280 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



The Asiatic population consisted of 213,073 Malays, 

 221, 989 Chinese, and 53,927 natives of India. The 

 number of Chinese immigrants in 1898 was 150,- 

 ~>29; of Indian immigrants, 19,026, of whom 2,989 

 were indentured; returned to India, 11,500. The 

 revenue of the colony in 1898 was $5,071,282; 

 expenditure, $4,587,372. There are no duties 

 levied on either imports or exports, and the trade 

 of Singapore is principally in transshipment of the 

 products of the islands of the Indian Archipelago 

 and those of the Malayan peninsula and of goods 

 destined for those places. The value of the imports 

 in 1898 was $248,110,547, of which $31,904,164 

 came from Great Britain, $84,570,258 from British 

 possessions, and $131,636,125 from other countries; 

 value of exports, $212,308,029, of which $28,385,028 

 went to Great Britain, $33,580,296 to British pos- 

 sessions, and $150,342,705 to other countries. The 

 principal exports are tin, sugar, pepper, nutmegs, 

 mace, sago, tapioca, rice, buffalo hides, rattan, 

 gutta-percha, rubber, gambier, gums, copra, coffee, 

 dyes, and tobacco. Rice was imported of the value 

 of $28,059,813; cotton cloth, $13,396,302; opium, 

 $10,129,302; fish, $5,774,730; coal, $5,666,640; to- 

 bacco, $4,347,915; kerosene, $1,967,992. The value 

 of tin exported was $32,296,134; spices, $12,555,422; 

 gums, $12,808,503; sago and tapioca, $5,537,661; 

 gambier, $5,847,282; copra, $4,910,205; rattan, 

 $4,083,597. The number of vessels entered during 

 1898 was 8,922, of 6,331,790 tons, exclusive of 

 15,509 native vessels, of 604,751 tons; the number 

 of vessels cleared was 8,915, of 6,329,652 tons, ex- 

 clusive of 15,601 native craft, of 616,357 tons. 

 The post office received 3,238,110 letters, etc., in 

 1898 and dispatched 3,422,858. The standard of 

 value is the Mexican dollar, as proclaimed in 1895, 

 and the British and Hong-Kong dollars are also 

 legal tender. The export of tin from Perak 

 amounted in 1898 to 19,703 tons; from Selangor, 

 16,301 tons; from Negri Sembilan, 2,455 tons. 

 Mines are worked also in Pahang. The tin ex- 

 ported from the protected states in 1899 was val- 

 ued at $46,139,399, and besides this coffee was 

 exported for $530,232 and sugar for $1,283,165. 

 The total value of exports reached $54,895,139, 

 while the imports were valued at $33,765,073. 

 With the growth of commerce the revenue keeps 

 pace, amounting to $13,486,410 in 1899, compared 

 with $9,364,467 in 1898 and $8,434,083 in 1896, 

 the first year of federation, while in 1891 the 

 combined revenues of the 4 states amounted to 

 $4..">72,310. The increased value of exports is 

 mainly attributable to the high price of tin, also 

 the remarkable expansion of revenue, as the export 

 duty is a progressive one, higher in proportion to 

 value when the price of tin is higher. A regiment 

 of native riflemen has been raised. The police 

 force consists of 2,000 Malays, Sikhs, and Pun- 

 jabis. Lands have been sold to planters under 

 an enactment of 1897, and the revenue obtained 

 from this source was $730,013 in 1899. The Euro- 

 peans have planted cocoanut palms and rubber as 

 well as coffee, and are endeavoring to get laborers 

 from India. Alluvial tin is obtained by hydraulic 

 mining. Companies have been formed recently 

 to dredge the rivers for either tin or gold. Labor- 

 ers have become so scarce, both for public works 

 and private enterprises, that double or treble the 

 former wages are paid for either Chinese or Indian 

 labor. The Tamils of India can not bo induced 

 to immigrate even by a free passage and high 

 wages, and for Chinese laborers engaged for a term 

 <>f years the Government offers a bounty of $5 

 a head. 



The Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, 

 Nogri Sembilan. and Pahang are under British 

 protection. British Residents, assisted by a staff 



of European officers, aid and direct the native 

 authorities, the supreme legislative and execu- 

 tive functions being vested in each state in the 

 State Council, composed of the superior British 

 and native officials. The area of Perak is about 

 10,000 square miles, with 214,254 inhabitants; 

 Selangor, 3,500 square miles, with 81,592 inhab- 

 itants; Negri Sembilan, comprising Sri Menanti, 

 Johol, Jelebu, Reinbau, and Tampin, 3,000 square 

 miles, with 41,617 inhabitants; besides 23,602 in 

 Sungei Ujong, which was placed under the same 

 Resident in 1895; Pahang, 10,000 square miles, 

 with 57,462 inhabitants. By a treaty concluded 

 in July, 1896, the 4 protected states were federated 

 under the general administration of a Resident 

 General, and the states agreed to furnish troops 

 for the defense of the colony in the event of a 

 war between Great Britain and any foreign power. 

 The state of Johor, having an area of about 9,000 

 square miles and 200,000 population, placed its for- 

 eign relations in the hands of the British Gov- 

 ernment in 1885. Coffee of the Liberian variety, 

 pepper, sugar, rice, gambier, sago, and tapioca are 

 produced in the native states and in British terri- 

 tory, and the states on the western coast of the 

 peninsula furnish a great part of the world's sup- 

 ply of tin. The mines are owned and worked 

 mostly by Chinese, and the duty on exports of 

 tin yields the bulk of the abundant revenue of 

 the natives states. Gold is also obtained, and 

 22,160 ounces were exported from Pahang alone in 

 1898. The revenue of Perak in 1898 was $4,575,842. 

 and expenditure $5,560,529: revenue of Selangor 

 $3,862,439, and expenditure $4,470,843 ; revenue of 

 Negri Sembilan $701, 334, and expenditure $730,859 ; 

 revenue of Pahang $224,856, and expenditure 

 $372,719. 



Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean east 

 of Madagascar, was a French colony before the 

 Napoleonic wars. The Governor, Sir Charles Bruce 

 in 1900, is assisted by a Council of Government 

 consisting of 27 members, of whom 10 are elected. 

 Of the estimated population of 378,872 on Dec. 31, 

 1898, the general population numbered 117,650, 

 including 3,389 Chinese The Creoles of French 

 extraction are the original proprietors, and the 

 bulk of the fixed population consists of African 

 natives and mixed races. The Indian coolies and 

 other laborers working under indentures on the 

 sugar plantations or settled in the island num- 

 bered 261.222. The population at the end of 1899 

 was 379,659, and of the total 261,739 were Indians, 

 of whom 62,387 were immigrants and the rest 

 were born in the island. The number of arrivals 

 in 1897 was 426; of departures. 917. The prop- 

 erty in St. Louis, the capital, which had 55,645 

 inhabitants, and the lands of the island are rap- 

 idly passing into the possession of East Indians 

 and Chinese. The revenue in 1898 was 7,620.320 

 rupees: expenditure. 8,131,470 rupees; debt, 1. 

 195,690. The merchandise imports in 1898 wen- 

 valued at 24,006,970 rupees; exports, 27.537.93o 

 rupees. The chief exports were raw sugar, 24.- 

 727,690 rupees; rum, 85,800 rupees: vanilla, 140,- 

 100 rupees: aloe fiber, 427,130 rupees; cocoanut 

 oil, 59,180 rupees. The trade is mainly with South 

 Africa, Australia, and India. The number of ves- 

 sels entered in 1898 was 302, of 327,246 tons; 

 cleared, 293, of 328,298 tons. The length of rail- 

 roads is 105 miles, and there are 135 miles of tele 

 graph and cable communication with Zanzibar. 

 The postal traffic in 1898 was 1,296.408 letter-. 

 51,444 postal cards, 1,432.114 newspapers, and 

 !).24ii parcels. The number of telegrams \v;is <i2..~>.~>2. 

 Dependencies of Mauritius are the Seychelles, 

 containing a population of 16,440 and exporting 

 cocoanut oil, soap, vanilla, tortoise shell, coffee. 



