AUSTRALIA'S NEIGHBOURS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17124, 20 April 1921, Page 9

AUSTRALIA'S NEIGHBOURS.

JAVA'S 35,000,000 PEOPLE,

(fbom otjb own correspondent.) SYDNEY, April 12. The Australian people are beginning to take a eood deal of interest in tho great Dutch Island of Java, which, so far as geographical distance is concerngd is an even nearer neighbour than jftV Zealand. The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Count Limbnrg Stirum, is at present in Australia, M d lie is certainly doing something to advertise his country. A census of the Dutch East Indies bW just been taken, and it* 'shows 35.000,000 people in Java, and 10,000,QOO in tho other islands—that is, there are more people tucked away in this , archipelago than there are in the whole of- the British Isles. There are no political disturbances there. Comparing the country with India, and explaining why Java is calm and peaceful ' while all tho rest of tho world is boilifcg, "tlie Count said that the Javanese wero a placid, contented people, and the system of education put into operation bv [ the Dutch was very different from the British system in India. The British, he said, started at the top; the Drttch at tho bottom. The British produced a great many lawyers and, such like, for whom there was no place in the country, and who simply bred all sorts of trouble. The Dutch, on the other hind,, simply, educated tho natives in the native language. Only a few Were educated in Dutch, and very few indeed were given a high degree of education. The result was that there ■ was a. keen demand for educated natives, all of whom had.good positions, and wero happy and contented. 1 There is only one university for natives in ' Java, and it does not teach politics. It is practically a technical university, turning out engineers, doctors, and such l&e. ■ .ifhero .is an abundance of labour in the idands, and the Dutch administration is ' developing a great hydro-elec-Itrib 1 - scheme, and at the same time greatly extending the railway system. '' Tlie'result will be seen in enormously ' increased production presently—and ' tteisland will produce almost anything ♦-and tho increasing wealth of a terri- " <s>iy already very wealthy. : 'r Jt is an interesting fact that, alj&ougli there are no restrictions on ijsiatio immigration, the Japanese are Jot .entering the Dutch Indies. The ' climate, it is said, is too hot for them. jßttt the Chinese from Southern China are coming to this territory in great The Dutch- did not object to tnem. They . were sober and indusi itrious, And made good citizens. It is believed that there is a great future ifor trade between Australia and Java. At-present, the two countries scarcely kn&w endhu other—-although a great tourist": traffic l>etween the two has sprung up lately.