PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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to perform the medical work necessary, and Mr. A. 8. Hamilton, who was Treasurer, Harbour Master, Post- Master, Surveyor, and Superintendent of Convicta, and generally performed those duties which were not entrusted to the Governor, even undertaking the func- tions of Chaplain. Mr. Leys was appointed Consul- General for Borneo, and drew the greater part of his salary from consular funds.
By these measures it was found possible to carry on the Government until November, 1888, when, in con- sequence of the establishment of British Protectorates over Borneo, by the Agreements referred to on page 16 above, the Foreign Office decided to make other Consular arrangements, and notified to the Colonial Office that they would not guarantee the continuance to Mr. Leys of the salary of Consul-General.
The loss of this contribution to the Governor's emoluments meant that either a Treasury grant must be asked for or some new arrangement must be made for the government of the Colony. It was decided to adopt the latter course. The financial reason which had prevented annexation to the Straits Settlements in 1880 still remained, and the choice therefore lay between administration by Sarawak or by the British North Borneo Company, either of whom would have taken over the Colony. The 1888 Agreements, and, in the case of the Company, the grant of a charter, had removed the objection that these countries were not British, and the Company had now had some years' experience of administration. British North Borneo- was preferred to Sarawak as the island lay only six miles from the coast of the Company's territory, and could, therefore, be cheaply and conveniently adminis- tered from the mainland,
Lord Knutsford would have been prepared to hand the Colony over to the Company to be administered as- part of their territory, subject to a right of resumption or temporary occupation by Her Majesty's Government in time of war; but in view of possible Parliamentary opposition to this course he decided merely to appoint the Company's Principal Representative to be Governor of Labuan, still leaving to the Colony its own laws and Courts of Justice.
The Company accepted this arrangement, an under- taking being given that so long as it remained in foroe Her Majesty's Government would always advise the Queen to grant a commission as Governor of Labuan to the person appointed to govern the Company's terri- tories. The Governor was not to be required to reside in Labuan, but was to be authorised to appoint a Deputy or Deputies to govern Labuan during his absence from the island. The Company were to assume the pension liabilities of Labuan and to take over the whole administration, subject to the reference to the Colonial Office of all new laws. It was understood that the laws were to be generally assimilated to those of the Company's territory.
Letters Patent were accordingly issued in November, 1889, abolishing the Legislative Council and leaving the Governor as the legislating power, and providing also for the appointment of Deputy Governors.
Mr. C. V. Creagh, the Company's Principal Repre sentative, was appointed Governor of Labuan and the Colony was handed over to the Company on the t of January, 1890.
The administration by the Company during these 15 years has not given universal satisfaction.
In 1896 a petition was 'received from some of the inhabitants asking that Her Majesty's Government would resume the administration. The complaints against the Company's government were mostly trivial, and Bir C. Mitchell, fter an investigation on the spot, came to the conclusion that the inhabitants had little
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
LABUAN.
As stated above, Labqan, then aninhabited, was ceded to Great Britain in 1846. In 1847 Letters Patent were issued entrusting the Government to Rajah Brooks, who was to be assisted by a nominated Legislative Council. This form of constitution was retained until 1889.
Until 1871 a British garrison was stationed in the island.
When the Colony was founded it was hoped that it might become an important commercial centre for the trade from Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago, but these hopes were disappointed, as the trade from the islands and even from Sarawak mostly went direct
to Singapore, leaving to Labuan little but the trade of the neighbouring coast of Borneo.
The hopes based on the presence of coal in the Colony were also disappointed, as several companies which tried to develop the mines became bankrupt.
The result was that the finances of Labuan were never in a satisfactory condition.
Up to 1869 it received a grant from Imperial funds. Then it managed to make both ends meet for a few
years, and even to lay by a small balance ; but even in this period of comparative prosperity the revenue would not have covered the expenditure, if it had not been for the profit on the sale of Straits Settlements copper coin, 8.g., the total ordinary revenue for the years 1878- 1879 amounted to £44,617, and the expenditure to £51,146, but the profit on the copper coin in those years amounted to over £10,000, and so more than covered the deficit. This source of revenue failed in 1880, and in the same year the Oriental Coal Company became bankrupt. This meant not only the loss of the rent of the mines, but also a considerable drop in the revenue from the opium and other farms, as the Com- pany's coolies were all withdrawn.
consequence it became a matter for consideration whether the Colony should not be handed over to Sarawak or to the Dent-Overbeck Company (the germ of the British North Borneo Company), or else annexed to the Straits Settlementa. Annexation to the Straits Settlements, if thought desirable, was provided for in the Act of 1866, by which that Colony was stituted.
con-
As regards the first suggestion, Lord Kimberley minated" "Sarawak is not British territory and I see great objection to placing Labuan under the Rajah. He is not under our control, and it would involve us indirectly in his affairs, which would be very unde- sirable." He objected to transfer to the Overbrek- Dent Company for similar reasons, and also because that Company had yet to show that they could administered successfully.
He favoured annexation to the Straits Settlements, but eventually that idea was abandoned, as there was no reasonable certainty that Labuan could be made to pay its way, and in the circumstances he did not feel Justified in inflicting the burden on the Straits Settle- menta.
It was therefore decided to continue the administra- tration of the island as a separate Colony, un cheaply as possible. As a result, the Government was practically conducted by two men, Mr. P. Leys, the Medical Officer who became acting governor and a judge, and continued
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