PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
APPLIC.O. 882
اسيلي
6 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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thus interest would be saved without going into the market for a succession of small
loans.
17. If money cannot be raised here at a fair rate of interest, we had better put the whole matter in the hands of the Crown Agents, and in any case we must ask those gentlemen for their good offices, for we have no experience in raising a loan, and they will, no doubt, tell us exactly what should be done if we are to raise a million dollars locally. There is not too much time in which to make all necessary arrangements.
18. It will, of course, be necessary to devote $175,000 to $200,000 a year to interest on the loan, and though we are able to do this, as well as find $1,000,000 per annum out of current revenue for railway extension-indeed we shall be glad to do it for so great an inducement-we must be content to press on other public works with moderation. Fortunately we have managed to complete most of the important road work in Perak and Selangor, but Pahang and the Negri Sembilan require further development in this direction.
19. As regards labour, I believe there will be little difficulty in raising what we require. The Railway Department usually employs Chinese labour in construction work. and there is a considerable force available owing to the depression in the tin industry. Later on, as the Secretary of State remarks, a further force of labour will be released by the completion of the Pahang roul, and, altogether, I think there is nothing to be feared in this regard.
20. With reference to a chief railway engineer, my opinion is that if we could get the right men it would be distinctly of advantage to engage the services of a chier engineer for, say, a term of three years, and we could afford to pay him, out of the construction vote, a salary of, say, 21,000 or £1,200 a year: so as to secure the services of a really able man. At the same time we can do this work under the direction of Messrs. Hanson and Watkins, if they are given the necessary assistance. They have great local experience, they have already successfully constructed sections of railway in Perak and Selangor, and unless we can get a chief engineer of marked capacity and some tact, it would be better to go on as we are, The temporary services of a man of high professional ability would be of advantage at this junction in settling points on which the Perak and Selangor resident, engineers differ, and more so in deciding on the best alignment for the sections of railway now to be constructed, and in dealing with the tunnelling and large bridges that must be undertaken. If, for instance, we could again borrow from the Netherlands India Government, Mr. T. Delprat, now in Batavia, who fifteen years ago advised us about the construction of the first Selangor line, I think suci: an appointment would be of great advantage.
21. As to paragraph 2 of the Secretary of State's despatch, I have not seen the concession to the Sungei Ujong Railway Company, but I ain confidently assured th there is nothing in it to prevent the Government constructing railways in that State af any time. No other private company can do so before 1898.
22. I conclude that the suggestion in paragraph 8 of the same despatch means, not that the money should be advanced by the Governinent of the Colony, but that it shoul: be raised locally.
23. Finally, as regards paragraph 7, I may say that having visited some of the mineral districts of Pahang, since writing my letter of the 7th January last. I conside» that the min zal prospects of the Federated States are better than I believed them to b when I urged upon Your Excellency the great importance of a more rapid extension of our railway system. A year ago Your Excellency was good enough to say that you would offer no objection to the raising of a loan, should the Secretary of State decide to sanction it, because if anything would justify incurring a debt it would be the construction of railways in the Federated Malay States. I feel that it is that opinion which has influenced the Secretary of State to sanction the loan, and while conscious of the risk which attaches to every enterprise, I am confident that it is impossible to over-estimat the importance of the decision that has been come to and the great benefits that it will confer upon the Federated Malay States aud, indirectly, upon the Colony of the Straits Settlements,
His Excellency
The High Commissioner for
Federated Malay States.
I have, &c.,
F. A. SWETTENHAM, Resilent-General, Fe lerated Malay States.
+
TELEGRAM from Mr. D. LOGAN,
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late Solicitor-General, Penang, to RESIDENT-GENERAL,
Kuala Lumpur.
You may rely on our sparing no time or trouble to Hanson not arrived." Vermont and I off to Singapore.--
Penang, 19th June, 1897. carry out your wishes. LOGAN.
215.
No. 8.
MESSES. GREGORY, EYLES & WARING TO CROWN AGENTS. (Received in Colonial Office January 3rd, 1899.)
FEDERATED MALAY STATES.-REPORT UPON Railways OPEN, UNDER CONSTRUCTION, AND IN CONTEMPLATION.
GENTLEMEN,
2, Delahay Street, Westminster, S.W.
December, 1898. 1. We have the honour to state with reference to your letter of the 28th February, 1898, and to previous correspondence, that since Mr. Oliver's return from the Malay Peninsula we have had several interviews with him in which we have considered and discussed the official letters he addressed us during his absence, and with the information contained in those letters and thus supplemented, we are enabled to submit the following report upon these railways.
2. At the present time the length of railway open in the two States of Perak and Selangor is 166 miles, and there are in addition about 144 miles under survey or con. struction; up to about the middle of 1891 the railways in both States were in the charge of Mr. A. Spence Moss, but at his departure they were divided, those in Perak being placed under the direction of Mr. C. R. Hanson, as resident engineer, and those in Selangor in charge of Mr. A. J. W. Watkins, as resident engineer.
3. This report upon these lines for convenience can, we think, be divided into the following sections, viz :—
A. Open lines in Selangor.
B. Open lines in Perak.
C. Lines under survey and construction in Selangor.
D. Lines under survey and construction in Perak.
E. Contemplated railways.
F. General remarks.
SECTION A.-OPEN LINES IN SELANGOR.
4. These aggregate 773 miles in length. viz., Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Kubu, 384 miles; Kuala Lumpur to Klang, 214 miles; and Kuala Lumpur to Kajang, 17 miles; and
it will be well, we consider, to touch briefly on each of these separately.
5. Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Kubu.-This line was opened in sections of 194 miles, 5 miles, and 141⁄2 miles in November, 1892, July, 1893, and October. 1894, respectively; for the greater part it seems to have been fairly well traced, but at certain places slight alterations in its route would have lessened the earthwork; the curves vary between 20 and 80 chains in radius, the curved line being nearly one-third of the total length. The gradients vary between in 100 and 1 in 1555, the aggregate length of the steepest gradient is 2 miles 35:45 chuins, and there are in addition 2 miles 54 24 chains of gradients of 1 in 122. An aggregate length of 6 miles 52.40 chains is on the level.
6. The line crosses several spurs and partly owing to the flat curves used there are many large cuttings and embankments. Heavy slips have occurred in the cuttings but the slopes have been turfed and drained; these remedial measures have been well carried out, and though slips may again occur, we do not think that they are likely to be so large as to seriously interfere with the traffic.
7. The bridging is not heavy, the largest bridge being of one 100 feet span over the Selangor River; there is also one bridge of 70 feet span, four 50 feet span bridges and many 30 and 20 feet openings. At the Selangor River bridge one of the abutments has come forward and seems to be still moving; we understand that it is intended to substitute cylinders for this abutment, and to add to the bridge a 30 feet span which now exists close by as a flood opening: this we consider judicious. In two of the 20 feet bridges also,