CO882-(2-3) — Page 487

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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C.O.

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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Sumatra, the whole of Java, and a great portion of Borneo. We have France in Cochin China, and she is is extending herself into Tonquin, while England possesses only these little spots on the Malayan Peninsula, the small island of Labuan, and the small island of Hong Kong-perfectly inadequate to her commercial and political position in the world. The opening-up of the Malayan Peninsula is, it appears to me, a very simple question; it simply rests with the Home Government. It has been pointed out to us that the Surely, whole of that Malayan Peninsula holds a population of seven to the

square mile. Sir, a country like that is very easily taken and put under the British flag. I told your Excellency yourself, I think, very shortly after your arrival, that on the western coast, at any rate of that Peninsula, from Singapore to Province Wellesley, the British influence should be supreme. A country that only has seven inhabitants to the square mile is a very thinly populated country; and how are you going to open up that country? Certainly not by the increase of the Malayan population; it would require centuries to

it do so.

To open up that country you must introduce the Chinese element to open It would be very fortunate for us if we had men like the Maharajah of Johore, who can rule and govern wisely a Chinese population; but I doubt whether that will be possible. Malay States, with a large Chinese population, must be under the influence of the British flag. Those are my sentiments, and I hope the policy that your Excellency has initiated will grow,

and grow, and grow, and that it will receive the support of the Government at home, under whatever administration the Colonial Office may be; and I feel confident that the prospects of the Straits Settlements, which a few years ago were thought to be getting rather gloomy, and that we were getting to our last days, will greatly improve. It was feared that the opening of the Suez Canal would lead to direct trade with Siam and other places that had previously been dependent upon us, and that Singapore, as an entrepôt, would lose its position: but we shall now look forward to a very hopeful future, that that immense country at our back will develop, and we shall see the British influence in the Archipelago occupying that position which it ought to do. I am sure, your Excellency, that this Council will strongly support you in every way in the policy you have pursued.

You have met with a considerable amount of success on the western coast; you are now going to the eastern coast, and I wish you equal success there also. I hope you have been well advised of the position of the question between the two States of Johore and Pahang. I think the relations of the two Principalities are rather uncertain and ticklish. I myself have not been able to master them. I can only hope you will meet with the same success on the eastern as on the western coast of that Peninsula, and that before the termination of your administration here you will see your handiwork bearing fruit on both its shores.

Mr. Walter Scott.-Sir, I desire to express my opinion that the general policy you have adopted will tend much to the promotion of the interests of these Settlements, and to the maintenance of peace and industry in States where there has hitherto been nothing but anarchy and confusion, bloodshed, and murder. I hope it will receive the support of the British Government at home, as it does here, as I think it must lead to the prosperity of these Settlements and of the native States, which you are using your best endeavours to improve.

The Colonial Secretary.-I need hardly say, Sir, that the policy which you have pursued from the beginning, has met with the cordial approval of every member of your Executive Council. Sir, I have felt ever since I came here, after a residence of many years in the East, that it was absolutely necessary to exercise on the Malay Peninsula some other and more decisive policy than had hitherto been exercised. Previous to your Excellency's arrival I had been concerned in some of the negotiations with those States, and from what I saw there I came to the conclusion that with a little determination it was very easy indeed to bring round those Rajahs to some sense of what they owed to their countries and to civilization, and that it would not be a very difficult policy to induce them to have near them what I have ever felt necessary, a British Resident. My intercourse with natives for the last twenty-eight years has taught me that they are incapable as a rule of good government, however much they desire it, without guidance from some Here the native rulers are stronger hand than can ever be found amongst themselves. surrounded by several petty Chiefs, and I feel certain that we can never expect permanent peace on the Peninsula until at every Court we have a British officer as resident. Malay Chiefs require, I think, especially in the present state of the Peninsula, advice and assistance in many ways before they can even commence good government, and without the security afforded them by the presence of a British officer, I believe them at present incapable even of maintaining order. The policy which your Excellency has pursued, I am quite sure, is the only one which can succeed here. It was a duty which your Excellency has at last taken up; a duty which we, as a British nation, owed to the

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countries around us, and I cannot but express my sincere hope that it will meet with the hearty approval of the authorities at home eventually. That it will prosper I have not the slightest doubt, and that even during the period of your Excellency's government it will bear abundant fruits.

Sir, I have only lately visited all the native States of Salangor and Perak, and pene- trated some distance in the interior. The effects of the present misrule are very lamentable; every description of trade is paralysed, and cultivation everywhere checked. In the little town of Lukut, where the Rajah does his best to govern well, and has about 300 Chinese at work, there were the recent signs of a marauding attack made by two troublesome Chiefs who go about with a few followers, the terror of the country. Some few years ago there were 2,000 Chinese here, but the recent disturbances, which have been so rife for the last few years in Salangor, drove them away.

On the Klang River there are very few inhabitants, except at the town of Klang, which is the child of Tunku dia Oodin, and would be a very prosperous place could a little capital be introduced to the mines in the interior. This Chief has the desire to govern well, and to a certain extent the capability, for he comes from the Royal family of Quedah, which is a pattern to the States in the North, of onder and quiet at least; but however desirious Tunku dia Oodin is of governing well, his efforts for good are all neutralised by the intrigues of the discontented and lawless Chiefs who have for the last three or four years kept the country in the state of disquiet it is now in.

What capital this Chief has been able to command has been spent, or rather the greater part of it, in hiring soldiers and police, whereas, had there been peace and order, the number of Chinese who have been attracted to the valuable mines here would have been doubled; roads would have been made, a steam launch, which is much wanted to convey food up the river, would have been purchased; and the result would be a very flourishing, instead of an impoverished treasury.

On the Langat River there is a considerable population, and a great abundance of valuable land. I was much struck with the very fine quality of the paddy grown here, where the crops seemed very abundant. But this again has been the seat of misrule and of misgovernment for years. The old Sultan is indolent, and unable to control his law- less sons, or the marauding Chiefs around him, all of whom find this place a safe and welcome refuge. You, Sir, have taken the right step at once here, in placing even tem- porarily, a Resident officer. This will secure life and property, and will also preserve order. The country here is very easy of access. Steamers can pass for several miles above the town of Langat, and the soil is capable of growing sugar or tobacco in any quantity, with every prospect of success.

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In the Salangor River the picture of desolation was to me a very painful one. my last visit up that river, for 16 to 20 miles, the cocoa-nut plantations, which exist so luxuriantly on both sides, teemed with life, and though the people seemed rather frightened, and occasionally fled, there were plenty of them. Now, not a soul was to be seen; the houses have fallen, or are fast tumbling down, the cocoa-nut and fruit trees are covered with dense tangled creepers, and even the paddy-fields are overgrown.

On the Bernam River, some distance up, the population is considerable, and the plantations and paddy looked very well, while the houses had some air of comfort; but even here Raja Itam complained of the filibustering bands who were parading the country.

You have indeed done well, Sir, to secure the position at the Dindings, which you have now arranged. This is rapidly becoming an extensive settlement, and there are great facilities afforded for building in the excellent timber, lime, and stone around, with abundance of good land. It was very pleasing to hear the delight which the people expressed at the prospect of their villages becoming British territory, especially one Chief, whose property several Chiefs of Perak have long coveted, but who felt that he would now be safe.

The good that your Excellency's policy at Larut has already effected, must be very gratifying to you, Sir. When you interfered in that unhappy district, everthing was a scene of desolation, of fighting, and of bloodshed; now, though you see around you many of the signs of what it was, in the remains of the stockades, in charred posts, and innumerable graves, peace has been perfectly restored, and you see round the British Resident a busy and apparently happy throng of people; the minos are all reopening, and a very extensive town is springing up. The people are already beginning to see the effects of our interference, in the good government which has been brought about. The country is being opened up by roads, the revenues are being collected on fixed principles, and without that "squeezing" to which the people have been so long accustomed; justice ix'administered, and oppression is prevented; order, in fact, is everywhere preserved; and

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