Directory_and_Chronicle_1917 — Page 1487

NON-FEDERATED MALAY STATES

By a Treaty between Great Britain and Siam, signed at Bangkok on March 10, 1909, the Siamese Government transferred to the British Government all rights of suzerainty, protection, administration and control which they possessed over the States of Kelantan, Trengganu, Kedah and Perlis; and at various dates in the same year the Siamese officials were replaced by British officials in the four States named above. The British representatives in Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis are designated Advisers and the representative to Trengganu as Agent. In Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis the advice of the British representative is accepted, and, following upon the lines of the administra- tion that has proved so successful in the Federated Malay States, considerable progress has been made since the change in setting up a proper system of administration and bringing about reform in the financial arrangements of the States. In Trengganu, there has been no interference, but as the Sultan has had the opportunity of visiting the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States, and has seen for himself the advantages that accrue to well-regulated administration, it is highly probable that the relations of the British authorities with his State may become such as to bring about similar reforms in Government departments in the immediate future. Under the Treaty Agreement, the Federated Malay States undertook to lend a sum of £4,000,000 to the Railway Department of the Kingdom of Siam, and with this money a railway is being constructed through the Siamese Peninsular States to link up with the F.M.S. system on the Kelantan and Perlis frontiers. The F.M.S. Railway has been constructed from Bukit Mertajam, in Province Wellesley, to the Perlis-Siam frontier, and has been extended through Pahang as far north as Kuala Lipis from the junction at Gemas. Thirty-two miles of railway have been constructed in Kelantan, from the port of Tumpat south to Pasir Mas. Great benefits are expected from this extension of the F.M.S. railway system through these States, and by 1918 it should be possible to make the journey from Penang to Bangkok in thirty-six hours, thus effecting a saving of five days over the present sea-route between Bangkok and Europe via Singapore.

In 1910, the Sultan of Johore accepted the services of a British officer, who is known as the General Adviser, and he has been instrumental, with the help of other officers lent by the F.M.S. and Straits Civil Services, in effecting many important reforms in Johore, which promises to become one of the most prosperous States in the Peninsula.

With the construction of proper roads and the extension of the railways and telegraphs through these Native States, and the establishment of an adequate postal service, all the States have already made rapid progress.

JOHORE

This State occupies the southern portion of the Malayan Peninsula, and has an area of about 9,000 square miles. The State is ruled by a Sultan, who is independent, but under the protection of the British Government so far as external policy is concerned. The present Sultan, Ibrahim, was born in 1873, and succeeded his father, the late Sultan Abubakar, in 1895, being crowned on the 2nd of November of that year. For services rendered to the Crown during the European war, the dignity of an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the most Distinguished Order of St. Michail and St. George was conferred on His Highness the Sultan by His Majesty the King, and the investiture took place at Johore Bahru on May 11, 1916. Since 1910, the Sultan has had the services of an officer of the Straits or F.M.S. Civil Services as General Adviser, and other members of these services are seconded to control various departments, with the result that the government is now on a better footing and the finances materially improved. The country has made great progress in material prosperity, and its orderly condition has attracted a good deal of European capital, invested in planting enterprises.