^^ ADDRESS BY MR. KRUTT 0|? 



tlie only aim. In Calcutta, very little was kuown of this portion 

 of the globe. In 1887, an official wrote of them to his chief as 

 follows: — "These details may appear petty to your Lordship, but 

 "then everything connected with these States is petty, except their 

 '•'annual surplus cost to the Grovernment of India." 



Although it falls outside the proper province of what concerns 

 the Straits Settlements, I must add the following, as it is altogether 

 in accordance with the later programme of the Eno^lish in this part 

 of the globe. In 1842 James Brooke took possession of Sarawak 

 and in 1846, Labuan was occupied by the English. There were 

 incessant attempts made by individuals from the Straits to establish 

 themselves in different points in our territory, just as James 

 Beooke did in Sarawak, especially on the East Cost of Sumatra. 

 These proceedings gave rise to much trouble, and on several occa- 

 sions we were obliged to drive these fortune hunters by force from 

 there. They frequently used as a pretext their ignorance of the 

 boundaries of Acheen. 



A new period begun in the history of these places with the es- 

 tablishment of the Straits Settlements as a Crown Colony. We 

 have chosen this evening as a subject for further discussion the re- 

 markable progress which this Colony has enjoyed in the last years, 

 by which it has become the most flourisLing of all the English 

 Crown Colonies, and the almost entirely peaceful growth of its in- 

 fluence upon the Malay Peninsula. 



Let us now pass over the five years before the Straits Govern- 

 ment interfered actively and formally with the affairs of the In- 

 dependent Native States, and the policy of non-intervention made 

 way for that of "active advice, assistance and control." 



The occasion for this was given by the piracies along the coast, 

 the general insecurity in which British subjects and British inter- 

 ests were placed, the state of anarchy, the wars between chiefs, 

 the oppression, slavery, bondage, and poverty to which the people 

 were a prey. Attacks upon vessels under the British flag occurred, 

 and even upon the boats belonging to men-of-war, and upon Bri- 

 tish Settlements. 



The knowledge that existed regarding the Malay Peninsula was 

 then very small. The issue of the Journal of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago had contributed somewhat to spread this knowledge, al- 

 though this as well as other writings of this period dealt chiefly 

 with our possessions, but after this publication ceased, nothing 

 more was done during 20 years. The present Resident Councillor 



