Governor General to the Minister of Colonies. This series started to emerge in
the 1820s and by the 1830s was systematically established, complete with its own
index and agenda.
When incoming letters ended with no decision being made they were put in
the Gedeponeerd Agenda series. The margin of the letter was usually noted by ter
informatie (for information) or deponeren (to be kept). In the beginning of the
twentieth century it was called ter zijde gelegde agenda (literally meaning agenda
which was put aside, abbreviated as Tzg. Ag). Though no decision was made based
on these letters, they could be used as supporting documents of decisions. This
practice was especially found in the 1900s.
A new series Apostillaire Besluiten/Dispositien emerged in 1821 as a new policy
was made related to budget reduction in paper usage, formalized by Governor
General Decree 5 March 1821 Nr. 10. The Apostillaire Besluiten/Dispositien was
a decision made by the Governor General which was put on the margin of the
incoming documents or letters; that is why it is also called marginale dispositie.
These decisions were initially issued in response to petitions (verzoekschrift).
In 1826, based on Commissioners General Decree 17 November 1826 Nr. 11, the
first major reorganization took place in the General Secretariat. It only affected
the reduction of divisions and salary of personnel. This reorganization related
closely to the general policy of Commissioner General Du Bus de Gisignies to
handle the difficult financial situation in the entire archipelago by, among other
things, reducing civil establishment and cutting costs.18 Secretary J.C. Baud
initially had three options: cutting officials' salaries, reducing tasks, or firing
personnel. Eventually this resulted in a reduction of the annual budget for the
Algemene Secretarie from around 200,000 to 130,000 guilders.19
Along with the reorganization, in an effort to simplify the decision making
process another new series appeared in 1826/27 called Missive Algemene/
Gouvernement Secretaris (abbreviated as MAS/MGS). Formalized by Resolutie
20 March 1829 Nr. 17, this series contains the letters (incoming and outgoing)
that belonged to the secretary. The series mostly comprised the drafts of outgoing
letters, with serial numbers and sometimes reference to the Governor General's
decision on the margin. This kind of document was meant to focus on daily
affairs dagelijksche zaken) which did not need approval from the Hoge Regering.20
Two years later the Algemene Secretarie was further reorganized based on
Commissioners General Decree 7 November 1828 Nr. 1. This reorganization
divided the Algemene Secretarie into three departments in order to make the
decision making process faster.21 The First Department handled financial matters
that resulted from the activities of the Financial General Board and General
Procurer while the Second Department was concerned with the military and
navy. Finally, the Third Department handled internal administration, justice
and police, indigenous affairs, and indigenous personnel. Other subjects which
could not be classified into one of those departments were handled by the Second
Secretary.
This archival system required finding aids, which included the index, klapper,
hoofdenlijst, agenda. The index was a register in which decisions were arranged
NADIA F. DWIANDARI ARCHIVES MANAGEMENT AND BUREAUCRACY DEVELOPMENT:
THE CASE OF TRANSITIONAL DUTCH EAST INDIES, 1816-1830
19 Geschiedkundige Nota, 7-8.
20 Geschiedkundige Nota, 15.
21 Commissioners General Decree 7 November 1828 No. 1.
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