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placed, I may state that these same farms have recently, since my recent visit to Perak been let to a firm, of which Mr. Cheng Tee is a partner, for the sum of $84,000 per

annum.

In order to meet the extravagant expenses which he has incurred, Abdullah has resorted to a system of squeezing his subjects, who are thus doubly taxed. The plan which he has usually adopted has been to send unscrupulous agents to distant parts of the State and to extort money from the people in those parts; and this he has done in spite of the admonition of the Resident, who has shown him how he was violating the engagements which he had made. I will now add one or two extracts from the reports of the Resident, which will show you that from the commencement of the Resident's first appointment in Perak, Abdullah's character and behaviour have been such as I have described.

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November 8th."The more I have to say to the Sultan, the more I feel the magnitude ** of the task I have offered to undertake with such a man. He is eminently silly and "foolish. Opium, too, has become his bane again, and he is good for very little. He " has been evidently giving himself up to a good deal of indulgence since I saw him in

May." November 28th.-" What I have to complain of principally is his extreme childish- ness, and his habit of never attending to what you are saying to him, but breaking off "to ask frivolous questions of all sorts, and in some way or other affecting his dress, his ** possessions, or, above all, his clothes and rings."

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November 29th." The Laxamana tells me what however I knew before-that all my trouble will be with the Sultan in teaching him to give up his present habits. He " asked very pertinently how a man can govern a country if his chiefs cannot see him, "no matter how far they come, till 2 or 3 of an afternoon. He says even he is often

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kept waiting while the Sultan is smoking opium with his one or two associates, and giving opium to his game-cocks."

December 25th.-" Christmas day—an odd way to be spending Christmas, but what can one do when duty of this sort is before one?

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My patience in tried to the very uttermost by this man. I have often been told that

I was a good-tempered man, but never was able to accept the compliment, for I knew "I was not, but I begin now to believe that I must be to put up with the vagaries of this man. However, I am determined, if I can, to carry through what Sir Andrew "Clarke has begun, and if patience can do it, patience shall.

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February 5th.-"I have not much hopes of ever making Ismail and Abdullah real "friends. I doubt the ability of the latter to make friends really and substantially. He "is too selfish and too hollow. I have had too many instances of headstrong acting "since I have been here, without a word to me. He merely cares about money, and if

he can get that and spend it, you could keep him quiet."

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May 10th." Every day Abdullah is doing some foolish thing or saying some foolish thing, and people begin to distrust him--even those who hold his Quasas, and have "served him from time to time."

From this brief sketch of the manner in which Abdullah has kept his engagements,―or rather has not kept them, ---I think that you will agree with me gentlemen, that some action was necessary, not only to make Abdullah keep his word with us, but also to keep our word with him. The influence which the British have acquired over the native mind in the peninsula is due to the firmness yet temperance which have distinguished our proceedings, and to the honour and straightforwardness which are symbolic of our actions. Firmness bad now to be called into play, and an impression conveyed to the natives, that when the British Government decided that they would hold the chiefs responsible for their engagements, such decision was no façon de parler, but a firm determination.

Under Malay rule, as administered by Sultan Abdullah, you must see, gentlemen, that the State could not make much progress in development or civilization.

If you attentively peruse the report of Mr. Birch on Perak for 1874, written in April last, and which has been made public, you will perceive that there has been but little development of the resources of Perak proper under the system of "advice." Laroot has doubtless prospered greatly, but the case of this district is altogether exceptional and peculiar, with its mineral riches worked by a Chinese population, and not by Malays, who form but a small proportion of the total number of the inhabitants. The report of the prosperity of this district has given rise to the belief that great development has taken place in all Perak, but the fact is that such is not the case, and that in Perak proper, the impracticability of the Sultan, the divisions between him and Ismail, each supported by

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their respective followers, and the oppression and tyranny to which the people are expoged, have all combined to make improvement well nigh impossible.

Gentlemen, there is another point to which I would direct your attention, and which has an important bearing on the action which I have taken to secure a better system of government in the State of Perak.

One of the consequences of the establishment, in 1874, of closer relations with Perak, has been that some 18,0007, has, under the authority obtained from the Council by Sir Andrew Clarke, been advanced from the Straits Settlements Treasury on the security of that State, and considering what has passed, it is a question whether, in the absence of proper control of the Perak finances, we should have been able to avoid incurring a much larger liability on its account.

During the disturbances in Laroot, considerable expenses were incurred, on behalf of the. State, by the Mantri of Perak, in his endeavour to bring to terms the contending factions of Chinese in Laroot. Previous to my arrival in this Colony, an agreement bad been arranged by my predecessor between the Mantri on the one hand and his creditors on the other, engaging that all claims upon the Mantri should be referred to the decision of a Commission. I understand that Sir Andrew Clarke's view was to issue scrip to each creditor, payable as the revenues of Perak would admit, in 10, 20, or 30 years; and that the half-yearly dividends of this scrip, upon which the creditor would be able to receive money, would be paid by the Perak Government.

The Commission were of opinion, and I agreed with them, that it would not have been possible to raise the money on the security of the Perak Government. In order to carry out the terms of the agreement, it was suggested whether it would not be necessary that the Government of the Straits Settlements, on behalf of the State of Perak, should become responsible to the Mantri's creditors (who are for the most part British subjects) for the payment of his debts, the amount of which is estimated at some 75,000. Now, however, that we shall have thorough control of the Perak finances, it seems to me that such guarantee will be unnecessary. I shall refer further to the question of the finances of Perak in a subsequent part of this statement.

One more subject for your consideration, gentlemen, is that of debt-slavery--a bond- age at once cruel and inhuman, but one in which a not inconsiderable portion of the inhabitants of Perak live. I cannot but think that any one who reads the reports which I have caused to be circulated for your information must recoil at the revolting system which has grown to be a custom almost at our very doors. Gentlemen, I will venture to say that the existence of such a system is almost unknown to the greater portion of the community in these Settlements. Had it not been so, I cannot but think that, in the cause of humanity, some step would ere this have been taken to cope with such a grievous wrong. I myself could scarcely believe the statements which were made to me, and it was not until I had inquired into the subject that I was induced to believe that such statements had not been exaggerated. It is in Perak that this cruel practice of debt-slavery is most prevalent, and if we could but deal with it in this State, a blow would be given to the system as practised in other States, in which reform would then be the more easily introduced. This system is contrary to the doctrine and precepts of the Mahommedan religion, but it has been practised for such a length of time that it is now generally regarded by the Malays as a Malay custom. Some thinking Malays, however, will tell you that it should not be so considered, and even were it so, the attendant abuses are so intolerable that social and moral motives call for our interference in the matter. Owing to the peculiar relations which exist between the debtor, as the bondman, and the creditor, as the owner, and to the fact that a large proportion of the creditors are the Rajabs and Chiefs of the State, it would be useless, if not impossible, to attempt to introduce any measures calculated to relieve slave-debtors, unless, at the same time, there were some power to enforce such measures. It would not be possible for any Resident, in his role of adviser" to the Sultan, to succeed in procuring abolition of debt-slavery. No reform in this particular would be likely to emanate from the Sultan himself, even when pressed on the point, nor would the Resident be in a position to demand such a

reform.

Pro-

The position of a Resident accredited to a Malay Chieftain is a peculiar one. vided his advice be followed, he is in a position to be of great benefit to the State, for the prosperity of which he is held in a great measure to be responsible. But supposing the advice which he tenders be not accepted, what is the result? But

very little advan- tage will accrue to the State from his presence within it; the Chieftain governs the country in his own way; and consequently the Resident is not only put in a false posi. tion, but he is likewise unable to check the tide of misrule. In the words I made use of iny speech at the opening of this Session,-" In Perak especially, where I have recently

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C.O. 882

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