The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

196 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.hood aud the traditional prejudices of race, should ever do morethan copy a few of the least beneficial customs of civilization,without some stronger stimulus than precept, very imperfectlybacked by examijle.If we are satisfied that we are right in assuming the governmentover a savage race, and occupying their country ; and ifwe further consider it our duty to do what we can to improveour rude subjects and raise them up towards our own level, wemust not be too much afraid of the cry of " despotism " and" slavery," but must use the authority we jDOssess to inducethem to do work, which they may not altogether like, but whichwe know to be an indispensable step in their moral and physicaladvancement. The Dutch have shown much good policy in themeans by which they have done this. They have in most casesupheld and strengthened the authority of the native chiefs, towhom the people have been accustomed to render a voluntaryobedience ; and by acting on the intelligence and self-interestof these chiefs, have brought about changes in the manners andcustoms of the people, which would have excited ill-feeling andperliaps revolt had they been directly enforced by foreigners.In cai'rying out such a system, much depends upon thecharacter of the peojDle ; and the system which succeeds admirablyin one i^lace could only be very' partially worked out inanother. In ^linahasa the natural docility and intelligence ofthe race have made tlieir progress rapid ; and how importantthis is, is well illustrated by the fact, that in the immediatevicinity of the town of Menado are a tribe called Banteks, of amucli less tractable disposition, who have hitherto resisted allefforts of the Dutch Government to induce them to adopt anysystematic cultivation. These remain in a ruder condition,but engage themselves willingly as occasional porters andlabourers, for which their greater strength and activity welladapt them.No doubt the system hei^e sketched seems open to seriousobjection. It is to a certain extent despotic, and intex'fereswith free trade, free labour, and free communication. A nativecannot leave his Aillage without a pass, and cannot engageliimself to any merchant or captain without a Governmentpermit. The coffee has all to be sold to Government, at lesstiian half the price that tlie local merchant would give for it,and he consequently cries out loudly against "monoply" and"oppression." He forgets, however, that tlie coffee plantationswere established by the Government at great outlay of capitaland skill ; that it gives free education to tlie people, and thatthe monojDoly is in lieu of taxation. He forgets that the producthe wants to purchase and make a i:>rofit by, is the creation ofthe Government, without whom the i:)eop]e would still besa'V'ages. He knows very well that free trade would, as its firsti-esult, lead to tlie imj^ortation of whole cargoes of an'ack, whichwould be carried over the country and exchanged for coffee.