Directory_and_Chronicle_1914 — Page 1497

KELANTAN

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This State is situated in the extreme north-eastern end of the Peninsula, between latitudes 4'45° and 6'25° North and between longitudes 101 30° and 102-40° East, with a coast-line of 60 miles on the China Sea. It embraces an area of from 5,000 to 5,500 square miles. It is a mountainous country, with rich alluvial plains, and is drained by the Kelantan River and its tributaries.

Kota Bahru, at the mouth of the Kelantan river, is the capital, but the chief port is Tumpat, on the other side of the delta. The Sultan and the British Resident reside at Kota Bahru, and at the Government School established here nearly 300 children are enrolled, including four members of the royal house.

Chiefly agricultural, Kelantan is believed to be rich in minerals, and much prospect- ing may be expected to be done in the next few years. The chief exports are padí and rice, copra and rubber, cattle and dried fish. The climate is comparable with other parts of the Peninsula. The temperature seldom exceeds 90° and rarely falls below 69°, while the average rainfall is about 120 inches a year.

Mr. J. Scott Mason, the British Adviser, took over the supervision of affairs from Mr. W. A. Graham, the Siamese Commissioner, on July 15, 1909, and the most important happening since then was the determination in 1912 of the agreement between the Sul- tan and the Duff Development Company, and the resumption by the Government of the sovereign powers conceded to the company over nearly two-thirds of the State. A new working agreement has been prepared under which the Government of Kelantan undertakes to pay to the company a sum of £300,000 sterling and to grant to them the following rights: () The sole right to select blocks of land for agricultural purposes, amounting in the aggregate to not more than 50,000 acres; (b) the sole prospecting rights for minerals over the area of the concession; and (c) the sole prospecting right over an area of approximately 78 square miles in the Sokor district, and the right to take up mining leases and certain other rights.

About thirty miles of the railway which is to connect the F.M.S. and Siamese systems is completed in Kelantan, southwards from Tumpat, and work on the extension southwards to the Pahang border is in progress, opening up the State for planting and mining.

According to the census of 1911 the population is 286,751. There is a police force of 232 men.

In 1909, the revenue amounted to $370,959 and the expenditure to $377,062. In 1911, the revenue had risen to $487,674 and the expenditure to $574,850. The public debt at the transference of the suzerainty was $150,000, upon which Siam charged 6 per cent. This debt was taken over by the F.M.S., interest being reduced to 4 per cent. The debit balance of the State at the end of 1911 was $143,861. The value of the imports in 1911 was 82,23,820 and of exports $1,505,795-a total of $3,743,615 against 83,003,935 in 1910. The principal imports were: cotton piece goods, sarongs, machinery, flanks, kerosene, opium, tobacco, salt and woollen goods. The value of exports from Kelantan to Singapore in 1912 amounted to $1,562,066 against $1,724,108 in 1911; and of imports from Singapore $2,078,994 in 1912 against $1,779,634 in 1911. Shipping amounted to 206,560 tons. There is regular steamship communication with Singapore.

About 107,566 acres were under cultivation in 1911. This comprised 66,346 acres devoted to padi, 21,805 to coconuts, and 16,762 to rubber. Rubber planting is spreading, and 11,010 acres were actually under rubber at the end of 1911. The export of rubber in 1912 was about 170,000 lbs. against about 51,000 lbs. in 1911. The export of copra fell to 55,396 piculs in 1911, but a large Chinese firm from Singapore has started a coconut oil mill below Kota Bahru, in addition to sago and padi mills, and coconut oil now appears amongst the exports. 6452 head of cattle, 964 sheep, and 163,920 head of poultry were exported to Singapore in 1911. The dredging operations for alluvial gold in the Galas, Nenggiri and Lebir rivers were scarcely so successful in 1911 as in preceding years, the gold won amounting to 3,395 oz., against 8,507 oz. in 1909. On the other hand, the output of tin ore, though small, shows an increase—463 piculs against 67 in 1909.