The chief of the dessa is elected for the term of a year by those of the inhabitants who are entitled to a share in their soil; theelection has to be ratified by the Resident. The chiefs or mayors ( Loerah or Koewoe ) are usually chosen from among therichest and most respected inhabitants, age being also a ground of preference. They obtain, almost everywhere, a largershare of land or one of better quality. The elders of the village ( kemitoeas ), who assist the chief with their advice, enjoy thesame privilege, as also the secretary ( djoeroetoeli ), the priest ( moedin ), his assistant ( kabayan ), and the surveyor ofirrigations ( kapala bandonyan ). The same custom existed among the Germans; the chiefs and principal men of the tribeobtained a larger lot: Agri occupantur , quos mox inter se secundum dignationem partiuntur . (2)The sawahs are generally well cultivated, although the peasants are obliged to put part of their time at the disposal of thegovernment for the seignorial corvées ( heerediensten ) applied to public works, and also for the agricultural corvées ( kultuurdiensten ) devoted to the State coffee and sugar plantations. After the rice the people of Java obtain a second crop ofa fast-growing nature, such as tobacco, or more especially maize, which is ripe in two months after it is sown. The rawproduce of a bouw , which is about 1.75 acres, is estimated as worth for the two harvests from 170 to 200 florins, or from?6 to ?7. This is a very good result, which the lands sown with grain in Europe seldom give. (3)I know of no complete treatise on the tenure and ownership of land in Java. To form an idea of it, we must gather togetherthe hints scattered through official reports and in the excellent collection entitled Tydschrift voor nederlandsch Indie . (4) Anote communicated to the Dutch chambers in 1869 by the colonial department contains some details on the agrarianconstitution of the different parts of the island. (5)In the provinces of Bantam, Krawang and Preanger, the woods and waste lands are common; but the arable land is privateproperty, and is sold, devised, mortgaged, or devolves by succession. There is no annual partition. Ancient registers existcontaining the names of the proprietors and the description of their property: they are a sort of primitive cadastre. (6) Any onewho reclaims a part of the common land becomes the owner of it.
In the provinces of Cheribon and Tagal private property and collective property exist side by side. The sawahs jassas , orcleared lands, belong to him who has brought them into cultivation, and are transmitted by succession as long as theycontinue to be cultivated. Collective property, however, is gradually absorbing private property, because the communalauthorities find it to their advantage to enlarge the communal domain which they have to divide. They also find in it facilitiesfor furnishing the corvées to the state. Thus, in the district of Talaga, out of 8,884 bouws, only 43 are known as sawahsjassas , or private hereditary property.
In Samarang all property is held in common. There are no sawahs jassas . Any one who reclaims waste land has merely theenjoyment of it for three years. After this time the sawah returns to the domain, which is subject to the partition effected bythe chief or loerah every year. In Pekalongan, sawahs poesakas , or hereditary property, is the exception. The effect of the corvées demanded by the state, for the furnishing of which each village is jointly liable, is to favour putting land incommunity, like the joint-responsibility for taxes in Russia.
In Japara, 8,701 bouws , in the hands of 7,454 proprietors, are found existing by the side of village communities. Theclearances, which create these small properties, are executed by the richest inhabitants, frequently in combination, as theyalone have sufficient weans to carry on the works of irrigation, indispensable in the cultivation of rice. But it is reckoned thatsmall properties, newly created, do not remain long in the hands of their proprietors. Fifty years, on an average, sees themunited to the collective domain. If a proprietor leaves the dessa his property goes to the commune. And it is the same if heceases to cultivate it, if he has no direct heirs, or if he fails to pay his contribution.
In Rembang, out of 158,425 bouws of arable land, 48,185 bouws were found subject to private ownership, which wasacquired over half of them by right of clearance, and over the other half by succession or purchase.
In the majority of dessas the partition is executed annually. In some villages it only takes place every five years; in others,from time to time, as the number of families increases. Those who have draught beasts receive a larger portion.
In the province of Bagelen, the inhabitants of the kampongs, or villages without arable lands, can sell their houses with theland to whomsoever they wish; but the inhabitants of the dessas cannot sell theirs to strangers. The same rule existed in theGerman mark, and still exists in Russia.
In the provinces of Madioen, Patjitan, Soerabaya, Madoera, Pasoeroean, and Kedirie, all the sawahs are common property,and subject to annual partition. Any one who clears a parcel of land in the forest or waste land keeps the individualpossession for three or five years. After that time the land returns to the common stock, and is subject to periodic partition.
To encourage clearing the Dutch government endeavoured to extend the enjoyment by the person reclaiming land toeighteen years, or even till his death; but the adat , or custom, in many cases prevailed. As the sentiment of private ownershipin the soil is not yet awakened, collectivity very quickly absorbs ill-defined and ill-defended individual rights.
