Deli Company
Deli Company (Dutch language: Deli Maatschappij) is a trading and distribution company in the timber, construction product and tobacco industries. It began as large tobacco plantation and production operation established in 1869 by the Dutch in Sumatra.[1][2] It was granted a land concession by the Sultanate of Deli.[3]
The company relied on immigrant coolie labor.[4] Black shank was a problem and was researched on the plantation.[5] Publicly traded on the Amsterdam stock market, it was the first modern company to pay large annual stock dividends.[4] Jacobus Nienhuys founded the company. A few years later he returned to the Netherlands after being indicted for the death of 7 workers[3] and administration of the company was taken over by Jacob Theodoor Cremer who became its largest shareholder.[6] The company's headquarters was constructed in Medan in 1911.
The company diversified into tea, rubber and other industries and acquired other companies over the years. Deli Company's tobacco business was nationalized by Indonesia along with other Dutch enterprises in 1958 under Indonesian president Sukarno.[3] The state owned Plantation Nusantara Group (PTP) took over the tobacco business but the Deli Company continued operations in other areas and businesses. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Corporation.[6] The business was established near the Deli River.[6]
Contents
History
The company was established in Medan, then just a village, but conveniently located at the confluence of the Deli and Babura Rivers.[3] Business grew rapidly.[3] The company gained a commanding position in the area's tobacco trade, running 10 huge estates and eventually controlling exports with a monopoly. It developed railroads including 54 stations and built a field hospital. As the company and Medan grew, the Sultan of Deli (Makmum Al Rasjid) moved his residence from Labuhan and Medan became the capital of North Sumatra in 1891.[3]
Cigar smoking declined in the 1920s and the industry was hit hard by the Great Depression a decade later.[3]
Gallery
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Bedrijfsmedewerkers van de Deli Maatschappij in het veld bij een stoomploeg en een ossenkar TMnr 60043456.jpg
Fieldworkers with an ox cart and steam plow
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het proefstation van de Deli Maatschappij te Medan TMnr 60012530.jpg
Deli Company experimental station in Medan (1919)
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het hoofdkantoor van de Deli Maatschappij TMnr 60006949.jpg
Headquarters in Medan circa 1925
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Huis van de directeur van het Deli Proefstation voor Tabak TMnr 60047127.jpg
Director's house at the experimental station (1927)
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van een groep bij de Deli Maatschappij werkzame Chinese arbeiders en opzichters TMnr 60011104.jpg
Chinese laborers, photo by Kristen Feilberg
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van arbeiders in dienst bij de Deli Maatschappij TMnr 60011111.jpg
Workers
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van de heer Nieuwenhuis werkzaam als administrateur bij de Deli Maatschappij TMnr 60037989.jpg
Administrator Nieuwenhuis
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van H. Ingerman van 1897 tot 1901 werkzaam als hoofdadministrateur bij de Deli Maatschappij TMnr 60042840.jpg
H. Ingerman, principal administrator from 1897 to 1901 at the Deli Company
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van de heer Van Tijen van 1911 tot 1916 werkzaam als hoofdadministrateur bij de Deli Maatschappij met zijn vrouw TMnr 60042836.jpg
Portrait of the administrator Van Tijen, who served from 1911-1916, with his spouse
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Studioportret van een hoofdschrijver bij de Deli Maatschappij met zijn vrouw TMnr 60039684.jpg
Portrait of a "hoofdschrijver", head clerk, with his wife circa 1900
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COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Personeel van de Deli maatschappij op Medan TMnr 60022969.jpg
Employees in Medan (1921)
See also
References
- ↑ The Emergence of a National Economy: An Economic History of Indonesia, 1800-2000 by Howard W. Dick pages 95, 103
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Battle to preserve North Sumatra's smoking past Peter Janssen April 1, 2015 Nikkei Asian Review
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Transforming the Public Sphere: The Dutch National Exhibition of Women’s Labor in 1898 Maria Grever, Berteke Waaldijk Duke University Press, Jun 2, 2004 page 136, 152
- ↑ Black shank of tobacco in the former Dutch East Indies, caused by Phytophthora nicotianae: Original papers by Jacob van Breda de Haan, 1895 and Thung Tjeng Hiang, 1931 & 1938 Jan C. Zadoks Sidestone Press, Dec 15, 2014 page 163, 164
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Deli Universal History Funding Universe