Directory_and_Chronicle_1920 — Page 1333

FEDERATED MALAY STATES

The Protected States comprise four Residencies, namely, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang. These have been federated, the federation taking effect from the 1st July, 1896, and the administration is presided over by a British Officer styled the Chief Secretary, who is subject to the High Commissioner to the Malay States, who· is also Governor of the Straits Settlements. Each State has its own Resident and the native rulers retain their titles and dignity. The Federal Offices are at Kuala Lumpur, Selangor. The Federal Council was inaugurated on 10th December, 1909.

The record of these States is one of progress and prosperity. The revenue for 1918 was $68,448,862 (£7,985,700), and the expenditure $45,286,910 (£5,283,472). The assets on December 31, 1918, stood at $108,467,902 (£12,654,588). These States liave 949 miles of railway in the Malay Peninsula (paid for out of current revenue), yielding good income; they have 3, 00 miles of roads; and the wire mileage of telegraphs and telephones is 14,016 - (of which 2,435 miles of wire is in underground cables). Waterworks, wharves, hospitals, prisons, schools, and many other public buildings have been constructed, while the Government of Perak has carried out an important scheme of irrigation which will benefit about 60,000 acres of land and cost about £200,000. The principal sources of revenue and prosperity are the alluvial tin deposits, which, at the present price of the metal, can be worked at considerable profit, and the plantation rubber industry, the country producing one-third of the world's supply of rubber. Tin has been worked in the Malay Peninsula for centuries, and it is believed it will still be produced there centuries hence. The industry has grown of recent years to very large proportions, but it would take a long time to work out the alluvial deposits in the lands already alienated, and these comprise but a fraction of the unexplored lands which still remain, where there is every reason to believe the mineral will be found in payable quantities. This only applies to alluvial deposits. No one can guess what are the reserves of ore in underground rock forma- tions, as at Kuantan in Pahang, Slim in Perak, and Jelebu in the Negri Sembilan.

The annual export of tin from these States is valued at over $60,000,000.

As a matter of fact, the value of 627,815 piculs exported in 1918 was $94,562,012 against 669,197 piculs valued at $72,768,089 in‍ 1917. The Government has not overlooked the fact that in the export of tin its capital is being reduced, and it has made an effort to supply another and more useful investment by the construction of railways, with part at least of the revenue. The Federated States have expended over $108,972,000 in the construction or purchase of railways. The profits give a return of nearly 34 per cent. on the capital expended.

Planting enterprise in the Federated Malay States for many years had not proved very successful, but the introduction of rubber cultivation has completely transformed the agricultural prospects of the country. The area now in possession in estates of 100 acres and over is 650,000 acres, of which 450,000 acres were under cultivation for rubber at the end of 1918. About 78,225 tous of rubber were exported from these States in 1918, valued at, approximately, £13,563,893 against 79,831 tons in 1917 valued at £22,030,727. Sugar has practically gone out of cultivation. Over 150,000 acres of land are under coconuts, for which the soil and climate of these States are peculiarly well suited; and the cultivation of rice is only a question of irrigation and labour.

In 1918, 428,225 piculs of copra were exported, against 353,723 piculs in 1917. The success of every form of agriculture and of all the efforts of the Government to develop the country by means of railways, irrigation, and other great public works, depends upon an adequate supply of labour. The Governments of the Colony and.. the Federated Malay States, supported by the planters, by a new system of recruiting and by offering higher wages and other advantages, have succeeded in securing an adequate supply of Indian labour. An agricultural department to foster agricultural interests, encourage the cultivation of new products, to conduct experiments and to be a general source of information for planters, has been created, and is doing useful

work.

It is estimated that there are in the Federated Malay States about 70,000 · children of a school-going age, but only about 31,000 of these attend any recognised school; while many live in places far removed from any school-house, it is a fact that