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13. You cite indeed the provision in the Pangkore Treaty that the advice "was to be acted upon" in justification of your view that the eugagement contained in it. "the element of control;" but, bearing in mind the assumed readiness of the Sultan to accept advice, it is impossible to consider that particular provision, except in connexion with the circumstances under which the engagement was entered into, and I am by no means Tarp prepared to admit the correctness of your statement that the Pangkore engagement virtually threw the government of the country into the hands of the Resident. It is at all events beyond question that you are under a complete misapprehension in maintaining as you have done that it was fully understood at the Colonial Office that the system pursued towards these Native States, though nominally one of advice, was really one of direct or actual government.

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14. It was on the contrary after full consideration of the Despatches from which I have quoted, and in the belief that they had before them a complete and accurate account of the position of affairs in Perak, and of the proposed residential system, that Her Majesty's Government gave a general approval to the action of Sir Andrew Clarke, and eventually assented to his provisionally stationing Residents with the Chiefs in the districts of Salangore, Perak, and Sungie Ujong.

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15. The Despatches above mentioned were received in this Department on the 30th of March 1874; my approval of his proceedings was conveyed to Sir A. Clarke in the Despatch of the 29th of May, which was supplemented by a telegram of the 1st June giving a conditional authority to proceed with the appointment of Residents; so that whatever were the reasons for the delay in the appointment of a Resident at Perak which you allude to in the 42nd paragraph of your Despatch, (and I doubt not that your predecessor could give a satisfactory explanation on the point,) the subject was disposed of, so far as this Department was concerned, without any unnecessary loss of time.

16. The next information which I received from Sir A. Clarke bearing on the present Parliamentary question is that contained in bis Despatch of the 16th of June 1874 reporting a visit of Mr. Birch to several of the Native States. The following extracts relate to Perak. Mr. Birch and his party proceeded down the river by boat to Blanja where the ex- "Sultan Ismail dwells. The ex-Sultan was absent at one of his mines, but returned as "soon as he heard of the arrival of the Colonial Secretary, and several interviews took place at which he professed perfect readiness to give over the regalia to Sultan Abdullah, if the latter will only come to receive them. This, it is rumoured, Sultan "Abdullah hesitates at present to do, feeling probably that their newly established relations are not sufficiently cordial to induce him to seek for the present a closer intimacy, but I do not anticipate that I shall find any difficulty when I have eventually "to deal with the question. At Blanja Mr. Birch was not received very cordially, this village having become the refuge of several freebooting chiefs, who, driven from other "States thought that in the probable grievances of the ex-Sultan they saw a chance of "future difficulties by which they could benefit.

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"The party then proceeded to Batarabit where the Sultan Abdullah accorded them most hospitable reception."

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Sir A. Clarke continues as follows: "For the appointment of a British Resident the "Sultan Abdullah is most anxious, and in this desire he is supported by his principal "Chiefs.

At present every Chief has a squeezing place on the river where he "levies black mail from passing boats, and no sort of real government exists. The "Sultan and his Chiefs honestly wish to remedy this state of affairs, but they do not "know how to set about any reform, and having no confidence in themselves or in each "other, they require a guiding hand to lead them.

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"The results of this tour may be considered to be satisfactory. The greatest courtesy and kindness were exhibited by the Chiefs and inhabitants of all the villages except Blanja." "The whole country traversed was at peace, and there is reason to anticipate that the appointment of British Residents will foster the feeling of security "that now prevails.”

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17. In his Despatch of the 4th of November, enclosing the proclamation issued under the anthonty of my Despatch of 4th September 1874 relative to the Pangkore engagement, Sir A. Clarke did not furnish any fresh information as to the state of affairs in Perak.

But in his speech to the Legislative Council, which he forwarded by the same mail, he Parliamentary spoke of "the moderate, and I may say fair, success which I have reason to believe has attended our interference in Perak;" and after describing at some length the past history of the troubles in Perak, and the policy of Sir H. Ord, and having explained “that it was necessary to determine and to recognise who was the true bona fide and legitimate ruler "of the whole country," he continued, with reference to the engagement of Pangkore, “I was enabled to come to a just and satisfactory decision, and to place in the supreme

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"Government of that country a man who, whether fitted for it or not, is to my mind the

legitimate ruler.

So far that decision has been hitherto satisfactory, and with regard to the displaced ruler, the Chief who had been temporarily elected, I am confident in my own mind, and all the evidence proves it, that that was only a temporary sovereignty which had been given to Ismail. But I am only dealing with results, " and though 8 or 10 months have passed since that, and there has been naturally an "amount of soreness among the people whose head man had been actually sovereign, "there has been no outbreak, and I am inclined to hope that with a little watchfulness on our part, the people of Perak will cheerfully accept the sovereignty of Abdullah, "and especially if his rule is assisted by the advice and assistance of an English officer." He then described the improvements which had already taken place in Larut and Perak subsequently on his intervention, and added, "This is a general sketch of the condition of affairs there, and although Ismail and Abdullah have not yet come together I hope " and believe that they will, and that beyond the intrigues of a few disappointed petty Rajahs, who are interested in keeping the sore alive, there is no ground for anxiety or " for not thinking that in that large native state we have now established a condition of

things which will bear favourably and well upon our own interests here."

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18. The next communications which I received from Sir A. Clarke relating to Perak matters were his Despatches of the 23rd and 24th December, in which he reported that he had sent Mr. Birch on two missions, one having reference to riots at the Salama Mines, which threatened to be serious, and the other to the settlement of the Krean boundary question. In the first be says, that on the arrival of Mr. Birch, accompanied by a small escort of police, and Captain Speedy with his own native guard, "The pirates, although they vaunted up to the last moment that they would fight, escaped "into the jungle, where they were hotly pursued by the native police, and sixty were captured and forwarded to the Sultan of Perak for punishment;" and that Mr. Birch, after a few days, having seen that the country was tranquil, and that the miners had returned to their work, was enabled to return to Penang.

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In the second he says "I am glad to be able to inform your Lordship that Mr. Birch's "mission has been successful, and that I have received a communication from him reporting that acting as the Representative of this Government he had held a most satisfactory interview with the ex-Sultan Ismail, who had agreed to sign the engage- "ment of Pangkore above referred to, but wished that the Sultan Abdullah should meet " him first." He then describes the preparations which were being made for the meeting between the two Princes, which was arranged to take place in a few days, and was to be attended by all the Chiefs of Perak, except two of no importance, and concluded “I have "little doubt that the reconciliation now effected between the Ruler and ex-Ruler of "Perak will prevent any further complications in that State."

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19. And it was with an allusion to the success which had attended these missions that Page 79 of Sir A. Clarke announced about this date (30th December 1874) that after long and anxious Paper. consideration he had nominated Mr. Birch to be Resident at Perak. Nor is there any- thing in his Despatches of this date to show that the nature of the position to be occupied by the Residents was other than that which had been entertained ten months before.

20. You quote at some length in your present Despatch the instructions issued to Mr. Pars. 14 to 17 Birch and to Mr. Davidson, prior to their assumption of the duties of Resident. But and 85 to 40. these instructions were never sent home and have consequently never been under my eye. They may possibly give a somewhat different complexion to the Residential Schemes proposed by Sir Andrew Clarke in the Despatches to which I have already referred, but as, whatever may be the cause, complete copies have never been furnished to this Department, I am not in a position to criticise with any advantage the extracts you now bring to my notice; and it is obviously impossible to draw any inference as to the effect they might have produced on my mind or that of any other Secretary of State in the same position.

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21. It was at this period that you were appointed to succeed Sir A. Clarke in the govern- P. 80 of ment or the Straits Settlements, and on your departure you were furnished with my Despatch Papers. of the 8th of April, announcing my decision "not to confirm the appointments made by him until you had an opportunity of considering the whole subject," with an allusion to the peculiar nature of the duties to be discharged, and the special qualifications required. You were informed that the appointments were to be treated as "temporary, and of an experimental character," and it was thus open to you, should you see occasion, to point out to Her Majesty's Government any difficulties that bad arisen in the working of the Residential system not foreseen by your predecessor, or any want of success sttendant on his selection of individuals.

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22. During the interval between your departure and assumption of the Government Sir Andrew Clarke forwarded to this Department several reports made by the officers acting as Residents. That of Mr. Birch was enclosed in his Despatch of the 26th of April, and with reference to it your predecessor said "Mr. Birch appears already to have secured considerable ascendancy over many of the chiefs of Perak, and has been courteously received by all, but in a country which has been for so many years mis. governed by petty Rajahs progress must necessarily be slow.

Mr. Birch hardly describes Perak as being in so flourishing a condition as some previous Despatches. might perhaps lead me to suppose; but I observe that he mentions the jealousies of the Chiefs amongst themselves, which alone had prevented a reconciliation between Abdullah and Ismail, as disappearing, and that the future of Perak might safely be looked upon as a prosperous one. He adds that under his influence there had been Page 194, par already decided improvement in respect to the oppression that had been practised by the more troublesome Rajahs, and that he had visited Ismail and the other Chiefs, and had everywhere been treated with respect.

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