiting der kusten en scheepvaartregeling. De geschiedenis zal later verrassende feiten aan het licht brengen.” — The further profits were for the smugglers, despite the export prohibition of the British authorities, and the prohibitory provisions on import, and the blockades of the Netherlands Government; despite the closing of the coasts and the shipping regulation.
Van Kol added, in explanation, that Pinang had of old been the market for the Acehnese export articles of pepper, pinang and forest products, and that from Pinang were brought rice, petroleum, opium, powder and rifles; the Pinang traders and smugglers therefore had the great advantages of the Dutch squandering of millions.
The Nieuwenhuizen dictum
From the same periodical Van Kol took the dictum of W. C. Nieuwenhuizen: “De geschiedenis van den Atjeh-oorlog is in zekeren zin de geschiedenis van de Nederlandsch-Indische Stoomvaartmaatschappij.” — The history of the Atjeh war is in a certain sense the history of the Netherlands-Indies Steamship Company.
See Also
- H. van Kol
- Economic interests alleged behind the Atjeh-oorlog (1897)
- Penang
- W. C. Nieuwenhuizen
- Nederlandsch-Indische Stoomvaart-Maatschappij
- Scheepvaartregeling
- 1897
Source
Atjeh in de Tweede Kamer: Debatten bij de behandeling der begrooting van Nederlandsch-Indië voor 1898, uitgave van de Sociaaldemokratische Arbeiderspartij in Nederland (Amsterdam: J. A. Fortuijn, 1897). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Br P95-178, pp. 68–69.
Acknowledgement of sources. The material in this article derives from Atjeh in de Tweede Kamer: Debatten bij de behandeling der begrooting van Nederlandsch-Indië voor 1898 (Amsterdam: J. A. Fortuijn, 1897). Dutch passages are quoted in the original with an English rendering.