178 



site, and also a site of sufficient area for the construction of a wharf 

 or jetty at deep water to admit of ocean-going vessels loading and 

 discharging in event of the factory not being erected close to the sea. 

 The whole of the above were granted for the full term of the Conces- 

 sion free of rent, or taxes of any kind whatsoever, and every facility 

 was to be afforded by the Government of Johore to secure a sufficient 

 and permanent supply of clear soft water? such as is required for 

 papermaking. All machinery, tools, chemicals, or materials of any 

 kind whatsoever, required for the construction of buildings, or in the 

 manufacture of paper or half-stuff were to be admitted into the ter- 

 ritory free of import duty during term of the Concession." The 

 Concession also stipulated " that not less than 1,000 tons of paper 

 or half-stuff, or both shall be manufactured per annum after the third 

 year from date of the Concession. The fourth year the Concessionaire 

 must pay to the Government of Johore a royalty of one dollar per ton 

 on all paper or half-stuff manufactured; the fifth year two dollars 

 per ton and the sixth and subsequent years, three dollars per ton." 



The Lallang grass grows in wild luxuriance on all cleared uncul- 

 tivated lands throughout the territory, and is procurable in great 

 abundance on the banks of the river, thus reducing the cost of freight 

 to a minimum. The rivers of the territory may be divided into three 

 watersheds : The Southern, in which the first factory was to have 

 been erected four or five miles to the west of the city of Johore, being 

 then the most populous ; the Western is the next in importance, 

 draining the large and populous district of Muar, in which there is a 

 railway constructed (at the time of granting the concession there was 

 in this district 20,000 acres under banana (Musa Paradisiaca) culti- 

 vation, and this material, under the very favourable local circumstances, 

 it was thought could be worked up into a raw material of considerable 

 value for papermaking) ; and the third watershed drains the East coast 

 of the territory. The two latter watersheds were regarded of great 

 importance, as available for disposing of to subsidiary companies if 

 deemed advisable. The cost of cutting and delivering the Lallang at 

 the proposed factory from the waste lands comprised in the Southern 

 watershed was estimated at less than 10s. per ton, but the Conces- 

 sionaire, when submitting this statement, preferred to estimate it at 

 15s. per ton. 



From estimates obtained at the time, the cost of a complete 

 mill, fitted with all the modern appliances and capable of turning 

 out 3,000 tons per annum of " air-dry" bleached half-stuff, would not 

 exceed £8,000. The freight and erection of the machinery, wharf, 

 buildings, fresh water supply, etc., etc., it was thought would be amply 

 covered by allowing an extra £6,000. 



Lallang, it was claimed, could be delivered at a factory in Johore 

 in large quantities for one-sixth the price that esparto then com- 

 manded in Great Britain, and for one-third the cost of straw in India 

 or China. The cost for boiling and bleaching is about the same 

 as for treating esparto, and the establishment of the industry under 

 the terms of concession was regarded as possessing the following 

 advantages : — Unlimited quantity of fine clay for loading (free) ; a 

 monopoly of all fibrous materials their territory produces, adaptable for 



