J. Langhout 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 1923
In 1923 J. Langhout published Economische Staatkunde in Atjeh, listed among du Croo’s sources. From 1923 to 1925 there was heavy katjauen in the Indies over the charge that the pacification had been bought.
Account from Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh (1923)
Joh. Langhout was a Dutch journalist who compiled and wrote Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh (“Fifty Years of Economic Statecraft in Atjeh”), published in 1923 by W. P. van Stockum & Zoon at The Hague on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Dutch declaration of war on the Sultan of Atjeh of 26 March 1873. His book, furnished with a foreword by Lieutenant-General H. N. A. Swart, former Civil and Military Governor of Atjeh, and an introductory word by the then-serving Governor A. G. H. van Sluys, remains one of the few works of the Atjeh literature devoted primarily to the economic — rather than the military — history of the Government of Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden.
Origin of the work
In his introduction, dated “Weltevreden, Leiden, 1922–1923”, Langhout relates that it was not the “yellowed leaves of our political history” nor the voluminous official folios at the Ministry of Colonies that reminded him of the almost forgotten date, but an ordinary old Leidsche Almanak (Leyden almanac), in which under the heading Korte Kronyk (“Short Chronicle”) he read: “1873. 26 Maart is namens de Nederlandsche Regeering, na herhaalde pogingen tot minnelijke schikking, aan den Sultan van Atjeh de oorlog verklaard en 6 April met de krijgsverrichtingen begonnen” (“26 March, on behalf of the Netherlands Government, after repeated attempts at an amicable settlement, war was declared on the Sultan of Atjeh, and on 6 April the hostilities were begun”). That chance reminder decided him to compile, “in a simple, popular manner”, an account of what the Netherlands Government and private initiative had accomplished economically in Atjeh and its Dependencies during the fifty years since 1873.
Purpose
Langhout gave a twofold answer to the question why only the economic results of Dutch rule were treated and not the military profits. First, the interested reader who asked a library for reading matter on the history of Atjeh received stacks of books devoted to the art of war — memoirs and studies by officers of the Netherlands Indian army — while on the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library) at The Hague he had embarrassed an official by asking for “some reading” on Atjeh’s statecraft and economics; searching together, they had found, with a few exceptions, “Krijgskunde zonder eind” (“the art of war without end”). Secondly, he held that the Netherlands in Atjeh had, in the economic-statal field, “iets groots verricht” (“accomplished something great”) — a claim the book sets out to prove with facts, numerous photographs (“talrijke foto’s”), and a sparing use of figures.
The finished book
The work appeared in 1923 with the full title Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh, geschreven naar aanleiding van de herinneringsdata 26 Maart 1873–26 Maart 1923, a foreword of 31 March 1923 by General H. N. A. Swart (then recently Vice-President of the Council of the Indies), and an introductory note of February 1923 by Governor A. G. H. van Sluys. Its contents run from “Het Atjeh van vroeger” (“The Atjeh of former days”) through the government pacification by period, the Atjeh Tram, Sabang, the shipping companies, the petroleum exploitation in Perlak, the timber cutting on Simaloer, rubber planting on the East Coast, the “pillars of the pacification” (the Atjeh press, the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij, the banks and trading houses) and foreign capital in Atjeh, closing with a word of thanks (Slotwoord).
Acknowledgements and collaborators
In the Slotwoord Langhout records that the Government, the Minister of Colonies S. de Graaff and the heads of the several departments of his ministry supplied the data needed beside the series of Koloniale Verslagen (Colonial Reports); that retired senior officials who had personally given their strength to the pacification shared their insights; and that private initiative furnished every desired piece of information. He thanks General Swart in particular for directions and particulars beside the foreword, and Professor Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje at Leyden, “who, with Van Heutsz, lived through so great a portion of Atjehnese life”, for the many hours he spent supplying data. A special word of appreciation went to C. Th. L. Damen, adjunct-clerk of the Department of Colonies, who at all hours answered the recurrent requests for “lectuur”. The travel report of N. van Zalinge, director of the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij, was made available by the Amsterdam directorate, and illustrations of dry docks by the N.V. Burgerhout machine factory at Rotterdam. For his chapter on the Atjeh Tram Langhout drew on the Colonial Reports, on an article by Ir. J. H. Müller in the Indisch Tijdschrift voor Spoor- en Tramwegen, and on communications and photographs supplied by Ir. J. H. Caspers, former chief of construction of the tramway.
Assessment
Langhout explicitly left the judgement of his work “to others, to public opinion”, declaring himself convinced that the Netherlands in Atjeh had done more than wage war. General Swart, recommending the book, noted that he did not wholly identify himself with every view of the author but fully agreed with its purport; the author, he wrote, belonged to those who dared to say a word of appreciation for what was done “in het waarachtig belang van een ‘veroverd’ land en van een ‘overheerscht’ volk” (“in the true interest of a ‘conquered’ country and a ‘subjugated’ people”).
See Also
- 1923
- H. N. A. Swart
- General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh (1943)
- Atjeh
- Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh
- A. G. H. van Sluys
- Pacification of Atjeh
- Acheh
- 1873
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, journalist, with a “Voorrede” by Lieut.-General H. N. A. Swart and an introductory word by Governor A. G. H. van Sluys (The Hague: N.V. Boekhandel v/h W. P. van Stockum & Zoon, 1923), title page, Voorwoord, “Inleiding”, pp. 1–5, “Slotwoord”, pp. 191–194, and Errata.