Directory_and_Chronicle_1919 — Page 1119

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

This Colony was transferred from the control of the Indian Government to that of the Secretary of State for the Colonies by an Order-in-Council dated the 1st April, 1867. It now consists of the island of Singapore, the province of Malacca, the island of Penang, the Dindings further south, Province Wellesley on the mainland, the Cocos or Keeling Islands, Christmas Island (the latter two placed under the same Government in 1886 and 1889, respectively), and Labuan, annexed to the Straits Settlements on January 1st, 1907. The seat of Government is the town of Singapore, on the island of the same name. The Government consists of a Governor, aided by an Executive and Legislative Council, the latter body consisting of nine official members and seven unofficial members, of whom two are nominated by the Chambers of Commerce of Singapore and Penang. There are Municipal bodies in each Settle- ment, the members of which are partly elected by the ratepayers and partly appointed by the Governor.

Penang was the first British Settlement on the Malayan Peninsula, having been ceded to the British by the Rajah of Kedah in 1785, and it soon acquired a monopoly of the trade of the Peninsula. Malacca, which had been successively held by the Portuguese and the Dutch, finally passed into the hands of Great Britain by Treaty with Holland in 1824, having been previously held by Great Britain from 1795 to 1818. With the establishment of Penang in 1785 most of the trade which had formerly centred at Malacca was transferred to the former. In 1819 Singapore was taken possession of by Sir Stamford Raffles, by virtue of a Treaty with the Johore Princes, and it soon took the lead of Penang as a commercial centre. In 1826 Singa- pore and Malacca were incorporated with Penang under one Government, Penang remaining the seat of Government until 1830, when the administration was transferred to Singapore.

The population of the Straits Settlements was estimated at 797,739 for 1916. The death rate in the same year was 30.70 per mille. The Colonial Secretary in his report to the Colonial Office says on this subject: "In spite of the high death rate the climate in the towns and in the country, which has long been opened up, cannot be considered unhealthy for Europeans, who, if they take ordinary precautions, can, with their higher and more sanitary mode of life, to a great extent avoid the malarial and other tropical fevers and dysentery which attack the Oriental inhabitant of the peninsula."

The revenue of the Colony in 1916 amounted to $17,325,695 (£2,021,331) and the expenditure to $17,046,353 (£1,288,741). Two-thirds of the revenue is derived from Singapore. The trade in 1916 was valued at £120,678,435, an increase of £22,500,104 compared with 1915. Imports aggregated £63,242,074, and Exports £57,436,364. In a recent annual report the Colonial Secretary remarked, in reference to imports, that foreign countries have, in their competition with British countries, in this market succeeded in increasing their business at twice the rate at which British trade has ad- vanced. Railway communication is now established between Singapore and Penang, and all the principal ports and towns in the Peninsula. Direct communication by rail has been opened up with Bangkok, the capital of Siam. Speaking generally, it may be said that there are many signs of the increasing prosperity of the Colony as a whole, intimately connected as it is with the welfare of the Federated Malay States. The towns of Singapore and George Town, Penang, continue to extend, and the value of town property has enormously increased. Concurrently with a general increase in trade and business, the cost of living has advanced. House-rent both in Singapore and Penang has risen greatly, while the price of labour and building materials has deterred many from investing their capital in building operations. The increased output and high price of tin in the Federated Malay States, the bulk of which finds its way to the Smelting Works in the Colony, have largely contributed to the wealth of the population. Many have made fortunes out of tin and have invested a large proportion of their gains in the Colony. The planting of Para rubber continues to increase, there