He had to flee Batavia for the Netherlands and, once back home, he emerged
as one of the most radical and eloquent advocates of reform. His aim was a
total separation between trade and government, leading to 'free natives, free
agriculture and free trade'.5
Meanwhile in the Batavian Republic the staunchest radicals lost their influence
in the government. This also affected the way the overseas possessions were to
be ruled from the Netherlands. The OIC was on its last legs. On May 15 1800,
it was replaced by the Raad der Aziatische Bezittingen en Handel (Council for
Asian Possessions and Trade), abbreviated to RAB. The number of its nominated
members was nine, some of whom were transferred from of the now defunct
OIC. The moderates rather than the radicals were now in the ascendancy. The
discussion between the reformists and the conservatives on how to rule the
colonies continued unabated, the main protagonist of the former was Dirk
van Hogendorp and of the latter Sebastiaan Cornells Nederburgh, the most
prominent returned member of the previously mentioned Commission General.
In the end, the government assigned both these contestants a place in the special
commission, whose task was to draft the future policy for the Asian colonies in
1802, at the time of the Peace of Amiens. This treaty between Napoleonic France
and its allies and their adversaries restituted the Dutch colonies in Asia, Ceylon
excepted, to the Batavian Republic. The principles for future rule were laid down
in a Charter in 1804. The hand of Nederburgh is generally believed to be visible
in this document. Nevertheless, compared to the former usages of the VOC,
there were some important changes in the air. One example was the European
officials in charge of regional governments. They were promised fixed salaries and
it was no longer acceptable to receive gifts and presents; an attempt to eradicate
nepotism and corruption from their administration. The year 1804 also marked
the relocation of the RAB from Amsterdam to The Hague as well as a purging of
its membership of radicals. The conservatives headed by Nederburgh were firmly
in the saddle.6
The members of the RAB did their best to restore contact with the colonies
in the East, while simultaneously endeavouring to import as many oriental
products as possible into the Netherlands. The latter proved to be a rather
difficult task, as the Peace of Amiens lasted only for about a year. Towards the
end of 1803, the war with England was resumed. During the term of office of
the Grand Pensionary of the Batavian Republic Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck,
from 1805 to 1806, the RAB tried to implement the Charter of 1804 and also
went ahead nominating a new Governor-General, whose job was to replace
the old established order of the now defunct VOC, which had still not been
abrogated in the East. The principle of a High Government which supported the
Governor-General remained inviolable. There was one innovation, the abolition
of the ranks of senior merchant, merchant, junior merchant, bookkeeper and
assistant (opperkoopman, koopman, onderkoopman, boekhouder, assistent) and the
installation of four different classes of civil servants (ambtenaren). For the time
being this was purely theoretical because, on July 19, 1806, the RAB was replaced
COLONIAL LEGACY IN SOUTH EAST ASIA -
THE DUTCH ARCHIVES
5 Schutte, Nederlandse patriotten, 141, 157-164 and 172-173.
6 Schutte, Nederlandse patriotten, 176-182 and 189; Kommers, Besturen, 92.
100