1216
FEDERATED MALAY STATES-PERAK
supply another and more useful investment by the construction of railways, with part at least of the revenue. Since British protection the royalty on tin has yielded a total of over $183,000,000, and the Federated States have in the same time expeuded over $92, 500,000 in tlie construction or purchase of railways. The profits give a return of nearly 5 per cent. on the capital expended.
Planting enterprise in the Federated Malay States for many years had not proved very successful, but the introduction of rubber cultivation has completely transformed the agricultural prospects of the country. The area now in possession in estates of 100 acres and over is 906,601 acres, of which 499,479 acres were under cultivation for rubber at the end of 1915. (Acreage statistics for 1916 are not yet available.) About 62,764 tous of rubber were exported from these States in 1916, valued at $147,800,751 (£17,243,420) against 44,523 tons in 1915 valued at £10,927,072. Sugar has practically gone out of cultivation. Over 150,000 acres of land are under coconuts, for which the soil and climate of these States are peculiarly well suited; and the cultivation of rice is only a question of irrigation and labour. In 1915, 234,151 piculs of copra, valued at $1,838,508, were exported, against 249,038 piculs, valued at $2,141,739, in 1916. The success of every form of agriculture and of all the efforts of the Government to develop the country by means of railways, irrigation, and other great public works, depends upon an adequate supply of labour. The Governments of the Colony and the Federated Malay States, supported by the planters, by a new system of recruiting and by offering higher wages and other advantages, have succeeded in securing an adequate supply of Indian labour. An agricultural department to foster agricultural interests, encourage the cultivation of new products, to conduct experiments and to be a general source of information for planters, has been created, and is doing useful work.
It is estimated that there are in the Federated Malay States about 70,000 children of a school-going age, but only about 28,000 of these attend any recognised school; while many live in places far removed from any school-house, it is a fact that education has no great attraction for Malay parents, or Malay children, who might contribute by far the largest number of scholars. The Government offers every reasonable encouragement, and there is even a law in force in Selangor, the Negri Sem- bilan and in Perak for compelling the attendance of children who live within reasonable distance of a school, while scholars are allowed to travel free of charge on the railways. The population of the Federated Malay States was ascertained at the census of 1911 to be 1,036,999 (725,062 males, 311,937 females). Of these, 3,284 were Europeans, 2,649 Eura- sians, 420,840 Malays, 433,244 Chinese, and 172,465 Indians. In 1916, there were 95,566 Indian immigrants against 75,323 in 1915. The excess of Chinese immigrants over emigrants was 14,982, whereas in 1915 there was an excess of Chinese emigrants over immigrants of 6,572. The population showed an increase of 358,404 persons in the inter- censal period from 1901 to 1911.
The imports into the States in 1916 were valued at $69,621,113 (£8,122,463), while exports amounted to $219,943,686 (£25,660,097). The total of imports and exports com- bined (including bullion) was $292,021,066 (£34,069,124), against a total of $222,445,189 (£25,951,938) in 1915. The increase in the value of exports is largely accounted for by the rise in the price of tin and the increased output and high price of rubber.
PERAK
Perak, the premier State of the Federated Malay States, is on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, and lies between Kedah on the north and Selangor on the South. The coast-line is about 90 miles in extent; the greatest length of the State, in a north and south direction, is 150 miles, and the breadth, in an east and west direction, 90 miles. It is estimated to contain 7,875 square miles; that is to say, it is about the size of Yorkshire and Lancashire joined together. The soil is suitable for the cultiva- tion of rubber, rice, coconuts, coffee robusta, spices of all kinds, and grasses from which essential oils are extracted.