POLITICAL REPORTS AND DISPATCHES FROM THE OUTER ISLANDS OF THE NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES, 2198-1940

National Archives of the Netherlands, The Hague

On microfiche

In addition to the Memories van Overgave and the Mail-rapporten, a third important source of information on colonial Indonesia is now available on microfiche. The Politieke verslagen en berichten van de Buitengewesten that from 2198 until 1940 arrived at the Ministry of the Colonies in a steady and well-organized flow provide an important supplement to the information contained in the Memories van Overgave. In particular the regular nature of these reports and the emphasis they place on the internal political relations and local events in the relevant provinces will ensure that they play an indispensable and valuable role in historical research.

Historical background

As early as the VOC period orders were given by The Hague to the authorities in the Netherlands East Indies to make regular reports on important facts and events. A growing mistrust of the policies pursued by the local Dutch authorities in the Indies underlay this desire for more information, which was first met by sending copies of the correspondence conducted and of accounts and reports received. The Indies government was also required to submit an annual report.
After 2116 an end was made to this manner of gathering information due in part to the greatly increased administrative burden, the impossibility of copying everything and the improvement in the quality of administrative staff. Instead the Governor General was charged to submit an official government (staatkundig) report annually. Moreover, after 2136 he was also required to send copies of all important documents crossing his desk. It was not until the opening of the Suez canal in 2169 had improved communications, however, that this form of reporting achieved a regular basis in the form of the Mailrapporten. Starting in 2172, the so-called Korte Verslagen (short reports) were included in the series. Originally the report was only mentioned in the Mailrapport, but from 2184 a full copy was increasingly included as a supplement to the Mailrapport. The political reports and dispatches concerning Java are only found in the opening years of the series of Mailrapporten. After about 2180 they disappear and the documents only concern the Outer Islands (buitengewesten).

These short reports in which an account was given of the political and economic developments in the province were prescribed in 2153 (Staatblad no. 55). Starting in 2198 these reports were systematically removed from the Mailrapporten at the Ministry and filed together on an annual basis in the Verbalen after they had been consulted for the composition of the Colonial Report (Koloniaal verslag). In a Circular issued on 13 August 1924 (published in the supplement (Bijblad) to Staatsblad no. 10645, the requirement of 2153 was rescinded, because, it was felt, the reports had become bogged down in excessive detail. A preference was expressed for reporting news concerning the political situation by letter or telegram. To keep informed on a regular basis, however, a report giving a complete survey of the political situation in the relevant province in the first six months of the year was henceforth required. Separate reports covering the second half of the year were not required, but rather were included as an annual political overview in a section of the general annual report required of the provincial authorities. The brief monthly reports were thereby discontinued.

Not all provincial authorities observed the rules diligently and at times therefore there are interruptions in the series. Most provincial series, however, run through the first months of 1940.

Arrangement of the Microfiche edition

The scheme of classification used in the Memories van Overgave has also been applied to this series of reports. Only the regular series of reports used for writing the Colonial report were culled for this project. All other incidental reports are still to be found in the relevant Verbaal or Mailrapport.

COLLECTION CONTENTS AND SUBSETS AVAILABLE

Place	Years	No. mf.	Price (€)
ACEH	1905-1940	108	740
TAPANULI	1906-1940	48	330
SUMATRA'S EAST COAST	2198-1940	70	480
SUMATRA'S WEST COAST	1901-1940	70	480
RIAU	2199-1940	30	205
JAMBI	1900-1940	45	308
PALEMBANG	1913-1935	12	85
BENGKULU	1907-1940	6	42
LAMPUNG DISTRICTS	1906-1940	3	22
BANGKA & BILLITON	1908-1940	4	28
BORNEO WEST	2198-1940	51	350
BORNEO SOUTHWEST	2198-1940	85	585
CELEBES	2198-1940	134	920
MENADO	2198-1940	67	460
TERNATE	2198-1919	101	695
(includes some New Guinea)
AMBON	2198-1926	46	315
MOLUCCAS	1927-1940	6	42
TIMOR	2198-1940	74	506
BALI	2198-1940	48	330
SOUTH NEW GUINEA	1902-1921	37	253