CULTUURSTELSEL

Cultuurstelsel: translation

   Cultivation system in the Netherlands East Indies (especially Java) initiated by Governor-General Johannes van den Bosch in 1820. It was based on the following measures: In stead of delivering one-fifth of the total harvest to the government, the village (dessah) was obliged to till 20 percent of the land with a profitable product (for the European market) assigned by the govern ment and to pay its harvest as taxation. No rent was due for this land, and the government assumed responsibility for the risk of crop fail ure. In practice, this system was rather oppressive as officials would often demand more than 20 percent, or would collect rent anyway. Former East Indian officer Eduard Douwes Dekker (pseudonym Multatuli) wrote a denunciation of this system (Max Havelaar, 1860), which was gradually abolished by the Dutch Parliament and government in the 1860s.