Frijling was the Member of the Council of the Indies who, during the leave of Governor A. G. H. van Sluys, administered Atjeh as Government Commissioner until the beginning of 1923, and who — after travelling the whole province, including the arduous journey into the Gajo lands — declared without reservation that he had found Atjeh in a very progressing state, with rest and order prevailing.
Tour and report, 1922–1923
A correspondent of the Soerabaiasch Handelsblad tells that Frijling, when he replaced Governor Van Sluys in Atjeh, did not take up his work as a sinecure: he travelled and journeyed, speaking with high and low; the whole province was traversed by him — the West Coast as well as Groot-Atjeh, the North and East Coasts as well as the Gajo lands. He did not even shrink from making the far and difficult journey to the Gajoloeös, where the well-known Captain Kaniess, “the father of the Gajoes”, who had already been there 11 years, was extraordinarily promoted during that tournée. Through this manner of working he obtained personal impressions, born of his own beholding and observation, which give his declarations still more weight.
Verdict
“As he now declares, without any restriction, that he found Atjeh in a very progressing state; that on the whole rest and order prevail, and that Atjeh, also in the economic field, despite the malaise which naturally also makes itself felt here, cuts no bad figure — then these are no hollow phrases but declarations full of content.” He testified without reserve that these were the logical consequences of the policy of Governor Van Sluys, and that the lines of administration as laid out by him were judged to have been drawn wholly correctly. Author Joh. Langhout adds that the Government would now have in Frijling a better counsellor in Atjeh problems, and that there would be in the Council of the Indies a great help for Atjeh — a help perhaps particularly necessary “in these days of retrenchment” when funds are needed for education, irrigation and roads policy.
See Also
Source
Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh, by Joh. Langhout (The Hague: N.V. Boekhandel v/h W. P. van Stockum & Zoon, 1923), pp. 128–129.