Colonial intelligence could not distinguish rumor from verified threats among native informants.

Evidence

Nor would the rumors on which Dutch authorities acted have made much sense. In November military commander Demmemi reported rumors of Gayos and Bataks preparing for a rampage to wipe out Europeans en masse. But no one knew if there were 80 Gayos lying in wait, or 800 Acehnese gathering in the Batak highlands four hours from the densest concentration of Deli estates. Military officials were rattled by contradictory reports of their native spies but could not tell the difference between “news” and “rumors” and were unsure which of the informants were providing reliable information. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1232

Categorization

• XREF: Evidence for the epistemic-anxiety theme of the reading purpose — the colonial state’s inability to know native intentions directly undermines its governance.