PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference:
TELEC.O. 882
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Rajah Dollah came to my house the Tunku Panglima, Rajah of Langat, accompanied him, and when Rajah Dollah asked me to sign the letter the Tunku Panglims advised me to do so, saying, "You are asked to state that Rajah Mahdie is the son of Rajah Slayman, what harm can there be by your doing so." I again refused to sign. There was nobody present at the time except my wife and child.
SALANGORE COUNCIL.
Chop of
DATOO DAHEMAN.
Seventh Meeting, held at Langat, 1 May 1878.
His Highness the Tunku Muda,
Her Britannic Majesty's Resident.
Collector and Magistrate, Langat. Rajah Kabar.
PRESENT:
The Resident stated his reasons for calling the meeting, which was to lay before the Council the following case:
That of Tunku Panglima Rajah-1st. For having attempted to bribe Mr. L. E. New- bronner, collector and magistrate, Birnam.
The proceedings were explained and the letter received was read.
Mr. Innes moved that the Sultan be advised to dispense with the services of Tunku Panglima Rajah as a member of the Council.
Carried unanimously.
The Resident proposed that Tunku Panglima Rojah should enter into his own recog- nizance and find one surety in the sum of 1,000 dollars to appear before the Resident when called upon, and that the Sultan should be advised to decide what allowance should be granted to Tunku Panglima Rajah for his support pending further action.
Carried.
2nd. The question of the petition regarding Rajah Mahdie's position in the country was then brought under the notice of the Council.
The petition and also the two depositions taken at Birnam were read.
The Resident proposed that this information should be given to the Sultan, who should be advised to request the Resident to address a letter to the Governor requesting that Rajah Dollah should be sent from Singapore, and the matter be placed in the hands of the Superintendent of Police.
Carried.
(Signed) B. DOUGLAS,
Her Britannic Majesty's Resident, Salangore.
EXTRACT from MINUTES of EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
Executive Council, May 16, 1878. "The Governor submits to Council a letter, dated the 2nd May, from Her Britannic Majesty's Acting Resident of Salangore reporting the arrest and subsequent deposition from the State Council of Tunku Panglima Rajab.
"The Council unanimously express their opinion to his Excellency that the measures taken by the Resident were uncalled for and extra vires, and that he should be instructed to advise the Sultan to reinstate Panglima Rajah as a member of the Council."
The COLONIAL SECRETARY to Her Britannic Majesty's Resident, Salangore.
Colonial Secretary's Office, Singapore,
May 21, 1878.
Sen,
I AM directed by the Governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the and instant, No. 127/78, reporting the arrest and subsequent deposition from the State Council of Tunku Panglima Rajah, and to inform you that the proceedings taken in the matter by yourself and by the collector of Birnam appeared to his Excellency to dis
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close so serious a misconception of your positions in the country, that his Excellency has thought it necessary to bring the subject before his Executive Council, and I am now to communicate to you the decision of his Excellency.
In the case of Mr. Newbronner, it appears that the Panglima Rajah wrote a letter to that officer offering him a sum of 40 dollars if he would recover certain moneys owed by one Abdulhamid. Such conduct on the part of a European would have been reprehensible, and even criminal'; but as you yourself acknowledge, is regarded by Malays as a trivial matter. In a State under Malay government the latter consideration is an important one, and cannot be lost sight of in dealing with Malays and their Chiefs.
Mr. Newbronner was therefore bound to report the occurrence fully to you, but as regards the Panglima Rajab, he might, without impropriety, have confined himself to pointing out to that Chief how opposed such an offer is to ideas of British justice, and that it must on no account be repeated. In arresting a Chief of the rank of the Panglima Rajah Mr. New bronner acted, in his Excellency's opinion, indiscreetly, arbitrarily, and altogether in excess of his authority.
No doubt, in the event of a native Chief so conducting himself as to endanger seriously the peace of the district of which a collector has charge, it would be the duty of that officer to take prompt and efficacious measures for the preservation of tranquillity. In the present instance there was no such emergency. Though Rajah Mahdie has acted very improperly in sending to Birnam for signature the letter, of which a translation is herewith enclosed, there is no reason to suppose that any disturbance of the peace was threatened or was being concocted; and the part taken by the Panglima Rajsh with reference to that letter appears to have been confined to saying that there was no harm in the letter and no reason for not signing it.
On the other hand, the offer of money to Mr. Newbronner was a matter which could have been dealt with if necessary by the Resident equally well after a sufficient interval had elapsed to allow of its being reported to you. His Excellency, therefore, directs that you will inform Mr. Newbronner as above, and will caution bim to use, in all his dealings with the natives, that forbearance and regard for native ideas and customs which are positions of trust in the native essential on the part of officers who are placed States.
His Excellency regrets much that when the action taken by Mr. Newbronner came to be investigated by you, it was not at once disowned, but the further proceeding of sum. moning the State Council and proposing, proprio motu, to that body, and afterwards to the Sultan, the deposition of a member whose nomination to the Council had been approved by the Governor and submitted to the Secretary of State, was a step which was in excess of the powers of a Resident, was, as already shown, not warranted by the grounds upon which it was proposed, and which, had it been so warranted, might with perfect safety have been postponed until the Governor's instructions had been taken. The light in which the offence was looked upon by the Sultan and by the native members of Council has already been referred to.
His Excellency, with every desire to support the influence of the Resident, is unable to do so in a case where the powers of the officer have been so largely exceeded, nor in he prepared to allow that it should be understood by the natives and their Chiefs that action such as you have taken in this case would meet with the approval of and be con- firmed by this Government.
I am therefore to convey to you the Governor's instructions that upon receipt of this letter you will seek an interview with the Sultan, and inform His Highness that the course taken by you in proposing the deposition of the Panglima Rajah has not met with his Excellency's approval, and you will ask His Highness's consent to the reinstatement of the Panglima Hajah in the Council and to the payment to him of his allowance, with arrears, as before.
His Excellency does not anticipate that you will experience any difficulty in obtaining the consent of the Sultan, His Highness baving from the first been disposed to look upon the offence committed by the Panglima Rajah as being of a venial character.
You will also, at the next meeting of the State Council, inform the members of the reinstatement of the Panglima Rajah, and you will take an early opportunity of informing that Chief, firmly but courteously, that although the extreme measures taken by you have not been upheld, the offering of money to a public officer in, according to English ideas of justice, a crime of a very heinous character, and that the acceptance of such money by the officer would lead to his dismissal from the service, and, in the case of a European, to his being criminally prosecuted, and you will warn the Panglima strongly against any repetition of such offers.
His Excellency has felt much pain and regret in thus expressing his disallowance of
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