De millioenen uit Deli

In the humid heat of March 1902, a packed hall in Medan gathers politicians, plantation owners and curious observers for a public session of the Indische Bond. A Dutch parliamentarian attends, hoping the discussions will inform his study tour of the Dutch East Indies. The agenda spans rent‑hikes to leprosy, but the real tension centers on one issue: the fate of contract coolies working Deli’s sugar fields.

Through C. de Coningh’s impassioned speech, the meeting exposes the coolie system as a disguised slavery, enforced by ordinances that punish desertion and even those who shelter runaways. He asks whether such a regime can be morally defended, if free immigration of labor is desirable, and whether it could ever exist without exploiting human dignity.

Listeners are drawn into the heated colonial debate, hearing both legal rationalizations and moral outrage. The audio brings the minutes to life, letting you hear the voices that shaped a pivotal discussion on labor, freedom and empire.