著者

田淵 保雄

出版者

東南アジア学会/山川出版社

雑誌

東南アジア -歴史と文化- (ISSN:03869040)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1973, no.3, pp.82-96, 1973-11-12 (Released:2010-03-16)

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The charter which was given to the Dutch East India Company under the authority of the States General is, no doubt, one of the most prominent documents in the history of the Netherlands. The charter kept its, authority essentially unchanged for nearly 200 years. As Clive Day says in his Dutch in Java, the Company has no history in true sense of the word; its principles remained the same, and the basic idea of the Company continued to resist the course of time.Nevertheless, careful scrutiny will reveal noteworthy changes:1) A dispute between Director and Participants from 1620 to 1623 resulted in the success of the former, and in the apathy of the latter Directors brought their “despotic power” into effect.2) The Dutch East India Company came to power in Java, or to the, “upper landlord” through “Javanese Wars of Succession.” This, of course, produced structural changes in the Company system. The Company headquarter in the Netherlands was in no will to confirm these changes.3) The Company came to ruin after the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. (1780-1784). The rise of Britain proved to be the fall of the Netherlands, leading to civil conflict in the Dutch homeland. The decline of the Company is one of the most fascinating phases of its life.There were considerable debates as to whether the Company should be built up or not. One of the founders, Johann van Oldenbarnevelt, said that people in the Netherlands opposed to an exclusive According to Klerk de Reus, the Company came into being in accordance with the “Demand of time.” The States General gave Company right to wage war and to negotiate with foreign petty princes, and made the Company its partner in accordance with the law of the Dutch Commonwealth. The States General put its will into effect as power, “sic volo, sic jubeo.”The articles of the Charter are briefly enumerated here: 1. Chambers, 2. Chambers and Gentlemen XVII, 3. Gentlemen XVII, 4. Power of Gentlemen XVII, 5. States General and Gentlemen XVII, 6. Term of Validity, 7. General Closing Account, 8. Investment, 9. Right of Participants, 10. Limitation of Investment, 11. Collection of Stock, 12. Rule of Seafaring, 13. Concerted Responsibility of Chambers, 14. Equipment and Return, 15 & 16. Right of Cities and States to Company, 17. Distribution of Profits, 18-23. Number of Directors, 24 & 25. Fixed Number of Directors, 26. Filling Vacant Directorship, 27. Director's Obligation of Oath, 28. Director's Obligation of Keeping the Stock, 29. Emoluments of Director, 30. Prohibitions Imposed on Director, 31 & 32. Director and the Central Money Safe, 33. Director's Right of Personnel Management, 34. Monopoly System, 35. Sovereign Power of Company, 36. Right of Admiralty Collegium, 37. Dealing with Cargo and Ship of Enemy, 38. Duty to Pay Import and Export Taxes, 39. Company's Right to Keep Weapons and Ammunition, 40. Scale, 41. Rule of Using Scale, 42. Director and His Limited Responsibility, 43 & 44. Right o Administration of Company and. Company's Obligation to Pay Chartered Money, 45. Obligation of Fleet Captain t Make Report to States General, 46. Obligation of People in the Netherlands to Observe Charter.