KENNEDY, RAYMOND. The Ageless Indies. Pp. xvi, 208. New York: The John Day Co., 1942. $2.00

• DOI: 10.1177/000271624222400147
• Date: 01 November 1942
• Author: Lennox A. Mills
• Published date: 01 November 1942
• Subject Matter: Articles

209

is

hardly

necessary

to

state,

of

course,

that

the

new

League

should

avoid

the

weak-

nesses

of

the

first

experiment.

One

possi-

bility

which

Dr.

Emerson

does

not

consider

is

that

maybe

the

Indies,

after

ripening

for

independence

under

Dutch

guardianship,

will

not

wish

independence,

but

rather

permanent

incorporation

in

a

Dutch

fed-

eration,

on

a

basis

of

full

equality

with

the

Netherlands.

Certainly

provision

should

be

made

for

allowing

the

Indo-

nesians

full

choice

as

to

their

future.

Al-

ready

the

Dutch

government

in

exile

is

preparing

plans

for

a

federated

state

of

Holland,

Indonesia,

and

the

Dutch

West

Indies.

Operating

in

good

faith,

this

might

work

out

so

well

that

the

Indonesians

would

find

it

fully

satisfactory

as

an

en-

during

arrangement.

An

alternative

even-

tual

possibility

considered

by

the

author

is

the

formation

of

a

united

independent

Ma-

lay

state

consisting

of

the

East

Indies

and

British

Malaya.

Personally,

I

see

no

good

reason

why,

if

this

stage

is

reached,

the

Philippines

should

not

also

be

regarded

as

a

logical

candidate

for

membership.

Assuming

that

the

new

League

of

Na-

tions

plan

does

not

materialize,

Dr.

Em-

erson

speculates

on

the

worth

of

a

system

of

control,

with

the

Dutch

as

administra-

tors,

by

a

group

of

those

nations

most

directly

concerned

with

the

Indies.

This

plan

seems

to

me

to

be

clumsy

and

slip-

shod-a

kind

of

ad

hoc

and

limited

League

of

Nations

for

Indonesian

affairs.

But

the

third

possibility

he

considers

appears

even

more

hopeless,

namely,

a

limited

inter-

national

agreement

between

the

United

States,

the

Netherlands,

and

the

British

Commonwealth.

Aside

from

the

fact

that

it

leaves

out

such

intimately

interested

Oriental

countries

as

China,

it

carries

the

implication

that

the

Dutch

are

to

be

kept

in

line

through

careful

supervision

by

the

two

other

parties.

I

feel

that,

even

more

than

Holland,

Britain,

judged

by

her

colo-

nial

record

and

recent

dealings

in

India,

is

the

country

that

will

bear

watching

in

any

disposition

of

control

over

former

colonial

peoples.

The

British

have

more

need

of

a

Dutch

uncle

than

the

Dutch

of

a

British

guardian.

Dr.

Emerson’s

book

is

valuable

for

its

concise

and

reliable

factual

information;

and,

unlike

many

who

view

large-scale

post-

war

planning

as

premature

theorizing,

I

welcome

all

expressions

of

opinion

by

com-

petent

authorities-and

the

more

the

bet-

ter.

From

a

synthesis

of

such

experimental

blueprints,

we

may

yet

work

out

a rea-

sonably

hopeful

plan

for

the

future

of

a

distressed

world.

RAYMOND

KENNEDY

Yale

University

KENNEDY,

RAYMOND.

The

Ageless

Indies.

Pp.

xvi,

208.

New

York:

The

John

Day

Co.,

1942.

$2.00.

Professor

Kennedy

describes

his

work

as

a

book

&dquo;embodying

the

salient

facts

about

the Indies

but

not

burdening

the

general

reader

with

the

details

desired

by

specialized

students.&dquo;

It

is

an

interesting

and

readable

account,

and

is

based

upon

the

author’s

observations

during

four

years

which

he

spent

in

the

Dutch

Empire

while

engaged

in

sociological

studies.

Separate

chapters

are

devoted

to:

the

geography

of

the

islands

and

the

wide

variety

of

races

and

cultures;

the

history

of

the

Indies

from

the

period

of

Hindu

influence

to

the

pres-

ent ;

the

occupations,

customs,

and

religions

of

the

peoples;

the

Dutch

administration

and

its

policies;

the

agricultural

and

min-

eral

wealth

of

the

Indies;

and

the

author’s

ideas

for

postwar

reconstruction.

Professor

Kennedy

has

high

praise

for

many

phases

of

Dutch

rule.

He

stresses

the

painstaking

regard

for

native

customary

law

and

religion,

the

safeguading

of

Indo-

nesian

rights

in

land

and

labor,

and

the

attempts

to

protect

the

population

from

the

extortions

of

Chinese

and

Arab

money

lenders.

He

emphasizes

again

and

again

the

very

cautious

pace

of

reform.

The

Dutch

were

exceedingly

anxious

to

avoid

precipitate

advance

which

would

be

too

far

ahead

of

native

public

opinion.

The

same

attitude

of

very

gradual

change

character-

ized

their

policy

toward

the

demands

of

the

Indonesian

nationalists

for

democracy.

Only

limited

powers

of

self-government

were

granted;

and

Professor

Kennedy

con-

siders

that

this

conservative

policy

was

justified.

The

vast

majority

of the

60,-

000,000

Indonesians

are

small

farmers

whose

interests

are

limited

to

the

little

world

of

their

own

village.

Probably

not

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