MALAY LAND TENURE. 157 



(i fore, whether arising from land or excise, fall to be tried 

 " under principles that have no relation, or resemblance to the 

 " local situation of the country and its inhabitants. Before 

 "demands can be enforced, legal process in all the. English 

 " forms must be resorted to ; writs of ejectment must be sued 

 " for : suits entered for arrears ; delays, expenses, doubts and 

 " difficulties arise that render it easy for the people to evade 

 " the payment of all demands, and induce the officers of Grov- 

 " ernment rather to abandon the demand, small in individual 

 11 cases, though considerable in the aggregate, rather than 

 " encounter all the difficulties and go through forms which 

 11 they cannot understand. Let us suppose, for example's sake, 

 " that the Supreme Court at Calcutta were at once declared 

 " the only Revenue Court ; that every arrear of Revenue, 

 " every question resulting from its collection, or the occupa- 

 " tion of land, were to be tried there in the first instance, under 

 " all its forms ; would it possible to realize the Land Revenue? 

 i( Yet this, in a small way, is exactly our case. Singapore, 

 " indeed, is of recent acquisition, and the titles hitherto given 

 "have been in English form : but even at Singapore, there is 

 (i much land occupied without any title whatever ; and unless 

 " something is done by regular enactment, possession will make 

 " a title, as it has done in this Island, from the neglect of the 

 "local authorities. But how are we to regulate decisions at 

 " Malacca ? There the sovereign right is one-tenth of the 

 [' produce ; the Dutch made over the right to certain of the 

 " inhabitants more than 100 years ago. This Government, by 

 " way of insuring increase of cultivation and introduction of 

 " population, redeemed the right. How are we to levy the 

 " tenth, if refused ? The land tenures at Malacca bear no 

 " analogy or resemblance to any English tenure ; yet by such 

 " they must, in case of doubt, be tried. Regulations adapted 

 " to the case have indeed been sent to England, but until local 

 " legislation is applied, and the mode of administering justice 

 " better adapted to the circumstances of the place, it seems to 

 " me quite useless to attempt the realization of any Revenue 

 " whatever/' 



References to Bengal on the many vexed questions relative 

 to the occupation and alienation of land in the Straits were 



