Office of the Historian
No. 423.

Mr. Bell to Mr. Bayard.

Legation of the United States,
The Hague, October 14, 1885. (Received October 27.)
No. 56.]

Sir: The budget of the Netherlands East Indies for the year 1886 was recently presented to the second Chamber of the States General by the minister of the colonies.

As usual this budget was divided, into four chapters, one being the chapters of expenses in the Netherlands for the benefit of the Indies and two in the Indies for the benefit of the Indies. Three being the chapter of receipts in the Indies for the benefit of the Indies, and four in the Netherlands [Page 580] for the benefit of the Indies, arising principally from the sale of coffee, quinine, and tin.

The total of the budget is as follows:

Florins.
Expenses in the Netherlands 25,184,803
Expenses in the Indies 114,766,211
Total 139,951,014
Receipts in the Netherlands 31,078,805
Receipts in the Indies 104,425,109
Total 135,503,914
Showing the deficit of 4,447,100
Compared to the budget of 1885, the total of the expenses is 4,148,580
Total receipts. 7,136,872
Less than those of 1885.

The following table shows the financial situation of the Netherlands Indies during the past five years:

Florins.
Expenses, 1881 146,935,037
Receipts, 1880 146,993,516
Profit 58,479
Expenses, 1881 150,500,378
Receipts, 1881 137,613,985
Deficit 12,886,393
Expenses, 1882 149,940,531
Receipts, 1882 130,532,735
Deficit 19,407,796
Expenses, 1883 148,311,472
Receipts, 1883 141,609,749
Deficit. 6,701,723
Expenses, 1884 145,482,985
Receipts, 1884 141,857,947
Deficit 3,625,038

The total of the deficits in the receipts of former years, including the estimate for the year 1886, amounts to the sum of 54,868,794 florins, of which amount 45,157,365 florins is already covered by the loan of 1883, contracted by the State, so that at the end of the year 1886 there will be a deficit of 9,711,429 florins.

In regard to the fall in the price of coffee, the minister has only valued the article at 28 cents Dutch money (about 11¼ cents of our money) per half kilogram, being two cents less than the estimate for the current year, so that the proceeds of the sale of coffee in 1886 are estimated at a sum of 8,266,800 florins less than in 1885.

The minister expects, however, an increase in the receipts from the following sources:

Florins.
Tobacco license 600,000
Stamp tax 75,000
Land rent 600,000
License privilege 374,000
State railways 544,000

The minister further announced that he expected to realize a benefit of 1,000,000 florins from a revision of the colonial customs tariff.

[Page 581]

The abstract of the budget above referred to as showing the receipts and expenditures in the Netherlands for the benefit of the Indies and in the Indies for the benefit of the Indies numbered one, two, three, and four, are herewith inclosed.

I have, &c.,

ISAAC BELL, Jr.
[Inclosure 1 in No. 56.]

Statement of expenditures in the Netherlands for the benefit of the Indies.

Florins.
1. Government and high colleges of the State 40,600
2. Department of justice 69,000
3. Department of finance 8,528,000
(Of this sum 2,455,600 is due as interest, and 5,053,800 for pensions, &c.)
4. Department of interior 4,261,638
(Of this, sum 3,885,494 is to be expended in the culture of coffee.)
5. Department of public instruction 577,280
6. Department of public works 3,478,000
(Of this sum 2,876,000 is due the railways and tramways.)
7. Department of war 4,062,627
(Of this sum 1,612,800 is due for the transportation and equipment of troops and 1,672,000 cost of materials.)
8. Department of marine 4,167,658
(Of this sum 1,896,158 is due for personal services, and 2,220,100 for material.)
Total 25,184,803
[Inclosure 2 in No. 56.]

Statement of expenditures in the Indies for the benefit of the Indies.

Florins.
1. Government and high colleges 1,198,130
2. Department of justice 5,379,975
3. Department of finance 8,418,123
4. Department of interior 41,704,361
(Of this sum 17,356,329 is to be expended in the culture of coffee.)
5. Department of public instruction 10,699,908
(Of this sum 8,805,419 is to be expended in the public construction of Indians and Europeans.)
6. Department of public works 17,229,957
(Of this sum 5,793,900 is to be expended in the construction of railways and tramways.)
7. Department of war 24,337,222
8. Department of claims 5,798,535
Total. 114,766,211
[Inclosure 3 in No. 56.]

Statement showing the receipts in the Indies for the benefit of the Indies.

[Page 582]
Florins.
1. Government, high colleges of the state, and department of justice. 372,200
Taxes derived from license privileges, opium 21,376,000
Slaughtering cattle &c 1,620,000
License for the Chinese game (pho-en-topho) 833,000
License for the sale of arac and other strong drinks in Java by retail 450,000
Java and Chinese tobacco license 235,000
Tolls fom bridges, sluices &c 183,000
Bird’s nests 174,000
Pepper tax (at —) 90,000
Nipa and other woods 10,000
Sale of sago 17,000
Thousand Island’s privileges 3,200
Gold mines at Borneo 9,600
Fisheries at Makasser 9,800
Sale of salt at Sumatra 12,000
Government pawn houses 881,000
Gutta percha (Sumatra) 17,000
Various other taxes 140,800
2. Customs:
Importations 7,470,000
Exportations 2,545,000
Excises 159,000
Government warehouses 53,000
Other receipts 64,200
3. Port privileges 278,000
4. Personal taxes 758,000
5. Ground tax, and taxes upon nutmegs, spices, &c., at Banda Island. 1,773,000
6. Public sales 805,000
7. Stamp tax 1,100,000
8. Mutations 600,000
9. Carriages and horses 211,000
10. Right of succession 97,000
11. Tax on certain possessions in Java 3,500
12. License for Chinese gambling houses 36,000
13. License for the sale of tobacco 1,200,000
14. Right of slaughtering cattle in the regency of Preanger 50,000
15. Tax on trades 3,318,000
16. Special tax on privileges and possessions in Java and Madura. 1,859,150
17. Repayment of the loans advanced to land pensioners 897,000
Department of the interior:
18. Islands to the north of Celebes 7,115
19. Poll-tax in the Government of Java and Madura 2,540,000
20. Cadastre 66,000
21. Land rents 19,350,000
22. Fisheries 325,000
23. Rice and sugar in Celebes 241,020
24. Sale of lands 716,800
25. Emphytentic rent 105,000
26. Tax from the registration of the contracts with the workmen at Sumatra and Banda 18,700
27. Sale of coffee 7,556,500
28. Tax on sugar plantations 5,682,374
29. Sale of the products of forest 831,200
30. Restitution of the advances made to the steam packet companies. 100,000
Department of public instruction:
31. Academic contributions 368,500
32. Sale of the products of the botanical gardens at Buitenzorg 2,400
33. State printing 200,000
34. Tax upon lotteries 27,000
35. Sale of tin 503,000
36. Sale of salt 7,167,000
37. Receipts from various sources 23,750
Department of public works:
38. Sale and location of houses 48,000
39. Post 828,000
40. Telegraph 510,000
41. Railways and tramways 5,027,000
42. Steam engines 18,000
War department:
43. Divers receipts 772,600
Department of the marine:
43. Divers receipts 460,500
Total 104,425,000
[Page 583]
[Inclosure 4 in No. 56.]

Statement of the receipts in the Netherlands for the benefit of the Indies.

Florins.
1. Sale of coffee 24,591,535
2. Sale of quinine 244,530
3. Sale of tin 4,351,346
4. Reimbursement of advances made to the railways of Samarana. 1,015,000
5. Other receipts from various sources 876,394
Total 31,078,805