RICE, WORK, & WEALTH

    ACCORDING TO LEGEND, the Balinese originally had only the juice of sugar-cane as food. Out of pity for the human rice, the male god of fertility and water water, Wisnu, Plutonic Lord of the under world, came to earth in disguise to provide them with better food, He raped an unwilling Mother Earth to fertilize her and give birth to rice, and s'be became known as Sanghyang ibu pertiwi, the Smitten Grandmother. Then Wisnu made war on indra Lord of the Heaven, to induce him to teach men how to grow rice. Thus, as the principal source of life and wealth and as a gift from the gods, rice was bom from the cosmic union devine male and female creative forces represented in earth and water

Besides white rice (bras), there are red (gaga) and black (injin) varieties. These the Balinese conveniently co-ordinatedwith their symbolyc notion of the relation between colour and direction by the explanation that the seeds were provided Sanghyang Kesuhum Kidul (Brahma), the patron of the south who sent four doves with seeds of the four, cardinal white, red, yellow, and black. Since there was no yell the seed of that collour became tumeric (kunyit), an important condiment.

Poor people, or those living in districts where water is not abundant, live on corn and sweet potatoes, foods considered inferior to rice, and taken to be transformed male and female at. tendants of Dewi Sri, wife of Wisnu, goddess of agriculture, fertility, and success. To the Balinese Dewi Sri represents all that is good and beautiful and she is their most popular deity. She has been placed, perhaps with the advent of Hinduism, above Dewi Melanting, the native goddess of seed and plants, who, as daughter of Dewi Sri, remains the goddess of gardens and markets. Dm,i Melanting spends half the year above the earth and the other half below; or, as Dr. Goris puts it, " she has first to undergo death under the black earth before she can come to new life."'

Since man lives off rice and his body and soul are built from it, rice itself is treated with reverence and respect and the whole rice culture has developed into an elaborate cult. There are end less magic-ritual acts to make the rice grow big and strong, or so that water shall not be lacking, or to prevent the pollution of the land and the loss of seed by theft, birds, and mice. From planting-time' until harvest the growth of rice is watched with as much anxiety as the life of a child. The Balinese are famed as the most efficient rice-growers in the archipelago. They raise two crops of fine rice a year with such success that they have more than sufficient for the needs of the population, often having enough left over to sell or give away. Even agricultural experts admit that modern methods could not improve the already excellent results, due perhaps to the intense striving of the Balinese for improvement, their communal, co-operative agricultural societies, and their Burbank-like system of seed selection.

The most striking element of the Balinese landscape is the ever present rice field, the sawa, a. patch of land filled with water held by dikes cut out of the red earth. Every available piece of ground to which it is humanly possible to bring water, even to
mountain heights, is made use of. The receding man-made ter. races, like flights of gigantic stairs, cover the hills and spread over the slopes and plains. When they are first filled with still water they are like mosaics of mirrors that reflect the clouds. Later they
are sprinkleed with the dainty blades of the newly planted rice in an all-over I pattern of chartreuse on a ground of brown ooze. This thickens eventually into a tender yellow-green carpet which turns to a rich gold ochre as the grain ripens, finally leaving only dry,
cracked mud after the harvest. The landscape is continually changing, and as the crop begins or ends, a familiar surrounding is so transformed as to become almost unrecognizable.

    THE SUBAK

   The rugged, mountainous nature of the island, closely furrowed by deep ravines, makes irrigation extremely difficult. Water is led from the mountains to the various levels of cultivated land by an elaborate system of canals, dams, bamboo pipes, and even long tunnels cix-it t4ough solid rock, to the dikes that permit the sawa to be flooded or drained at will. Solid matter is filtered off and pools are made for sand deposits to prevent the clogging of the ricefields.

It is obvious that small landowners could not carry out, alone, the tremendous task of attending to the work of irrigation. It became necessary for them to organize into subaks, agricultural cooperative societies, " water boards " that control the equitable distribution of water to their members, all those who take water from a cammon source. The objectives of the subak are to give the small agriculturist the assurance that he will not lack water, to police the dams effectively so that strangers will not divert the water supply, to settle disputes, and to attend to the communal rice festivals. In the village the. society assumes full social, technical, and, administrative authority in all matters concerning irrigation and agriculture .

Like the village and ward associations, the subak is presided over by elected headmen, the klian and penyarikan subak, with their assistants (pangliman). The subak leaders open and preside over the meetings, see that the decisions and rules are carried out, impose fines and penalties, and act as treasurers of the organization. They keep written records of the names of the members and of all transactions and proceedings. The offices of the
subak leaders are un rewarded, except, as in the case of other societies, for certain privileges such as extra shares of water and a small percentage of the fines collected. Every man who owns ricefields is compelled to join the subak and to carry out orders.
Members may be allowed to buy off their services, but they must be present when important repairs are made, even though they may pay others to do their share of the work.

Once a month, or oftener if necessary, a general meeting is held in the little temple of the subak, a small shrine dedicated to the agricultural deities, built out in the middle of the ricefields. Attendance is compulsory and an absentee who is not properly justified is fined. When the members have gathered, the headman reads the roll, communicates the improvements and repairs to be carried out, reports on the relations of the society with higher officials " and with other subaks, and accounts for money received in fines and fees as well as what has been spent in materials, offerings, and so forth. Important decisions are reached by majority vote. When all business is settled, the headman adjourns the meeting and an informal social gathering follows in which tobacco, sirih, and refreshments are served by appointed attendants. If the subak is a prosperous one, there may even be a banquet.

Like other Balinese associations, the spirit of the subak is essentially communal; all members abide by the same rules, each one being allotted work in relation to the amount of water he receives. Certain stipulations are made to prevent individuals from holding more land than would be convenient to the community. A man who has more land than be can work is compelled to share the produce with people appointed to help him.

DISTRIBUTION OF LABOUR

       In Bali one may see a woman laying bricks or breaking stones to pave a road, or find men in the market in Den Pasar sitting at their sewing-machines making blouses for women, but it would be unthinkable for a woman to paint a picture or to climb a coconut tree; a man would be disgraced if seen performing work that is the perquisite of women.

The labour allotted to each sex is sharply defined; all heavy work requiring manly attributes - agriculture, building in wood or thatch, the care of cattle - as well as most of the trades and crafts, such as carpentry, wood- and stone-carving, painting, writing, playing musical instruments, is the work of men. Women own, raise, and sell chickens and-pigs, but only men care for cows, buffaloes, and ducks. Since men dislike working for wages, the women of the lower classes are obliged to engage as coolies transporting building-materials, carrying coconuts to sell to the Chinese for making copra, delivering charcoal, or obtaining broken coral from the beach to make lime. Although only men build Balinese houses, women are the house-painters and work as masons in constructions of Western style.

Domestic duties such as fetching water for the kitchen, threshing rice, making flour, weaving, and making domestic offerings are performed by women, but men take an equal interest in the care of children and are proud to carry their sons everywhere. While the daily food is cooked by women, only men may prepare the pork and turtle dishes for banquets, and rice may be cooked by both. When at harvest-time both sexes help cut the rice and carry it home, every woman holds one of the heavy sheaves on her head, and the men carry two, one on each end of a pole swung across the shoulders. It is a rule that a woman carries only on her head and a man on his shoulders, except for offerings and holy objects, which must be carried on the head.

Children assist their parents in the daily work, the boys taking care of the ducks and cows and weeding the ricefields; or, if their father is a craftsman, they become his apprentices. Little girls help their mothers to carry loads, to cook, to weave, or sell in the market. The activity of the women seems to increase with age; by far the most active person in our household was Gusti's aunt, a proud old woman over sixty. Women of the common class carry even greater loads than the young, but she, being a Pregusti, could not carry loads. Her bands, however, were never still and she was reputed the best maker of offerings in the bandjar. Endowed with a knowledge acquired only by age, elderly women are essential to the religious festivals and many act as priestesses.

Although old men are mainly concerned with sitting in the bale bandjar discussing literature, chewing sirih, and drinking tuak, they also have duties to perform: they are the leading members of the village associa-tion, the priests, witch-doctors, story-tellers, and of course the teachers of writing, poetry, and the arts. Old men are often duck-shepherds, guiding the flocks of ducks to the fields and back.

At one time the dramatic, arts were restricted to the men, although older women danced in religious ceremonies. But today girls have successfully invaded the theatrical field. In general the condition of Balinese women is better than in other Eastern countries. A woman has definite rights; the income she derives from the sale of her pigs, her weaving, or the garden produce she sells in the market is her own, and she may dispose of her belongings without the knowledge of her husband. Most women are not only conomically independent, but contribute to the expenses of the household. A woman's debts are her own and her husband is not liable for them. The women keep the finances of the family and control the markets.

THE ECONOMIC ORDER

         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.

In general the Balinese have little need of dash to procure the daily necessities of life. Normally the cost of living is extremely low and food and the requirements for shelter are produced by the Balinese themselves. A. meal in a I public eating-place may cost as much as twenty cents, but, having rice, the cash expense for food for an entire family in the home amounts only to a few pennies, perhaps only enough to buy salt and spices. Fruit and vegetables are grown in the gardens ad joinin & the house; pigs, chickens, and ducks are raised at home to be killed Ion special occasions or for offerings which the people themselves eat after the gods have consumed the essence. Fuel consists of the fallen dry leaves and stems of the coconut trees.

The housing problem is simple. Entire families live, together in ancestral compounds, and a modest house can be built almost overnight out of bamboo and thatch at- a very low cost. People without means or without a house simply go to live with a relative, ,(I sharing a kitchen " in exchange for small services and assistance in the general housework, or procure land from the village and gradually build their own household. The daily clothing consists of a kamben, a piece of cotton worn like a skirt, and a head-cloth, with an added shirt or blouse in the more " modern ", districts. A complete ordinary outfit of clothes costs about two guilders ($1.36 at the time of writing) one guilder for the skirt, fifty cents for the headpiece and fifty cents more for the shirt. Amusements are free and transportation is mainly by foot, leaving medicines and luxuries to be bought for cash.

It was always a mystery to us how the Balinese made the money they seemed to spend so lavishly in extravagant festivals and in beautiful clothes. They never appeared to work regularly for wages, and outside of the market, in which alone business was transacted, they never see me & interested in commerce, The men were always busy in the ricefields, but rice cannot be considered an important source of cash income. The Balinese grow rice for personal consumption and for offerings, selling only what is left over from the second planting, which they regard as unfit for offerings to the gods.

Their main source of income is in the sale of cattle and pigs, and of coconuts for making copra; a second source is from coffee, rice,and tobacco which they. sell for export to Chinese middlemen.. The trades and crafts are indidental sources of income and in the markets -one may see people selling pottery, mats, baskets, and so forth-, together with the vendors of vegetables, dried fish, spices, 2nd flowers. Some craftsmen, such as the gold and silver workers, the blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers of palm, and pottery-makers, have regular incomes, but -they remain independent artisans. The Balinese men work for wages only spasmodically and as an adventure. In the larger towns they engage as chauffeurs, clerks, and servants - positions which are regarded as superior. With the affluence of tourists, some now derive an income from the sale of sculptures, paintings, silverwork, weavings, and so forth.

Ruled by the principle of live and let live, landowners allow others without land to share their crop in exchange for help. There are, however, organizations of laborers (seka mejukut) who work the earth for a communal wage. They are paid by time recorded by water-clocks (gandji) similar to those used in cockfights: a half coconut-shell with a small hole in the bottom, placed in a basin of water, the time it takes to sink being the measure. The fees are arranged by the head of the group.

At the present time, however, the economic balance has, temporarily at least, ceased to exist. With taxes and imported commodities on the increase, and the price of Balinese products for export at rock-bottom levels, the whole population has come
to find itself in need of cash, not in kepengs (Chinese cash valued at a fraction of a cent with which they buy the daily necessities), but in Dutch guilders worth from five hundred to seven hundred kepeng according to the exchange. There is no demand for their insignificant products, and the deflated Dutch currency has become harder than ever to obtain.

The Balinese are more and more eager for the " advantages of civilization " in the form of inferior foreign cloth, bicycles, flashlights, aniline dyes, and motor-cars, and if their miserable earnings are not taken away by the Arab merchants it is only because they are already due for back taxes. Besides a tax on each household, there is a sawa tax (pajeg) and a tax (upeti) on dry grounds bearing coconut and coffee trees. The most hated of taxes is that paid every time a Balinese kills a pig, no matter how small, for which needs a certificate, This has led to clandestine slaughter and with it the reduction of the pig supply, and the reward 'promised to denouncers has introduced the element of discord into otherwise unified communities. Dr. Korn, the authority on Balinese sociology, says that the population would prefer an export tax on cattle to the troublesome slaughter tax.

With the relentless drain of the island's, wealth, poverty, too, is on the increase and the Balinese are threatened with -the loss of their lands through failure to pay taxes. They have been forced to sell whatever they possessed of value - antiques, fine brocades, jewellery, and even the bits of gold that decorate their krisses - to tourists and gold-hoarders, while theft and prostitution are on the increase. It is to be feared that if present conditions continue, the simple and well-organized life of the Balinese will be seriously