unlikely that the savage, with all the confirmed habits of
manhood and the traditional prejudices of race, should ever do more than
copy a few of the least beneficial customs of civilization, without some
stronger stimulus than precept, very imperfectly backed by example.

If we are satisfied that we are right in assuming the government over a
savage race, and occupying their country, and if we further consider it
our duty to do what we can to improve our rude subjects and raise them
up towards our own level, we must not be too much afraid of the cry
of "despotism" and "slavery," but must use the authority we possess to
induce them to do work which they may not altogether like, but which
we know to be an indispensable step in their moral and physical
advancement. The Dutch have shown much good policy in the means by which
they have done this. They have in most cases upheld and strengthened the
authority of the native chiefs, to whom the people have been accustomed
to render a voluntary obedience; and by acting on the intelligence and
self-interest of these chiefs, have brought about changes in the manners
and customs of the people, which would have excited ill-feeling and
perhaps revolt, had they been directly enforced by foreigners.

In carrying out such a system, much depends upon the character of the
people; and the system which succeeds admirably in one place could
only be very partially worked out in another. In Minahasa the natural
docility and intelligence of the race have made their progress rapid;
and how important this is, is well illustrated by the fact, that in the
immediate vicinity of the town of Menado are a tribe called Banteks,
of a much less tractable disposition, who have hitherto resisted all
efforts of the Dutch Government to induce them to adopt any systematic
cultivation. These remain in a ruder condition, but engage themselves
willingly as occasional porters and labourers, for which their greater
strength and activity well adapt them.

No doubt the system here sketched seems open to serious objection. It
is to a certain extent despotic, and interferes with free trade, free
labour, and free communication. A native cannot leave his village
without a pass, and cannot engage himself to any merchant or captain
without a Government permit. The coffee has all to be sold to
Government, at less than half the price that the local merchant would
give for it, and he consequently cries out loudly against "m