HANDBOOKS PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE

t HISTORICAL SECTION OF THE FOREIGN OFFICE.—No. S3

SUMATRA

LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY II. M. STATIONERY OFFICE.
HANDBOOKS PREPARED ZJNDQR THE DIRECTION OF THE
HISTORICAL SECTION OF THE FOREIGN OFFICE.—No. 83

2JJ
/ yV 7

SUMATRA

LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY H. M. STATIONERY OEEICE

1920
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ULC u 1920
 EDITORIAL NOTE
In the spring of 1917 the Foreign Office, in connexion
with the preparation which they were making for the work
of the Peace Conference, established a special section whose
duty it should be to provide the British Delegates to the
Peace Conference with information in the most convenient
form—geographical, economic, historical, social, religious, and
political—respecting the different countries, districts, islands,
&c., with which they might have to deal. In addition,
volumes were prepared on certain general subjects, mostly
of an historical nature, concerning which it appeared that a
special study would be useful.
The historical information was compiled by trained writers
on historical subjects, who (in most cases) gave their services
without any remuneration. For the geographical sections
valuable assistance was given by the Intelligence Division
(Naval Staff) of the Admiralty ; and for the economic sections,
by the War Trade Intelligence Department, which had been
established by the Foreign Office. Of the maps accompanying
the series, some were prepared by the above-mentioned depart¬
ment of the Admiralty, but the bulk of them were the work
of the Geographical Section of the General Staff (Military
Intelligence Division) of the War Office.
Now that the Conference has nearly completed its task,
the Foreign Office, in response to numerous inquiries and
requests, has decided to issue the books for public use,
believing that they will be useful to students of history,
politics, economics, and foreign affairs, to publicists generally
and to business men and travellers. It is hardly necessary
to say that some of the subjects dealt with in the series have
In'o, S3

not in fact come under discussion at the Peace Conference ;

but, as the books treating of them contain valuable informa¬
tion, it has been thought advisable to include them.
 It must be understood that, although the series of volumes
was prepared under the authority, and is now issued with
the sanction, of the Foreign Office, that Office is not to be
regarded as guaranteeing the accuracy of every statement
which they contain or as identifying itself with all the opinions
expressed in the several volumes ; the books were not prepared
in the Foreign Office itself, but are in the nature of information
provided for the Foreign Office and the British Delegation.
The books are now published, with a few exceptions,
substantially as they were issued for the use of the Delegates.
No attempt has been made to bring them up to date, for, in
the first place, such a process would have entailed a great
loss of time and a prohibitive expense; and, in the second,
the political and other conditions of a great part of Europe
and of the Nearer and Middle East are still unsettled and in
such a state of flux that any attempt to describe them would
have been incorrect or misleading. The books are therefore
to be taken as describing, in general, ante-bellum conditions,
though in a few cases, where it seemed specially desirable,
the account has been brought down to a later date.

G. W. PROTHERO,
General Editor and formerly
January 1920. Director of the Historical Section.
Sumatra]

TABLE OE CONTENTS
PAGE

I. GEOGRAPHY PHYSICAL AND POLITICAL

(1) Position and Boundaries . 1
(2) Surface, Coasts, and River System
1
Surface ••••••
2
Coasts ...•••
River System . 4
(3) Climate
Temperature . 4
Winds 4
Rainfall ..-••• 5
(4) Sanitary Conditions . 5
(5) Race and Language
Race ...•••• 6
Language ...••• 9
(6) Population
Distribution . 10
Towns ..•••• 10

II. POLITICAL HISTORY

Chronological Summary 12

(1) Dutch Settlements 12

Early Visits . 12
The Dutch East India Company . 13
Treaty of 1664 . 13
British Interests . 13
(2) British Policy . 13
Loss and Recovery of Dutch Colonies 13
Raffles’s Policy - 13
Treaty of London, 1824 14
Wt. 11788/938. 1000. 7/20. O.U.P.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS [No.83
PAGE
(3) Consolidation op Dutch Rule . . .14
Abolition of the Sultanate . . . .14
Struggle with Padris..
Conquest of the Interior . . . .14
Relations with the Achinese . . .14
Treaty of 1871 ..... 15
Conquest of Atjeh . . . . .15
Annexation of the Padang Highlands . . 15
III. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
(1) Religious ... . . 16
(2) Political ...... 16
(3) Educational . . ... 17
Dutch Native and Secondary Schools . . 17
Special Government Schools . . .17
Teaching Staff . . . . .17
Curriculum . . . . .18
National Education . . . . .18
Numbers of Schools and Pupils . . .19
IV. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
(A) Means of Communication
(1) Internal
(a) Roads ....... 20
(b) Rivers ....... 21
(c) Railways ...... 22
(d) Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones . . 24
(2) External
(а) Ports
(i) Accommodation
Belawan-Deli ..... 25
Benkulen, Padang .... 26
Pangkalan-Brandan . . . .26
Sabang, Singkel ..... 27
(ii) Nature and Volume of Trade ... 28
(б) Shipping Lines ..... 28
(c) Cable and Wireless Communication . . 29
(B) Industry
(1) Labour
(a) Supply of Labour ..... 29
(b) Labour Conditions . . _ . 32
Sumatra] TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
(2) Agriculture
(а) Products of Commercial Value
Vegetable Products .... 34
Areca Palms, Cinchona ... 34
Coco-nut Palms ..... 35
Coffee, Cotton ..... 36
Gambier . . . . . . ' 37
Ground-nuts, Kapok, Maize, Rice . 38
Rubber ...... 39
Spices, Tea ..... 4:0
Tobacco ...... 41
Live-stock ...... 41
(б) Methods of Cultivation .... 42
(c) Forestry ....... 43
(d) Land Tenure ...... 44
(3) Fisheries ....... 44
(4) Minerals ....... 45
Coal.45
Copper, Gold ..... 47
Iron, Manganese, Tungsten, Lead . . 48
Petroleum ...... 48
Tin.50
Other Minerals ..... 53
(5) Manufactures . . • • • .53
(6) Power ........ 54

(C) Commerce
(1) Domestic
(а) Principal Branches of Trade ... 54
(б) Towns and Markets
Bar us, Bengkalis, Benkulen, Fort de
Kock ...... 55
Kuta Baru, Kuta Raja, Medan, Natal,
Padang, Padang Sidimpuan, Pajo-
kumbo ...... 56
Palembang, Rengat, Siboga ... 57
Singkel, Telok Betong . . . .58
(c) Organizations to promote Trade and Com¬
merce ...... 58
 TABLE OF CONTENTS [>.83
PAGE
(2) Foreign ....... 58
Principal Exports ...... 59
Principal Imports
(а) East Coast ...... 59
(б) Sabang ..... 60
Cotton Imports . . . . . .61
(D) Finance
(1) Public Finance ...... 61
(2) Currency ....... 61
(3) Banking ....... 61
(4) Influence of Foreign Capital .... 62
(E) General Remarks . . . . .64

ISLANDS OFF THE WEST COAST

Simalu, Banjak Islands, Nias .... 66
Batu Islands, Mentawei Islands. Engano, Banka 67
Billiton, Riouw-Lingga Archipelago . . 68
APPENDIX
Convention between Great Britain and the Nether¬
lands, November 2, 1871 . . . . 70
AUTHORITIES 71
Sumatra]

I. GEOGRAPHY PHYSICAL AND

POLITICAL
(1) Position and Boundaries
Sumatra1 lies between 5° 39' north and 5° 51' south
latitude, so that the Equator divides it into two nearly
equal parts. Its total area is 167,954 sq. miles, or
184,000 sq. miles including the adjacent islands. It
is 1,060 miles in length, and 248 miles wide at its
widest point. On the western side it borders on the
Indian Ocean; it is separated from Java, to the
south-east, by the Sunda Straits, and from the Malay
Peninsula, to the north-east, by the Malacca Straits.
Sumatra forms an indeeling (division) of the Nether¬
lands Indies, and is divided into two governments,
Sumatra West Coast and Atjeh (Achin), and seven
residencies, Tapanuli, Sumatra East Coast, Riouw
and Dependencies, Jambi, Benkulen, Palembang, and
the Lampong Districts.

(2) Surface, Coasts, and River System

Surface
Sumatra consists of a high mountain chain, running
along the whole of the western coast, with a broad belt
of flat alluvial country occupying the whole length of
the island to the east. The mountain chain runs for
a distance of over 1,000 miles, rising to numerous
volcanic peaks from 5,000 to over 12,000 ft. high.
The whole system, which is referred to as the Barisan
Mountains or Buhit Barisan, consists in general of
1 An account of the islands off the coasts of Sumatra will be
found on pp. 66-69, Section IV, Economics.
B
2 GEOGRAPHY [So. 83

two or more chains, running parallel to each other,

with a valley between. This valley is broken up into
separate sections by the intrusion of volcanic massifs,
and in it lies a row of mountain lakes, of which Toba is
by far the largest. There are characteristic differences
between the mountains of the south of the island and
of the north : in the south the range consists chiefly
of parallel chains lying near together, enclosing only
a few small plateaux ; but to the north of 1° north
latitude the mountains broaden out to a wide plateau,
falling away steeply to the west, and partly surrounded
by mountain peaks. The whole range is topped with
a line of volcanoes, mostly close to the west coast,
of which several are still active. The soil of Sumatra
is on the whole extremely fertile, and the country is
heavily forested. The forest proper begins at an eleva¬
tion of 330 ft. to 450 ft., and rises to a great height.
Coasts
The west coast of Sumatra is in general high and
rocky, particularly between 2° south latitude and
Padang, where the mountains in places come right
down to the sea. Between Mokko Mokko and Cape
Vlakke Hoek the coast is on the whole bold and
difficult of approach, but the mountains lie farther
inland and the land near the shore is covered with
alluvium and is frequently marshy. North of Padang
the coastal marshes begin again, but between Tiku and
Tapanuli Bay the alluvial land is broken by stretches
of country on which various settlements have arisen.
In this part of the coast the sea has eaten away the
land in a series of semicircular bays. North of Tapanuli
Bay, as far as Trumon (Taroemoen), is a wide alluvial
plain, and from thence to Koningspunt the coast is
only marshy in places, as at Melabuh (Meulaboh).
The sea is from 20 to 50 fathoms deep in most parts
Sumatra] COASTS 3
of the west coast close offshore, falling to great depths
beyond the narrow coastal shelf. A chain of islands
extends parallel to the coast at a distance of about
60 miles, between the parallels of 3° north and 3° 30'
sotith; they are for the most part unsurveyed, as is
the larger part of the west coast of Sumatra itself.
The best harbours of Sumatra are in the central
part of the west coast, where there are several inlets
well protected from the sea by islands, e. g. Emma-
haven, on Koninginne Bay; north of Tapanuli and
south of Indrapura none of the indentations in the
coast affords complete shelter from the south-west
monsoon. The development of the west coast for trade
and settlement is much hindered by the difficulty of
access from the sea, owing to the coral reefs and the
breaking surf, and by the lack of communications inland.
The whole of the east coast of Sumatra from Diamond
Point to Varkenshoek is formed of morasses and sand¬
banks, breaking up into innumerable points and islands
at the mouths of the rivers, so that it is often difficult
to distinguish land from sea. The coast is constantly
extending seawards, as it is chiefly made up of the
sediment brought down by the rivers. This region is
largely uninhabited.
The north coast of Sumatra, between Raja and
Diamond Point, is very varied: in places the cliffs
rise precipitously from the sea, and are crowned with
dense vegetation; in other parts there are sandy
beaches or cultivated and well-populated plains. The
two chief harbours are Oleh Leh (Oelee Lheue) and
Sabang (on Pulu Weh Island).
At the southern extremity of Sumatra there are
two deep indentations, Lampong Bay and Keizers or
Semangko *Bay. Telok Betong, on Lampong Bay, has
a good harbour, and deals with almost all the trade
of the Lampong Districts.
4 GEOGRAPHY [No. 83

River System
Owing to the position of the mountains in Sumatra,
the rivers on the west coast are all short. In the
south the rivers have small deltas, and north of Benkulen
as far as 2° south latitude, and between Padang and
Priaman, are marshes which hinder their discharge.
On the east coast of Sumatra the rivers running
through the alluvial plains have wide drainage areas,
and form the most important means of communication.
The largest rivers on the east coast, beginning at the
south, are the Musi, the Jambi, the Kwantan ( Indragiri),
the Kampar, the Siak, the Rokan (Rekan), the Panel
(Pane, Panai), and the smaller Asahan, Serdang, and
Deli rivers to the north of these. The most important
are the Musi and the Jambi.
(3) Climate
Temperature.—The climate of Sumatra is tropical,
but the heat is tempered by the surrounding seas.
The air is almost always damp on the coast, being
driest in the morning, and the climate may be described
in general as hot and moist. The temperature varies
hardly at all with the time of year, the maximum
being about 77° F. (25° C.) and the minimum 75° F.
(23-8° C.), and there is also little daily change. The
average temperature for the year is 76-6° F. (24-7° C.).
The mountain climate differs considerably from that
of the coasts, and on a fine day is delightful, since the
sun is usually tempered by strong winds.
Winds.—The climate differs in the parts of the island
which lie to the north and the south of the Equator,
since the land affected by the Australian monsoon
reaches to the Equator or a little to the riorth of it,
and then passes into the sphere of the Asiatic mon¬
soon. Thus southern Sumatra is under the influence of
Sumatra] RIVERS; CLIMATE; HEALTH 5
the north-west monsoon from November to March, and
the south-east monsoon from May to October, whilst
the north of the island has the north-east wind from
December to March and the south-west wind from May
to September. The monsoons, however, are nowhere
uninterrupted, since the diurnal land and sea breezes
cause great local variability.
Rainfall.—The true monsoon climate, with a dry
and a wet season, is not found, only comparatively
slight differences being observable corresponding to
the different seasons. Sumatra has not only a wet
climate, the rainfall seldom falling below 80 in. (about
200 cm.) a year at any of the stations, and rising
to 185 in. (470 cm.), but the rain is spread over
the whole year, though generally speaking the fall
is less in June and July in the south of the island,
and in January, February, and March towards the
north. The wettest period, taking the whole island
together, is from October to January, and the driest
from March to September. Most rain falls on the
west coast, owing largely to its proximity to the
mountains. The fall at the west-coast stations varies
from 101 to 195 in. (about 260 to 500 cm.) a year, and
is almost double that of the east-coast stations (59 to
100 in. ; 150 to 250 cm.). The wettest part of the
whole island is the central part of the west coast, near
the Equator, Pulu Tello having 195 in. (500 cm.) of
rain a year. The driest part is in the north, owing
to the predominance of the dry south-east winds.

(4) Sanitary Conditions

Sumatra is specially noted for the severity and wide¬
spread nature of its malarial fevers, which attack
Europeans and natives alike, Europeans being more
liable to the rapid form, and natives to the chronic.
 6 GEOGRAPHY No. 83

Bays and river-mouths are notoriously fever-haunted,

but the high country is more healthy. North Sumatra
is on the whole less subject to fever, but unseasonable
weather often brings epidemics of malaria and beri-beri,
which particularly attack new-comers. Pulu Well
, Island is a very healthy spot, but the west-coast
islands are extremely malarious and unhealthy, as also
are the west coasts of Benkulen and Atjeh ; Padang has
a good record for a coastal town, probably owing to
the fresh breeze which blows night and morning there.
Dysentery and beri-beri are also prevalent, particu¬
larly among the coolies working on the plantations
and in the mines, among whom hook-worm disease
(Ankylostomiasis) is also very common. Dysentery,
beri-beri, and cholera all occasionally break out as
epidemics, and cholera is always endemic. Judging
by the recorded cases, typhus and small-pox are rare
in Sumatra, and they have become even less common
of late years; there are no figures available showing
the incidence of plague and tuberculosis, but both
diseases are widespread in the archipelago. There
are 1,760 lepers. It is very difficult to make the
natives pay attention to the rules of hygiene, and
the laws of the Mohammedan religion as regards
ceremonial washing, &c., are by no means strictly
observed by the majority of the Sumatran natives.
The general death-rate for Europeans in 1914 was 15
per thousand, malaria and typhoid accounting for
more deaths than any other diseases.

(5) Race amd Language

Race
Native Peoples. — The peoples of Sumatra are
ethnographically complicated, and there is, speaking
generally, a marked difference between those living on
Sumatra] HEALTH; RACE 7
the coasts who have been for centuries in contact with
foreigners, and the inland tribes, who are still little
known. From time to time many Arabs, Chinese,
Hindus, Klings, and Bengalis have settled on the
Sumatran coast, and Hindu-Javanese colonies were
established for trading purposes at an early date in
Palembang and Jambi. The mixed races which have
resulted from such settlements have reached a higher
standard of civilization than the tribes of the interior.
The whole of the indigenous population had probably
a common Malayo-Polynesian origin, but differences
of habitat and economic conditions have caused the
formation of many tribes, differing considerably from
one another in appearance, customs, and language.
The two main ethnical groups in Sumatra are the
Indonesians, representing the people of the island
before the Malay invasion, and the Malays, an Asiatic
race which invaded Sumatra at an early date, and
swept thence over large parts of the archipelago.
(The use of the term Malay in this wider sense must
not be confused with its narrower use as the name of
an east-coast Sumatran people.) There is, however,
no great difference in physique between the Malays
and Indonesians, and the peoples of Sumatra, with
the exception of some of the most primitive tribes,
approximate more or less closely to the Malay type.
The chief peoples of Sumatra are :
Achinese, in north Sumatra, divided into peoples of
the coastal and of the highland districts; Gayos and
Alas, in the mountain country of north Sumatra, be¬
tween about 3° and 4° 30' north latitude, related to the
Bataks, but under Achinese influence ; Bataks, in the
country round Lake Toba, Tapanuli, and part of the
East Coast Residency; Malays, in the East Coast
Residency, Riouw-Lingga, and Palembang, a seafaring
people; Menangkabau Malays, in the Padang High-
8 GEOGRAPHY [iTo. 83

lands, a remnant of the original Malay race, which

has developed separately owing to its isolated posi¬
tion ; Lebongs, in Lebong on the west coast; Rejangs,
in Rejang to the west of Palembang ; and Lampongs,
in the' Lampong Districts, who have a considerable
admixture of Javanese blood.
Besides these more important groups, there are the
small and savage peoples who live mostly on the
east coast, and the inhabitants of the islands adjacent
to Sumatra.
The most primitive tribes of Sumatra and the
adjacent islands have in many places become Islamized
in recent years, and they all take a pride in copying
the manners and customs of the Malays when they
are brought into contact with them. There are, how¬
ever, several small tribes still living in their original
primitive condition, particularly the Kubus in Jambi,
the Sakais, Tapungs, and Akits in Sumatra East
Coast, the Lubus in Mandailing, the Benua in the
Riouw-Lingga Archipelago, the Orang darat or Orang
gunong of Banka and Billiton, and the Orang laut.
They are all despised by the Malays, and they are as
much behind them in civilization as the Malays are
behind Europeans ; their religion consists, as a rule,
of a superficial animism, and their language is some
low form of Malay.
Non-Native Population.—The majority of the 9,610
Europeans in Sumatra live in Deli and Padang, and are
occupied with the tobacco plantations. The pro¬
portion of Government officials is low, as in the rest
of the Dutch East Indies, where there are 9,000
Europeans in Government employ, as compared with
14,000 in agriculture, trade, and the professions. The
large class of adult male Europeans with no occupa¬
tion is formed mostly of the half-castes, who rank as
Europeans, but are usually not competent to do
Sumatra] RACE; LANGUAGE 9

a white man’s work, and consider manual labour

beneath them. Of the pure Europeans, 92 per cent,
are Dutch, but only 7 per cent, of these are born
in Holland. There are a number of Germans in Deli,
which is a young colony, and bears a more inter¬
national character than most East Indian settlements.
There were in 1912 in Sumatra 223,153 Chinese,
4,145 Arabs, and 19,575 other non-native Orientals.
The Japanese in the archipelago are technically the
equals of Europeans, and are looked up to by the
natives, but they take no part in European society.
They are largely shopkeepers.
The large number of Chinese in Sumatra are em¬
ployed mostly in the tin-mines of Banka and Billiton
and in the pepper-gardens of the Riouw-Lingga
Archipelago, and on the Deli tobacco plantations,
four-fifths of the Chinese in the island itself being
settled in Sumatra East Coast. They consist largely
of emigrants of the poorest class, who are attracted
by the higher rate of payment obtaining in the
East Indies. Apart from employment as coolies, the
Chinese form a universal class of middlemen, and
trade in the islands would be paralysed by their
departure.
The Arabs, unlike the Chinese, are rapidly assimilated
to native society, and when, as is usually the case, they
marry native wives, their Semitic character is soon
lost.
Language
A variety of languages and scripts are used by the
different peoples; some are related to Malay, but
many are Hindu in origin. Malay forms a lingua
franca for traders and officials, since it is a simple and
widely-used tongue; Dutch is only used by the
Europeans among themselves. Menangkabau Malay,
 10 GEOGRAPHY No. 83

which is a second branch of the language, and probably

the more ancient, is spoken in Sumatra West Coast
and the adjoining country. The Achinese language,
which is related to Malay, is divided into four dialects.
The Bataks have many differing languages, and use
a Hindu script. The Rejang script and language are
Hindu in origin, but now include many Malay words,
and the Menangkabau Malays, who formerly used a
Hindu script, now employ the Arabic form of writing.
The Lampong tongue has affinities with both Batak
and Sundanese.

(6) Population

Distribution
The total population of Sumatra in 1912 was only
5,751,583, a very small figure when compared with the
large size of the island or with the crowded condition
of Java.
The most thickly inhabited part of Sumatra is the
region of the western mountains, and the scantiest
population is found in the marshy wooded plains on
the east. In 1912 the density of the population varied
from 76 per square mile in Sumatra West Coast to
about 11 per square mile in Jambi.

Towns
There were, in 1905, only 31 settlements in Sumatra
itself having a population of over 1,000, and only
seven of these had more than 5,000 inhabitants.
The largest towns are Padang (capital of Sumatra
West Coast), population (1905) 47,607 ; Padang Sidim-
puan (capital of Tapanuli Residency), 3,128 ; Siboga
(Sibolga), 17,611; Benkulen (capital of Benkulen
Residency), 7,721; Telok Betong (capital of Lampong
Sumatra ] POPULATION 11
Districts), 3,759; Menggala, 8,976; Palembang (capital
of Palembang Residency), 60,985; Sekaju, 3,040;
Jambi (capital of Jambi Residency), 8,815; Medan
(capital of Sumatra East Coast), 14,250; Kuta Raja
(capital of Atjeh Government), 3,704; Tanjungpinang
(capital of Riouw Residency), 4,088.
 II. POLITICAL HISTORY
Chronological Summary
1596. First visited by Dutch.
1599. Cornelis Houtman murdered oft Atjeh.
1662. Dutch conclude trade treaty with Palembang.
1664. Important extension of East India Company’s trade.
1685. English set up an establishment at Benkulen.
1781. All Dutch possessions on the west coast captured by
England.
1783. Restored by Treaty of Versailles.
1795. All Dutch possessions again captured by England.
1814. Again restored by Treaty of London.
1818. Raffles Governor of Benkulen.
1824. England retires from Sumatra.
1825. Sultanate of Palembang abolished.
1837. Conquest of Bonjol; overthrow of Padris.
1838. Conquest of the Thirteen Kutas.
1839. Barus invested by the Dutch.
1840. Tapus and Singkel taken from Atjeh.
1871. England withdraws objection to action against Atjeh.
1873. Holland declares war on Atjeh.
1878. Atjeh formally incorporated under Dutch rule.
1899. Padang Highlands definitely annexed.
1907. End of the Atjeh war.

(1) Dutch Settlements

Sumatra, the island known to Marco Polo in 1295
as Java Minor, was first visited by the Dutch in 1596.
They found the following states existent there : Atjeh
(Achin) in the north ; Siak, Kampar, Kwantan, and
Indragiri in the north-east; Menangkabau in the
centre ; Indrapura, south of Menangkabau, on the
west coast ; Jambi and Palembang, in a south¬
easterly direction from Indrapura, both colonized by
Sumatra] DUTCH SETTLEMENTS 13
Javanese in the fourteenth century and acknow¬
ledging the nominal supremacy of the Sultan of
Bantam. All these states already professed Islamism,
introduced in the twelfth century.
In 1599 Cornelis Houtman was treacherously
murdered off the coast of Atjeh by natives at the
instigation of the Portuguese, and for a long time
the west coast proved very unfriendly; but in
Palembang the Dutch East India Company was more
successful, establishing a factory there and concluding
a trade treaty in 1662. At first the trade was principally
in pepper, but later also in tin from Banka. In 1663
the Sultan of Menangkabau sought Dutch support
against Atjeh ; a treaty followed in 1664, after which
the Company was in a position to trade from Singkel
to Indrapura, whilst a fortified factory was established
at Padang. Forts speedily followed at Barus, Ayer
Bangis, and Priaman on the west, in the Lampong
Districts in the south, and at Muara Kompeh on the
east. The English East India Company soon followed
its Dutch rival in Sumatra, and at Benkulen, where
a footing had been obtained in 1685, Fort Marlborough
and several factories were already in existence by 1714.
(2) British Policy
During the fourth naval war with England (1781-3)
the Dutch lost all their possessions on the west coast,
but recovered them by the Treaty of Versailles in
1783. All they held in Sumatra was again lost when
Holland was incorporated with France, but was again
restored by the Treaty of London, August 13, 1814.
Sir Stamford Raffles, Governor of Java from 1811 to
1816 and of Benkulen from 1818 to 1823, endeavoured
during the latter period to substitute British for Dutch
influence in the whole of the East Indies. The alliances
he made with the rulers and tribes of central Sumatra
14 HISTORY |"Mo. 83

and the extension of the sphere of British influence

throughout the island would have created a great colony
in the immediate vicinity of Java, the hub of Holland’s
Indian empire. But Raffles’s policy was not supported
by the British Government. Hutch diplomacy suc¬
ceeded in concluding a treaty in 1824, by which the
English, who had held Benkulen for 150 years, ceded
it to Holland and pledged themselves not to allow
any British factory to be established in Sumatra, nor
any treaty to be made under British authority with
any of its states or rulers.
(3) Consolidation of Dutch Rule
This brought the whole of the coast, with the
exception of Atjeli, exclusively under Dutch influence.
To maintain and extend this, operations had already
been commenced in Palembang in 1817, and ended
with the abolition of the Sultanate in 1825 ; from
1819 there was for many years a struggle with a
dangerous Mohammedan sect named Padris, who
remained formidable until the conquest of Bonjol
in 1837. Their hands now freed, the Dutch turned
their attention to the subjection of other inland
districts, and that known as the Thirteen Kutas was
conquered in 1838. In 1839 Barus was occupied, and
in 1840 Tapus and Singkel.
In a note accompanying the Treaty of 1824 the
Dutch Government had promised to apply itself
without delay to the regulation of its relations with
Atjeh, in order to ensure security for trade and shipping,
and in this note had also been included an undertaking
that Holland would not enter into hostilities with Atjeh.
But a long series of unfriendly acts on the part of the
Achinese followed. The British Government, which
had already had to warn the merchants of Penang
and Singapore of the insecurity of Achinese waters,
Sumatra^ DUTCH RULE 15
at length by a treaty concluded in 1871 1 desisted
‘ from all objections against the extension of the
Netherlands dominion in any part of the Island of
Sumatra ’, in return for trade concessions in Siak.
The Achinese, fearing Dutch aggression, secretly
sought protection from the United States, Italy,
France, and Turkey, through the consuls at Singapore.
The Dutch demanded an explanation of these secret
negotiations ; and, this being evaded, war was
declared on the Achinese in March 1873, and dragged
on in one form or another, with heavy cost of blood
and treasure, until December 1907, when the Sultan
surrendered and was deported to Amboina. In 1878
the state of Atjeh and its dependencies had been
incorporated as a government division of Sumatra.
The rich, highland country inland from Padang now
called the Padang Highlands remained under the rule
of native sovereigns till 1899, when these last remnants
of the great empire of Menangkabau were formally
annexed by the Dutch.
1 Hertslet, A Complete Collection of Treaties, &c., vol. xiii
pp. 665, 666.
 I" No. 83

III. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL

CONDITIONS
(1) Religious
Nominally the peoples of Sumatra are nearly all
Mohammedans, except a large proportion of the Bataks,
and the bulk of the inhabitants of the islands off the
west coast, who are pagans. Actually there is very
little Mohammedan zeal or orthodoxy. Christianity
has made little progress. At the end of 1914 the
Protestant missionaries claimed that their congrega¬
tions throughout the Outer Possessions had a member¬
ship of 538,000, and the Roman Catholic congregations
were estimated at 40,000.

(2) Political
The Dutch Government includes Sumatra in the
‘ Outer Possessions ’ of the Indies, Java and Madura
forming the more important division of the Posses¬
sions.
There are still large areas in the interior of Sumatra
in which Dutch rule is merely nominal. It is neces¬
sary to maintain garrisons at a number of strategic
points; but outbreaks among the natives have rarely
occurred in recent years. Atjeh and Sumatra West
Coast are still administered by governors. There
is an army of occupation in Atjeh, and a small
military force in Sumatra West Coast. In Deli, Siak,
Jambi, and Palembang the native Sultans have
become protected rulers. The Lampong Districts,
Benkulen, and Tapanuli are directly administered by
the Dutch. Now that the country is pacified, it may
be expected that the population will rapidly increase,
and the fertility of its soil will encourage immigration
from Java.
Sumatraj EDUCATIONAL 17
(3) Educational
Education of the natives in the Outer Possessions,
like that of the Europeans, is divided into public and
private. Public education is conducted by religious
societies and institutions and by private persons, and
is both secular and religious. Schools founded by
the numerous missionary societies, which are active
throughout the archipelago, have always a religious
basis ; some of these are Mohammedan.
There are two classes of schools founded by the
Government: (a) Dutch-native schools, which are
primarily intended for the children of native chiefs
and other important or wealthy natives; (b) secondary
schools, originally intended for the instruction of
native children in general, but now, owing to the
increasing establishment of national schools (which
are founded by the people, under Government super¬
vision and, if necessary, with the support of the
Government), restricted to the places where more
advanced instruction is required.
There are also special Government schools in Deli,
Asahan, Langkat, Serdang, Menado, Tondano, Amu-
rang, Amboina, Saparua, and Sambas, which correspond
to the Dutch-native schools to a certain extent, having
partly European staffs, but are intended to meet the
peculiar requirements of certain districts. The special
school at Amboina is intended for the children of the
Amboina burgers, and the rest for native children, pre¬
ferably from the well-to-do class. Some are to a limited
degree available for children of Europeans and foreign
Orientals. At Kuta Raja (Atjeh) and Macassar (Celebes)
there are special schools for the children of Christian
soldiers from Amboina, Ternate, Timor, and Menado.
The native staffs for the Government schools in the
Outer Possessions are trained at the Government colleges
at Fort de Ivock, Amboina, and Macassar. Normal
c
18 PRESENT CONDITIONS [No. 83

courses of instruction for assistant teachers are provided

at Kuta Raja, Palembang, Macassar, Banjermasin, Iven-
dangan (south and east Borneo), and Singaraja (Bah).
Instruction in the Dutch-native schools of the first
grade includes reading and writing in Dutch, and
Malay (the latter both in Arabic and Latin characters),
and in the local language, arithmetic, geography of
the Dutch East Indies, drawing, and elementary'
natural science. Many of these schools prepare pupils
for the Minor Officials Examination. The secondary
schools have a much simpler curriculum, including
as a minimum the reading and writing of the local
language, unless it is unsuitable for education, or the
Malay language, while Dutch can be added. Arith¬
metic, without fractions, is also taught.
It was only in 1912 that a beginning was made with
the introduction of national education, when 111
national schools were established in Sumatra West
Coast, and 67 in Benkulen, of the type existing in
Java. There were already in these two Residencies
a number of institutions for elementary education
conducted by administrative officials or native com¬
munities. These schools were in 1913 incorporated in
the organization of national education, which brought
up the number of national schools in Sumatra West
Coast to 302 and the total in Benkulen to 83. By the
end of 1914 there were 681 national schools in Sumatra.
For most of these schools one instructor is suffi¬
cient, as they have only three classes, corresponding
to the three lower classes in the secondary schools,
and the daily lessons have a duration of two and a half
hours for each class. Teachers are ^recruited from
natives who have satisfactorily passed through a public
secondary native school and have then received
a year’s theoretical and practical instruction from the
head of a secondary school and are certified capable
by him or have obtained a teaching diploma. There
are 8 school inspectors in Sumatra West Coast, 3 in
Sumatra^ EDUCATIONAL 19
Benkulen, 4 in Palembang, 2 in the Lampong Districts,
and one each in Jambi and Riouw and Dependencies.
The number of pupils in 621 national schools in Su¬
matra at the end of 1914 (excluding those in the Lampong
Districts and Atjeh) was 37,838 boys and 3,420 girls.
There were, in 1913, 149 National Schools with
7,240 pupils in the Government of Atjeh and Depen¬
dencies ; and these schools were made available for
the spreading of a better knowledge of agriculture, the
teachers undergoing a special course of instruction.
Private schools founded by natives or by missionaries
in the Outer Possessions obtain subsidies from the
Government if they fulfil certain conditions. The
schools and pupils of the Outer Possessions were
tabulated in 1913 thus :
National Private
Schools. Pupils. Schools. Pupils.
Sumatra West Coast . 49 13,160 17 1,398
Tapanuli ... 24 5,547 611 46,376
Benkulen . . .19 3,545 1 73
Lampong Districts . 9 1,914 5 190
Palembang . . .32 5,836 1 142
Jambi ... 7 740 25 3,774
Sumatra East Coast . 21 3,456 166 12,510
Atjeh ... 19 2,866 4 568
Riouw ... 5 595 9 503
Banka ... 6 980 1 54
Billiton . . 2 335
Total for Sumatra . 193 38,974 840 65,588
West Borneo . . 6 709 7 442
South and East Borneo 20 4,717 92 5,743
Celebes ... 22 3,452 50 3,946
Menado . . .117 23,637 403 32,112
Ternate 535 139 4,915
Amboina . . . 65 10,592 161 7,958
Timor . . .21 2,704 136 7,551
Bali and Lombok . 14 2,382 5 307
Total for whole of
Outer Possessions 460 87,702 1,833 128,562
There were, therefore, at the end of 1913 in the
Outer Possessions 2,293 schools for natives of all kinds,
with a total attendance of 216,264.
 [No. 83

IV. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

(A) MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
(1) Internal
(a) Roads
The development of Sumatra lias been greatly
hampered by the scarcity of good roads. There is no
connexion by road from end to end of the island as in
Java. The pacification of Atjeli would probably have
been effected many years ago if better roads had been
available in the north of Sumatra. In the mountain
districts in the centre of the island there are sometimes
only forest tracks.
A road has recently been completed from Medan to
the port of Belawan-Deli. Its last section, from
Labuan-Deli to Belawan, though only 4 km. in length,
cost fls. 325,000, owing to the number of bridges
required. At the end of 1914, fifteen large works of
construction were in progress, and a number of smaller.
The total cost was estimated at about fls. 12,000,000,
of which fls. 7,000,000 had already been spent in about
five years. In 1915 there existed 3,500 km. of main
roads, of which about 2,700 km. were metalled, and
6,700 km. of by-roads, of which about 900 km. were
metalled. Another 970 km. of roads were in course
of construction, or about to be begun.
The Government has established automobile services
for the conveyance of travellers, mails, and goods. In
1907 a joint river and motor-car service from Palem-
bang to Benkulen was initiated. The motor-cars
connect at Penangiran with the stern-wheel steamers
Sumatra ROADS; RIVERS 21
of the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij, which
ply along the Lematang and Musi to Palembang. The
cars were originally intended for Government officials
only, but are now available for private persons, at a fixed
tariff. A new West Coast service has also been estab¬
lished, starting from Padang. In the year 1915 the
Palembang-Benkulen service carried 24,822 passengers,
while the West Coast service carried 40,267 passengers
between May and December. The mileage of the former
service for 1915 was about 290,000, and of the latter
service (May-December) about 110,000.
Statute labour for making and mending the roads
can be demanded by the Government in all directly
administered areas, hut some of the main highways
which are now being made pass through districts so
sparsely populated that no use can he made of statute
labourers, who must not be required to work more than
a limited distance from their homes. Moreover, the
making of roads in the mountains is so difficult that
skilled labour is often essential.

(b) Rivers
The mountains of Sumatra are much nearer the west
coast than the east, with the result that the rivers on
the west are short; they are for the most part unnavi-
gable, and the largest, the Singkel, is almost useless for
shipping owing to the bar at its mouth, though farther
up it forms an excellent means of communication in
spite of the rapids in its course. The deep waters of
the Indian Ocean would more readily absorb the
alluvial accumulations of the rivers on the west, were
it not that a row of islands extends for several hundred
miles opposite the west coast of Sumatra, at an average
distance of about 60 miles from the shore.
On the east many of the rivers flow across wide plains
after leaving the mountains, and are rapidly silting
22 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. 83

up the coast. Tradition states that Palemhang, now

55 miles inland, was once a seaport. The Musi
{Palemhang) river divides into a number of channels
dispersed amid a vast unhealthy swamp covering an
area of some 4,600 square miles. It is navigable by
steamers for more than 200 miles, and by small boats
for 335 miles. Palembang is the only inland town
which has important river-traffic. At present the
best route across the island to Benkulen from Palem¬
bang is by steamer up the Musi and its tributary the
Lemalang, and thence by motor-car. The Jambi river
is the longest in the island, and opposite the town of
Jambi it is 1,300 ft. wide, with a depth at low water
of about 16 ft. It is navigable by small boats for about
500 miles, but its lower reaches are much more
obstructed than those of the Musi. The Asalian river,
which drains the Lake of Toba, and the Serdang and
Deli rivers, are navigable by small vessels only. The
Kwantan (Indragiri) is navigable as far as Tjenako,
where the Tjenako river enters ; between this point
and Rengat there is very little water during part of
the year. All the rivers on the east coast are impeded
by mud-banks at their mouths, and the depth of the
water constantly changes, on account of small bores
(benas) which rush up their courses at intervals, at
the time of the new and full moon.
The Government has supplied military engineers and
provided the necessary explosives for deepening opera¬
tions and the removal of obstructions from the beds of
the Musi, Ketahun, Kwantan, and other rivers, but
the results have been disappointing.

(c) Railways
In the west of Sumatra there is a State railway'of
1-067 metre gauge, connecting Emmahaven with Fort
de Kock (245 km.). In 1914 it carried 3,001,079 pas-
Sumatra] RIVERS; RAILWAYS 23
sengers and 639,694 tons of goods. Its construction,
including harbours and coal-sheds, cost fls. 23,869,760,
and the net revenue after payment of working expenses
was fls. 1,016,379. This system has its head-quarters
at Padang.
In the south of the island there are 12 km. of State
railway, of 1-067 metre gauge. There was also in 1915
a line in course of construction connecting Telok
Betong with Muara Enim and Palembang, the terminus
being at Oostliaven, a few miles south of Telok Betong,
and opposite Merak in Java, with which it is connected
by a ferry. This line was constructed with great
difficulty, owing to the fact that it ran through
a sparsely populated district, where labour was scanty
and the natives disliked the work. The Government
decided to construct the line itself, being assured that
if private concessions were granted attention would be
paid to those stretches only which could be laid easily
and would be at once remunerative.
In Atjeh and Dependencies there is a narrow-gauge
steam-tramway 471 km. in length from Langsar to Kuta
Raja and Oleh Leh (Oelee Llieue); the gauge is 0-75
metre, whereas the narrow gauge in Java is 0-60 metre.
The Atjeh Steam Tramway, as this line is called, was
constructed originally for strategical purposes, but was
handed over by the Department of War to the Depart¬
ment of Government Enterprises in January 1916. In
1913 it carried 2,627,000 passengers and 209,000 tons of
goods; of these 190,000 passengers and 19,000 tons of
goods were carried on Government account.
On the east coast of Sumatra the Deli Railway
Company controls a railway from Tebing Tinggi
to Pangkalan-Brandan via Medan, with branches to
Timbang-Langkat, Belawan, Labuan-Deli, and Kwala
(Koealo). To this company was transferred in 1883 a
concession granted to the Deli Maatschappij, valid till
24 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [no.83
1973. The line is being extended eastwards to Tanjung
Balai, and westwards will eventually be connected
with the Atjeh line. The Deli Railway Company
also controls about 170 km. of tram-lines, and a con¬
cession was granted in 1913 for 150 km. of additional
lines.. The company’s capital is fls. 4,000,000, and in
1914 it paid a dividend of 15 per cent. Its 92 km. of
railway track in 1914 carried 1,746,364 passengers
and 397,994 tons of goods. The capital outlay on this
railway then amounted to fls. 9,019,131, and the net
revenue, after payment of working expenses, was
fls. 1,206,302. It had become necessary to double the
track from Medan to Belawan, owing to the increase
of traffic, and altogether about 124 km. of railway
or tramway were in course of construction.
The Ombilin coal-mines, already connected with
Emmahaven by railway, will before long be connected
with Palembang and the east coast. Elaborate plans
have been prepared for the railway development of
celitral Sumatra, and in a few years there will be rail¬
way communications from end to end of the island.
(d) Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones
In 1914 there were 175 post offices in Sumatra.
Where no railway is available, the mails are conveyed,
whenever possible, by motor-car, but there are con¬
siderable difficulties, for the cars have often to cross
the rivers on rafts for want of bridges. Postmen also
travel on horseback or by prau. Wherever there is
a railway or tramway, the postal services run in con¬
nexion with it. In order to facilitate the delivery of
mails from Europe, a sea post office travels between
Batavia and Padang. There are auxiliary post offices
on many of the boats of the Koninklijke Paketvaart
Maatschappij.
In 1914 there were 4,972 km. of surface telegraph
Sumatra] POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS ; PORTS 25

lines in Sumatra. The principal towns are in tele¬

graphic communication with each other, though the
difficulty of maintaining the telegraph wires has been
very great. There are more wild animals than in Java,
and much damage is done to the wires by monkeys
and elephants. The railways and roads now in course
of construction will assist the development of tele¬
graphic communication throughout the island.
The telephone system in the Outer Possessions is very
little developed, but there are extensive local exchanges
at Padang and in Sumatra East Coast. As in most
parts of the Outer Possessions, there are telephone
systems for military and administrative purposes,
which to a limited extent are available for public use.

(2) External
(a) Ports
(i) Accommodation
Bdawan-Deli lies on the north-east of the island, and
is connected by railway with Labuan and Medan.
The channel is buoyed. The river Deli affords good
anchorage in from 3 to 7 fathoms. The depth on the
bar, which is six miles from the piers, is 16J ft. at high
water at ordinary springs and 14 ft. at ordinary neaps.
The rise and fall of the tide is 8 ft. at ordinary springs
and 3 ft. at ordinary neaps. The depth of water is
less from October to March, during the north-east
monsoon.
The Government is building two piers in the southern
part of the harbour, and the Eastern Steamship Com¬
pany one in the northern part. There are five piers
at the port, belonging to the Government, the Ocean
Steamship Company, theKoninklijkePaketvaart Maats-
chappij, the Norddeutscher Lloyd, and the Deli Railway
Company, and at all of these, except at the end of the
26 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS No. 83

pier belonging to the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maats-

chappij, there is not less than 12 ft. at low water at
ordinary springs and about 20 ft. at high water.
Dredging was still in progress in December 1913, and
Government shed accommodation was being provided.
The Government dredger Java reported an additional
depth of 4 ft. in the channel at the bar as a result of the
operations of 1913, the cost of the year’s work being
about fls. 240,000. It was hoped to increase the depth
ultimately to 25 ft. Additional wharfage was estimated
to cost fls. 408,000. It was intended to purchase a floating
crane at a cost of fls. 84,000. The aim was to make
Belawan an ocean harbour, the cost being estimated
at fls. 2,040,000.
Benkulen, on the south-west coast, was formerly of
great importance, and a century ago was regarded as
likely to become the principal port in the Dutch East
Indies. It is now of little account, and the harbour
has to a great extent silted up.
Padang (Emmahaven) is the most important harbour
of the west coast, and is the shipping port for the
produce of the Ombilin coal-mines. There are four
piers, besides a coaling pier, three being 278 ft. long
and one 170 ft. long. At low water vessels drawing
26 ft. can moor. The maximum draught allowed is
28 ft. Bunkering is done at the rate of 100 tons per
hour. Pilotage is compulsory. The cost of improve¬
ments now in progress is estimated at fls. 885,000,
of which fls. 136,514 were spent in 1913 and 1914.
Pangkalan-Brandan has a pier about 322 ft. long,
with a depth alongside of 16 ft. at high water and 8 ft.
at low water. The Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij
has also a few wooden piers, with a total length of about
1,300 ft. There is a good anchoring place, and the Bal-
balan river channel is lighted at night by gas buoys.
In 1907 a channel was made about 120 ft. broad, the
Sumatra^ PORTS 27
lowest water in January, February, and March being
12| it. at low-water springs, and in the other months
131 ft. The greatest depth of the high-water springs,
viz. 21 ft. 6 in., occurs in May and June.
Sabang, on the island of Pulu Well, off the north
coast of Sumatra, is principally a coaling station, but
in 1914 held the first place among the ports of the
Dutch East Indies for total volume of traffic. The clear
entrance to the harbour is about 2,460 ft. wide, and
may be safely entered by day and night without the
aid of a pilot. The anchorage is safe, with a bottom of
sand and coral in 15 to 22 fathoms, to within about
328 ft. of the shore. The coal wharf is the property
of the Sabang Bay Harbour and Coal Company.
Steamers go alongside the wharf in smooth water,
and at lowest spring tides there is a depth of 30 ft.
Coaling can continue day and night at an average
rate of 100 tons per hour, and cargoes of coal can he
discharged at the rate of 2,000 to 2,500 tons daily.
The total length of the coaling transport and liquid
fuel wharves is 3,000 ft. Repairs to steamers and
boilers can be executed in the workshop attached to
the 3,000-tons floating dry dock. This workshop is
specially equipped for building dredgers, lighters, &c.,
and for electric welding.
There are five electrically driven coal transporters,
and also one automatic bunkering barge (900 tons),
and a 30-ton floating motor crane. Salvage accom¬
modation is provided. The coal sheds have a capacity
of 75,000 tons. There are godowns for the storage of
tobacco and other merchandise, covering 62,000 square
feet. The freshwater supply is abundant. To improve
the harbour, fls. 91,000 were spent in 1910, fls. 52,000
in 1912, and fls. 252,683 in 1913.
Singkel is fortunately placed on an island in the delta
of the Simpang river. The outlets of the river have
28 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. 83

bars, but the roadstead is good, and dredging has

lately improved the principal entrance.
Ports of minor value are Siboga (Sibolga), Telok Belong,
Priaman, Bengkalis, Oleh Leh (the port of Kuta Raja),
Natal, and Ayer Bangis. They are all small places.
Besides Padang, Palembang, and Belawan, the only
ports in Sumatra open to ships of all nations for im¬
port and export trade are Oleh Leh and Telok Betong.
(ii) Nature and Volume of Trade
The following table shows the number of vessels
entering and clearing at the three principal ports of
Sumatra in 1913 and 1914, and their tonnage:
1913. 1914.
No. Tonnage. No. Tonnage.
Sabang . . .1,184 6,006,000 1,011 5,028,000
Belawan-Deli . . 1,395 1,037,000 1,261 1,103,000
Padang (Emmahaven) 876 3,025,000 853 3,068,000
There is constant steamer communication between
Belawan-Deli and Singapore and Penang. The follow¬
ing is a return of vessels entering the port in 1913 :
Steam Vessels.
Number. Tonnage.
British 171 146,845
Dutch 216 321,508
German 180 191,486
Sailing Vessels.
Number. Tonnage.
British 193 37,442

(b) Shipping Lines

Vessels of the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij
maintain regular services between the principal ports
of Sumatra and the adjacent islands on the one hand,
and the ports of Java and the rest of the Dutch East
Indies and Singapore on the other. With some of the
Sumatra] TRADE; SHIPPING; CABLES; LABOUR 29
smaller ports, such as Siboga, Natal, and Barus, the
company has instituted a weekly service ; at others,
such as Kroe in Benkulen Residency, its vessels call
regularly once a fortnight.
The Rotterdamsche Lloyd and the Nederland Stoom-
vaart Maatscliappij transport tin from Banka under
contract.
Other steamship companies which have interests
in these waters are the Norddeutscher Lloyd and the
Ocean Steamship Company.
(c) Cable and Wireless Communication
Java and Sumatra have been connected by cable
since 1859. The eruption of Krakatau in 1883
destroyed a cable laid between Anjer in Java and
Telok Betong. In 1894 a cable, still in use, was laid
between Anjer and Kalianda. In 1914 a direct cable
(600 miles) was laid from Padang to Batavia.
There is a wireless station at Sabang, which, it is
said, can perceive signals from the wireless station
at Nauen, near Berlin. A wireless station has also been
erected on Engano, which has assisted the develop¬
ment of that island. It is proposed to set up other
wireless installations in Sumatra, as they are less costly
than cables.
(B) INDUSTRY
(1) Labour
(a) Supply of Labour
The chief obstacle to the development of Sumatra
is the dearth of labour. The local supply is supple¬
mented to a great extent by imported labour. Of the
native races the most important for economic purposes
are the Bataks, Achinese, Gayos, and Menangkabau
Malays.
30 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS No. 83

The Bataks (about 250,000) appear to be one of the

most promising races in the islands, though until
recently they have vigorously resisted all foreign
influences. They prefer the highlands, but many have
been induced to work on the coasts as coolies and shop¬
keepers, and have developed inland trade. They show
intelligence and adaptability ; they do admirable work
in wood, copper, and ivory.
The Achinese (about 800,000) have probably a con¬
siderable latent capacity for industry, but are a vicious,
thriftless race. The highland Achinese (Oranrj bar oh)
have been described as fanatical brigands, and those
on the coast (Orang turong) as servile, thievish, treacher¬
ous, and intemperate. Silk-weaving is a considerable'
industry among them, but craftsmanship in Atjeh has
suffered from the effects of the long war.
The Gayos (about 60,000), a highland race akin to
the Bataks, have long been under Achinese domination.
They are industrious and peace-loving, though forced
by the Achinese into opposing the Dutch. Besides
being excellent workers in wood, copper, and ivory,
they weave fine material, plait elaborate mats, and
make good pottery.
The Menangkabau Malays in the Padang highlands
are the most civilized of the natives ; they learn very
quickly where they have the opportunity, and are
excellent traders and agriculturists. They are inclined
to be servile to their superiors and arrogant to their
inferiors, and are generally dishonest, but nowhere
in Sumatra do the agricultural conditions more nearly
resemble those of the most prosperous areas in Java
than among these people.
In the Ombilin coal-mines the labourers are chiefly
native convicts. At the end of 1914 the total number
of labourers was 6,939, of whom 3,223 were actually
convicts, while a large proportion of the remainder were
Sumatra j SUPPLY OP LABOUR 31
ex-convicts, who, having learnt to be useful, contracted
to continue their labour.
Among the imported labourers the Chinese form
the most considerable element. They have practically
all the domestic trade in their hands, and provide the
skilled labour class. They are principally engaged in
the Deli tobacco plantations, the tin-mines of Banka
and Billiton, the timber-felling industries of Sumatra
and Riouw, and the pepper gardens of Riouw and
Banka. One German firm used to bring to the tobacco
plantations every year 25,000 Chinese, a large proportion
of whom returned to China at the expiration of their
three years’ contract. The majority of the Chinese in
Sumatra, however, were born there, but these are not
so strong physically nor so industrious as the immigrant
Chinese. It is probable that the reason why the planting
of tobacco is attended with better results in Sumatra
than in Java is that the Chinese from Amoy and
Swatow who do the work there are more intelligent
than the Malay coolies employed in Java. The
Chinese coolies employed in the tin-mines come from
the dregs of the population of Amoy and Canton.
An increasing number of Javanese labourers emigrate
to Sumatra on contract to work there. In 1909 there
were about 45,000 of such labourers at work in Sumatra
East Coast. The reluctance of the natives to do rail¬
way work led to the oi’ganization in Java of a special
emigration service to supply labourers for work on the
railways under construction in southern Sumatra. In
1914, for the Palembang section of the line, there were
imported 2,901 coolies, and for the Telok Betong
section, 5,716 coolies. The fact that the total number
of hands employed at the end of the year on the
Palembang section was 5,096, and on the Telok Betong
4,113, seems to indicate that in the former the natives
had been induced to take some part in the work; in the
32 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. 83

latter, however, the natives of the Lampong Districts

would take no part.
(b) Labour Conditions
The relations between employers and employees are
governed by Coolie Ordinances, or, in the case of agree¬
ments not made under those Ordinances, by special
laws. In Sumatra, as elsewhere in the Outer Possessions,
no agreement may be made under the Coolie Ordinances
with labourers who belong to the province in which the
estate of the employer is situated. Included among
these are the descendants of Orientals born and brought
up in that province.
Contracts under the Coolie Ordinances are made for
a period of three consecutive years or less, and must be
drawn up in a prescribed form. Oppression is prevented
by the rights and obligations of both parties being
detailed. The number of working hours may not
exceed ten a day, and when the contracts expire, or
earlier if the labourers are unable to perform their
duties, the employers are compelled to send them
back to the place where they were recruited. The
majority of the employers realize that it is to their
interest to treat their labourers well, and some estate
owners even supply them with cinematograph perform¬
ances and native musical instruments. On estates
it is not usual to provide the labourers with food, but
rice, which is their staple diet, is supplied at a fixed
price, so that no profit may be made by the employer.
The Government insists on medical treatment by
a fully-qualified European or native doctor. Many
estates have their own private hospitals, but a more
usual arrangement is for several estates to combine
and build central hospitals, some of which are model
institutions. Employers are fined for breaches of
labour contracts, and employees are fined or imprisoned
Sumatra] LABOUR CONDITIONS 33
for disobedience, inciting to desertion, refusal to work,
fighting, or drunkenness. All labourers hired under
the Coolie Ordinances are registered by the Govern¬
ment.
Contracts with labourers not made under the Coolie
Ordinances may be either verbal or in writing, for
a definite period; the labourers’ names must be
registered, and the registers must always be open to
inspection by Government officials.
The Chinese coolies in the tin-mines are employed
sometimes in kongsis (gangs) under contract and some¬
times under direct Government supervision. The
coolies’ agent, or labour contractor, is paid all the
costs of importing them, including passage-money,
contract, commission, and medical examination, and
the value of the wages at the rate of fls. 1-20 per
diem. The coolie himself receives wages at the rate
of 12s. 6d. a month, with about 4d. a day for food.
He must engage himself for at least a year, and often
remains working at the mines for no other reason
than that he has run so deeply into debt that he
cannot get away. Of the 12,547 labourers who com¬
pleted their contracts in 1913 only about 18 per cent,
returned to China.
Employers are authorized to sign labour contracts
only through the medium of a qualified recruiting
agent, who has to pay all the expenses of medical
examination, transport, &c. In 1908 the cost of
recruiting amounted to about fls. 65 per head, but
in 1914 it had increased to fls. 125 or more. In 1914
in the whole of the Outer Possessions, but mainly in
Sumatra, there were 400 estates working with contract
labourers, and the number of labour contracts registered
was 133,203. Of these contracts 72,397 were made with
native inhabitants, 59,012 with Chinese, and 1,794
with labourers from Ceylon, Bengal, and elsewhere.
D
34 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. 83

(2) Agriculture
(a) Products of Commercial Value
Vegetable Products.—Besides the numerous varieties
of forest produce, such as wild rubber, gums, rattans,
and bamboos, the island furnishes many valuable crops.
Agriculture may be divided roughly into European and
native. The European planters direct their efforts
almost exclusively to obtaining products in bulk for the
European market (e. g. rubber, tobacco, tea, coffee,
copra) ; the native farmer mainly devotes himself to
satisfying his own needs by growing rice, maize, sugar¬
cane, areca palms, and vegetables, but he is beginning
also to grow crops intended for the market and only to
a small extent destined for native consumption, such
as cotton, kapok, gambier, pepper, and nutmegs.
Areca (or Pinang) palms are second in importance
only to the coco-nut among the palm-trees of Sumatra.
The natives grow this palm everywhere for the sake of
its fruit, the betel-nut. Under the name of areca-nut
the young fruit is used as a remedy for dysentery,
and is given to cattle as a protection against cold. But
the chief consumption in the East is due to the almost
universal habit of chewing the ripe nuts. The wood
is used for the manufacture of various articles, and
the leaves for colouring fishing-nets and lines. The
principal exporting areas are Atjeh and Palembang.
In 1913 Atjeh exported 12,091 tons, of which 11,565
tons went outside the Dutch East Indies, while Palem¬
bang exported 4,649 tons, of which 3,837 went outside.
The nuts are sent chiefly to Singapore and Penang,
but also in considerable quantities to Germany and
America.
Cinchona is grown in Sumatra West Coast. In June
1914 four estates in that province were planted with it,
containing 110 bouws (1 bouw = If acres) planted with
Sumatra] VEGETABLE PRODUCTS ,35
cinchona alone, and 100 bouws planted with cinchona
mixed with other crops.
Coco-nut 'palms are grown extensively in several
provinces of Sumatra. The figures for 1917 were as
follows :
Bearing. Not Bearing. Total.
Sumatra West Coast . 2,009,585 1,355,760 3,365,345
Sumatra East Coast . 1,254,821 1,868,573 3,123,394
Riouw and Dependencies 2,704,348 3,045,794 5,750,142
Lampong Districts . 876,131 489,895 1,366,026
Tapanuli . . . 548,069 610,343 1,158,412
Coco-nut plantations have been established by
Europeans chiefly in Riouw, Sumatra West and East
Coast, and Atjeh. There is a certain amount of
inter-insular trade in coco-nuts ; thus Banka and
Dependencies exported 289,000 nuts in 1913 to Jambi,
and the Lampong Districts sent 672,000 nuts to Java.
Including exports to other islands in 1913, Sumatra
West Coast exported 15,473 tons of copra, Sumatra
East Coast 5,404, and Atjeh and Dependencies 3,909.
There is also some export of coco-nut oil from Sumatra
West Coast. The manufacture of brushes and yarn
from coco-nut fibre has not made much progress in the
Dutch East Indies.
In 1913 there were altogether in Sumatra about
63,000 acres planted with coco-nut palms alone, and
about 67,000 planted with coco-nut palms and other
crops. In Sumatra East Coast there were 14,258 acres
belonging to European companies. Native cultivation
has been much hindered by the Chinese middlemen, who
systematically rob the native by making advances on
the coco-nut crop while on the trees, thus obtaining
the nuts at far too low a price. One of the results of
the system is that the native devotes little care to the
condition of the product, since it is only the middleman
who benefits. The native has also an interest in drying
his copra badly, and adding “foreign substances, in
 36 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS j>0.s3
order to keep up the weight. At one time Padang copra
obtained such a bad reputation through being taken
from unripe fruit and badly dried, generally over a fire,
that there was practically no market for it. Organization
is needed, for at present if one merchant refuses copra
because the quality is bad, there is always another
ready to buy it because of the contracts which he has
to fulfil.
Coffee was grown by forced cultivation till 1908,
when the Government gave it up. In 1913 there were
30,000 acres in Sumatra East Coast planted with Robusta
coffee and 6,000 with Liberia. Most of this coffee was
interplanted with permanent crops such as rubber.
The Sumatra crop of 1913-14 consisted of 36,817
piculs (1 picul = 133-33 lb. avoirdupois) of Robusta,
49,875 of Java (Arabica) coffee, and 7,709 of Liberia.
It was estimated that in 1914 there were about 419,000
acres planted with coffee interplanted with other
crops, and 27,500 planted with coffee exclusively.
The East Coast product is said to be the best. The"
Government has never succeeded in producing coffee
crops in Sumatra as plentiful or as good as those in
Java; it has been gradually abandoning its planta¬
tions, letting the land upon long leases, as in Java.
Sumatra does not export its coffee direct, but sends it
to the markets of Java.
Cotton is grown mainly in Palembang. The native
crop is short fibred and of small commercial value.
Measures have been taken by the Government in
Sumatra, as in Bali and Lombok, to introduce foreign
varieties, yielding more valuable crops. The long
staple Bourbon cotton has been introduced and appears
suitable for extensive planting in young rubber planta¬
tions. But as yet cotton cultivation by Europeans is
insignificant and most of the cotton produced is grown
by native farmers, generally in rotation with rice. The
Sumatra] VEGETABLE PRODUCTS 37
raw cotton exports from Palembang increased from
6,000 tons in 1904 to 7,900 tons in 1913. No cleaned
cotton was exported in 1904, but 411 tons were exported
in 1913, of which 380 tons went direct to foreign
countries, the bulk going to Germany. There are
several large ginning plants in Palembang, notably that
of the Jambi Company.
As America tends to consume more and more of her
cotton crops at home, placing only the surplus on the
world’s markets, there is a strong movement in the
Dutch East Indies to stimulate cotton cultivation,
but the native cotton will not be of much importance
for the European market while it continues to be
shipped raw ; in this condition it can find purchasers
only in China and Japan. Machinery for removing
the seeds to make the raw cotton fit for the European
market is too costly for the native grower. If large
installations are made in the principal centres of cotton
cultivation, the problem may be solved. But costly
factories can be erected only if there is a certainty of
constant supplies of cotton. Such factories would,
however, encourage the grower, making him indepen¬
dent of the Chinese middleman, and enabling him to
obtain better prices than he can hope for now, while
oil and cattle food could be made as by-products.
The preparation of the seeds in the Dutch East Indies
will be an important economy, in view of the very
high freights for cotton seed. At present seed is
exported from Palembang only ; in 1913 the export
was about 500 tons (value fls. 41,000), which was
almost all shipped to England, while 12 tons of seed
of the best available varieties of cotton were sent to
various parts of the Outer Possessions.
Gambler is largely exported to Java. In 1913 6,689
tons were exported from Riouw and Dependencies.
Much of it goes via Singapore.
38 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS No. 83

Ground-nuts are greatly increasing in importance.

They are popular as a ‘ second crop for they make
very small demands upon the soil and require but little
irrigation, while the necessary disturbance of the earth
prepares the ground for the cultivation of rice. The
exports from Sumatra West Coast began in 1910,
and the agricultural adviser at Fort de Kock reported
them as amounting to 6,024 piculs in that year, and to
11,350 piculs in 1912. The native farmers in Palembang
have also been induced to turn their attention to
ground-nuts, largely by means of official trial planta¬
tions, and have taken up the new industry with such
zeal that it is not improbable that it may supersede
cotton cultivation in Palembang.
Kapok is not cultivated systematically to any large
extent. Most of the product is supplied by the trees
along the roads on European plantations and the
supporting plants in pepper gardens. In the hills,
however, there is a rich volcanic soil which is eminently
suitable for the cultivation of kapok in conjunction
with maize and other food-stuffs. Most of the exports
go to Holland. In 1913 Atjeh exported 141 tons and
Palembang 325 tons. The oil, obtained by primitive
native methods of crushing, was mainly used in soap
factories, a much smaller part being used for human
consumption, while the residue of the crushed seed
was made into cattle-cake. A good deal of kapok seed
is wasted because the natives have not the costly
machinery necessary for separating the seeds from the
fibre.
Maize is a popular food in most of the Outer Posses¬
sions, especially when the rice crop is unsatisfactory.
It is grown in several areas, especially in the uplands,
but is exclusively consumed by the native poxaulation.
Rice is the chief product of native agriculture and
the chief food of the people. It is grown in all the
 VEGETABLE PRODUCTS 39

provinces of Sumatra, but the ‘ wet ’ system of cultiva¬

tion is found only in the Padang district and to a small
extent in Atjeh and Palembang. The only Residency
that exports more than it imports is Sumatra West
Coast. In 1913 the exports and imports of husked rice
were as follows :
Exports. Imports.
Metric Tons. Metric Tons.
Sumatra West Coast . 2,892 1,055
Tapanuli ... 35 6,111
Benkulen ... — 2,331
Lampong Districts . . 8 4,439
Palembang . . . 2,112 10,092
Jambi .... 249 2,951
Sumatra East Coast . 365 99,586
Atjeh .... 65 12,369
Riouw .... 1,471 12,250
Banka . . . . — 27,655
Billiton . . . . 140 550
Total . . 7,337 179,389

Rubber developed in importance enormously a few

years ago. At the end of 1911 it was estimated that
in Sumatra East Coast there were 150,000 acres under
rubber, and in 1912 about 55,000 acres more were
planted. During these two years the Hollandsche
Amerikaansche Plantage Maatschappij, registered in
Holland but controlled from the United States, alone
planted 27,500 acres with rubber. At the end of 1913
there were 217,300 acres in Sumatra East Coast
planted with Hevea rubber, and about 6,000 with Ficus.
On the east coast of Atjeh there were 8,000 acres under
Hevea. At Langsar in Atjeh the Government controls
a rubber estate, of which 468 bouws were under cultiva¬
tion in June 1914. At that date there were altogether
213 rubber estates in Sumatra, of which 184 were
in Sumatra East Coast, 17 in Atjeh and Dependencies,
and 12 in the Lampong Districts. Sumatra East Coast
40 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [*>.83

alone is expected to produce 29,000 tons of rubber in

1919.
The total export of plantation rubber from Sumatra
East Coast in 1916 was about 8,209 metric tons as com¬
pared with 7,109 metric tons in 1915. The destinations
were as follows :
1915. 1916.
Metric tons. Metric tons.
United States 2,037 4,170
United Kingdom . 3,591 2,818
Straits Settlements 524 1,197
Netherlands . 946 14
Italy . 11 —

Canada — 10

Spices.—There has been a tendency for European

enterprise to abandon the cultivation of spices, but
between 1904 and 1913 there was a decided increase in
their cultivation by natives in Sumatra West Coast,
Tapanuli, and Atjeh. The export of nutmegs in 1913
from Sumatra, including what was exported to other
islands of the Dutch East Indies, was 400 tons of
nut meg and 69 of mace. Sumatra West Coast exported
262 tons in that year to all destinations. Of cloves,
which are mainly important in the Moluccas, about
43 tons were exported from Benkulen in 1913, and
small quantities from Tapanuli and Sumatra West
Coast. Pepper is exported largely to other islands of
the Dutch East Indies, the black pepper of the Lam-
pong Districts in particular being exported to Java.
Of the 5,000 tons of white pepper exported in 1913,
Banka and Dependencies exported 2,779 tons, while of
the 19,000 tons of black pepper exported in the same
year the Lampong Districts exported 11,537 tons and
Atjeh 3,020 tons.
Tea was first cultivated in Sumatra East Coast in
1912, when about 2,000 acres were planted ; in 1913
about 6,000 acres had been planted, and in 1917 the
Sumatra] AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 41
area under cultivation was more than 12,350 acres,
of which, however, only 4,200 were producing. The
mountainous districts of Sumatra are particularly
suited to the cultivation of tea, and the best results are
obtained in a moist atmosphere at an altitude of
between 1,000 and 2,500 ft. Sumatra teas are mostly
sold in England. The first tea crops were shippedin 1914.
In 1916 the total quantity produced was 3,377,800 lb.
Tobacco is grown much more extensively in Sumatra
than in any other of the Outer Possessions. The seed of
*the Sumatra tobacco came originally from Java, but the
quality of the tobacco is superior owing to the advan¬
tages given it by the climate and soil and the greater
intelligence of the coolies who grow it. Java tobacco
is less expensive to prepare and more uniform in quality,
but the best Sumatra tobacco has a thin silky-looking
leaf of such excellent colour and quality that the J ava
planters have never equalled it ; it is second only to
that of Havana for the manufacture of cigars. The
natives produce also a large quantity of JcrossoJc, a coarse
native tobacco.
The Deli Maatschappij was formed in 1869 for
tobacco cultivation in the district of Deli. It has
a capital of £750,000. An experimental station has
been established at Medan for the purpose of giving
scientific advice to tobacco-growers. In 1913 99
plantations in Sumatra produced 19,933,000 kg., but
in the following year 123 plantations produced only
5,351,000 kg. In 1913 the Deli exports were 25,777
tons, valued at fls. 69,598,000. Besides the increasing
cultivation of tobacco in Deli a great deal of tobacco
is produced in the south and west of Sumatra,
Live-stock.—The most useful domestic animal in
Sumatra is the buffalo. In 1913 there were 323,280
buffaloes, 292,200 cattle, and 61,300 horses. Cattle,
buffaloes, horns, and hides are exported. The non-
 42 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No.83
Mohammedans breed pigs, particularly in Nias and
Tapanuli. Roe-deer are abundant, and the flesh is
largely eaten, generally dried.

(6) Methods of Cultivation

In the Dutch East Indies it is hardly too much to
say that the degree of civilization attained by a people
can be measured by the extent to which they have
carried the cultivation of rice, which is regarded essen¬
tially as a product of civilized men. Although in
Sumatra rice is generally grown, it is difficult to per-*
suade the natives to improve their antiquated methods,
to which they cling with fanatical attachment and
religious fervour. So the ‘ wet ’ system of cultivation
is found only in certain districts, where it has been
inherited from Hindu-Javanese settlers.
In 1905 a Department of Agriculture was created
in the Dutch East Indies. Its chief business is the
promotion of native agriculture. In 1908 an assistant
inspector of native agriculture in the Outer Possessions
was appointed, and in 1910 an agricultural adviser for
Atjeh and two others for the rest of Sumatra. There
are now two agricultural instructors for Sumatra West
Coast and Benkulen, and two agricultural advisers
for Atjeh and Palembang.
The relation of imports to exports in rice shows how
great is the need of systematic Government assistance.
It is only by constant persuasion, and especially
after observation of experimental rice-fields cultivated
on modern methods, that the natives can be induced
to increase their output. Courses of lectures are given
to the natives, and some improvement is gradually
taking place. Better methods of planting, the use
of better seed, and improvements in irrigation would
greatly increase the production. At present the only
province where the exports of rice exceed the imports
Sumatra] CULTIVATION; FORESTRY 43
is Sumatra West Coast, where the rapid rivers on the
plateau in the middle of the Barisan Mountains are
used for irrigation by means of wheels.
Instruction is also given in the planting of ‘ second
crops ’ such as beans, maize, cassava, potatoes, &c., for
native consumption, and oil-seeds, ground-nuts, tobacco,
&c., for commercial purposes. The natives greatly prefer
to cultivate perennial crops for sale, and to buy their
own food with the money thus obtained.
(c) Forestry
Sumatra is enormously rich in forests, which have
been very little exploited. The forests begin at a much
lower altitude than in Java, and contain oaks and
chestnuts, teak, sandal, and ebony, besides gum trees
(especially camphor, benzoin, and damar) and palms
in profusion. Timber produced in Palembang has been
extensively used in the construction of the railway
in the south of Sumatra.
Four districts of forest administration were estab¬
lished in Sumatra in 1913. Before that date there was
no forest administration outside Java and Madura.
The forest staff of the Outer Possessions in 1914
numbered 52, the majority being employed in Sumatra.
They were engaged in a preliminary investigation of
the position, composition, and condition of the woods.
Exploitation may be undertaken only after a special
forest concession has been obtained, which may be
withdrawn if exploitation does not begin within a year
after it has been granted. A great many concessions
have been applied for, but few have been worked.
In order to stop the wasteful methods of felling prac¬
tised by the natives of Palembang regulations have
been drawn up which include the levying of a tax.
Owing to the large size of some of the tracts of land
required on long leases for various purposes in the
44 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. 83

Lampong Districts, it has been found necessary to

reserve a number of forest areas where there are wells.
The timber trade of Singapore is almost entirely
dependent on exports from the mainland of Sumatra
and the Riouw-Lingga Archipelago. This trade is called
the ‘ Panglong Exploitation’ (Panglong = Kong si, a
Chinese gang) and Chinese are employed on the felling.
The Panglong Exploitation comprised, in 1914,
93 places where timber was worked into beams, 37
places at which firewood was cut, 10 at which planks
were sawn, and 71 at which charcoal was prepared.
The timber is usually exported in beams to Singapore,
where it is sawn into planks before re-exportation.
The total revenue received by the Sumatra Govern¬
ment from timber taxation in 1914 was fls. 100,435,
as compared with fls. 130,883 in 1913. In the island
of Simalu, north-west of Sumatra, two large forest
concessions were granted in 1914.

(d) Land Tenure

The numerous sultans are allowed to grant con¬
cessions, subject to the approval of the Government.
The general conditions of land tenure described in
Java, No. 82 of this series, apply also to areas
under direct Government administration in Sumatra.
The Government claims ownership of all the soil and
subsoil, but, as a very large part of the island is not
even surveyed, official control is necessarily only partial.
The Dutch Government will not grant concessions of
land directly to foreigners, though Dutch concession-
holders are allowed to transfer their estates.

(3) Fisheries
Though fish are even more plentiful off the coasts of
Sumatra than off the coasts of Java, the main business
of the Sumatra fisheries is to supply purely local
Sumatra] TENURE; FISHERIES; MINERALS 45
demands. Ragan Si Api-Api, at the month of the
River Rekan in Sumatra East Coast, has become
a centre of export, but the river is silting up, thus
making it more and more difficult to fish with stationary
nets from the land. However, the production of dried
and salted fish at that centre in 1913 was no less than
20,400 tons, of which a large proportion was con¬
sumed in Sumatra East Coast. Bengkalis exports
a great deal of dried fish. Sharks’ fins are sold to the
Chinese, and the prepared roe of the Indian shad or
trubuk, as well as its dried flesh, is extensively exported.
Mackerel, tunny, and ray abound in the seas, and carp,
barbel, and eels in the rivers. Crabs and crayfish are
abundant.
(4) Minerals
Sumatra is immensely rich in minerals, and it is
probable that some of its most valuable deposits have
not yet even been tapped.
Coal.—The Ombilin coal-mines near Sawah Lunto
in the highlands of Padang were opened up in 1892.
About 5,320,475 metric tons were extracted between
1892 and 1914. The mines are worked by the Govern¬
ment. The field is about 10 km. by 9 km., and has been
estimated to contain about 200,000,000 tons ; some
seams are as much as 23 metres thick. The coal is
shining black, clean-looking, and in general reputation
superior to all the other Dutch East Indian kinds.
Its burning qualities are good, and it ignites easily
with a bright flame ; it produces very little ash and
residue, and gives off little smoke and soot.
The greater part of the production is sold to private
buyers, who took 80 per cent, of the total output in
1913, and 76 per cent, of the total output in 1914.
The Government uses nearly all the remainder. Coal
for private buyers is delivered at Emmahaven (con¬
nected with Ombilin by a railway 156 km. long), or
 46 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS No. 83

is shipped to Singapore, Surabaya, Macassar, and

Tanjong Priok (Batavia).
The output has grown rapidly and consistently. In
1892, the first year of working, it was 1,758 metric
tons ; in 1893 it was already 46,075 tons ; in 1903 it
amounted to 201,292 tons, and in 1909 to 325,000.
In 1914 the output was larger than ever, as all external
works of preparation were suspended, and efforts were
concentrated on the actual working of the coal, for
which the demand exceeded the supply. The total,
443,141 metric tons, was a very large proportion of
the 609,888 tons supplied that year by the principal
coal-mines of the Dutch East Indies.
The financial position of the Ombilin mines can be
best shown by the following table for the years 1912-14 :
1912. 1913. 1914.
Production (metric tons) . . . 407,452 411,071 443,141
Receipts (florins) .... 3,614,208 3,678,138 4,104’689
Working expenses (florins) . . . 3,276,068 3,309,051 3,604,954
Net profit after deducting share paid to
the Sumatra Railway (florins) . . 338,140 369,087 338,909

The sum of fls. 160,826 was written off from the net
profits for interest for the first time in 1914.
There is coal also in the Residency of Benkulen,
70 miles inland from Benkulen, where an Australian
Company has a concession through a Dutch Company.
In the Residency of Palembang the Lematang
Exploratie Syndicaat has been working a concession
since 1896, but the output has not exceeded 1,000 tons
in any year. The Dutch East Indian Government is
now obtaining good steam coal in the same Residency
at Tanjung, near Muara Enim, on the new South
Sumatra Railway. This coal is said to be superior
even to that obtained at Ombilin. In March 1918 the
production was 2,500 metric tons, and in May probably
5,000, while it is hoped soon to increase the production
to 20,000 metric tons monthly.
Sumatra J MINERALS 47
At Indragiri the Tjenako Steenkolen Maatschappij
holds a concession, but has produced little coal. There
are also coal-fields in the Lampong Districts, at Tapanuli
Bay (Atjeli), and at Tapan, near Padang, but very little
coal has yet been produced from them.
Copper is said to he plentiful in the valley of the
Paningalian, Sumatra West Coast, but has not been
worked.
Gold is believed to have been worked in Sumatra
and the island of Nias before the Christian era, long-
neglected workings having been found by the Portu¬
guese at the end of the fifteenth century. Tradition
has for centuries identified Mount Talamau (or Ophir)
with the site of King Solomon’s mines. In 1914 the
production of gold in Sumatra was more than 2,000
kg., and in 1915 had risen to 3,764 kg.
Gold in Sumatra occurs in vein deposits, Tertiary
gravel beds, and alluvial and beach deposits. The
natives wash the river sediment in the rivers of Atjeh,
Tapanuli, Jambi, and Palembang, and also work the
Tertiary beds in a primitive way by means of adits,
but the more important gold-mining companies exclu¬
sively work the vein deposits. A new gold-mining
centre is now being actively opened up in the neigh¬
bourhood of Padang.
The principal gold-working mines of Sumatra are those
controlled by the firm of Erdmann & Sielcken in the
Residency of Benkulen. These are the Rejang Lebong,
capital fls. 2,500,000, the Ketahun with equal capital,
and the Simau, capital fls. 1,875,000. In 1914 the pro¬
duction of gold from these three mines was 2,108 kg.,
or 60 per cent, of the total production of the Dutch
East Indies, and that of silver 9,910 kg., or more than
30 per cent, of the total production of the Dutch East
Indies. In 1911 the value of the. gold produced by the
Rejang Lebong mine was fis. 4,280,375 of that produced
48 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. 83

by the Ketahun mine fls. 813,725, and of that produced

by the Simau mine fls. 1,306,800.
The area known as the Rejang Lebong district lies
about 50 miles north of the town and harbour of
Benkulen. The veins sometimes extend a length of
4 km., and water-power can be made use of everywhere
for the working of the ore. Silver-mining is carried on
conjointly with gold-mining, silver always being found
with gold in the East Indies, in the average proportion
of three to one. A century ago the Rejang Lebong
mine could be reached only by a path over steep
mountains and through dense jungle, but now there
is a road on which motor-cars can run, and the
journey from Benkulen, which once took three weeks,
is made in three hours.
The Rejang Lebong mine declared a dividend in
1908 of 100 per cent., and subsequent dividends were :
Per cent. Per cent.
1909 85 1913 15
1910 90 1914 15
1911 50 1915 15
1912 25 1916 15

The Ketahun mine paid no dividends between 1912

and 1916. Poorer ore has had to be worked recently.
The first dividend in 1903 was 16 per cent, on the
ordinary and 25 per cent, on the preference shares.
The Simau mine declared its first dividend of 20 per cent,
in 1912, and in the four following years paid 20 per cent.,
30 per cent., 30 per cent., and 17 per cent.
Iron is worked by Europeans in the Lampong Districts
to a small extent, and is also found in Tapanuli, Sumatra
West Coast, and Benkulen.
Manganese and tungsten ores exist in Sumatra and
in the island of Banka, but neither they nor such lead
ores as occur have ever been extensively worked.
Petroleum.—The first concession granted in the
Sumatra] MINERALS 49
petroleum industry in the Dutch East Indies was that
granted in 1883 at Telaga Said in the district of
Langkat, in the north of Sumatra, and taken over in
1890 by the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company. It is
about seven miles from Pangkalan-Brandan. This
company also bored wells at Tamiang, and in the
Palembang Residency, notably at Muara Enim. All
the Sumatra petroleum wells are now controlled by the
Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij, which was in¬
corporated in Holland in 1907 and has a capital of
£13,200,000. It combines the interests of the Royal
Dutch Petroleum Company and the Shell Transport
and Trading Company, which hold respectively three
and two of the five shares into which its capital is
divided.
The exports from the Sumatra East Coast in 1912
were 43,698,484 gallons of kerosene shipped to the
Straits Settlements, China, British India, British East
Africa, and Australia, 38,249,511 gallons of benzene
shipped to the Straits Settlements, Australia, and South
Africa, and 1,423,230 gallons of liquid fuel (residue)
shipped to the Straits Settlements and British India.
The production of the principal petroleum districts
in Sumatra about 1910 was estimated to be as follows :
Name of Concession. District. Metric tons.
Muara Enim . Palembang Residency 112,000
Karang Ringin „ 14,000
Banjarsari „ 21,000
Babat „ ' 115,000
Suban Jerigi . „ 105,000
Lematang „ 25,000
Telaga Said . Sumatra East Coast . 10,000
Bulutelang „ 135,000
Peureula Atjeh . . . 230,000
In 1907 the Palembang Residency produced
72,010,000 gallons of petroleum, Sumatra East Coast
30,605,000 gallons, and Atjeh 54,430,000 gallons.
E
 50 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [Ho. 83

In 1913 the production of the oil-wells in the north

of Sumatra was recorded as 290,097 tons, and that of
the wells in the south as 231,850 tons.
The Jambi oilfields are now to be developed by the
Jambi Petroleum Company, which was established in
the spring of 1918 in Holland with a capital of fis.
5,000,000, of which the Colonial Government holds
a large proportion. The colony will therefore receive
a large share of the profits, and has power to take over
the crude petroleum products at fixed prices.
The benzene obtained from the Sumatra wells is of
the finest quality, and is shipped in large quantities
to Europe. Formerly, when the demand for benzene
was small, Sumatra oil was less esteemed, for generally
it is of much lighter quality than Borneo oil, producing
a higher percentage of benzene, kerosene, and lubri¬
cating oil.
Tin is not worked in Sumatra, though it is found
on the west coast and at Siak; but tin-mining is the
chief industry of the islands of Banka, Billiton, and
Singkep. Tin has been worked in Banka for 200 years ;
the Government owns the workings. Since 1820, when
the Government placed the industry under European
supervision, Banka tin has mainfained a high reputa¬
tion for purity. Since 1852 the industry has been
directed by mining engineers who have qualified in
Europe. In recent years the tin has undergone a chemi¬
cal test before export, so that the Banka stamp is now
a guarantee of purity.
There are practically no tin veins in Banka. The
ore is worked almost exclusively in open pits, excavated
in the alluvial deposits of rivers and the alluvial
strata on the slopes of small hills. They are mostly
situated on the north and east coasts. The strata are
generally from 1 decimetre to 4 decimetres in thickness,
though here and there they are several metres thick.
 Sumatra MINERALS 51
After the ore has been washed it is generally smelted
in a local smelting-house by means of a simple blast
furnace. In each of three districts there is a central
smelting-liouse, but it is proposed eventually to establish
a single central smelting-house for all the ore produced in
Banka.
During the war increasingly large quantities of tin
from Banka were exported to the United States after
trans-shipment at Batavia. Before the war Banka tin
was sold almost exclusively by auction at Amsterdam
and Rotterdam in alternate months. Only small
quantities were sold by auction in Batavia, or sup¬
plied to Government services in the Netherlands and
the Dutch East Indies. Banka tin is shipped and sold
by the Nederlandsche Handelmaatschappij, who act
as commission agents for the Dutch East Indian
Government, and it is transported, under contract,
by the Rotterdamsche Lloyd and the Nederland
Stoomvaart Maatschappij.
It is estimated that the production of tin in Banka in
1917 was about 240,000 piculs. In the years 1911 to
1913 the production was as follows :
1911. 1912. 1913.
Number of mines .... 366 376 362
Average number of labourers . 21,292 22,296 21,436
Production in pieuls 250,496 244,749 255,035
Metric tons sold in Holland 15,358 16,329 15,390
Cost price (florins) per picul, includ¬
ing cost of freight and selling 39 43 45
Average sale price (florins) in Holland
per picul ..... 142 154 152
Net receipts (florins) for tin sold 33,967,966 39,387,606 36,566,674
Net profit (florins) 25,940,397 30,323,600 25,219,074

Chinese coolies are employed to work the tin, some¬

times in Icongsis under contract and sometimes under
direct Government supervision. In the year ending
March 1914, 6-06 per cent, of the total production of tin
was obtained under direct Government supervision.
Modern machinery has been introduced in the mines
52 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [Uo. 83

directly supervised by the Government, and has of

course enabled the managers to achieve equal results
with much less manual labour.
In Billiton, though the ore is mostly found in open
pits, as in Banka, yet there are also tin veins rich
enough to be worked. In May 1914 there were 47
mines in Billiton. Tin-mining is carried on by a com¬
pany called the Billiton Maatschappij. It is farmed out
to kongsis of Chinese, who are supervised by Europeans
and work at fixed prices settled in advance. Formerly
the Rajahs of Palembang used to compel the natives
of the island to work the tin, which was shipped to
Singapore to be smelted. The Billiton Maatschappij
received their, original concession in 1852, and it was
extended in 1892 for a further period of 25 years ;
they are bound by the terms of their charter to sur¬
render five-eighths of their net profits to the Govern¬
ment, and the value of the Government’s share in 1916
was estimated at fls. 1,000,000. In the year 1907-8
Billiton produced about 4,000 tons from 73 mines,
in which the average number of workers was 11,128 ;
a small amount of tin was also produced by natives.
The production of the Billiton mines in 1910-13 was :
1910. 1911. 1912. 1913.
Kilograms . . . 4,541,802 4,147,708 4,453,174 4,614,495
Share of profits paid to
Government (florins) . 2,286,961 1,858,775 1,938,062 819,184

Billiton tin is sold by public auction in Batavia, and

the largest buyers for many years before the war were
Maintz & Company, a firm wdth head-quarters in Paris,
and the International Trading Company of Rotterdam.
In Singkep' the tin is worked mainly in open pits,
but in the hills the working is also carried on with
horizontal adits. Near Singkep tin ore is found at the
bottom of the sea, and is being worked by the use of
steam dredgers. The mud brought to the surface is
Sumatra] MINERALS; MANUFACTURES 53
washed on hoard, and the ore is then landed at Singa¬
pore for smelting. The Singkep Company operates
under the terms of a concession granted in 1889 by the
Sultan of Lingga. The production of the Singkep
mines in 1910-13 was :
1910. 1911. 1912. 1913.
Kg. Kg. Kg. Kg.
405,154 869,016 635,091 671,592
The total production of the tin-mines in Banka,
Billiton, and Singkep was :
Metric tons.
1910- 11 20,885
1911- 12 19,607
1912- 13 20,219
1913- 14 21,156
1914- 15 20,526
In addition to the minerals already named, alum,
naphtha, sulphur, and saltpetre abound near the vol¬
canoes, and antimony, nickel, cobalt, zinc, quicksilver,
bismuth, and arsenic are known to exist. There is
some marble in Sumatra, but it is reported to be of
too soft a quality for building purposes.
(5) Manufactures
A British engineering company, the United Engineers,
Limited, has established itself at Medan with a fully
equipped plant for the construction and repair of
machines for rubber factories and others. It meets
with vigorous Dutch and German competition.
There is a large Portland cement factory at Padang,
producing cement of excellent quality. Bricks and
tiles are made at Medan and elsewhere. Ice and
mineral waters are made at Medan, Padang, and Kuta
Raja. Vegetable oil factories have recently been
established at Padang and Medan.
The native manufactures are local and unimportant.
54 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [iTo. 83

They include basket-work, rattan furniture, iron

weapons, pottery, and clothing. There is a great deal
of hand-loom weaving by women, who chiefly use
imported yarn.
(6) Power
Hydro-electric installations in Sumatra are in the
experimental stage. The inconstancy of the flow of
water in most of the rivers is a serious obstacle, but
in the regions of the mines the rainfall is sufficiently
abundant to ensure an ample supply of water for
mining operations at all times.

(C) COMMERCE
(1) Domestic
(a) Principal Branches of Trade
The principal areas of domestic trade in Sumatra
are Sumatra West Coast (which comprises only a
portion of the west coast of the island), Sumatra East
Coast, including Medan and the intensively cultivated
areas north and south of it, and the southern area, in
which Palembang is the most important settlement.
Local markets are held in all the chief towns and
settlements every few days, and there is much barter¬
ing. The trade of the interior of Sumatra is chiefly
carried on by native praus, which bring down to the
coast gambier, rattans, gums, resins, and other produce.
Small coasting vessels carry the produce from port to
port, and the vessels of the Koninklijke Paketvaart
Maatschappij call fortnightly at the principal coast
towns.
In the domestic commerce of Sumatra West Coast,
the railway which starts at Pajokumbo (Pajakombo) in
the Padang highlands and connects at Padang-Panjang
with a branch to the Ombilin coal-fields is a very
Sumatra] DOMESTIC COMMERCE; TOWNS, ETC. 55
important factor. Coffee and other crops are brought
to Padang by this railway, and there is a busy native
market held weekly at Pajokumbo, to which crowded
trains travel from Fort de Kock, 10 miles distant.
The domestic trade is largely in the hands of Chinese,
but some of the native tribes make good traders. The
industries in petroleum, tobacco, rubber, and tea have
only recently been established in Sumatra, and are
entirely directed by Europeans.
(b) Towns and Markets
Barns was formerly the principal export centre on
the coast of Tapanuli for rattans, benzoin, and camphor.
Both Barus and Singkel were superseded by Siboga,
when Government control of the hinterland of Siboga
enabled Bataks bringing their produce from the high¬
lands to reach it in safety. It is a distributing centre
for fish and imported rice.
Bengkalis, the port of the island of that name, has
a considerable trade in timber and fish.
Benkulen is on the west coast. Sir Stamford Raffles
always believed that he could make it one of the
most prosperous cities in the East Indies, but partly,
no doubt, on account of its unhealthy site and the silting
up of the old harbour it has failed to fulfil these expecta¬
tions. The country around Benkulen produces rice,
tobacco, pepper, gambier, and rattan. The population
is about 8,000; in 1905 there were 163 Europeans and
802 Chinese.
Fort de Kock is the capital of the highlands of
Padang. The non-military population is less than
2,500. This town is the principal sanatorium for
Padang Europeans, as it is about 3,000 ft. above the
sea. Native hawkers sell beadwork, native jewellery
and arms, and native brocades and other fabrics. The
shops, including the numerous ‘ portret ’ studios, are
 56 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS No. 83

nearly all owned by Chinese. The town has a weekly

market, inferior in size and interest to that of Pajo-
kumbo.
Kuta Bara, in Tapanuli, was a great city under the
Hindus, and ranked next to Padang as a market for
benzoin and camphor in the seventeenth century, but
its trade was killed by the Achinese occupation in the
eighteenth century.
Kuta Raja has now a small population, but pepper
cultivation is still important, and in time the town is
likely to become as populous and prosperous as it used
to be in the days when Atjeh exported annually 18,000
tons of pepper, which represented nearly two-thirds
of the world’s consumption. Its port is Oleh Leh
(population under 1,000), with which it is connected
by a steam tramway.
Medan lies on the Deli at its confluence with the
Babura. Until fifty years ago its site was surrounded
by jungle. It is a modern city in appearance, though
it contains a large Chinese quarter. The port of
Belawan-Deli (about 40 miles distant) is connected
with it by railway.
Natal is a small j)ort on the Natal river in Tapanuli.
Fishing is one of the chief local industries and there
is a Government salt warehouse. There is direct trade
with Singapore in native produce.
Padang is on the west coast. The bulk of the coffee,
rubber, tobacco, coqira, gums, hides, and timber of the
central districts passes through it. (For details of the
port, see above, p. 26.)
Padang Sidimpuan, the capital of the Residency of
Tapanuli, is an active commercial centre. Its port is
Siboga, with which it is connected by a good road.
Pajolcumbo (Pajakcnnbo), the terminus of the railway, 10
miles beyond Fort de Kock, is surrounded by luxuriant
coffee plantations. Its population is under 2,000. It
Sumatra TOWNS AND MARKETS 57
is chiefly famous for its weekly native market; this
has a bird section, comprising edible, plumage, singing,
and fighting birds, a butchers’ section, where whole
carcasses of buffaloes are trussed up, and cuts carved
from them on demand, and a large area given up to
foreign manufactures, including chromos, table-covers
and draperies, and cheap Dutch porcelain. Candle¬
sticks and other articles made by the natives from old
kerosene tins, native jewellery and beadwork, and
native fabrics of all kinds, including gold thread
brocade of some artistic value, are profusely displayed.
The region is inhabited by Menangkabau Malays, the
most civilized of the natives of Sumatra, who cultivate
rice with skill and industry.
Palembang stands on the Musi river, at a point
where it is more than 1,000 ft. wide. The houses rest
on large rafts, and the Chinese and Arab merchants
who live in them take them up into the interior of the
country when they go to purchase goods.
Re.ngat, the ancient capital of the kingdom of
Riouw, which had large territories on the mainland of
Sumatra, is now almost a dead city. Its population is
only a few -hundreds, but small steamers maintain a
service between it and Singapore, though the Kwantan
river is seriously obstructed by a huge delta. Naviga¬
tion has been improved by dredging.
Siboga (Sibolga), in Tapanuli Bay, is the principal
port of Tapanuli. It is the main outlet for the agri¬
cultural and forest products of the interior of Tapanuli,
and is also the chief mart of the natives. There is
a large domestic trade in fish, and there is also trade in
rice, sago, cattle, and native fabrics. Many of the
shopkeepers and coolies are Bataks.
Though coffee and other crops can be successfully
grown, Siboga is notoriously unhealthy, and the imme¬
diate hinterland is not regarded as productive, but
58 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [*<>.83
that is mainly because the forests have not been much
reduced. Trade is largely by barter.
Singled, on an island in the delta of the Simpang river,
was under the Achinese an important town, but has
declined since its occupation by the Dutch (1840).
It is an important mart for natives of the highlands.
Telok Betong, the capital of the Lampong Districts,
lies at the head of a bay, with deep water. Most of the
trade is in the hands of Chinese. Coffee, pepper, and
rattans are the chief exports.
(c) Organizations to promote Trade and Commerce
In 1911 the Department of Agriculture, created
in 1905, took over the responsibility for trade and
industry, and has since been called the Department of
Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce.
There is a Chamber of Commerce at Padang, founded
fifty years ago. It is an official institution with five
members, appointed to advise the Government. Medan
has no official Chamber of Commerce, but both Medan
and Padang have active commercial unions of old
standing, which compile local statistics, petition the
Government to remove obstacles to trade, and so forth.
(2) Foreign
Sumatra’s share in the trade of the Outer Possessions1
is preponderant. Taking an average of recent years,
the value of the import trade of Sumatra has been
about 70-8 per cent, of the whole import trade
of the Outer Possessions, and that of the export
trade about 64-4 per cent, of the total for the Outer
Possessions. The foreign trade of Sumatra East Coast
is the principal component of Sumatra’s trade as
a whole. In 1915 and 1916 that district did about
36-8 per cent, of the import trade of the Outer
1 See above, p. 16.
Sumatra] FOREIGN COMMERCE 59
Possessions, and about 36-7 per cent, of the export
trade.
Statistics for the trade of Sumatra are incomplete
and contradictory. The figures most easily obtainable
are those for the Outer Possessions as a whole. Where
export and import statistics are separately compiled
for Sumatra, they often relate only to Sumatra East
Coast, with or without the port of Sabang.
In 1916 the values of the imports and exports of
Sumatra were as follows :
Imports. Exports.
Florins. Florins.
Sumatra East Coast ..... 42,600,000 126,300,000
Rest of Sumatra (including Riouw, Banka, and
Billiton) ...... 32,300,000 95,500,000

Total. 74,900,000 221,800,000

Principal Exports.—The quantities of the principal

articles exported from Sumatra East Coast in the years
1910 to 1912 were as follows (figures for values are not
available) :
1910. 1911. 1912.
Benzene gallons 33,583,224 35,377,400 38,249,511
Petroleum. „ 47,500,192 54,604,800 45,121,714
Black pepper tons 2,250 1,353 1,673
Candles „ 1,522 1,071 173
Coffee „ 1,123 1,120 527
Copra „ 3,797 4,264 4,043
Fish, salted or dried „ 6,090 5,264 2,878
Gambier . „ 1,931 1,981 2,560
Guttapercha „ 53 43 46
Paraffin „ 2,155* 1,521
Rattans . „ 2,349 4,542 3,300
Rubber „ 539 813 1,807
Tapioca flour 521 398 933
Tobacco . bales of 234,133 280,704 282,920
78 kg.
Horses and ponies number 809 713 342

Principal Imports.—(a) East Coast. The principal

articles imported into Sumatra East Coast in the years
1910 to 1912 were as follows (figures for values are only
available in a few cases) :
60 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS |>.83

In Value. 1910. 1911. 1912.

£ £ £
Cotton goods 200,605 202,834 225,073
Drugs and medicines 19,946 23,950 26,255
Haberdashery 21,108 18,166 18,766
Iron and steel goods 110,072 83,626 102,546
Machinery and implements 68,057 94,157 100,251
Manures 25,176 25,123 40,722
Soap . 12,760 16,288 18,816
Sulphuric acid 18,968 19,788 1,642
Tin plates 106,598 113,980 78,239
Yarns . 24,207 30,156 36,968
In Quantity.
Beer kg; 136,373 152,195 211,877
Bicycles . number 232 240 647
Biscuits lb. 237,278 155,844 221,979
Butter „ 49,962 54,799 68,314
Cement barrels 18,247 27,364 30,749
Flour tons 2,953 3,486 3,824
Matches, European gross boxes 17,622 4,857 —
„ Japanese „ 143,176 96,326 111,779
Motor-cars number 13 13 18
Rice tons 71,196 81,052 89,475
Sewing machines number 1,107 1,592 1,557
Tea lb. 504,545 604,427 617,389

(b) Sabang. A large proportion of the imports mto

the port of Sabang are trans-shipped to Sumatra East
Coast, but do not appear in the returns of Sumatra
East Coast. The principal imports into Sabang for
the years 1910-12 were as follows :
In Value. 1910. 1911. 1912.
£ £ £
Cotton goods .... 67,921 93,119 97,363
Drugs and medicines 6,979 8,748 14,386
Haberdashery .... 13,137 13,487 15,457
Iron and steel goods 52,343 88,445 143,395
Machinery and implements 22,252 78,734 127,278
Manures ..... 63,495 61,920 59,700
Soap . . . . . 2,482 2,211 2,682
.Sulphuric acid .... — 1,399 18,796
Yarns ...... 2,096 4,206 . 3,072
In Quantity.
Beer . kg.' 93,600 105,400 104,932
Bicycles number 1,164 1,282 2,812
Biscuits lb. 147,582 161,088 240,890
Butter in tins „ 261,343 258,181 341,682
Cement barrels 30,566 21,106 30,668
Flour . tons 141 32 45
Matches (Japanese) gross boxes 117,503 316,610 283,654
Motor-cars . number 63 26 61
Rice . . . tons 7,243 1,646 1,391
Sewing machines . number 1,010 1,326 1,996
Tea lb. 6,294 536 —
Sumatra] FOREIGN COMMERCE ; FINANCE 61
Cotton Imports.—The values of the imports of cotton
manufactures of all kinds into Sumatra ports in 1913
were as follows:
£
Belawan-Deli 231,000
Padang . 390.600
Palembang 173.600
Other ports 161,960

The consumption of European yarns had increased

nearly fourfold since 1904 in the whole of the Outer
Possessions. In 1913 about 39 per cent, of the total
imports of cotton goods at Penang, Straits Settlements,
valued at £765,000, were re-exported, principally to
Sumatra, and a less but very considerable quantity
was re-exported from Singapore to Sumatra. Large
quantities of cotton yarn are imported for the native
hand-loom weaving industries in Sumatra and the
Dutch East Indies generally. Before the war the grey
yarn came chiefly from India and England, bleached
yarn from England, and coloured yarn, principally red,
from Bombay, Italy, England, Germany, and Holland.

(D) FINANCE
(1) Public Finance
The finances of the Dutch East Indies as a whole
are dealt with in Java, No. 82 of this series.
(2) Currency
Dutch currency alone is legal in all the Outer Posses¬
sions, as in Java. In some Residencies, however, there
is still a great deal of bartering.
(3) Banking
The Java Bank has branches at Medan, Padang,
Palembang, Asahan, Tanjung Pura, Tanjung Balei, and
 62 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [no.ss
Bengkalis. The Nederlandsche Handelmaatschappij
has branches at Medan, Padang, Palembang, and Kuta
Raja. Besides these, the Chartered Bank of India,
Australia, and China has branches at Medan and
Padang, the Nederlandsch-Indische Handelsbank a
branch at Medan, the Nederlandsch-Indische Escompto-
Maatschappij a branch at Padang, and the Mercantile
Bank of India, Ltd., a branch at Padang.
The establishment of credit banks has been of great
assistance to the natives, as it has made them less
dependent upon Chinese middlemen.

(4) Influence of Foreign Capital

Recently the Dutch have shown more inclination to
welcome the introduction of foreign capital into their
industries, provided always that the Dutch East Indian
Government retain control of all their territory.
At the outbreak of war Germans were more numerous
than British in Sumatra, as in Java. Firms like
Giintzel & Schumacher (a company formed in 1905)
are strongly rooted in Sumatra, though their business
has been almost at a standstill since 1914. Before the
war the firm held the agencies not only of the Nord-
deutscher Lloyd and Hamburg-Amerika lines, but of
the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the German
Kali Syndikat, the Langkat Petroleum Works, and
many English, Dutch, and German insurance com¬
panies.
British capital in Sumatra is almost entirely invested
in tobacco, rubber, and tea. In Langkat, north of Deli,
there are many British residents, and the principal
British enterprise is the United Langkat Plantations
Company. In 1911 nearly 10 per cent, of the tobacco
crop of Sumatra East Coast was produced by British
companies, and over 30 per cent, was shipped in
Sumatra] FOREIGN CAPITAL 63

British vessels. Rubber is a still more important

field for British capital. Before the great rubber
boom of 1909 there were already several British
rubber companies established in Sumatra, including
the Anglo-Sumatra Rubber Company, founded in
1907 with a capital of £90,000, the Sumatra-Deli
Rubber Estates, founded in 1907 with a capital of
£240,000, and the United Langkat Plantations Com¬
pany, mentioned above. This last was originally
founded, in 1889, for the cultivation not of rubber
but of tobacco, with a capital of £450,000. The
Asahan Rubber Estates was founded in 1910 with
a capital of £250,000 ; the Insulinde (Sumatra) Rubber
and Tobacco Estates in 1910, with a capital of
£100,000 ; and the Mendaris (Sumatra) Rubber and
Produce Estates in 1911, with a capital of £300,000.
All these companies, and others of a similar kind,
are doing well, and just before the war British com¬
panies owned about 36,000 acres of Hevea rubber,
about half the total acreage then under Hevea rubber
in Sumatra. The issued capital of British companies
invested in rubber at the end of 1913 in Sumatra East
Coast was about £6,000,000.
Tea is another British interest. At the end of 1913
about 6,000 acres had been planted in Sumatra East
Coast, and of these plantations all except some 500
acres had been started with British capital.
As already mentioned (see p. 53), a British engineering
company, the United Engineers, Limited, has estab¬
lished itself at Medan, with a fully-equipped plant for
the construction and repair of machines for rubber
and other factories. An Australian company, through
a Dutch company, has a concession for coal-mining in
Benkulen, 70 miles from the port of that name (see
p. 46).
The official return of the chief sources of the capital
64 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [wo.ss
invested in tobacco, rubber, and tea in Sumatra at
the end of 1914 was as follows :
Tobacco. Rubber and Tea. Totals.
Thousands of Thousands of Thousands of
Florins. Florins. Florins.
Dutch 44,401 46,000 90,401
Dutch Bast. Indies 5,000 5,000
British 9,432 60,000 69,432
French 3,000 • 3,000
German 2,000 2,000
Belgian 1,800 1,800
Swiss 600 600

(E) GENERAL REMARKS

It will be clear from what has been already said, that
Sumatra possesses considerable vegetable and mineral
resources. The chief obstacle to its prosperity is the
dearth of labour. The population is very scanty, and
probably, owing to internecine wars, no greater than
it was several centuries ago. The island is three times
the size of Java, but its population is not more than
one-sixth that of Java. The natives, who are gradu¬
ally being trained in habits of industry, now show less
distaste for unfamiliar forms of work, and several
tribes are proving themselves adepts in newly-acquired
arts. Industry and ambition are hampered by the
fact that every village is practically self-supporting,
but the demand for the luxuries of civilization is
increasing, and acts as a spur.
Extended communications throughout the island
ought to secure a very rapid increase in prosperity.
The bulk of the interior of Sumatra has yet to be
opened up, and for this purpose the strategic railway
in Atjeh will be available, now that the Achinese have
apparently been brought into subjection.
Tobacco and rubber are the two products that of
late have contributed most to the prosperity of Sumatra.
Prices of tobacco have advanced so much during the
war that the Sumatra crop of 1916 realized over
Sumatra] GENERAL REMARKS 65
£5,000,000, compared with about £4,000,000 in the
best previous years. Between January 3 and Decem¬
ber 30, 1916, the shares of the Deli Maatschappij rose
from fls. 467 to fls. 506, those of the Deli-Batavia
Maatschappij from fls. 342 to fls. 411, and those of
the Arendsburg (Sumatra) Maatschappij from fls. 509
to fls. 607. But the Dutch authorities and Dutch
colonials generally fear that after the war Europe will
be too much impoverished to consume as much tobacco
as formerly.
It is not probable, however, that the demand for rubber
will diminish, except in the unlikely event of synthetic
rubber ousting the natural product. The abundant
rainfall of Sumatra and its constant high temperature
make it peculiarly suitable for rubber cultivation. In
one respect it has a decided advantage over Java, for
in that island there can never be equally large areas
available for rubber. Not only is Java very much
smaller, but the population is far larger, and a large
part of the cultivable area of Java must be kept
available for rice-fields and for other food crops.
It has been estimated that the Dutch East Indies
should now be producing about one-quarter of the
world’s rubber supply. Between 1912 and 1916 the
world’s production of rubber increased fivefold, but
consumption kept pace with it, and in 1916 the’ cost
price of rubber was still, according to a Dutch estimate,
only about one-third of the market quotation. The
Sumatra crop of 1917 went mainly to America, where
the demand for rubber has been increasing to*an un¬
equalled degree, mainly owing to the enormous develop¬
ment of the motor-car industry. Out of the 266 rubber
estates of the Outer Possessions in 1914, no less than
213 were in Sumatra, so that it may be safely antici¬
pated that a large proportion of the increased prosperity
attending the trade will fall to this island.
66 WEST COAST ISLANDS [no.83

ISLANDS OFF THE WEST COAST

Simalu (Simeulu), 54 miles by 14 miles, is hilly, rising
to 1,870 ft., and covered with forest. It is surrounded hy
reefs, and the short rivers are difficult of access. There
is some coal, but it is not worked. The coast-line is
cultivated.
Banjalc Islands.—The largest of these 66 islands is
Great Banjak. They have been little explored, and
the inhabitants are savages. Coco-nut palms are the
chief agricultural product. The islands are reputed to
be haunted.
Nias has an area of about 2,796 square miles, and is
the largest island off the west coast of Sumatra, but
it is almost entirely uncivilized. The population is
not less than 250,000. Earthquakes are frequent and
violent. The climate is good, and there are plenty of
coco-nut palms on the south and south-east coasts. The
existence of inferior coal and some iron, copper, and
gold is reported. Landing is dangerous. The natives
grow rice, maize, and sago, as well as coco-nuts. The
island has lost all its valuable old forests by fire in the
frequent native wars, and the new growths are of little
value.
The Niassese resemble the Bataks in many respects.
They have been maltreated by Europeans for centuries,
and the women, who, with those of Minahasa in
Celebes, share the reputation of being the best-looking
in the archipelago, were always in the past much
sought after as slaves. The natives are intelligent,
and show industrial capacity in weaving, dyeing, and
colouring mats and other materials, and working in
copper. Inland the funerals of their chiefs are still
accompanied with human sacrifices. Head-hunting is
even now practised to some extent. Those Niassese
Sumatra] ISLANDS (NIAS, BATU, ETC.) 67
who have emigrated to the mainland have proved
capable labourers and artisans.
Batu Islands.—There are three large islands, in¬
habited on the coast only, and 48 small ones. Coco¬
nut palms are abundant. The islands are hilly. Two
or three have excellent timber, but the natives are
unwilling to do the work necessary for its exploitation.
Mentawei Islands are about 70 in number alto¬
gether. They are subject to earthquakes. Siberut,
the largest, is about 57 miles long. They are very little
known, especially on the western side. The natives
live on coco-nuts, on the pith of the sago palm, and
on fish.
Engano (Enggano).—This group consists of one large
island and six small ones, with a total area of about
276 square miles. Engano Island, the largest, rises to
1,180 ft., and all the islands have abundant timber.
The trees grow right down to the sea. As on all the
other islands off the west coast of Sumatra, the produc¬
tion of copra is now the chief industry. The inhabi¬
tants are only a few hundreds, and their numbers have
much decreased in the last fifty years.
Banka has an area of4,446 square miles, and is covered
with thick tropical vegetation, though the valuable
forests of heavy timber have for the most part dis¬
appeared owing to mining and agricultural operations,
and the present growths are commercially unimportant.
The greatest length of the island is about 100 miles.
Klabat Bay, on the north, running 19 miles into the
land, is the best anchorage. The highest point of the
island is only 2,300 ft., and the rivers carry little
water, so that there is often scarcity of water for the
tin-mines.
There are many Chinese in Banka. They do all the
work of the tin-mines, and cultivate pepper in increas¬
ing quantities. The natives of Banka are miserably
68 WEST COAST ISLANDS [No. 83

poor. They are afraid of the Chinese and foreigners

generally, and live in semi-savage conditions, cultivat¬
ing coco-nut palms, areca-nut trees, potatoes, and
bananas. There is little hunting and fishing.
The native population, consisting chiefly of Malays
of Sumatran ancestry, is under 100,000. The total
population of the island in 1912 was about 114,000.
Muntok is the capital, and had in 1905 a population
of 4,699, including 155 Europeans and 1,051 Chinese.
The climate of Banka is remarkably variable : the
temperature reaches 100° F. (38° C.) in the shade on the
plains, while in the mountains it may fall as low as
39° or 41° F. (4 or 5° C.) during the night. The island
is notoriously unhealthy.
Billiton (Blitung) has an area of 1,860 square
miles. Its population numbered 36,860 in 1905, in¬
cluding 2,520 Chinese, 136 Europeans, and 16 Arabs.
The population is now probably about 60,000. The
capital, Tanjong Pandang, in the west of the island
at the mouth of a short river, the Tjarutjup, had in
1905 a population of over 23,000, including 6,135
Chinese and 88 Europeans. The highest hill in Billiton
is only 1,673 ft. above sea-level. The coasts are, on
the whole, low and monotonous, with many marshes.
All the streams are short. As in Banka, the natives
do not work in the mines. They weave mats, make
pewter vessels, and export a little copra, rattans, gums,
resins, wood for furniture, and tortoise-shell. Billiton
is under the direct influence of the monsoons, and the
climate is very damp. There are 135 small adjacent
islands.
The Riouw-Lingga Archipelago consists of the Kari-
mun, Batam, Bintang, Lingga, and Singkep groups.
These islands form part of a granite prolongation of
the Malay Peninsula, and are covered with undulating
hills. The highest point is the peak of Lingga, which
Sumatra] RIOUW-LINGGA ARCHIPELAGO 69
rises 4,400 ft. above the sea. Riouw, or Rio, in Bintang,
the largest of the islands, is a free port, established in
September 1828 to compete with Singapore ; but this
tardy enterprise of the Dutch was a dismal failure.
The actual port, seat of a Residency, and capital of
the island of Bintang, is called Tanjung Pinang, and
had in 1905 a population of 4,088, including 2,408
Chinese and 128 Europeans. It is 47 miles south-east
by ea<st from Singapore.
The rivers in all the islands are insignificant. The
climate of the archipelago is tempered by abundant
rains and the surrounding sea. Teak, resinous trees,
palms, and sugar-cane grow abundantly. Sugar-cane
flourishes here better than on the mainland of Sumatra,
owing to the drier soil. The total population of the
archipelago is about 200,000. At Pulu Sambu, miles
south-south-east from Singapore, the Bataafsche Petro¬
leum Maatschappij has five wharves, with depths
alongside varying from 12 to 30 ft. at low water.
The Riouw Residency also includes for administrative
purposes the unimportant Anambas, Tambelan, and
Natuna groups off the north-west coast of Borneo, which
are referred to in Dutch Borneo, No. 84 of this series.
These groups of islands are now producing considerable
quantities of copra, and in 1918 the Insulinde Oliefa-
brieken made contracts with the natives for copra sup¬
plies, and the Japanese South Sea Trading Company
were contemplating sending a 4,000-ton steamer
monthly to Taremba, in the Anambas group, and to
other ports, to load copra.
70 [No. 83

APPENDIX
Convention between Great Britain and the Nether¬
lands, for the Settlement of their Mutual Rela¬
tions in the Island of Sumatra, November 2, 1871.
(See Hertslet, L., A Complete Collection of Treaties, &c., vol. xiii, p. 665.)

Art. I. Her Britannic Majesty desists from all objections

against the extension of the Netherland dominion in any part
of the Island of Sumatra, and consequently from the reserve in
that respect contained in the notes exchanged by the Nether¬
land and British Plenipotentiaries at the conclusion of the
Treaty of the 17th of March, 1824.
II. His Majesty the King of Netherlands declares that,
in the Kingdom of Siak Srie Indrapoora and its dependencies,
as it is defined in the compact concluded by the Netherland-
Indian Government with that Kingdom on the 1st of February
1858, the trade of British subjects and the British navigation
shall continue to enjoy all the rights and advantages that are
or may be granted there to the trade of Netherland subjects
and to the Netherland navigation ; and further, that the same
assimilation shall be granted to the trade of British subjects
and to the British navigation in any other native State of the
Island of Sumatra, that may hereafter become dependent on
the Crown of the Netherlands, provided always that British
subjects conform themselves to the laws and regulations of the
Netherland Government.
III. The stipulations of the preceding Article shall not in¬
terfere with the distinction established by the Netherland-
Indian laws and regulations between individuals of Western
and individuals of Eastern extraction, nor with the application
of the stipulations of the Convention of the 27th of March,
1851.
Sumatra] 71

AUTHORITIES
Historical
A full list of the principal Historical Authorities will be
found in Java, No. 82 of this series.

Economic
British Diplomatic and Consular Reports, Annual Series :
No. 5083. Netherlands East Indies, Trade, dec., 1912.
No. 5325. Netherlands East Indies, Trade, &c., 1913.
Cotton Goods in the Dutch East Indies. (United States Depart¬
ment of Commerce, Special Agents’ Series, No. 120.)
Encyclopaedic van Nederlandsch-Indie. [1st ed., edited by
P. A. van der Lith.] 4 vols. The Hague, Leiden. [1895—
1905.]
- [2nd ed., edited by J. Paulus.] The Hague, Leiden,
1917, &c.
Handboek voor Cultuur en Handelscmdernemingen in Neder¬
landsch-Indie. Amsterdam, 1917.
In- en Uitvoer, Handels-Ecanomisch Weekblad voor Nederland
en Kolmien. The Hague, 1876, &c.
Jaarboek van Nederlandsch-Indie. Batavia, 1916.
Regeerings Almanak voor Nederlandsch-Indie. Batavia, 1916.
Brown, J. M. The Dutch East. London, 1914.
Cabaton, A. Les Indies neerlandaises. Paris, 1910 (Translated
as Java, Sumatra, and the other Islands of the Dutch East
Indies. London, 1911).
Walcott, A. S. Java and her Neighbours. New York and
London,1914.
Wright, A. Twentieth Century Impressions of Netherlands
India. London, 1909.
 9

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