An 1876 ruling banned forced return of contract-breaking coolies

Evidence

Some higher officials in Batavia were unconvinced. Contrary to planter opposition, an 1876 ruling forbade the forced return of workers to those estates upon breach of their contracts. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1085

Categorization

• QUESTION: What were the Raad van Indië’s actual arguments for the ruling? The text gestures at a factional dispute in Batavia worth chasing.