The Malay Archipelago [pp. 479-495]

494 The M~alay Arc/zipelago. [July,
'tivated by the villagers under the direction of the chief. Certain days are appointed for weeding and gathering, and the
whole working population are summoned by the sound of a
gong. An account is kept of the day's work of each family,
and the produce is divided accordingly. The price is fixed by
Government. This system has been called a "paternal despotism," and has features which seem strict, and wanting in that
freedom which we imagine is essential. But for a people just
emerging from a savage state, it has its advantages. The people were well cared for, better fed, housed, educated, and
apparently making more progress than in any other place in
the Archipelago. There seems to have been a combination of
causes-the natives falling in with the system, and the officers
of Government and the missionaries doing their work wellwhich made this place one of the most favorable examples of
the Dutch system. It is worth studying in seeking to provide
a system which shall reach the wants and elevate the condition
of savage races.
These islands-even those forming the west portion of the
Archipelago-though largely occupied by the Dutch, are not
all held by them. Part of Borneo was for a time governed by
an Englishman, Sir James Brooke. Other portions are held
by native chiefs. There are also Dutch settlements on the
island. Sumatra, until within a few years, was governed al most entirely by native chiefs. Some European government
would be favorable to missionary work, but it undoubtedly
might be pushed into regions not yet occupied by the Dutch
Government, or by German missionaries. Without attempt ing at all to interfere with their work, some contact with other
methods of evangelization would, we are assured, lead to
healthier results.
Because two men were killed on Sumatra years ago, and be cause the mission among the Dyaks of Borneo was attended
with difficulty and little success, or even because China offers
a larger field for missionary labor, we see no reason why islands,
some of which are the largest in the world, and which are
capable of sustaining a dense population, and which produce
almost spontaneously every variety of tropical fruit and vege tation, should be left without any effort to evangelize them
.except by the missionaries from Holland, or the few who may