EMERSON, RUPERT. The Netherlands In dies and the United States. Pp. 92. Boston: World Peace Foundation, 1942. Paperbound: 25¢; Clothbound: 50¢

• Date: 01 November 1942
• DOI: 10.1177/000271624222400146
• Author: Raymond Kennedy
• Published date: 01 November 1942
• Subject Matter: Articles

208

scholarship;

yet

it

reflects

throughout

this

dependence

on

the

views

of British

admin-

istrators.

This

valuable

study

is

divided

into

two

parts.

The

first,

embracing

nearly

three-

fourths

of

the

book,

is

devoted

to

British

Malaya.

After

an

introductory

chapter

which

concisely

summarizes

the

subject

matter

to

follow,

are

eight

chapters

dealing

with

government,

finance,

trade,

the

tin,

rubber,

and

palm

oil

industries,

labor,

agri-

culture,

health,

and

education.

The

second

part

offers

similar

though

briefer

informa-

tion

for

Hong

Kong.

Only

cursory

atten-

tion

is

accorded

such

topics

as

the

civil

service,

defense,

relations

with

other

areas,

and

the

role

of

the

varied

populations

in

the

life

of

the

British

dependencies.

British

Malaya

had

an

area

larger

than

England

and

a

population

of

more

than

five

million

in

1937,

the

Malays

numbering

over

two

million,

the

Chinese

over

two

million,

the

Indians

750,000.

It

was

divided

politi-

cally

into

the

Straits

Settlements,

the

Fed-

erated

Malay

States,

and

the

Unfederated

Malay

States,

all

governed

directly

or

in-

directly

by

British

officials.

The

author

describes

the

administrative

developments

and

problems

of

the

past quarter-century,

concluding

that

the

British

system

worked

well

and

that

&dquo;any

thought

of

a

self-

governing

Malaya

is

utterly

premature&dquo;

(p.

73)

and

would

create

unsolvable

difficulties,.

With

the

nationalist

movements

of

Asia,

he

has

no

sympathy.

He

traces

recent

changes

in

the

lucrative

but

unstable

tin

and

rubber

industries

and

foreign

trade-the

economic

reasons

for

British

control-and

shows

how

British

officials

have

wrestled

with

them

by

restricting

exports,

adopting

import

quotas,

improving

rubber

cultivation,

and

other

measures.

In

the

nineteenth

century

was

begun

the

practice

of

recruiting

cheap

labor

for

Brit-

ish

Malaya

in

China

and

India.

This

re-

sulted

in

much

exploitation,

not

to

mention

the

heavy

loss

of

life

involved.

With

large

budgets

after

1918,

the

government

was

able

to

effect

some

improvements,

such

as

the

abolition

of

contract

labor

and

the

establishment

of

certain

minimum

stand-

ards.

But

although

the

author

considers

British

Malaya

a

&dquo;show

colony&dquo;

because

of

recent

improvements

in

health

and

social

conditions,

the

fact

remains

that

after

a

long

period

of

British

rule

the

problems

and

possibilities

of

social

betterment

had

scarcely

been

faced,

let

alone

worked

out.

Professor

Mills

has

rendered

a

valuable

service

by

making

this

study

of

the

British

record

in

Malaya

and

Hong

Kong.

Un-

fortunately

the

style

is

heavy,

and

the

reader

often

discovers

that

a

paragraph

approximates

a

closely

printed

page.

He

will

find

the

author’s

references

and

foot-

notes

difficult

to

identify

with

statements

and

quotations

in

the

text.

In

these

and

other

respects

the

volume

suffers

by

com-

parison

with

Rupert

Emerson’s

Malaysia,

a

somewhat

differently

planned

but

livelier

and

more

penetrating

volume

published

in

1937.

G.

LEIGHTON

LAFUZE

John

B.

Stetson

University

EMERSON,

RUPERT.

The

Netherlands

In-

dies

and

the

United

States.

Pp.

92.

Boston:

World

Peace

Foundation,

1942.

Paperbound:

25¢;

Clothbound:

50¢.

This

little

book,

written

by

the

author

of

several

previous

studies

of

southeastern

Asia,

offers

a

factual

presentation

of

the

economic

development

and

status

of

the

Netherlands

Indies,

which

occupies

two-

thirds

of

the

pages,

and

a

general

plan

for

postwar

reconstruction

of

the

area.

The

former

section

is

well

handled.

The

facts

are

marshaled

skillfully,

and

the

writing

is

lucid.

After

a

summary

treatment

of

the

economic

history

of

the

islands,

the

author

discusses

agricultural

and

mineral

produc-

tion,

industrialization,

and

international

trade,

with

emphasis

on

the

last.

The

com-

mercial

relations

of

the

Indies

with

each

of

the

major

participating

countries

are

ex-

amined

in

considerable

detail.

With

the

broad

outlines

of

Dr.

Emerson’s

concluding

section,

on

the

future

of

the

In-

dies,

I

have

little

disagreement.

He

favors

a

return

of

the

islands

to

the

Dutch,

under

international

guarantee

that

the

Dutch

mandate

will

be

employed

for

the

educa-

tional,

political,

and

economic

development

of

the

Indonesians,

who

may

thus

prepare

for

eventual

independence.

To

implement

this

program,

he

advocates

a

resurrection

of

the

League

of

Nations

plan,

a

course

of

action

which

I

would

heartily

support.

It

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