PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TTIC.O.
882
3
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
112
No. 84.
The EARL OF CARNARVON to GOVERNOR SIR W. JERVOIS, K.C.M.G., C.B
(No. 135.)
STR.
Downing Street, June 1, 1876.
In my Despatch, No. 127, of 20th ultimo, I stated that I would address you separately on some points connected with the future policy of Her Majesty's Government in relation to Perak, and I will now proceed to touch briefly on those considerations which seem to me to be at this moment of most pressing importance.
2. As you will have remarked, I did not in that Despatch make any special comments on the suggestions made in some of your earlier communications to annex the State of Perak to her Majesty's dominions, but the telegraphic and other communications which I have during the last few months addressed you have I think made my general opinion on this point sufficiently clear, and it will now be enough if I say that after full consideration of the grounds on which you based the proposal, the circumstances of the case do not in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government warrant the adoption of that policy, nor are they prepared to depart in any considerable degree from the instructions that have already been given you.
3. In my telegram of the 25th November I informed you that neither annexation nor the government of the country by British officers in the name of the Sultan (a measure very little removed from annexation) could be allowed, and that Her Majesty's Govern- ment were not prepared to adopt the principle of permanently retaining troops in the Peninsula in order to impose Residents or other Officers upon the Natives against their will. It is, I think, clear that to press such officers upon a resisting population would, under the present circumstances of the country, be productive of at least as much ritk and inconvenience as of political or commercial advantage.
4. Subsequently (on the 29th December) I informed you that you might retain for the present whatever force you considered indispensable, but that the troops so retained were not to be employed for purposes of annexation, and that Her Majesty's Government were disposed in favour of maintaining the established system of Residents, but that they required further information from you on various points, such as the stations proposed to be occupied, the force to be employed, and any other modifications desirable for the security or improvement of the system,
5. To this latter telegram I received an immediate and necessarily brief reply from you by telegraph, but I have not received as yet any Despatch giving full explanations and information on the specific points which I then raised." I need not, however, delay longer to say that on a general review of the correspondence which has come before
me,
I fail to perceive any proof that the system under which Residents were appointed to the native States has had such a trial as to justify me in pronouncing that it has failed, or that any other course which has been indicated is not open to graver risk, larger expenditure, and more doubtful results, and the obstacles which have interfered with its The system has been in existence for success are apparently such as can be removed.
little more than two years; and independently of the fact that during a great part of that time it has been subject to some exceptionally adverse conditions, is clear, from the official reports which you and your predecessor have forwarded to me, that if it has broken down in one part of the Malay peninsula it has enjoyed a fair amount of success in other parts. I see, therefore, no ground for an entire and abrupt reversal of existing arrangements, followed, as such reversal must be, by a further period of uncertainty and transition.
6. It is indeed clear that the Residents have exceeded the function of Counsellors which they were intended to discharge, but I do not think that on that account it is necessary either to withdraw them from Perak and the other States, or to revolutionise the conditions of their political and administrative functions. A modification of the previous arrangements will probably be enough for the present, if combined with watch- fulness and great caution on the part of the Government; and under such conditions officers may, in my opinion, continue to be stationed in Perak, who may render active and valuable assistance in the administration of the country, They will, however, need for the present at all events, to be supported by an armed force which can be relied upon to preclude the probability of any treachery or open resistance.
7. In a recent Despatch, when describing the temporary appointments which you doubt whether any have made, you adhere to the designation of "Commissioners. adequate advantage will be gained by the change of name from Residents (a designation
• No. 80.
113
well understood in the East as indicating that amount of influential advice to the native ruler, and that amount of responsibility on the part of the adviser, which Her Majesty's Government have contemplated) to Queen's Commissioners, and I am averse to the change as implying either a greater responsibility or an indefined and doubtful alteration in the relations of the two parties.
I am of opinion, therefore, that the English officers to be stationed in the Malay States should continue to be styled "Residents."
8. I am, however, disposed to approve your proposal of establishing a Council of mixed Malay Chiefs and British officers. Such & Council would, as you observe, give an opportunity to some of the principal Chiefs to take a useful part in the administration of the Country, and thereby uphold their influence with the body of the people. It would, moreover, give the Resident and any other officers nominated by you to such a Council an opportunity of gauging the strength of native feeling on questions of pro- posed reform; and the knowledge so gained would tend to the exercise of greater discrimination in the nature of the advice given by the Resident to the Chief native authority.
9. It will, of course, be desirable to settle by regulation at as early a date as possible the nature of the questions that must be brought before this Council, and the position they are to hold in relation to the acts of the Executive Government.
10. I understand that in your proposal for the establishment of such a Council you had in view the circumstances of Perak only; but, assuming the principle to be good in the case of Perak, it would probably be desirable to adopt it in each of the native States, or in each group of contiguous States that can be conveniently treated in combination.
11. Whatever may be the ultimate policy which it may be necessary to adopt in the Malay Peninsula it is clearly our object to make the best use of existing materials, and with this view it should be our present policy to find and train up some Chief or Chiefs of sufficient capacity and enlightenment to appreciate the advantages of a civilized government and to render some effectual assistance in the government of the country.
12. It is, in my opinion, undesirable that the British officers should interfere more frequently or to a greater extent than is necessary in the minor details of government. Their special objects should be the maintenance of peace and law, the initiation of a sound system of taxation, with the consequent development of the general resources of the country, and the supervision of the collection of the revenue so as to ensure the receipt of funds necessary to carry out the principal engagements of the Government, and to pay for the cost of the British officers and whatever establishments may be found necessary to support them.
13. At the time of the engagement of Pangkore it was contemplated that the Sultan should have a Civil List, that Ismail should be pensioned, and that other Chiefs should have fixed incomes. As far as I can gather from the papers before me, though this subject has been considered further, no definite settlement of allowances has ever yet been made. Although there may not at present be money available for the payment of the whole of such allowances, I consider it desirable that the amounts to be assigned should be fixed as soon as possible, so that the Chiefs should understand their interest in supporting the system of revenue devised by Mr. Birch, and that should they continue to attempt to exact revenue not legitimately due to them, they will forfeit their right to their fixed allowances.
14. With regard to the retention of Abdullah as Sultan, I am obliged to infer, both from late events and from your recent communications, that his selection was not fortunate, and that he has not the proper capacities for a ruler. He has not, however, as I understand, in any way identified himself with those who have been lately in arms against the British Government, and you advised, in your telegram of 1st January, that he should be allowed to remain at the head of the Government at present. Taking into account the great difficulty of finding at this juncture a substitute in whom confidence could be placed, and the serious risks which might arise either from any error of judg- ment on this point, or from an interregnum of doubtful length and character, I am, though very reluctant to retain in the nominal command of the district a ruler of acknow- ledged incapacity, prepared to accept the least dangerous of the alternatives, and to adopt the recommendation that you then made. But in allowing Abdullah to remain in authority, care must be taken to give no pledge for the future which can inconveniently hamper the course of action which policy and a fuller knowledge of circumstances than is now poseible may prescribe. Her Majesty's Government must be left perfectly free to act in this matter as and when they may deem expedient.
15. In the telegram which I have just quoted you suggested that should Abdullah not amend (though you hope the recent events may have proved a useful lesson to him), P 4
aft
Yusuf should be made Sultan to It has also been suggested.
of Johere and Tunker Kullin are pershins either of whom
I am without the local and personal knowledge of the quakjibat of those individuals whom f'have mentioned which would teraklit.
Makarajah
tills post. cirtadistances
to form decided
opinion as to the expediency of selecting either of them, bar you will be good enough to consider the qualifications of them, or of any other Chief who you may think suitable for high office, and report your opinion to me. Experience has shown that whatever capacity à ruler may have, it is not expedient to support him merely on such grounds, unless there is evidence that he is acceptable to the other Chiefs, and will be cheerfully recognised in the country. I observe that both in Mr. Birch's Report, and in your Despatch of the 16th October, Yusuf is spoken of as being unpopular with the other Chiefs, and I doubt not you will carefully consider this point in making any recommeg- dations on the subject.
16. It will, as I have already indicated, be necessary to secure by far more effectual precautions than those hitherto observed, the protection of the Resident, and to provide against such sudden outbreaks as that which recently occurred in Perak. This can only be done by the maintenance of an adequate force on the spot. What the pre- cise strength of this force should be, I cannot now undertake to define, but I am informed that probably a guard of not more than 150 or 200 men would be fully sufficient. I have to request that you will take an early opportunity of considering the strength and organisation of a police force such as would enable Her Majesty's Government to provide for these objects and to remove all troops from Perak as soon as possible to ad
17. The Residents will naturally render assistance in the organising of this which will be under their orders and responsible to them, and they will transmit to the Governor of the Straits Settlements a Report detailing the employment, and character of the body, which the Governor will in turn forwa Secretary of State with careful comments from himself, The force will be paki is practicable, out of the funds of the province, and the appointments to it will t by the Secretary of State. It is a question deserving careful consideration how the composition of this body the Foreign element should be allowed to haww any large proportions. On the one hand it may be desirable that it should not appear to the Malays to be that of a dominant power imposed on them from without; on the other force drawn from beyond the Peninsula may be found most reliable, » You will at once carefully consider and report on this subject.
Looking to the necessarily tentative character of this body it should be clearly aderstood that such British officers as may be employed in it have no claim for Pension.
18. Captain Speedy's appointment as Assistant Resident at Larut appeaas been productive of considerable success, and as the revenues of this district be larger than are absolutely required for its administration, I think it may be to consider whether he might not undertake, for a time at all events Principal Resident in Perak, his control in Larut not being thereby demont desire to be informed whether you would be disposed to recommend such a co
bak
“Ishave, ko.
17.
Governor Sir W. F. D. Jervois,
(Signed) CARNARVON,
&c.
&c.
No. 85.
大
The EARL OF Carnarvon to GOVERNOR SIR W. JERVOIS, K.,C,M.G., C.B.
(Confidential.)
SER,
Downing Street, June 7, 1876.
I have the honour to request that in publishing my Despatch, No. 185, of the 1st June, you will amit from it the 15th paragraph, which for obvious ressous it would not be desirable to make public.
Sir W. Jervois.
AKIZUJUS .
I have, do. (Signed)
A
CARNARVON,
3.
LONDON:
Printed by Gnovan 1. Eran and William Brornst
Palmers to the Queen's manos Expačioms Majkody.
Mar ty's Stationery Offps.