MALAY LAND TENURE. 155 



tinguished from them. The tithe system was maintained, but 

 the toll-houses proved to be a nuisance and at the same time 

 an inefficient means of collecting the tax. It must have been 

 obvious that much produce liable to the tax would not pass 

 the toll-houses at all, while, on the other hand, produce exempt 

 from taxation, i.e., that derived from the lands of Penghulus, 

 etc., and from lands leased or granted on a quit-rent after 

 1830, would very likely be charged. The outlook from the 

 first was not promising, and two important facts — one legal and 

 the other administrative — tended to aggravate all the other 

 difficulties. One was the decision of the Recorder, Sir B. 

 " Malkin,* " that the introduction of the King's charter into 

 " these Settlements had introduced the existing law of Eng- 

 i( land also, except in some cases where it was modified by 

 " express provision, and had abrogated any law previously 

 existing," f and the other was the alteration in the form of 

 government and the reduction of establishments which took 

 place about 1830. Thenceforward there were only two officers 

 to perform all the executive and judicial duties of the station. % 



The Malacca Land Regulation (IX of 1830) was not long 

 regarded as law. It was passed by the same authority as the 

 Singapore Land Regulation, which was judicially declared 

 by Sir B. Malkin, to be illegal because it was not a 

 Regulation " for imposing duties and taxes/' those being the 

 only purposes for which the Governor in Council of Prince of 

 Wales' Island, Singapore and Malacca could legislated 



Changes in the law and in the Government were followed 

 soon afterwards by the Naning War ( 1831-2 ). So it will be 

 seen that the years which immediately followed the cession of 

 Malacca were characterised by a number of incidents which 

 rendered the establishment of a successful administration of 

 the Land Department a very difficult operation. 



* Rodyk v. Williamson, 24th May, 1834. 



t In the goods of Abdullah, 31st March, 1835. Special Reports of the 

 Indian Law Commissioners, House of Commons Papers, 30th May, 1843, p. 

 90. 



X Journ. Ind. Arch., X, 55. 



§ Indian Law Commissioners' Report, 66. For an abstract of the Sin- 

 gapore Land Regulation, see Journ. Ind. Arch., IV, 214. 



