MALAY LAND TENUEE. 153 



a rent which was ordinarily a tenth of all produce, but admit- 

 ted that they had no right to levy a higher rate. 



It need hardly be said that this description was not sufficient 

 to convince the Governor (Mr. Fullerton ) that the relative 

 rights of Government, t( proprietor/'' and " tenants " had 

 been correctly stated.* He pointed out the inconsistencies 

 which occurred in the information elicited at the meeting, and 

 the claims of the concessionaires to be absolute owners were 

 never recognised. It was made clear by the production of a 

 Dutch Proclamation, dated 14th December, 1773, and a later one 

 dated 20th May, 1819 (Appendix IV), that the latter were 

 forbidden, unde'r pain of a heavy fine, from levying more than 

 one-tenth of the produce from the cultivators. This satisfied 

 the Governor that all that had ever been given up by the 

 Dutch Government to the concessionaires was the right of col- 

 lecting the tax of one-tenth of the produce, and that no valid 

 claim could be made out to any absolute right of ownership of 

 the soil. It was decided to redeem the rights which had been 

 thus given up, and in 1828 these were repurchased by Govern- 

 ment from the concessionaires, who received in lieu of them 

 hereditary allowances calculated according to the respective 

 values of the concessions so re-acquired by Government. In 

 a few cases, owing to absence from the Settlement, or inca- 

 pacity to contract, on the part of the persons entitled, the 

 re-purchase of the right of levying the tenth was not carried 

 out, and this right is, therefore, still enjoyed by a few indivi- 

 duals in Malacca. 



The lands at Malacca, having been just freed from the 

 incubus of a middleman between Government and the cultiva- 

 tor, were taken in hand by the authorities. A Superintendent 

 of Lands was appointed, and a Regulation for the Administra- 

 tion of the Land Revenue Department was passed on the 25th 

 June, 1828, which, after approval by the Board of Directors, 

 became Regulation IX of 1830. 



The foundation of much of the mal-administration that has 

 followed may be traced to this very incomplete measure. The 

 Government ought then to have decided whether the tithe 



* See Mr. Fullerton's minute. Appendix II, p. xxx. 



