Rice was exported both to England and China, during the provisional administration of the British government on Java.
[65] The rupees are throughout calculated at thirty stivers each.
[66] If current report is to be credited, the fate of this unfortunate prince has been at last sealed; and the undisputed successor of "that great and puissant king," to whom Queen Elizabeth gave an assurance, "that far from ever having cause to repent an intercourse with the English, he should have a most real and just cause to rejoice at it;" and to whom, on the part of the English nation, she gave a pledge, "that her promises were faithful, because the conduct of her subjects would be prudent and sincere"—has been obliged to abdicate his throne in favour of the son of a Pinang merchant!
[67] "We, the Batavians," says Mr. Hogendorp, "or rather our good and heroic ancestors, conquered these countries by force of arms. The Javans, who are immediately under our jurisdiction, acknowledge the Batavian nation or the East India Company as their lord or sovereign; but by so doing, although they resigned their political rights, they still retained their civil and personal liberty, at least their right thereto. But what relation do the Chinese bear to us, and what are the rights they can require from us? As foreigners and itinerant traders, this may be easily defined, but as inhabitants and settlers a further inquiry becomes necessary. To political rights, or to a share in the government and revenues of the country, they have not the slightest claim, and as inhabitants, they cannot even claim the enjoyment of the same civil or personal privileges as the Javans: in the first place, because they are not natives of the country; secondly, because they take no interest in the welfare or preservation of the country; thirdly, because they only endeavour to derive their gain at the expense of the Europeans as well as the Javans, in order to return to China with the profits they make, or at least to send as much of it as possible to their families there; fourthly, because they have no regard whatever to the welfare of our country, and would be quite indifferent to the English, or any other nation, driving us from Java. For these reasons, I conceive that the Chinese have not the same right as the Javans to the freedom or privilege of citizens. The basis of all civil communities is incontrovertibly the sacrifice of a part of the liberty, rights, and even property of each individual, for the enjoyment and security of the remainder; and this remainder, when fixed, forms the civil freedom and privileges of such a community. Not only are the Chinese quite exempt from this sacrifice, but they are also, by the corruption of the Batavian government, much less burdened than all the other inhabitants, even the Europeans, and are besides favoured with considerable privileges and exclusive means of gaining wealth. These are facts, which no one who is acquainted with Batavia can or will contradict.
"Were impartial justice to be adhered to, the Chinese would be looked upon and treated only as foreigners, who are suffered and admitted, as long as it is not injurious to our interest and safety, to settle in our country and under our protection, seeking in trade or agriculture their means of subsistence and emolument, and to whom, on account of their numbers, it is allowed by our indulgence, as long as they conduct themselves well and peaceably, to preserve and practise their own manners and customs, and even in particular places, to dwell together under their own chiefs.
"All the Chinese who come to Java every year in such vast numbers, in the junks from China, or in other vessels from neighbouring places, are the refuse of their nation, and principally from a province, the natives of which are considered by their own countrymen the worst of the whole empire. These people come half naked and poor in the extreme: they add, therefore, so many more to the population, which must be supported by the country, to which however they contribute nothing. It must be acknowledged, they are, particularly at first, very active, industrious, inventive, and frugal. At Batavia they exercise almost every useful art, trade, and handicraft, they cultivate and produce the best vegetables, they work the sugar-mills, and appear therefore to be uncommonly useful and perhaps indispensable.
"The trade in the interior, wholesale and retail: the trade to sea, to the opposite shores, and elsewhere in the Straits, is entirely in their hands, and is almost wholly carried on by them. In all considerable places on the coast, as well as in the interior of Java, they have distinct towns, called kampongs, where they live under their own chiefs, and follow their own customs and manners. Finally, they have exclusively all the farms of the government taxes and revenues, both in the Company's districts and in the dominions of the native princes: by which means they are complete masters of all trade, internal and foreign; and are enabled to make monopolies in every thing, which they do accordingly in the most extensive manner. The burthens they have to bear are, on the contrary, very trifling; in fact, almost nothing: especially because they are exempt from all feudal and personal services, which are so oppressive to the Javans.
"To what can this impropriety and injustice be ascribed but to the government of Batavia? The Chinese have obtained all these favours and privileges by making considerable presents, and thus sacrificing the interests of the Company and the nation to their selfishness and avarice. These arbitrary governors of the East Indies have made the Chinese possessors of Java: for I undertake to prove, that the wealth of the Chinese on that island amounts to ten times as much as the property of all the Europeans added together, and that their profits every year bear the same proportion.
"With reference to their numbers and character, I am of opinion that the following resolutions regarding them might be adopted: That the Chinese on Java should be allowed to remain, and even that further arrivals of them should be permitted; care being taken, however, to keep them in good order, that they should be prevented from injuring the Javans, either by force or fraud: that they be not more favoured than others: that they should contribute a proportionate and equitable share towards the revenues of the state for their enjoyment of the rights of citizenship, in the same manner as other inhabitants, which can best be effected by means of a capitation tax. Uncultivated and uninhabited lands might then be granted or sold to the Chinese, as well as to the natives, to establish sugar-mills or plantations. By these means, every practicable use and advantage would be derived from them, as an industrious and active people, without doing any injury to the other inhabitants, and especially the Javans as natives of the country: and because they have no interest in our national welfare, they should be made, as an equitable compensation, to pay a higher rate to the state. In other respects, they may be completely subjected to our laws, and may be treated with kindness as well as justice.
"The number of Chinese on Java is much greater than is generally imagined, and annually more of them arrive by thousands. By connexions with the native women, their families increase in inconceivable numbers. These half-Chinese retain the language, religion, manners, customs, and even the dress of their fathers; and are generally called Pernakans, although that name is also frequently applied exclusively to those Chinese who embrace the Mahometan religion; and these, as a separate class of people, have their own chiefs, or sometimes confound themselves with the Javans, and can only be distinguished by their lighter complexion."