" Curse me them from thence." Num. XXIII. 18.
[13]
In the Pangkor Engagement
are two clauses that practically placed the whole administration of Perak in
the hands of the Resident. They are these: -
" Clause VI. That the Sultan receive and
provide a suitable residence for a British Officer to be called Resident, who
shall be accredited to his Court, and whose advice must be asked and acted upon
on all questions other than those touching Malay religion and custom."
" Clause X. That the collection and
control of all revenues and the general administration of the country be
regulated under the advice of these Residents."
It is evident
that the collection and control of all revenue and the tendering of advice
which must be acted upon cover all executive authority. In August, 1876,
however, the Secretary of State's instructions were sent to the Residents of
Perak and Selangor, and it was added "you will observe that in continuing
the Residential system Her Majesty's Government define the functions of the
Resident to be the giving of influential and responsible advice to the ruler *
* *. The Residents are not to interfere more frequently or to a greater extent
than is necessary with the minor details of Government &c., &c."
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About Perak
[14]
In May, 1878, a
further circular was despatched to the Residents of three Protected States
warning them that "the Residents have been placed in the Native States as
advisers, not as rulers, and if they take upon themselves to disregard this
principle they will most assuredly be held responsible if trouble springs out
of their neglect of it."
The Secretary of
State said the circular was " both necessary and judicious in its
terms," but he also wrote : ' I fully recognise the delicacy of the task
imposed on the Residents and am aware that much must be left to their
discretion on occasions when prompt and firm action is called for."
This, naturally,
threw the entire responsibility on the Resident, and whether he failed in
character and firmness, or whether he showed excessive zeal and anxiety to
remove abuses and advance the interests of the State, he did so with the
knowledge that he could not run with the Treaty and hold with the instructions.
Perak is the only State where these special Treaty powers are conferred on the
Resident, but, as every one knows, not only there but also in all the States
the Residents have, by force of circumstances, gone beyond the instructions and
carried on the administration with a wider authoritv, but much on the same
lines as though the States had formed an integral portion of the Colony. From
the earliest days of protection, it was laid down, and necessarily so, that the
Native States, in their relations with the neighbouring Colony, would look to
the Governor as the controlling authority behind the Residents. and that in all
other respects each Native State would supply its own machinery of Government.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS |
About Perak
[15]
In the gradual
education of that staff of officers which has grown up to assist the Residents,
the experience of the Straits Settlements has been largely drawn upon for rules
and orders in the conduct of affairs. Similarly, Colonial and Indian laws have
been adapted to deal with circumstances that had a parallel in those places ;
but in Perak there are prevailing circumstances utterly unknown in the Colony,
and, to meet these, local knowledge alone could safely be employed.
During and after
a brief occupation of a few posts by English Troops, the late Mr. J. G.
Davidson was British Resident in Perak. He, however, had never liked Perak,
accepted the post with the utmost hesitation under great pressure, and very
shortly resigned to resume his own profession. His successor came from Labuan
as Mr. Low and left as Sir Hugh Low, G.C.M.G., after eleven years of most
difficult, tactful, and successful administration. I am not dealing with
individuals but with the growth of a system, and I do not propose to here
attempt to enumerate the services of Sir H. Low or any other officer, nor what
Perak owes to each individually. To realize the nature of the task
accomplished, it is necessary to appreciate the circumstances that obtained
when first a British Officer was appointed to be Resident in Perak. As a
protest against what we call civilization, the people of Perak assassinated
him. Then followed a military expedition and some punishment, which those who
felt it naturally resented, and though the subsequent occupation gave the
Resident an authority which Mr. Birch never possessed, yet he had to deal with
a people of strong character, of the Muhammadan religion,
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About Perak
[16]
nearly all the most influential
of them being bitterly (opposed to British methods of administration or indeed
to anything that interfered with the exercise of their own inclination.
A State Council
was established, and in this Council sits the Sultan, the most important of the
Malay chiefs, and some Chinese. It deals with all legislation and with the
appointments of all Native Headmen, with their allowances, and with the Civil
List. It has been a wonderful safety valve, and to be a member is considered a
very high privilege in Perak.
Slavery and debt
slavery were both abolished within a few years ; but, in making that simple and
apparently natural statement, no idea is conveyed of the burning nature of this
question and the exceedingly delicate handling that it required and received.
In 1874, no
Perak Malay man was ever seen unarmed. The man usually carried from three to
eight weapons, and boys of a few years old two or three. The carrying of arms
was gradually forbidden and is now unknown. A kris, which used to be a Malay's
most prized possession, has now very little value.
The Resident's
Guard has developed into a highly disciplined regiment of Sikhs ;
communications have been opened in every direction ; all most important
questions, land, mines, labour, etc, dealt with ; posts, telegraphs, railways
established ; the country divided into Districts and Divisions with all the
usual administrative machinery ; and Courts of Justice are found at every
centre of population.
Small pox and cholera used to decimate the Malays of Perak
and
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About Perak
[17]
the fear of those scourges
amounted to a bad form of panic. Vaccination, sanitation, and the ministrations
of qualified medical practitioners have, however, altered all this, --- but the
Malay still declines to become an in-patient of those excellent Hospitals which
are found all over the State. Other nationalities have no such scruples.
Then, of course,
there are prisons ; very creditable institutions they are and they will bear
the closest scrutiny. Education, too, has of late years received some of the
attention it deserves and the results are promising. And whilst such evidences
of sound government may be treated as matters of course, Perak has spent large
sums of money on what some may regard as articles of luxury :--- a Museum,
Experimental Gardens, and a Trigonometrical Survey. Lastly, in the twenty years
of "advice" the population has
more than doubled itself, the Revenue is close on three millions of dollars,
and the Trade, real imports and real exports, consumed in or produced by the
State, is valued at over twenty millions.
All this sounds
well enough, and any enquiring mind can by personal observation see that much
has been done and well done. No greater mistake could be made, however, than to
suppose that the result might not have been extremely different. Our
neighbours, the Dutch, have had in Sumatra an experience as unpleasant as it
has been costly. Even now, to imagine that Perak or any other Native State can
be treated like a British Colony is culpable ignorance. I have spoken of the
Residential system, but in reality there was no system ; what there is now has
grown of experience gained in attempting the untried. A British Officer, acting
under
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About Perak
[18]
the instructions of a distant
Governor, is sent to "advise" a Malay Ruler and his Chiefs. The
officer is told he is responsible for everything but he is not to interfere in
details. His advice must be followed, but he must not attempt to enforce it and
so on. He must keep the peace, see that justice is administered, respect vested
interests, abolish abuses, raise revenue, foster British interests, do his best
for the State, and obey the instructions he receives from Singapore, and with
it all he is at his peril to remember that he is only the adviser of the Malay
Ruler! Out of that somewhat difficult position has grown the present
administration, --- and the main reason why success has been secured is twofold
: first, because a succession of Governors have trusted their Residents and
supported them ; and, secondly, because of that very possession of large
authority which is at once the strength and the weakness of the Residential idea. Had the authority
been less, the results to-day would certainly have been very far short of those
achieved ; but, for all that, it may be safely affirmed that, whilst the power
for good is immense, the power for mistakes, for extravagance, for
favouritism, or for what can be described as " bullying " is greater
than should be placed in any single hand. This is the real flaw and it would be
possible to shew that the danger is far from imaginary. It is curious that
while, in the past few years, much has been said and written of the need for
change in existing arrangements, the reasons given have been so wide of this---
which is the vital weakness, To enable members of the Straits Bar to practise
in the Native States Courts, to be able to compel the Native States to
contribute to the
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About Perak
[19]
cost of Imperial Troops stationed
in Singapore, to induce English speculators ' to invest money and safeguard
their transactions by English laws, to make huge properties obtained by
concession from an independent Malay Raja valuable by declaring the land
British territory--- these are some of the grounds advanced for breaking faith
with the Malays, who are now perfectly satisfied with existing arrangements
wherein they have an influence and interest of which they would certainly be
deprived by annexation.
True, the voice
of a public opinion is wanting and that can only come with a public to express
it ; true, also, the Magistrates are inexperienced and give curious decisions,
but that is not peculiar to the Malay States ; while, as for the security for
invested capital, if there be any real doubt on this point, it could be met by
strengthening the Bench. The want is, however, a better control of the Resident
who, in his capacity of adviser to the Sultan, of actual head of the executive
and sole means of communication with the Governor, possesses a power probably
without parallel.
Of course, it
would be easy to criticise in other directions ; but they would not be
criticisms of a system and would apply equally to any form of Government as
well as to that of a Protected Malay State. All over the world, stupid,
extravagant, and partial things are done in the name of government, and, if the
truth be told, Perak, while making wonderful progress, through freedom from the
trammels of red-tape and many councillors, is still in danger of shipwreck on
the rock of personal authority.
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