With agriculture as the-main occupation of the people and
the basis of wealth, the question of the ownership of land is
of great importance. Bali presents the amazing spectacle of
a land where the deeply rooted agrarian communalism of the people
has continued to exist side by side with the feudalism of the
noble landlords. We have seen that the true Balinese village
is an independent economic and social unit, ruled by a council
of villagers with voting power, equal rights for all, and ownership
of land restricted by village regulations. The lands are communally
cultivated to maintain the village festivals, and even the ground
on which the houses stand is village property that can be reclaimed
if the tenant abuses his privileges. Since the land and its
products belong to the ancestral gods, the idea of absolute
property is not firmly rooted among the Balinese. In our household
nobody objected when neighbors came and cut flowers and banana
leaves without permission. Alongside the Balinese commune is
the contrasting influence of mediaeval princes who have tried,
without success, to abolish the village organization and the
religion that motivated it, to replace it by feudal rule with
an official cult under their control.
Passive disobedience at first, and Dutch supremacy later, left
the princes in the position of impoverished nominal aristocrats,
who, despite the fact that they represent the Government, are
excluded from the administrative management of the - villages.
Through their co-operative societies, the bandjars and subaks,
the Balinese have recaptured some of their village autonomy.
However, the communal system has suffered considerably in the
feudal territories where the princes have held sway; the communal
lands sometimes became part of the estate of the local prince,
who gave grants of lands to his vassals in exchange for servitude,
and gradually ownership of the land in these districts became
more and more individualistic, developing a class of organized
small landowners. Village ground cannot legally be disposed
of, but sawa's have been pawned when there was great need of
ready cash. Land has never become a commodity, however, and
today the agriculturist is protected to a certain extent by
the law forbidding the sale of agricultural lands to foreigners,
perhaps one of the wisest laws passed by the Dutch Government.
Economic inequality is not as striking in Bali as elsewhere.
Until recently almost everybody wore the same type of clothes,
all went barefoot and lived in thatched houses. At first sight
they all seemed happy and prosperous. The majority of the population
has a roof, enough to eat, and some big silver dollars buried
under the earthen floor of the sleeping-quarters. Yet there
are some who are' extremely poor while others are considered
rich. There are people without lands or a house of their own,
living a parasitic life of slavery, a remnant of feudalism,
attached to the household of a master and eating whatever is
given them. A rich family is one who has sawas, a house with
a gate of carved stone, a large rice granary, an ornate family
temple, and a well-built pavilion for guests. They may have
some fine cloths put awayand heirlooms in the form of gold jewellery,
a kris with a gold sheath and handle set with precious stones
and a number of silver or gold vessels, all of which can be
pawned in one of the Government pawnshops, in case of need.
