The gogols , or cultivators entitled to a share in the soil, hold to the periodic partition, because by its means theysuccessively occupy the best lots. Sir Stamford Raffles, the eminent administrator, who governed Java from 1811 to 1816, inthe name of England, then mistress of the Dutch Indies, wished to introduce individual property, by assessing the taxes nolonger on the commune jointly, but on the cultivators individually, in proportion to the land which they tilled. The lattersubmitted apparently to the new regulation, and paid the sums exacted; but afterwards made a fresh apportionment of thetax among themselves, conformably to the old custom.
A law of April 3, 1872, systematically regulated the land-tax to be levied on the lands of Java. The lands are divided into tenclasses, according to the revenue they return, from 10 to 100 florins; and the tax is levied at twenty per cent on theregistered revenue. The amount of the total contribution to be paid by each dessa is made known to the mayor, or loerah ,who, with the concurrence of the inhabitants, fixes the quota due from each member, on account of the parcels which hepossesses, or of which the temporary enjoyment has been allotted to him. The mayor keeps a register of this assessment, andgives an extract from it to all the contributories.
There has been much discussion as to who is the actual owner of the soil in Java. As the native princes seem to have madewhat disposition they pleased, both of the soil and of the labour of the inhabitants, the Dutch, succeeding to their authority,concluded that they were now the real owners of the soil. In a report of August 31, 1803, a special commission, instituted toinquire into colonial affairs, asserts that the sovereign possesses the sole right of property over the whole territory, and thatthe Javanese had no conception of the right of property as applied to the soil; but that, this notwithstanding, ancient customsought to be observed. The regulation of January 27, 1806, does not even mention this last restriction, and the Governor,Daendels, was of opinion that "not only was landed property entirely unknown to the Javanese, but that from timeimmemorial they had been accustomed to labour for their princes and chiefs."When the English became masters of Java they wished to introduce a regular system of taxation; and, accordingly, wereinduced to inquire into the nature of ownership in the colony. Who were owners of the soil? The cultivators, the State, orthe intermediate "Regents," who were very similar to the Zemindars in India? In India, contrary to all justice, the questionhad been decided in favour of the Zemindars, who were merely functionaries, charged with levying the taxes, reserving acertain deduction for themselves. In Java, Daendels had clearly established the subordinate position of the "Regents." TheEnglish could not, therefore, regard them as proprietors of the soil. The Governor, Raffles, recognised the fact that "thereexisted no right of property between that of the sovereign and that of the cultivator;" (7) and was of opinion that the eminentdomain was vested in the State, just as is allowed to be the case in England by every jurist whose opinion has anyauthority. (8)
Raffles wanted to give the cultivators a more permanent property in the soil, by granting them the enjoyment of land inconsideration of a fixed rent. The cultivator, it is true, would be the tenant of the Government, but would have a kind ofusufruct, -- a lease, in fact; and the rent, which he would have to pay the State, would be nothing, one may say, but aland-tax. The lease, however, could in the first instance only be granted for a year, because of the difficulty of determiningfairly the rent to be paid by the cultivator ( Revenue Instructions , Feb. 11, 1814).
When the Dutch government recovered possession of Java, it did not express in any precise terms in what aspect it regardedthe dominium , which Raffles had attributed to the State. J. Van den Bosch, the governor, expresses himself on the subject inthe following terms: "The right of the sovereign is confined to levying a portion of the produce of the soil, which belongs tohim in accordance with the adat or custom, or else in exacting a certain amount of labour as an equivalent. In other respectslands are transmitted by sale or succession, according to the principles of the adat ."In 1849 the Dutch government submitted to the chambers a proposed law authorising the sale of lands in Java. The impost,paid by the natives, is here spoken of as "a rent received by the state for the letting of lands belonging to it." Arepresentative, Baron Sloet tot Oldhuis, vigorously attacked these expressions and the idea which they embodied; and, fromthat time, official documents have avoided using any terms which might seem to attribute to the State the civil right ofproperty over the cultivated land.
