THt TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1888 
The Revenue of the country is steadily increasing 
as the following figures will show. 
From Revenue 
Land 
Proper. 
Sales. 
1883 
Revenue 
851,654 
$25,449 
1884 
11 
82,448 
15,458 
1885 
' " i 
110,452 
2,863 
1886 
19 
127,731 
12,034 
1887 
140,000 
10,000 
1888 
Estimated 
158,000 
86,000 
When reviewing the growth of the revenue it must 
be borne in mind that the Company in trying to at- 
tract population and capital had to compete with ad- 
jacent countries where free trade prevailed, and there- 
fore they had to set up a most liberal form of Gov- 
ernment. All import duties were abolished ; land 
had to be almost given away ; and no direct taxation 
was imposed as it was necessary at first to gain the 
confidence and good will of the native races. Tobacco 
planters were given land without a quit-rent, the only 
condition being that after 5 years the Tobacco exported 
will pay an Export duty which shall not exceed one 
per cent, per pound avoirdupois. Under these con- 
ditions three Tobacco Estates have been commenced 
and two more are about to be opened, and it is only 
this year that the Court could declare that no more 
Tobacco land will be sold under the price specified in 
the Land Regulations. The same remark applies to 
native taxation, and a scheme for increasing this in 
1888 is also under consideration. 
The subject of Taxes on the people requires very 
careful handling. The Company has already been ac- 
cused of sucking the life blood of the people in order 
that they might pay divideuds to Shareholders. In 
answer to such charges and to 6how the liberal form 
of Government which has been set up in British North 
Borneo 1 may quote the following examples : — 
A. The natives of Java pay one-fifth of the produce 
from the land, and one day's gratuitous labour in the 
European week of seven days or from 6s to 16s. per 
head of population. 
B. The Datives of India pay a heavy land tax, and in 
the gross revenue from 5s to 12s. per head per annum. 
O. The natives of Fiji are assessed 4s per head in 
direct taxation in produce ; and, including heavy im- 
port duties on all goods, pay over 6s per head. 
D. The natives of Ceylon pay 8s per head, and in 
addition six days' gratuitous labour towards the up- 
keep of the roads. The latter is now commuted by a 
money payment and yields a revenue of £83,000 a 
year to the Colony. 
The natives of all British Colonies might be cited 
but it is unnecessary, as I believe there is no country 
in the world possessing any semblance of a Govern- 
ment where the inhabitants are so lightly taxed as the 
people under the Company's rule ; as, should the 
measures now contemplated become law, the gross 
native taxation will not amount to Is 3d per head 
on the total population. 
The last balance sheet will show that out of a total 
revenue of $139,765, the native population, numbering 
some 150,000 souls, paid only in Poll-tax and Inland 
Passes $8,037, all of which was paid away in salaries 
and allowance to native chiefs and collectors. As they 
do not consume excisable goods this is their only 
contribution towards the up keep of a large Police 
Force and expensive administration so, that it is evi- 
dent Chinese must be attracted to thecountry before 
the Revenue will show any material increase. 
The expenditure of the Colony has been reduced 
from $391,547 in 1883 to $189,154 in 1887. 
These remarks might have been written about British 
North Borneo today, and I would point cut that in 
1876, after rigid economy, Sir Arthur Gordon expended 
in the Colony of Fiji, which contains an area of 7,400 
square miles and a population of 128,000 people, 
£71,000 or $420,000, whilst to manage British North 
Borneo, which contains an area of 31,000 square miles 
and a population of about 150,000 people, more scat- 
teaed and discordan than the inhabitants of Fiji, the 
Company will expend in 1687, £29,000 or a total of 
$176,000, which is about one-half of that required to 
conduct the affairs of the Colony of Fiji under Her 
Majesty's Government. 
In Sandakan Bay a large number of sawyers now 
find profitable employment. One European Timber 
Company is paying good dividrnds by shipping to 
China, and coolies are finding iheir way down in their 
vessels. Another Company has been formed in Europe 
and will I hear erect powerful Machinery immediately 
The timber resources of Sandakan Bay are almost 
inexhaustable, and from its advantageous po>itiou the 
trade must continue to develop. 
If a pessimist view of the future be taken, and the 
failure of Tobacco and Gold is assumed, it must still 
be remembered that the shareholders possess a coun- 
try larger than Ceylon, with all its laud timber aDd 
minerals. A country which there will be no difficulty 
in holding and governing as combined opposition from 
the natives is impossible. A country which cannot 
retrograde but must advance, so that it would seem 
that the worst that could possibly happen would be 
a retarded development and capital locked up for a 
longer period without yielding any return. 
An optimist however, will see Tobacco doing for 
Borneo what it has done for Deli, and point out that 
when the Export reaches that of Deli in 1880, viz.; 
140,000 bales at 177 lb. each, the duty of one cent per 
pound which the Company can impose in 1892 will 
bring in a revenue of $240,000 alone, to say nothing 
of the increased revenue from a large Chinese popu- 
lation. He will see Gold doing for Borneo what Tiu has 
done for Perak. He would point out that British 
North Borneo is larger than Ceylon, where the laud 
6ales between the years 1833 to 1884 realized over 
two millions sterling, and ask why Borneo should not 
do likewise ? In fact I would defy the most con- 
firmed pessimist to write anything but a hopeful 
report after visiting this country. It would be im- 
possible for him to avoid writing about the magnificent 
harbour of Sandakan ; the beautiful bay of Silam, and 
the glorious tropical climate ; and, even the most 
prosaic Shareholder, after steaming for three days 
from one boundary of the country in Brunei Bay to 
the other in Sibucco Bay, passing the most lovely 
scenery all the way, could not help feeling proud of 
his proprietary rights over such a fine territory, but 
I have tried to take a dispassionate view and to place 
the actual position of the Company before the Court 
and the shareholders, at all events as it appears to 
me, so that they may form a correct idea as to the 
value of their property. 
Supplement. Sandakan, 15th March 1888. 
As stated in paragraph 15 of my first Report, 
Deli exports about 1-1,000 balea, or 24,780,0001b. of 
tobacco a year. Should our out-put reach that amount 
an export duty of one per cent per pound avoirdupois 
would, without any indirect taxation, yield an annual 
revenue of $247,800. Up to the end of 1886 I find 
the land taken up in Deli and adjacent states for 
tobacco growing amounted to 255,000 acres. We have 
already sold 112,000 acres, and have received and 
accepted during the last four months applications for 
200,000 acres more. We have still, according to Es 
timates, 600, GOO acres in accessible places suitable for 
raising tobacco, and over a million acres if the he^ds 
of our rivers and plains in the interior be taken into 
consideration. As no other country has yet been 
found to produce the same class of tobacco as that 
grown in Deli and British North Borneo, and as no 
more eligible land seems to be available in the former 
country, the possibilities of advancement in British 
North Borneo are so illimitable that it is difficult not 
to take a sanguine view of the future. The Banow 
estate in Murudu Bay will pay a dividend the first 
year, and next year they hope to pay the greater 
part of the subscribed capital. Here the manager is 
thoroughly experienced both in the management of 
coolies and the manipulation of the crop. 
+- 
As Plumbago alone, as a lubricant in marine 
engines, is often washed away by the condensed 
water, Mr. J. Dewrance, under a patent, mixes it 
with an insoluble soap of lead or lime. — Indian 
Engineer, 
