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he is now well aware of the Sultan's objection to its use, and of the encouragement His Highness has in the past received to persevere in that objection.
12. In my opinion it would be undesirable and unwise to embark now on a legal argument or to formulate a definition as to the exact constitutional position of Johore; but I consider that matters have reached a stage at which we should insist upon the use of the term "High Commissioner" in correspondence with the Sultan. In this connexion I would refer to my despatches Unfederated Malay States Confidential of 9th October, 1931,* and 17th December, 1992,† and to your reply Unfederated Malay States (Johore) Confidential No. 181/1931 of 3rd May, 1933. In view of the fact that the Sultan has now himself raised the question and of the possibility that this may be followed by the State Council refusing to approve the usual contribution to the expenses of the office of the Secretary to the High Commissioner, I suggest for "' has your consideration that the appropriate moment to regularize the position arrived, and that the opportunity of doing so, with which the Sultan has presented us, should not be lost.
mail.
13. I shall post this despatch by air-mail. A duplicate will follow by ocean-
MY DEAR GOVERNOR,
I have, &c.,
C. CLEMENTI,
High Commissioner.
Enclosure 1 in No. 44.
Istana Passir Plangie,
Johore Bahru, 21st October, 1933. AFTER mature and prolonged reflection I wish to be excused from attending the proposed Durbar, and I think it right that 1 should give my reasons for arriving at this conclusion.
In my view the status of my State is quite different legally, politically and economically from that of the other Malay States, federated or unfederated.
Legally, I am a constitutional ruler and my people have received from me a declaration which follows the Magna Charta. My position is set out by Mr. Braddell in his Legal Status of the Malay States, see p. 21 following. Regarding this exposition Sir Frank Swettenham, G.O.M.G., C.H., wrote in British Malaya, Vol. VI, p. 244, as follows:-
"Mr. Braddell is unquestionably right to make the point he does of the difference between Johore and all the other States.
In this regard, I would remind Your Excellency that I am not, as are the other Rulers, an autocratic Malay Sovereign possessed of the absolute rights defined recently by the Privy Council. My State is ruled as provided in its written Constitution and my Councils cannot, therefore, be ignored. My presence at a meeting such as is proposed by Your Excellency and for the purposes suggested would, in my view, be unconstitutional, and might well bring me into collision with my Councils, in which connexion I would remind Your Excellency of the Memorandum of my Unofficial Members of the State Council submitted to Sir Samuel Wilson, in which the following
occurs :-
In addition we consider it essential that the State Council be given the right to address the Secretary of State for the Colonies on all questions where a difference of opinion exists between His Highness the Sultan and/or the General Adviser, who in practice always acts on the instructions of His Excellency the High Commissioner, with the majority vote of this Council."
Politically, my relations with His Majesty the King are through His Excellency the Governor only, which at once differentiates my position from that of the other States whose relations are through His Excellency the High Commissioner. While I was away from my State and without my knowledge or consent, a notification was published in the "Johore Government Gazette," as a result of the last Durbar, to the effect that Johore was placed under the guidance of the High Commissioner by His Majesty the King. This was not done with my consent or that of the Johore Councils; and with the greatest respect I submit that it is a breach of the letter and spirit of the Treaty of 1885 and the agreement of 1914.
Your Excellency will be aware that I have always protested against any connexion with the High Commissioner's Office. I have always considered my State to be different from the other Malay States. I remind Your Excellency of the ohange made in the Johore Estimates for 1933 in connexion with secretarial expenses in Singapore; and
No. 43
* No. 40.
† No. 42.
119
I would also remind Your Excellency that, when it was proposed in a piece of legis- lation for the Federated Malay States to include Johore in a definition of British Malaya, I protested and the definition was accordingly altered.
Economically, the interests of my State are interwoven with those of the Colony and not the Peninsula. This has always been so, and the point has been emphasized in the reports of recent Committees appointed by Your Excellency to consider economic questions.
It is, then, my view that Johore has no questions legal, political or economic in common with the other Malay States. I am, moreover, perfectly satisfied with my present channels of communication, and, as Your Excellency is aware, I have fully apprised the Right Honourable the Secretary of State of such matters as I desire to be remedied.
If I were to attend the suggested Durbar, it would be a tacit negation of all the principles which I have set out above and for which I have always contended, and I, therefore, beg to be excused.
Finally, I would submit that the word Durbar involves a principle and a meaning, neither of which apply to such a meeting as that proposed by Your Excellency, which I understand to be one merely of joint consultation upon such matters as are the joint concern of Their Highnesses the Rulers of the Malay States.
I feel sure that Your Excellency will not misunderstand the spirit in which this letter is written, and will believe me when I say that my views are based on the firm conviction that they accord best with the true interests of my State and of the Colony, with which Johore has always been in such close and constant relations; and I assure Your Excellency that these views are held in full loyalty to the Throne of England under whose protection my State has thrived so much.
His Excellency Sir Cecil Clementi, G.C.M.G., &c..
Government House,
MY DEAR SULTAN,
Singapore.
Enclosure 2 in No. 44.
Government House,
Yours, &c.,
IBRAHIM.
Singapore, 24th October, 1933. I HAVE received Your Highness's letter of the 21st October on the subject of the propriety of your attending the Durbar which it is proposed to hold in Singapore on the 3rd February, 1934.
Much that your letter contains will require reference to the Secretary of State before authoritative answers can be given to the points raised; but, in order to remove at once what is clearly a misapprehension of the scope and object of these meetings, I wish to inform Your Highness without delay that at the Singapore Durbar of 1930 no question of the political status of the Sultan of Johore was raised in any manner or form. It is only necessary to understand the purpose underlying these meetings to realize that no such question could possibly be discussed at such a Durbar. I attach for easy reference a copy of the record of the proceedings at the Singapore Durbar
of 1930.
I note that. Your Highness considers the word "Durbar" to be unsuitable for consultative assemblies of this nature; and I am less disposed to defend the use of that word than to impress upon Your Highness the real meaning and object of such meetings. The word is, of course, borrowed from the Persian language and literally means a hall of audience." In its extended use it is applied, in India, to the formal receptions of Indian princes held by the Viceroy; and, though the word may not be quite so suitable in Malaya, where the consultative aspect is more important than the ceremonial, it is a handy word, in lieu of something better, to designate an assembly of all the Rulers from the different parts of the Peninsula, met together for the free interchange of views on matters of joint concern to all parts of Malaya, in which, of course, the Colony is also included. The forthcoming Durbar, as was the last, will be a meeting for personal discussion between all the Rulers' concerning matters of common interest; and I attach the greatest importance to such meetings as affording us excellent opportunities to get better acquainted with one another, and as providing an occasion no less for intimate conversation outside the Durbar than for the more formal exchange of views inside.