The internal debate within IEV illustrates how their confrontation with the various
possibilities for owning land under an autochthonous legal regime defined more
sharply their understanding of citizenship. Had they, as Europeans, been granted land
rights under the autochthonous regime, they would have had no guaranteed access to
European officials, no guaranteed security under a European civil code, and no guaranteed
protection from random harassment — real or perceived — from native officials.
To IEV, this option was an inferior form of land ownership. In contrast to Beets’
speech in the Volksraad session of 1930/1931, when IEV claimed it was open to customary
forms of ownership, IEV’s leaders now realised the stark reality of it, a reality
that extinguished any interest in expressing solidarity with the Indonesian population.
It made IEV more resolute to pursue land rights protected by a European civil code,
and to hold fast to their Dutch citizenship, which gave them secure protection by the
state.