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PUBLIC PECORD OFFICE

Reference

TC.O.882/12

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

BE

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BEPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

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and whose advice must be asked and acted upon in all matters affecting the general administration of the country and all questions other than those touching the Mohammedan Religion.

I have so far only detected one instance in which the local Government found it con- advice," the excuse in that instance being that the matter venient to forget to ask for "* was too trifling to bother the Adviser with. As, however, it was a matter in which the then Adviser would certainly not have seen eye to eye with the Mentri Besar, the sincerity of the excuse was doubtful. The Adviser corresponds with the Mentri Besar, while all other officers correspond with the State Secretary. The relations between myself and the Mentri Besar have always been very harmonious: he has little to learn in the art of diplomacy. I visit the Sultan every Sunday, and we then frequently discuss matters which have not yet been laid before the State Council. The Mentri Besar is however invariably present on these occasions and it is a matter of some difficulty to get the Sultan really by himself.

(d) The Executive.-Executive and administrative powers are vested in British seconded officers in the Public Works, Police, Medical, and Survey Departments, while officers of the Malayan Civil Service serve as Commissioners of Lands and Mines, and Collectors of Land Revenue, Kuala Trengganu, Kemaman, and Besut respectively. The officers who have executive powers as Collectors of Land Revenue in Kemaman and Besut are also Assistant Advisers, and sit as Judges of the High Court in their respective districts jointly with the State Commissioner, who is the Malay head of the district. The Assistant Advisers have no executive powers of such, but they have the right of inspecting every Government office in their districts and it is their duty to keep the Adviser informed of the general state of administration therein and to bring

advice." to his notice any matters calling for his

Otherwise the administration is in the hands of Malay officers of the Trengganu Civil Service. There is no direct British control at present of the Customs Depart- ment, though the appointment of a European Preventive Officer is under consideration,. and this officer will, I hope, after a short time be in a position to offer useful confi- dential advice as to the work of this Department, which collects more than half of the total revenues of the State at present. Similarly, the Treasury, Audit, and Postal Departments are unsupervised at present by seconded officers and are subject only to the general control of the Adviser. As far as Kemaman and Besut are concerned, the roving commission of the Assistant Advisers is a fairly adequate safeguard against maladministration. The weakness at present is at headquarters, i.e., at Kuala Trengganu, where far too much responsibility for detailed supervision is laid on the Adviser; and if and when the revenue position improves, the restoration of the appointment of Assistant Adviser should be one of the first matters for consideration.

(e) Judicial.-The Magistrates throughout the States are Malays, as also is the Judge of the High Court in Kuala Trengganu. In Kemaman and Besut the High Court consists of the State Commissioner and the Assistant Adviser sitting jointly. There is also a Land Court consisting of the Commissioner of Lands and a Judge of the High Court sitting jointly. Over all is the Appeal Court consisting of the British Adviser, the Mufti (see paragraph 2 (b)) and the Mentri Besar. The fact that the Assistant Adviser is a Judge of the High Court in Kemaman and Besut respectively, and that the Adviser is one of the Judges of Appeal is a safeguard to some extent against miscarriage of justice, but it will be seen that the Adviser can be outvoted on the Court of Appeal and there is an urgent need in the State for-

(a) the establishment of the British law as to evidence and procedure as the

law of the State (the Penal Code has already been adopted) and

(b) the appointment of a British Legal Adviser and Judicial Commissioner, as

in Kelantan.

Financial

It has borrowed in all $3,500,000 from the 3. The State is heavily in debt Straits Settlements and as no interest has been paid since July, 1931, the debt now stands at nearly $4,000,000. This money has been borrowed almost entirely for purposes of development, principally of communications. Thanks to a policy of rigorous economy in expenditure, which was introduced by the Adviser (Mr. G. L. Ham) in 1931, the expenditure budget has been reduced from $1,655,644 in the Estimates for the year A.H. 1360 (1931-1932) to $1,176,835 in the Estimates for 1932, and as a result of further economies made recently the expenditure for the current year will probably not exceed $1,000,000. Unfortunately however the revenue has been steadily

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declining, and the most that can be hoped for is that the budget will be balanced in 1932. It is therefore indisputable that the financial position of the State is bad and that progressive retrenchment of expenditure is necessary.

4.

Decentralization

The opening of the road which links up Trengganu not only with Kelantan but also with the Federated Malay States railway system has undoubtedly had the effect of widening the State's political horizon, and when the State Council is asked now to agree to legislation on the ground that other States of the Peninsula have so legislated, assent is readily given. But it is clear that at present a closer union with other States as a political ideal makes no appeal to the State Council and that they would regard any such proposal merely from the following points of view:-

(a) What financial gain will accrue?

Will it diminish the State's own control of its affairs? This is patently the attitude that is being adopted towards the proposal for a Customs Union. Trengganu looks upon the Director-Advisers of the Medical and Public Works Departments as experts provided for the State by the High Com- missioner, to be consulted by Trengganu as and when required; and if as the result of decentralization in the Federated Malay States, each State becomes legislatively, executively, and financially independent, though co-ordinated with the others in matters of policy by the advice of Director- Advisers, the chances of Trengganu evincing a readiness to join hands with the Federated Malay States in matters of common interest are appreciably greater than they have been hitherto. But this State will only adhere with the strongest reluctance to any union which carries with it the possibility of the Director-Advisers having any executive or administrative powers in Trengganu.

30th October, 1932.

C. C. BROWN,

Acting British Adviser, Trengganu.

V. LEGAL STATUS OF THE MALAY STATES.

C. 82407/31 [No. 7].

SIR,

No. 40.

UNFEDERATED MALAY STATES (JOHORE).

THE HIGH COMMISSIONER to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 9th November, 1931.)

(Confidential.)

Government House, Singapore, 9th October, 1931.

I HAVE the honour to forward six copies of an important and interesting pamphlet

on The Legal Status of the Malay States, written by Mr. R. Braddell, as your attention may perhaps already have been drawn to it and sooner or later one of the Malay Rulers may quote it in correspondence with you.

2. Mr. Braddell, who is a Singapore barrister and private legal adviser to the Sultan of Johore, has consciously or unconsciously exaggerated the juristic status of Johore Moreover, his outline of Great Britain's relations with all the Malay States and his references to the native constitutions of those States reveal an inadequate foundation of historical knowledge.

3. I, therefore, consider it advisable to send you a running commentary by

Dr. R O. Winstedt, C.M.G., D.Litt., General Adviser, Johore, on Mr. Braddell's pamphlet. This commentary may be divided into:-

(a) critical notes on Mr. Braddell's account of the status of the Federated Malay

States; and

(b) a criticism of Mr. Braddell's thesis that the status of Johore is entirely different from, and juristically much higher than, that of any other Malay State as being a dangerous travesty of the actual facts.

* Not reprinted.