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keep all State Governments informed of any important drainage or irrigation develop- ment in any other State or in the Colony.

13. The Adviser on Drainage and Irrigation will be responsible for the compila- tion of a manual of instructions on purely professional or technical (as distinct from administrative) matters and will issue it through the Resident or Adviser to all officers of the Drainage and Irrigation Service, in order that drainage and irrigation methods may, so far as is necessary, be uniform in all territories.

14. No instructions in regard to policy or administration may be given by the Adviser on Drainage and Irrigation to any officer of the Drainage and Irrigation Service stationed in a Malay State whether by letter or by word of mouth. Recom- mendations or representations falling within either category should be communicated to the British Resident or British Adviser for submission to the State Government concerned.

15. All officers of the Malayan Drainage and Irrigation Service lent or seconded to a Malay State will, while serving in that State, be solely under the direction of its Government. Any report which the Adviser on Drainage and Irrigation may desire to make on officers, so lent or seconded, should be sent under confidential cover to the Resident or Adviser of the State concerned, and (if necessary) to the High Com- missioner, but to no other officer.

C. 92300/32 [No. 27].

No. 19.

MALAY STATES.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE HIGH COMMISSIONER.

(Paraphrase.)

(Sent 11.5 p.m., 4th March, 1932.)

TELEGRAM.

[Answered by No. 21.]

No. 38. SECRET. Your telegram of 27th February* and despatches and letters received by air mail have now been carefully considered. As you appear still to think that in some way His Majesty's Government are committed to a policy of decentraliza- tion I must emphasize again that there is no such commitment. In his day Guillemard made certain proposals which after consideration in detail on their merits were, so far as approved, carried out. Your proposals for further measures of decentralization mark a new departure in regard to which Lord Passfield's despatch of 5th Junet sets out the limits of the authority which has been given to you. You have not been authorized by myself or by my predecessors to commit His Majesty's Government to any policy, and His Majesty's Government have no intention of being so committed. I have been much concerned lest some of your public statements may be construed locally as committing His Majesty's Government. Hence I have found it necessary to send repeated warnings to you.

you

I have already informed you that any particular proposals which you wish to submit will be considered sympathetically and with an open mind, but I must be able to judge the administrative, political, and financial merits of each proposal. I have not received up to the present in regard to any Department a clear statement from of the administrative and financial results of decentralization, which would enable me to weigh possible political benefits against administrative and financial drawbacks. You tell me that the finance of all your suggestions is still being considered by a Committee, so I gather you are not yet in a position to put before me any detailed proposals. No scheme can be considered without a clear statement as to its financial repercussions, and until I know the administrative, financial, and political repercussions of your proposals in each case, I cannot begin to judge them much less to submit them to my colleagues (if they involve a wide departure).

The importance of retaining the confidence and willing co-operation of the Malay Rulers is fully appreciated but this will not be assisted by holding out hopes which it may not be possible to fulfil.

I am sure that you will be careful in any future discussions to avoid language which could convey a wrong impression.-CUNLIffe-Lister.

* No. 17.

† No. 5.

C. 92300/32 [No. 15].

No. 20.

FEDERATED MALAY STATES.

THE HIGH COMMISSIONER to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 7th March, 1932.)

(Confidential.)

SIR,

Government House, Singapore, 8th February, 1932. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Federated Malay States "Reserved" No. 18 of the 12th January, 1932,* on the subject of the policy of decentralization in the Federated Malay States as a preliminary to pan- Malayan federation.

2. As regards the discussion of this policy which took place at the Colonial Office, while I was in England last year, Conferences on the 16th March, 1931,† and on the 15th May, 1931, copies of which I would refer you specially to the notes of were supplied to me. At the former Conference, over which Sir Gilbert Grindle pre- sided, the method of achieving a true federation in the Federated Malay States was discussed in great detail on the basis of a memorandum drawn up by Mr. W. S. Gibson, Legal Adviser of the Federated Malay States. There was unanimity at this Conference and the notes of it were submitted to Lord Passfield, who himself presided over the latter Conference and at its conclusion stated that I might, on my return to Malaya, proceed with the sounding of the Rulers and others concerned; that clearly it was necessary to proceed gradually, and that each step would have to be taken after dis- cussion; that I might at once begin with the first steps towards the formation of a Customs Union and the establishment, when desirable, of Malayan Departments; that it was too soon to consult the Cabinet until a little more sounding had been done in Malaya; that, until the scheme as a whole had been submitted to the Cabinet, it could not be approved by the Secretary of State; but that meanwhile appointments, e.g., that of Chief Secretary, should be made on the understanding that there was a prospect of my proposals being carried into effect.

3.

It is upon this understanding that I have been acting since my return to Malaya. I sounded the Rulers in the Federated Malay States and found them whole-heartedly in favour of the policy. I sounded the members of the Legislative and Federal Councils and their reception of the scheme was friendly and appreciative. I sounded public opinion through the local newspapers, both European and vernacular, and I was able to report in my Confidential despatch of the 1st September last§ that the attitude of the Press had proved to be one of cautious approval and of sympathetic appreciation of the problems of detail and organization which are certain to emerge in the process of carrying the policy into effect. I have also sounded the Rulers in each of the Un- federated Malay States by means of personal interviews and there I have found that further

progress will be difficult until the bona fides of the policy has been made manifest by conversion of the bureaucratic amalgamation of the Federated Malay States into a true federation. The suspicions of these Rulers have naturally been aroused by the course of events since 1896 in Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang; and, therefore, until actual decentralization has taken place in those States, the Rulers of the Unfederated Malay States will not put their trust in any scheme of pan-Malayan federation, although I have noticed in conversation with them that they derive much encouragement from. the fact that it is proposed to include the Straits Settlements in the federation, because, if that were done, the Malay States would be recognized as parti- cipating in the federation on the same footing as one of His Majesty's Colonies.

4. The proposal for a Customs Union has been referred by me in the first instance to a Committee representative solely of the Straits Settlements, because such a Union will be very greatly facilitated, if Singapore, Penang. and Malacca come under customs' control. The Federated Malay States already form a Customs Union, and the decen- tralization policy will leave that Union intact. If the Colony adheres to the Union, I have little doubt that the adherence of the Unfederated Malay States can be secured without great difficulty or delay. If the Colony does not adhere, it will be more difficult to obtain the adhesion of the Unfederated Malay States, although, as each of those States already has a Customs House, and as they are not moved by the sentiment of the Colony in favour of free trade, it may still be possible to effect a Customs Union of the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States even if the Straits Settlements

* No. 10.

† No. 3.

↑ No. 4.

$ No. 6.

PUBLIC PECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.882/12

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-,

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOI TO,

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