Defence, Production, and Industry.

The new harbour of Singapore, comprising the coal stores, wharves, and docks, is defended by several forts armed with armour-piercing and medium guns, and by a system of submarine mines. The initial cost of the forts amounted to nearly 100,000l., and was defrayed out of the revenues of the colony, the Imperial Government supplying the guns and ammunition only. The garrison comprises 2 companies of Royal Garrison Artillery, 1 of Asiatic Artillery, half a company of Royal Engineers, and a company of Malay submarine miners. There are 1 battalion of the Manchester Regiment and 1 battalion of Madras Infantry in garrison.

The volunteer forces of the colony have lately been largely increased. They consist of a battery of artillery, a company of engineers, 1 Maxim section, 2 companies of infantry, and a bearer company, with a cadet company in Singapore, the total strength being 506 officers and men. The artillery, engineers, and Maxim section are composed of Europeans, the remaining 2 companies and the cadet company being Eurasians and Straits-born Chinese. Penang has 2 companies of rifle volunteers (109 strong), and Malacca 1 company (62 strong), and a cadet company of the same arms.

Articles produced in the Straits territory are pepper in Province Wellesley; tapioca and rice in Malacca and Province Wellesley; sugar in Province Wellesley.

Commerce.

The Straits ports are free from duties on imports and exports, and their trade, centred at Singapore, is to a large extent a transit trade. Import duties are levied only on wine (50 cents and 1 dollar per gallon), malt liquors (18 cents per gallon), and spirits (1 dollar per gallon). The chief exports comprise tin, sugar, pepper, nutmegs, mace, sago, tapioca, rice, buffalo hides and horns, rattans, gutta percha, india-rubber, gambier, gum, copra, coffee, dyestuffs, tobacco, &c.

The following table shows the value of imports and exports (exclusive of inter-Settlement trade, but inclusive of treasure) for 1892 and the last five years :

Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars 1892 22,296,191 39,427,601 79,884, 160 141,427,952 25,084,603 18,307,410 91,245,694 134,637,707 1899 29,389,082 93,768,612 160 781,758 283,939,452 47,015,148 31,368,794 160,670,785 239,054,727 1900 32,890,847 99,063,660 182,135,353 314,089,860 60,402,056 33,778,914 168,436,375 262,617,345 1901 32,521,854 92,965,297 184,893,943 310,381,094 54, 227,488 36,026,966 176,298,816 266,553,270 1902 33,957,147 113,561,350 203,965,017 351,483,514 62,297,698 35,241,265 203,934,864 301,473,827 1903 40,148,761 124,434,805 225,576,979 390,160,545 67,102,661 50,663,787 207,080,693 324,847,141

These exports do not include coal supplied to ships' bunkers, ships' stores, telegraph cables, &c., materials for building and repairing vessels, nor opium sent to Johore for consumption there.

The tables of the values of the imports into, and exports from, the three Settlements during two years (inclusive of inter-colonial trade and treasure) give the following results :

The following table shows the value of the most important imports and exports of the Straits Settlements in 1903, exclusive of inter-settlement trade :

Among the leading imports are cotton goods, opium, rice, tea, coffee, tobacco, hardware, copper, copra, gambier, pepper, gum, rattans, sago, cigars, tin, coal, tapioca; most of these, however, being largely re-exported.

The values are determined by the market prices at the time, and declarations are made both as to quantity and value by importers and exporters. Imports are credited to the country of the first port of shipment, and exports to the country where the final port of destination is, as far as can be ascertained; thus, e.g., Switzerland is never inserted in the returns. The information is supplied by traders on declaration forms. There may be said to be three classes of trade-passing, transit, actual; passing trade being goods in vessels merely passing through Singapore for China, &c.; transit trade, goods changing bottom at Singapore, or landed and stored awaiting re-shipment. These two classes of trade are not included in the import and export statistics. Actual trade may be defined as goods brought for sale into Singapore and purchased there, either for consumption or for sale to other places whither they are said to be exported. The trade is a transit trade in the sense only that what is imported is exported without undergoing any process of manufacture. Exchange fluctuations affect the value of the statistical results. In times of low exchange the dollar value of goods having their origin in gold countries is enhanced, and the same probably holds good, to a less extent, in the case of produce exported.

The following table shows, according to the Board of Trade Returns, the value of the trade between the Straits Settlements and Great Britain for five years. The imports, however, include produce from Borneo, Sarawak, and other eastern places, transhipped at Singapore which is thus entered as the place of export:

Imports into U. K.

£

£

from the Straits. 5,867,847 7,025,999 6,112,304 6,052,730 Exports of British

5,893,407

produce to the

Straits

.

2,612,381 3,150,139 3,203,511 2,744,555

3,125,945

The principal imports into the United Kingdom are (1903) tin, 3,541,2967.; spices, 328,0271.; cutch and gambier, 222,4887.; gutta percha, 378,0807.; caoutchouc, 109,3977.; raw hides, 127,8077.; leather, 29,5677.; sago and sago flour, 217,3517. ; preserved fruit, 166, 6527.; the principal exports from the United Kingdom, cottons, 1,311,0537.; iron, 417,7437.; machinery, 145,6147.

Shipping and Navigation.

The

The

The total number of vessels entered at the ports of the colony during 1903, exclusive of native craft, was 9,519, with a tonnage of 9,213,846 tons. number of native craft was 17,335,.. with a tonnage of 815,385 tons. number of vessels cleared at the ports of the colony was 9,580, with a tonnage of 9,190,537 tons, and the total number of native craft was 16,968, with a tonnage of 804,980 tons.

Communications.

A railway to connect the town of Singapore with Kranji on the Johore Straits was opened for traffic on January 2, 1903, communication between Kranji and Johore being maintained by steam ferries. The Perak State Railway has been extended from Parit Buntar in Krian, to Kwala Prai in Province Wellesley, from whence communication with Penang is kept up by means of steam ferries; 23 miles of this line are already open for traffic. All the railways have a gauge of one metre. In Penang there are over 4 miles of tramway open. The motive power is steam, but the introduction of electric traction is contemplated. A system of electric tramways is now in course of construction in Singapore.

In 1902, 7,046,697 letters and articles of all kinds were received at the Post Office, and 5,970,662 despatched.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

There are three banks with establishments in the colony. The amount of deposits in the Government Savings Bank on December 31, 1903, was 583,843 dollars.

An

By an Order of the Queen in Council dated February 2, 1895, the silver Mexican dollar, weighing 417 74 grains (or 27 070 grammes), 9027 fine, is the standard coin. The British dollar, the Hong Kong dollar, each weighing 416 grains (or 26·957 grammes), 900 fine, are also legal tender, the least currency weight being in each case 411 grains (or 26 633 grammes). Order of the King in Council, dated June 25, 1903, authorises the coinage of a Straits Settlements dollar of the same weight and fineness as the British dollar. The Straits Settlements dollar will eventually be the standard coin of the colony. Subsidiary silver coins are 50, 20, 10, and 5 cent pieces, which are legal tender for sums not exceeding two dollars; copper coins are cents, half-cents, and quarter-cents, legal tender for any sum not exceeding one dollar. On December 31, 1903, Government currency notes to the value of 16,293,490 dollars were in circulation in the colony and Federated Malay States.

The measures of length in use in the with its divisions and multiples, and land The native terms are, however, still in use. 1 Kati = 16 Tahil=

1 Picul 100 Kati =

=

Settlements is the English yard, is measured by the English acre. Commercial weights are:1 lb. avoirdupois.

133 lbs.

The kati of 1 lb. is known as the Chinese kati. Another weight, known as the Malay kati, and still in partial use in Penang, is equal to the weight of 24 Spanish dollars, or 9.984 grains. This gives 142 628 lbs. as the weight of the picul, and 5,705.143 lbs. as the weight of the koyan. The measures of capacity throughout the colony are the gantang or gallon, and chupak or quart.

THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES.

The Federated Malay States of Perak, Sělángor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang, which occupy a large portion of the Malay Peninsula, are under British protection.

Resident-General for the Federated Malay States.—Sir William Hood Treacher, K. C. M. G., appointed, 1901.

In Perak, Sělángor, and Sungei Ujong, which State was, in 1895, amalgamated with the Federal State of Negri Sembilan, Residents were appointed in 1874, with a staff of European officers whose duty is to aid the native rulers by advice, and to exercise executive functions. The supreme authority in each State is vested in the State Council, consisting of the highest native authorities and the principal British officials. The Residents are under the Resident General and High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States.

In 1883 the relations of the Straits Settlements with the small Native States on the frontier of Malacca were consolidated. These States were confederated in 1889, under the name of Negri Sembilan. In January, 1895, Sungei Ujong (including Jelebu, which had been administered by a Collector and Magistrate under the Resident of Sungei Ujong since 1888) and Negri Sembilan were placed under one Resident; and in July, 1895, a treaty was signed by which the administrations were amalgamated. The new federation, which retains the ancient name of Negri Sembilan (i.e. Nine States) comprises the states of Sungei Ujong, Sri Menanti, Johol, Jelebu, Rembau and Tampin. In 1887, by agreement with the Raja of Pahang, the control of his foreign relations, &c., was surrendered to the British Government. This was followed by a further agreement in 1888 with the Raja (now styled Sultan), under which Pahang was taken under British protection, on the same terms as the Protected Native States on the west coast of the peninsula. Pahang is situate on the east coast, within 200 miles by sea from Singapore. In July, 1896, the treaty between the four Protected Native States, Perak, Sělángor, Pahang, and Negri Sembilan, and the British Government came into force by which the administrative federation of these States under a Resident General provided for, and the States agree to furnish a contingent of troops for service in the Colony should His Majesty's Government be at war with any foreign nation.

The areas of these States, in square miles, are:-Perak, 6,580; Sělángor, 3,200; Negri Sembilan, 2,600; Pahang, 14,000; total, 26,380. Perak, by recent agreement with Siam, is extended by about 500 square miles.

A census of the States was taken in 1901, with the following results: Perak, 329,665 (239,556 males and 90,109 females); Sělángor, 168,789 (136,823 males and 31,966 females); Negri Sembilan, 96,028 (64,565 males and 31,463 females); Pahang, 84, 1131 (46,746 males and 35,970 females); total, 678,595. The population contained 312,486 Malays, 299,739 Chinese,

1 Including 1,397 Sakais enumerated without details as to sex.

58,211 natives of India, 1,422 Europeans and Americans, and 1,522 Eurasians. The preponderance of males over females is due to the number of Chinese immigrants. The largest town in the States is Kuala Lumpor (in Selangor) with 32,381 inhabitants.

The full strength of the Malay States Guides is 13 European officers and 791 Native officers, non-commissioned officers and men. The total police force comprises 2,269 men, including 41 European officers and inspectors, besides 95 detectives.

In addition to numerous Government vernacular schools in the Federated Malay States, English schools, both for boys and girls, are maintained in Perak, Sělángor, and Negri Sembilan. In 1903 there were 237 vernacular and State-aided schools, with 12,662 scholars.

The law in force in each State of the Federation is contained in local enactments passed by the State Councils. Most of the Regulations and Orders in Council passed previous to the Federation in 1896 have now been repealed. There is a Judicial Commissioner for all the States. In addition there are a number of magistrates, graded according to their seniority and standing: (1) Court of the Senior Magistrates; (2) Courts of Magistrates of the 1st and 2nd class, and Native Courts for deciding petty cases. The number of criminals in the prisons of the States on December 31, 1903, was 1,475.

The revenue and expenditure of the States were as follows for 1902 and 1903:

Estimated revenue in 1904 was 20,248,572 dollars. Leading items of revenue in 1903 were-land revenue, 915,412 dollars (including land sales); railway receipts, 3,620,676 dollars; post and telegraphs, 278,715 dollars; tin duty, 9,593,270 dollars; licences, 3,653,051 dollars; and of expenditurepersonal emoluments, 3,630,644 dollars; railways (including construction, 1,672,505 dollars), 4,601,135 dollars; public works, 4,493,974 dollars.

Debt of Pahang, to the other States of the Federation, 3,891,003 dollars. In 1899 a loan to the Malay States of 500,000l. from the British Government for railways was authorised; but the sanctioned loan was not required, the railway construction works being provided out of current revenue.

Liberian coffee and rubber are cultivated in Perak, Sělángor, Sungei Ujong, Negri Sembilan, and Johore. Coffee, pepper, sugar and rice are exported from Perak; gambier and pepper are grown in Negri Sembilan, Selangor, and Johore; tapioca in Sungei Ujong and Negri Sembilan. The forests produce excellent timbers, besides gutta percha, oils, resins, canes, and a great variety of fruit. The duty on the export of tin forms the largest item of the revenue of the States on the West Coast. In 1903 the tin export from Perak amounted to 25,949 tons, from Sělángor 17,420 tons, from Negri Sembilan 5,089 tons, and from Pahang, 1,504 tons. Gold is found in and exported from Pahang, Negri Sembilan, and Perak. In 1903, 12,441 ounces