154 MALAY LAND TENURE. 



system was to be persisted in or not; whether land was thence- 

 forth to be taken up in the old way and to be subject to the 

 payment of tenths, or whether any other system of tenure 

 was to be introduced. But what was done was this : — 



(1). The Government determined to collect the tenth on 

 produce which had just been re-acquired from the 

 former tithe-owners, and toll-houses were erected 

 throughout the country to intercept produce on its 

 way to market. 

 (2). A determination was announced to survey the hold- 

 ings of the then cultivators and to issue '* title- 

 deeds" for them. Th ; s was not carried out.^ 

 (3). For lands disposed of subsequently, grants and 



leases were to be issued under English law. 

 (4). The Regulation was silent as to the method of en- 

 forcing the levy of the tenth. 

 Is it surprising that the result has been incessant confusion 

 ever since ? Here was a native tenure easily intelligible and 

 suited to the customs and traditions of the people. It was 

 possible to carry it out in its entirety by encouraging the 

 exercise of the free right of taking up land for agricultural 

 purposes and the acquisition of an alienable proprietary right, 

 subject to the payment of tenths, and by providing legal machi- 

 nery for the collection of tenths and the punishment of per- 

 sons evading payment. It was possible, on the other hand, 

 to abandon it, to levy an assessment (founded, as in India, on 

 a rough survey or estimate of area) in lieu of it, and to alienate 

 lands in the future on this system. But neither of these sys- 

 tems was adopted. The old lands cultivated and liable to 

 tenths before 1830 remained subject to the native customs, 

 but they were not identified by registration or survey. Lands 

 taken up and brought into cultivation without permission 

 after 1830 could not, therefore, in subsequent years, be dis- 



* " A Surveyor was appointed, but before he had been many months 

 " employed, his services were dispensed with in the general reduction, and 

 " in consequence until this day (1856), except in the immediate vicinity of 

 " the town, the lands are not measured, nor do the tenants hold any docu- 

 " ments to prove their rights." Jburn. Irtd. Arch., X, 61 r 



