A. Pruijs van der Hoeven is a subject named in General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh (1943) by M. H. du Croo, in connection with the history of Atjeh and the governorship of H. N. A. Swart.
Account in du Croo’s Generaal Swart (1943)
From Van Militair naar Civiel Bestuur
The spadille was the warning reference to the “civielen tijd” of Pruijs van der Hoeven and Laging Tobias.
Account from Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh (1923)
A. Pruijs van der Hoeven was the first civilian Governor of Atjeh and Onderhoorigheden, appointed by the resolution of 11 March 1881 that introduced civil government in the province, and taking office on 6 April 1881. His administration — “a misslag” (“a failure”) in author Joh. Langhout’s judgement — saw the undoing of nearly all that had been gained militarily, within the three years of the civil experiment of 1881–1884.
Appointment
By the Government resolution of 11 March 1881 Lieutenant-General Karel van der Heijden was honourably discharged, and “the heer A. Pruijs van der Hoeven, last employed for the organisation of Atjeh, and before that resident of Palembang”, was appointed governor; Colonel of Infantry J. F. Haus became military commandant. Both took office on 6 April 1881. Governor-General Van Lansberge assured Van der Heijden that the crown was thereby set upon the building raised by the Indian army’s heroism. Van der Heijden, at the handover, judged the political state of the province “zonder overdrijving gunstig” (“favourable without exaggeration”), and Pruijs van der Hoeven himself in his reports called the state in Atjeh “zeer bevredigend” (“very satisfactory”).
Failure and criticism
The practice taught otherwise. When in March 1883 the heer P. F. Laging Tobias was designated as Pruijs van der Hoeven’s successor, he had to declare — in contradiction to all his predecessor’s optimistic reports — that “de toestand in Atjeh zeer ongunstig was” (“the state in Atjeh was very unfavourable”), and some time later he even wrote: “Reeds zeer kort na mijn optreden als gouverneur van Atjeh kreeg ik de overtuiging dat onze toestand in Atjeh bijna geheel hopeloos was” (“Very shortly after my assumption of office as Governor of Atjeh I gained the conviction that our state in Atjeh was almost wholly hopeless”). Langhout notes the sharp criticism of Pruijs van der Hoeven’s policy unmistakably expressed in that judgement.
Dr. E. B. Kielstra, that “excellent connoisseur of Atjeh’s history”, pointed out how unfavourably the political policy followed by Pruijs van der Hoeven in Groot-Atjeh contrasted with the line of conduct which the same official followed toward the Dependencies: along the coasts, where the Dutch could exercise no direct rule, one had to negotiate and persuade, “and there one saw the Indian official, acquainted with the native population, her customs and usages, in his full strength. In Groot-Atjeh, on the contrary, we had a territory conquered by force of arms, where in the first years the sword had to keep what the sword had won — something that same official did not perceive.” Whether all accusations cast at the first civil governor of Atjeh were just, Langhout leaves to more competent judges, but he repeats that “the crown did not fit”, and that the walls of the building could not yet bear its weight — “for it to come to that, thirty-seven more years had to elapse” (i.e. until 1918).
Administration
Under his government the legal regulation of 14 March 1881 placed the province under the jurisdiction of the Raad van Justitie (Court of Justice) at Padang and confirmed the native population of Groot-Atjeh in its own judicature through the district chiefs and the moesapats (native courts). The corps of armed police officers — a trial for the province, partly mounted, armed with Beaumont rifles — could not stem the rising plunder and robbery, whose attacks on Chinese settlements made departures exceed arrivals during 1881–1884. Road-building none the less progressed (Lambaroh–Aneugalong completed August 1882; continuation toward Glé Kambing; decision for a road Toengkop–Montassik; bridge over the Kroeëng Raba), iron bridges were laid over the Atjeh River at Glé Kambing and Lambaroh, the new Missigit was opened on 27 December 1882, and the compulsory visitation of vessels at Oelèë Lheue was abolished in the course of 1882, opening the whole coast of Atjeh to trade. In December 1882 the government of the province was entrusted to P. F. Laging Tobias, resident of Palembang, who accepted the administration on 16 March 1883.
See Also
- Van Militair naar Civiel Bestuur
- H. N. A. Swart
- General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh (1943)
- Atjeh
- Introduction of civil government in Atjeh (1881)
- Karel van der Heijden
- P. F. Laging Tobias
- Government of Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- 1881
Source
Generaal Swart, Pacificator van Atjeh (“General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh”), by M. H. du Croo, Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with the collaboration of H. J. Schmidt, Titular Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with a foreword by His Excellency Lieutenant-General K.N.I.L. (retired) G. K. Dijkstra (Maastricht: N.V. Leiter-Nypels, 1943), passim.
Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh, by Joh. Langhout (The Hague: N.V. Boekhandel v/h W. P. van Stockum & Zoon, 1923), pp. 42–50.