PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :--
1171C.O. 882
3 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
152
to avail itself of the special services which Mr. Davidson is capable of rendering, because Tunku Oodin is in his debt. I would much prefer to have Mr. Davidson's services untrammelled by the objections which your Lordship so justly makes; at the same time I venture to submit, that it may be argued that the very fact of his having a claim against the revenues of Salangore, is rather calculated to induce him to do everything in his power to develop the resources of that State.
6. I shall anxiously consider, as soon as I am able, whether, with reference to the concluding passage of your Lordship's despatch, now unler reply, I can propose any arrangement for transferring Mr. Davidson to another State. Meanwhile I trust your Lordship will approve of my having deferred acting upon your Lordship's decision in his case, and that you will permit me to retain him in his present post; at all events, until it is in my power to suggest some arrangement by which his services may be secured, unfettered by the objection incident to his former relations with the Viceroy of Salangore.
I have, &c. (Signed) WM. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS.
Sir,
No. 47.
1
*
The Earl of Carnarvon to Governor Sir W. F. Jervois, K.C.M.G., C.B.
Downing Street, July 15, 1875. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Sir Andrew Clarke's despatches of the numbers and dates noted in the margin, inclosing four Reports on the Malay States, from the Acting British Resident at Perak, from the Acting Resident of Salan- gore, from the Acting Assistant Resident of Salangore, and from Mr. Skinner, on the Malay Coast and Rivers.
2. I have read these Reports with interest; and I trust that the peace and pros- perity which have ensued on the new orders of things in the native States, will be further developed.
3. You will recollect that all the Residents are holding their places provisionally; and care should therefore be taken that nothing is said or written to them which might to give my confirmation to their appointments.
4. Care is also needed in the character of the advice given by the Acting Resident to the Rulers of the different States; how far it should direct their policy, and how far it should be so framed as to avoid unnecessarily committing you to undefined responsibilities connected with the affairs of those States.
Sir,
(Signed)
No. 48.
I have, &c.
CARNARVON.
The Earl of Carnarvon to Governor Sir W. F. Jervois, K.C.M.G., C.B.
Downing Street, July 16, 1875.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Confidential despatch of the 28th of May.t
In my despatch to your predecessor, I have fully pointed out my objections to the employment of Mr. Davidson as Acting Resident at Salangore; and after giving due consideration to the reasons now given by you, I am bound to say that my objections have not been removed,
I am well aware, however, of the difficulty you have experienced in meeting with gentlemen of sufficiently good attainments and character in the Settlements to fill this important acting appointment; and I do not propose to withhold my sanction from the course which you have pursued in deferring to act upon my decision in his case.
I should wish you, however, to bear in mind, that when the appointments of Resi- dents to the Malay States are finally dealt with, the choice of candidates need not be restricted to the Straits Settlements; and I anticipate no difficulty in supplying you, if necessary, from other Colonies, or from Home officers, thoroughly competent to discharge the important duties allotted to them.
I have, &c.
⚫ Nos. 35, 36, 87, and 39.
(Signed)
CARNARVON.
† No. 46.
153
No. 49.
Governor Sir W. F. Jervois, K.C.M.G., C.B., to the Earl of Carnarvon.-(Received July 19.)
My Lord,
Government House, Singapore, June 5, 1875. I HAVE the honour to forward, for your Lordship's information, a copy of a letter, dated May 5, from Mr. Davidson, Acting Residen at Salangore, covering a letter from the Rajah Bandahara of Pahang to Tunku Dia Oodin, asking for a share of the revenues of Klang, and for a further sum of 20,000 dollars.
2. These demands were made by the Bandahara in consequence of assistance afforded by him to Tunku Oodin in the years 1872 and 1873, when Tunku Oodin was at war with Rajah Mahdie and others, and when, without the assistance of the Bandahara, he would probably not have been able to maintain his position in Salangore (see despatch dated November 6, 1872,† from Sir H. Ord to the Earl of Kimberley, paragraphs 18 and 24.
3. It appears that Tunku Oodir arranged to meet his debt by allowing the Banda- hara to place an officer from Pahang in charge of the district of Ulu Klang (ie., the upper part of Klang adjoining Pahang), and that such officer was to receive the duties there levied, and pay them to the Bandahara,
The officer, however, thus appointed, the Orang Kaya Palawan, appropriated the revenue of Ulu Klang to his own use, and, from the date of his appointment, neither Tunku Oodin nor the Bandahara received a penny from this source.
4. Though not mentioned in the Bandahara's letter, Tunku Oodin had actually borrowed from the Bandahara 3,000 dollars in cash, and no part of this debt had been repaid.
5. It appeared to me important that this difficulty between the Bandahara and Tunku Oodin should be arranged as soon as possible, so as to remove & source of ill- feeling on either side.
A settlement of the matter was the more desirable from the fact that rumours were afloat that the notorious Raja Mahdi, who is now, and has been for the seven months previous to my arrival, staying in Johore, was on the point of starting for Pahang, possibly with a view of effecting a breach between the Bandahara and Tunku Oodin, and of urging the Bandahara to support him in an attack upon Klang.
I considered it essential that the Pahang officer, the Orang Kaya Palawan, appointed
to collect the revenues of the Ulu Klang, should be removed from that district. Even had he not appropriated the revenues to himself, the arrangement by which an officer, appointed by the Bandahara, exercised authority in the State of Salangore, was calculated to lead to serious complications.
6. To facilitate the settlement of these matters, I sent Mr. C. J. Irving to Klang to communicate with the Sultan and Tunku Oodin. Mr. Davidson happened at the time to be away from Klang, on duty in the interior of Salangore. I instructed Mr. Irving to advise Tunku Oodin to write to the Bandahara to the effect that, whilst acknowledging his obligation to the Bandahara, he was not in a position to act otherwise than in accord- ance with the views of the Sultan and of the English Government; that he should urge the Bandahara at once to recall the Orang Kaya Palawan, and make him account for the revenue levied by him; that he should, if possible, at once pay the 3,000 dollars borrowed from the Bandahara, and beg the Bandahara to let him know, through the English Government, what amount he would consider just that he should pay in respect of compensation for the expenditure incurred by the Bandahara in assisting him.
7. It was accordingly arranged between Mr. Irving and Tunku Oodin that tin of the value of 3,000 dollars should at once be sent to the Bandahara. In order to ensure this being done, the tin was obtained at Klang by Mr. Irving, and placed on board the "Pluto" for conveyance to Pahang. Tunku Oodin also wrote to the Bandahara to the effect stated in the previous paragraph.
8. On Mr. Irving's return to Singapore, I dispatched Mr. Swettenham, Assistant Resident (who had come from Salangore with Mr. Irving), in the "Plato" to Pahang, partly to deliver the tin to the Bandaĥara, but chiefly with a view of insisting upon the removal of the Orang Kaya Palawan from Ulu Klang. I also desired Mr. Swettenham to arrange the best terms he could as regards the monthly payment to be made to the Randalara by Tunku Oodin, on the part of the Sultan of Salangore.
9. Mr. Swettenham returned on the 26th of May, after having, though not without difficulty, induced the Bandabara to recall the Orang Kaya Palawan. The 3,000 dollars'
[641]
• Vide No. 1 of Command Paper [C. 1111 of 1875].
2 R
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TILLFICO.
882
3
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.