Of
This Prince, Who Owed His Firm Seat On The Throne To British
Intervention, The Resident Wrote In 1880:
- "Loyal to his engagements,
he had gained the good will of the British Government.
Straightforward, honest, and truly charitable,
He had gained the love
and respect of almost everyone in Sungei Ujong, Chinese as well as
Malay, and if he had a fault he erred on the side of a weak belief in
the goodness of human nature, and often suffered in consequence." This
was Captain Murray's verdict after nearly five years' experience.
The population of this tiny State, which in 1832 consisted of three
thousand two hundred Malays and four hundred Chinese, at the time of my
visit had risen to twelve thousand, composed of three Europeans, a few
Klings, two thousand Malays, and ten thousand Chinese. It exports tin
in large quantities, gutta-percha collected in the interior by the
aborigines, coffee, which promises to become an important production,
buffalo hides, gum dammar, and gharroo. In 1879 the exports amounted to
81,976 pounds; 81,451 pounds being the value of tin. Its imports are
little more than half this amount. Rice heads the list with an import
of 18,150 pounds worth, and opium comes next, valued at 14,448 pounds.
The third import in value is oil; the next Chinese tobacco, the next
sugar, the next salt fish, and the next pigs! The Chinese, of course,
consume most of what is imported, being in a majority of five to one,
and here as elsewhere they carry with them their rigid conservatism in
dress, mode of living, food, and amusements, and have a well-organized
and independent system of communication with China. It is the Chinese
merchant, not the British, who benefits by the rapidly augmenting
Chinese population. Thus in the import list the Chinese tobacco, pigs,
lard, onions, beans, vermicelli, salted vegetables, tea, crackers,
joss-sticks, matches, Chinese candles, Chinese clothing, Chinese
umbrellas, and several other small items, are all imported from China.
Having been debited with a debt of 10,000 pounds for war expenses, to
be paid off by installments, the finances were much hampered, and the
execution of road-making and other useful work has been delayed. This
war debt, heavy as it was, was exclusive of 6,000 pounds previously
paid off, and of heavy disbursements made to supply food and forage for
the British soldiers who were quartered in Sungei Ujong for a
considerable time. Apart from this harassing debt, the expenses are
pre-eminently for "establishments," the construction of roads and
bridges, and pensions to Rajahs whose former sources of revenue have
been interfered with or abolished. The sources of revenue are to some
extent remarkable, and it is possible that some of them might be
altogether abolished if public attention became focussed upon them.
Export duties are levied only on tin, the great product of Sungei
Ujong, and gutta-percha. The chief import duty is on opium, and in 1879
this produced 4,182 pounds, or about one-fourth of the whole revenue.
Besides this fruitful and growing source of income, 3,074 pounds was
raised in 1879 under the head "Farms;" a most innocuous designation of
a system which has nothing to do with the "kindly fruits of the earth"
at all, but with spirits, gambling, oil, salt, opium, and a lottery!
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 94 of 229
Words from 48981 to 49543
of 120530
