CO882-(2-3) — Page 478

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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C.O.

882

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

3 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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the recognition I had made of the independence of the Orang Kaya, Muntri of Laroot, acknowledged the Rajah Mudah (then a fugitive from his country) as Sultan, and procured the assent of many of the people and Chiefs to these various arrangements. He also obtained the cession from the Sultan of Perak of a tract of country in Laroot, adjacent to the River Krean (the boundary of Province Wellesley on the south), and of a considerable extent of territory in Perak opposite the Dindings.

5. At Salangore the occurrence of a serious act of piracy by some of the natives gave the Governor an opportunity of interfering in the affairs of the country. He called on the Sultan's Viceroy, Tunku Dia Oodin, to try and punish these men, and he left with the Sultan an officer as Resident. He has since received the Sultan's assurance that he has banished Mahdi and Mahmoud, and that he will pay regularly the Resident's salary of 2,400/. a-year.

6. In the neighbourhood of Malacca the quarrels of the Sunghey-Ujong, and Rambou people, each of whom claimed the right to levy tolls on traffic passing through their country by the Linghey River, had resulted in their obstructing its passage by stockades. Taking with him a considerable armed force he proceeded up the country to the spot where the stockades were placed, when he found that, although they had been armed and heavily manned, the natives were so overawed by his force that they abandoned them and allowed them to be removed without resistance.

7. I now proceed to show how far I actually traced out the course Sir A. Clarke has pursued (perhaps in some instances paving the way for him), and the reasons which prevented me from going as far as he did.

8. Soon after my assumption of the Government I became aware of the great importance of obtaining a rectification of our boundary in certain situations on the main- land, where the close proximity of thickly populated native territory afforded a ready refuge for gamblers and criminals, over whom our police could exercise no control. One of these places was in the eastern boundary of Province Wellesley, and after some trouble I obtained the concurrence of the Rajah of Quedah to the removal of the boundary in this direction to a distance, by which we got rid of the difficulty in question and obtained some addition of territory. When the matter came before the Secretary of State there was some difficulty in getting his concurrence in the arrangement, and I found that any proposal having for object the extension of our territory would not be viewed with favour.

9. There was, however, another locality in which it appeared to me we had undoubted rights which had been hitherto overlooked. This was at the Dindings, where I was satisfied that, in accordance with the terms of our Treaty with Salangore, we were entitled to a considerable tract of country on the mainland, as well as to the small island of Pankor, of which we had taken possession though we had never occupied it; and I accordingly commenced negotiations with the Sultan to obtain an acknowledgment of our right. Whilst these negotiations were in progress I received a despatch from Lord Granville, inclosing the copy of a letter addressed to him by Lord Stanley of Alderley, stating that he had received a complaint from Singapore that the Governor was endeavouring to deprive the Sultan of some of his territory to please a wealthy planter, and urging the Secretary of State's interference to prevent this. In this and all other references to the past in the Straits, I can only speak from memory, having no record, public or private, of anything that happened when I was Governor. Lord Granville's observations in forwarding this letter for my explanation, as well as those in answer to my reply, showed me that it would be useless to attempt to obtain his concurrence in any extension of our territory, and I decided on proceeding no further with the matter for the present.

10. Very great difficulty was also experienced in maintaining order in the neighbour- hood of the River Krean, on the southern boundary of Province Wellesley, the natives being in the habit of making raids from Larut into our territory, after which they escaped into their own, where our police could not follow them, and where also criminals from our side found a harbour. I ascertained that there would be little difficulty in getting the consent of the ruler of Larut to the removal of his boundary to a distance from the river, which would have made both banks British territory, and have enabled us to cope with the inconvenience complained of, but for the reasons I have before stated I felt that it would be useless to submit such a proposal at that moment for the sanction of Governnient. These are the territories alluded to in paragraph 4 as having been since annexed by Sir A. Clarke.

11. At this time differences had arisen between some of the native rulers of the Peninsula. I mediated with success between the Maharajah of Johore and the Banda- harah of Pahang, and succeeded for some time in preventing any outbreak in Salangore;

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but on the frontier of Malacca matters were not in a satisfactory condition, and I found that there and elsewhere in the Peninsula the complete abstention from taking part in the natives' affairs, which had been the policy indicated to me by Government, had not had a good effect upon them. They did not go so far as to assume that we did not interfere because we were afraid to do so, but they said we did not evince the same interest in their affairs that our predecessors had done, and they showed a growing independence of us.

12. I was then, in 1870, on the point of returning home on leave, after four years' expe- rience of the country, and soon after occurred the attack of the Salangore people on a man-of-war, which convinced me that the time had arrived when a change of policy had become imperative if we hoped to hold our own in peace on the Peninsula.

13. In an interview which I had with the Secretary of State, I detailed the circumstances of our relations with the different Rajahs of the east and west coast. I pointed out how I had been hampered in my dealings with them to a far greater extent than had been the case under the Indian Administration, by the evident desire of the Government to recognize no policy which might possibly lead to any complication. That the consequence must have been the complete loss of that influence which the late Government had possessed and bequeathed to us, but that I had availed myself of every opportunity of acquiring and bringing to bear a personal influence over them; that I had made it my business to become acquainted with every Rajah on both coasts, and to keep up that acquaintance by personal and written communication as far as opportunity allowed. I explained that a useful influence could only be maintained by our constant supervision of their relations to one another, and by intervening whenever their state was such as to have a bearing not merely directly, but even remotely, upon our interests; that the natives were always ready to recognize the necessity for this supervision and intervention, and the more freely it was exercised the more readily they concurred in it, but that of late an idea bad sprung up that the Government had ceased to take the same interest as formerly in their affairs, and that the consequences, I believed, were already to be traced in the disturbed state of native affairs in Perak, Salangore, and the neighbourhood of Malacca. I pointed out the great benefits that had resulted from the acquisition of the Queddah territory before alluded to, and relating the history of the Dinding negotiation, I urged strongly that I should be permitted to negotiate for the cessions at this place, and also on the Krean River, which were so necesssary for the maintenance of order in the country.

I also expressed my sincere hope that he would recognize officially the principle I had hitherto followed of intervening personally, whenever I found it practicable, in the affairs of the native rulers, and permit me to use in future the influence I had legitimately acquired openly and in the name of the Government on their behalf. I expressed my conviction that, if this much at least were not accorded, we might look for the growth of troubles among the native States which, whilst at once destructive of trade and thus injurious to our interests, would probably pass eventually to our own Settlements, and repeat there the scenes of disorder of which they had been on previous occasions the theatre.

14. The Secretary of State, whilst acknowledging to some extent the force of my state- ments, expressed in the most decided terms his objection to extend in any way the Governor's authority to deal with native affairs. He approved of the steps I had taken to obtain a personal influence over the natives, and that as long as I did nothing to bring about any native complication, I was free to continue the same course; but he assured me that the Government would not approve of any measure entailing addition of territory, nor any step likely to bring us into collision with the natives, unless it were forced upon us in self- defence, or in the punishment of any attack.

15. With these peremptory instructions for my guidance, I returned to the Straits at the beginning of 1872. On the east coast all was quiet and nothing occurred to disturb it during the remainder of my term of office. There was some little feeling of jealousy on the part of the Bandahara of Pahang towards the Maharajah of Johore, and the latter came to me several times to complain of trifling acts of aggression on the part of the former, but both listened very readily to my representations, and acted on the advice I gave them, so that there was no difficulty in maintaining neutrality, if not friendly relations between them.

16. In Malacca the differences between the Sunghey-Ujong and Rambou people were still unsettled, but with the assistance of Mr. Birch, Colonial Secretary, who went up the country to negotiate with them, they were prevailed upon to agree to submit their differences to my arbitration. Unfortunately, from the sudden death at the same time of^"^\\ the two head chiefs of the tribes, this arrangement, which I believe would have had the effect of restoring peace, fell through, and when I left they were understood to be preparing to attack each other, as a preliminary to which they had stockaded the Lingie River.

17. In Salangore fighting went on at intervals between Tunku Dia Oodin and the rebel