6o 



either by loans, grants-in-aid or bounties on the out-put for a period 

 o! years. 



Such advertisements should be published in Tamil and Chinese 

 and disseminated as widely as possible in Singapore and Penang. 



5. I enclose a ropy of a report from Mr HALE to whom I re- 

 ferred your letter under reply. 



I have, etc., 



D. G. CAMPBELL, 



Acting British Resident , Selnttgor. 

 The Resident-General, F.M.S. 



Land Office, 



L. 1352/1903. Kuala Lumpur, 23rd November, fQOj. 



Encouragement of Agriculture among Natives. 



Sir, — 



1 have the honour to acknowledge your letter 6244/03, dated 

 1 2th November, 1903, forwarding a letter from the Superintendent, 

 Experimental Plantations. I may say in the first instance that I 

 consider Mr. Arden's proposition one of great importance and 

 bidding fair to very materially advance the prolonged prosperity of 

 the country ; it must be evident to the most casual observer that the 

 encouragement of agriculture is the very best possible way to 

 further the interests of the State, improve the well-being of the 

 people, and in fact the most reasonable investment for surplus 

 balances of revenue. 



2. I think Mr. Arden has certainly hit upon one of the greatest 

 factors which has kept back planting in the States, namely, the 

 difficulty in finding a convenient market for produce without it 

 passing through the hands of middlemen, and consequently leaving 

 but a very small amount of profit to be shared between the grower 

 and the manufacturer. It is quite certain if it was known that two 

 baskets full of guavas carried to the door ot a jam factory in Kuala 

 Lumpur could there and then be sold for ready money, and that 

 purchases would continue under a Government guarantee, the cul- 

 tivation of guavas would be at once taken up by Malays. I know 

 what an impetus was given to the planting of coconuts when the 

 oil mills were first started at Kuala Selangor. 



3. It cannot for a moment be expected that private enterprise 

 would invest capital in ventures appearing to have such a problema- 

 tical chance of success as the starting of factories in a* country that 

 is not at the time producing enough raw material to keep the 

 machinery at work, and which would have to depend for supplies in 

 order to make a commercial success on produce whic h has not yet 

 been planted ; only a Government willing to risk money in the in- 

 terests of the remote future could do this, and that Government 

 must not flinch at facing for some years expenditure without 

 revenue. 



