Colonial survey cooperation varied sharply by district and level of official enthusiasm

Evidence

In some places district wardens (wijkmeester) were entrusted with the task: in Semarang that worked; in Batavia and Jogjakarta they were uncooperative. District officials eager to please central authorities provided “written and oral testimony … hoping they could be of help in some way.” House visits were done in Salatiga, duly noted as an exception, and seemed to have been rare elsewhere. In some districts the committees sent forms to household heads, which were to be returned by mail or in person to district bureaus. Sometimes authorities simply completed the forms. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 911