channels.. Whether the Dutch could not indulge such prospects, or whether
the system dn which the.internal government'ofthei.r eastern dominion
was conducted .was .in : itself j-mnóhs cinder any circumstances,''^a î view of
the financial and commercial state of Java before 'the eonquèsf, and ;of1 the
causes which led. to the losses and dissolution • of the Dutch East' India
Company, will assist the reader, in determining.
Financial and In tracing, these causés,- it Is' hardly necessary tb go further "back than
brfore°thecon- §ff§ Period. of the Company's -histbfy immediately preceding ’t*he-war of
17SÓ. The accidental calamities of that- war brought.'it t ó ’thé1: brink of
ruin, and its importance in the past transactions of tk'e^cbuh’tfy being berne
in mind, a general, concern'existed in Holland for its preservation^' arid' ff>r
the restoration and maintenance of its credit. ‘ With ‘the -‘View of affording
it the most effective and' bèöéftcialassistance, inquiries wëfe ' SOt on- foot,
not only to discover some temporary iifeahs of relief7but to provide a more
permanent remedy -for threatened decline. It is -impossible; to aseer-
tain what , might have^ beén fhè- résuit' of-the measure’s which* wefë then in
contemplation, as thó.convülsed state of Europe, and especially*óf Holland,
subsequently to this period, left no room for Tfiéir ôpéràtior},’ and did höt
even admit of making • the experiment of theirJefficiency. The free intercourse
of the1 mother! ébtófiry With î1fièf| ,'C<»lôfiies wâs -întefruptèd ;•' thé
trade was thrown ifitOithe hands 'of1 neutrals ;rf several 'possessions werë^oSt
for the want of due - protection,' and those which remained were left to
support or defend 1 themselves in’the best way they could, "Without any
assistance or - tMifeoemaot fmm hot»e.
Eor ten years preceding the year 1780, the average annual sales of the
Company amounted ;to upwards of twenty millions of guild ers, which was
considerably more than-'in former years, and the prices' óf the different
articles were nearly the same as they had beémfrom the years 1648-to 1657,
when the sales only amounted on an average to about eight millions a year ;
it was therefore -clear, that the decline of the Company was not to ‘be attributed
to the decrease of trade;
On
On an examination of.the Indian, books, it was found, that from the year
1613 to 16,96,. the profits- in,. .India,. .though., moderate, had always kept
equal pace with the profits in Europe. :
- From
j J « | '5
'■ To. • 1 $ $ .* .-
Ï -ulfiggfp
1 T q^ w ;-i To ? P 1
The total profits were ..
j 'Ojjilfes. •
î'0 1',1704,417lÆ $031776206,072,335
(âiiilaer£ ■
259,250.96f)
(fbiîtfërff.
322,735,812
Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,177,755f 117.6 i 6j9&1
■
161,271,745 212/282,020 274,416,306
' N e tt Prams'." hh.1 25-526,662
Ivhsov.blo-
25,046,815 A t,70S.5’87 46,96^,049 ' 48,3Ï6;506
•- 'Thus; on an ^average of forty-year» till-1658) the' annual profits were
a b o u t - 640,000 guilders a year ;' -
Of fifty years x lix *™, about 500)000 -: do;
Of s i x t y __4«, to t ^ ^ ™ ™ ™ ^ 750,000 < do.
Of seventy. dovlLjLi} to.1683;^™-™ L ii^™X ;__67 0 ,0 0 0 do.
Ofjèîghfty do.™™.™to-7603:0- , -60O]OOd j ; : do.
In thë year J1696, -the‘n e tt’ profit-from thé samfe year (16T8)- amounted
to only 40,206,789 guilders, 'being full eight millions less-than it had been
in l 69S,‘ only .three -years preceding; and the average nett annual profit
from T6i3,Was -reduced--to 484,371- guilders, But from ' 1697' to -1779,
comprehending a like period of éighty-three years, the Josses-were’so exorbitant
as to overbalance and absorb,- not only the contemporary, but all the
preceding-'profits in Europe, and. etven a large amount of'fictitious' profit
stimulated to screen the government in India. • -
The nett amount of profits calculated from 1613, amounted ; 1
, :/ #pîîder8i Ç
In 38,696,527 ,
In -------------- 31,674,645 •
In 1713™™™™-™-----™™— ------- ^™™L_____16,805,598
In