18,279.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
ياسيا
N
Reference :-
CO. 885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
12 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
No. 238.
(LABUAN.)
LAW OFFICERS to FOREIGN OFFICE.
MY LORD,
Temple, 17th September 1880. We were honoured with your Lordship's commands, signified in Sir Julian Pauncefote's letter of the 30th July last, stating that, by direction of your Lordship, he laid before us the papers noted in the list appended thereto, and relating to an application addressed to Her Majesty's Government, through the Foreign Office, for the grant of a Charter of Incorporation to an Association in course of formation for the development of the northern part of the island of Borneo under certain concessions of territory and grants of sovereign rights thereover which had been acquired from the Sultans of Sulu and Brunei by Mr. Alfred Dent, of the firm of Dent, Brothers, and Co., of London.
That the character and objects of the Association, and the general features of its organization and of the powers which it proposed to exercise, were explained in the printed Statement presented by Mr. Dent to the Foreign Office in December 1878.
That Mr. Dent's application for a Charter was allowed to stand over pending the discussion which was going on at that time respecting the claim of Spain to sovereignty over the north-east coast of Borneo under a Treaty concluded with the Sultan of Sulu in July 1878.
That, in January last, Her Majesty's Government communicated to the Spanish Government (Further Correspondence, Part IV., p. 1,) their decision not to recognise the alleged claim of Spain to sovereignty over that part of the island of Borneo, and on the 12th April Mr. Dent renewed his application for a Charter (ibid., p. 15).
That it was ery desirable, for various reasons, that a decision on this application should be arrived at without further delay, and Sir Julian Pauncefote was to submit to us the following observations thereon:-
That Mr. Dent and his associates had occupied the principal points in North Borneo under their grants for about two years, but they were unwilling to embark further capital in the undertaking unless it received the sanction and support of Her Majesty's Government.
That, apart from the advantages which might result from the opening up of new outlets for British trade, Her Majesty's Government considered it of great importance to the interests of this country that the territories in question should not fall into the possession of any other nation, and especially of Spain. That, on the other hand, they were unwilling to increase their responsibilities in the East by the annexation or protectorate of new territories, which, moreover, in the case of North Borneo, could hardly fail to excite political jealousies. That, under, those circumstances, Her Majesty's Government were disposed to look favourably on Mr. Dent's application, as it appeared to them that the occupation of North Borneo by British subjects under a Charter of Incorporation such as was contemplated would greatly diminish, if not remove, the risk of that territory passing into foreign hands.
But a question had been raised whether the status of the Association, as the governing power over those territories under the grants from the Sultans of Sulu and Brunei, was one to which any valid exception could be taken in point of inter-
national law.
That, on that point, Sir Julian Pauncefote was to refer us to Acting Consul-General Treacher's Despatch No. 3 of the 8th March 1880 (Further Correspondence, Part IV., p. 17), and to the correspondence therein transmitted, from which we would perceive that Commodore Schufeldt, of the United States' Navy, addressed a letter to the Sultan of Brunei (p. 20) in which he contended that the grant by the Sultan of the territories and powers acquired by the Association in Brunei was in disparagement of the Treaty between the Sultan and the United States, of which a copy formed Enclosure 6 of the despatch. That he admitted, however, that a similar grant "to any recognised Sovereign Power" would be free from objection.
That it would be observed that the Sultan of Brunei in his reply (p. 23) pointed out that the United States' Government had never made any objection to similar grants of territory and of sovereign powers to Sir James Brooke, who held and
▲ 19916.-224. 25-12/84.