395 



tion to that interesting pursuit, and it is gratifying to observe the 

 extent to which the exertions of indivduals are now carrying into 

 practical effect. The applications which have been made for permits 

 to clear land have been very numerous, and the general opinion seems 

 to be in favour of clearing new and waste lands ratherthan of reclaim- 

 ing the old estates from the jungle to which they had reverted 

 through the neglect of former proprietors. The whole or the West- 

 ern plains exhibit at this time an interesting spectacle of the industry 

 of the Chinese and other inhabitants of those extensive pn)p-rties 

 and the same observation applies with equal force to the other parts 

 of the island." 



"In addition to the growth of pepper which had long been a 

 staple article of produce, we are happy to observe a prevailing inter- 

 est on the cultivation of coffee which promises to be a source of great 

 advantage to the planters generally who are prosecuting it with the 

 utmost spirit and preseverance." (Straits Settlements Records Vol. 

 182). 



Owing to the onerous conditions of land tenure imposed, plan- 

 ting in the larger sense of the term languished until the Government 

 altered its policy with the result that a good deal of ground was taken 

 up. The pioneer British planter was Mr Brown who for so long 

 was a considerable figure in Pinang life in th^ early half of the last 

 century. Mr Brown's example was followed by others and notably 

 by a number of French planters who were attracted from Mauritius 

 by the glowing accounts circulated in regard to the Province. For a 

 time enterprise flourished but as a writer of the period remarked the 

 Government stopped short in this wise improvement on the antiqua- 

 ted systems. Instead of placing the whole cultivating population on 

 a fair equal footing by permitting the holders of grants and leases to 

 commute their rents and quit rents at fair rents, the commutations 

 were fixed at unequal and in most cases excessive rates." The conse- 

 quence was that after the first burst of energy the industry relapsed 

 into a condition of somnolence, the decay being hastened by the 

 Free Trade era in the United Kingdom which dealt a deadly blow at 

 the sugar growing industry in the British Colonies. 



ARNOLD WRIGHT. 



(The Singapore Free Press, November 25th, 191 1). 



