January i, 1892.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
467 
opinion, misleading. Given abundant deposita of a 
valuable metal (two-thirds of the tin produced in the 
world is exported from the Straits Settlements), and 
given a Government, even a bad Gcvemment, strong 
enough to maintain order and to make the trader 
feel sure that he can keep what he gains, there is 
certain to be an ample revenue. There is no reason 
why a corrupt and selfish Government should not have 
sufficient finsncial sagacity to discover all reasonable 
sources of income, and at the same time avoid impo- 
sing on the people a burden of taxation which would 
deter imm'gration and diminish industry. Again, 
causes which do not arise within the State itself may 
unexpectedly, and not as the result of any conscious 
effort on the part of anyone connected with the Govern- 
ment, produce a great accession of revenue. For 
instance, the proximity of Jobor to Singapore gives 
the former State a larger Chiuese population, and 
coneequently a larger excise revenue, than it would 
otherwise have. I do not therefore wish to say merely, 
" Just look at our balance-sheet, and see what we have 
done." It is by the application of the revenue for, 
as we believe, the best interests of the people that we 
and our work must be judged. The revenue of those 
States which have British Kesideuts has been ener- 
getically employed, by their advice, in public works of 
all kinds, a civil list being first set apart for the 
maintenance of the Rajas, chiefs, and headmen of 
the State, and due provision being made for the payment 
of the police force and of the establishment of the 
various public of&ces. 
Peeak. — The State (7,949 square miles) is divided 
into six distriols — Larut, Kuala Kangsa, Kinta, Batang 
Padang, Lower Perak, and Krisn. Taiping, in the 
Larut district, is the principal town, and it is here 
that the Kesideut lives. The Sultan (Raja Idris bin 
Iskandar, c. m. g.) prefers to dwell, like his predecessors 
from time immemoiiil, on the banks of the beautifu 
river Perak, and a palace is being built for him al 
Kuala Kanfsa. A line of railway, eleven and a half 
miles long, connects the mining districts in Larut with 
the sea, and iu Lower Perak work has commenced on 
the first section of the Kinta Valley Railway, a line 
which is designed to run from Teluk Anson to Ipoh, a 
distance of fifty miles. The open line in Larut is worked 
at a profit to Government of about 6 per cent. 
Perak poasessea no less than 138 miles of metalled 
cart-road, and each year the work of road-making is 
oontinued with the object of giving complete commu- 
nication to all parts of the State. Besides first-class 
iroads, there are unmetalled cart-roads and bridle-paths 
n many districts. Tbe head judicial authority in the 
State is the Chief Magistrate (an English barrister). 
The public buildings in the State include Government 
ofiioes, houses for ofiiciale, excellent barracks for the 
Sikh police, police-stations in all districts, a prison with 
cellular wards on the modern system, lighthouses, a 
museum (chiefly geological and ethnograpliioal, 
founded by Sir Hugh Low, and well arranged and 
managed by Mr. L. Wray, junr.), schools, &o. The town 
of Taiping is provided with excellent drinking water 
brought in pipes from the nearest range of hills. 
There is telegraphic communication throughout the 
length and breadth of the land, and the completion 
this year of the principle line to a point where it joins 
the Selangor boundary enables messages to be sent now 
from Penang to Malacca by the Native States lines. 
The population, according to a census taken in 1891, is 
213,000 including the unexpected number of lOO.OCO 
Malays; the revenue in 1890 was $2,504,116. Ou Jan. 
1, 1891, the State bad a surplus balance of more than 
$2,000,000, of which about $1,500,000 was invested in 
Indian or other securities. There are thus funds iu 
hand to meet the cost of the construction of projected 
railways. 
In Selangor progress has been equally remarkable. 
The State (3,000 square miles) is divided into six 
districts— Klaug, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Laagat, Ulu 
Langat, Kuala Selangor, and Ulu Selangor. The town 
of Kuala Lumpur is pioturefquely situated in the upper 
portion of the valloy of the Klang River. From it 
good oarf-roada radiate to the Perak frontier on the 
uorth-oast, fifty-six miles distant, and to the Suugei 
Ujong frontier on the south-east, thirty miles distant. 
A line of railway twenty-four miles long connects the 
capital with the port of Pangkalan Batu, on the Klang 
River, the river being crossed by an iron railway-bridge 
473 feet long. This short State line is, I suppoae 
one of the most paying railway properties in the 
world. Having an up and down traffic, that is to siy, 
carrying all the rice and other foodstuffs up to the 
mines and bringing all tbe tin down, it pays about 19J 
percent., though the tariff of charges is not a high 
one. This line is now being extended thirty-eight 
miles in a north-easterly direotion, tapping a district 
known to be rich in tin. I hope that by the end of 
this year twenty-three miles of this extention ("whioh 
was projected by my predecessor, Mr. Swettenham, 
with the sanction of Sir C. C. Smith) will be open 
and that 1892 will see the whole completed. 
Further railway extension is iu contemplation ; but 
whether this will take the form of a further advance 
ill the direction of the Pahang border, or whether we 
shall improve our sea communication by carrying our 
railway ooastward to a point on the Klang Straita 
where there is a deep sea harbour, I cannot at present 
eay. 
The revenue in 1890 was $1,888,928, and on January 
1st, 1891, the Government had a surplus balance of 
$720,000. This is being applied in the construction 
of railways ; and in this connection it may be desir- 
able to state that the railways in Perak and Selangor 
ore exclusive the property of the State, and have been 
and are being constructed out of revenue, no recourse 
having yet been had to loans. 
Then as to Resources in Mining and Planting, 
the following are representative extracts : — 
What field is there, then, for the successful employ, 
ment of Europdan capital in the Peninsula 'i I will 
deal first with mining, and then with agriculture. 
There were exported from the Protected Native Statea 
in 1889, 443,386 piliuls, or 26,392 tune, of tin, and ia 
1890, 450,777 yikuh, equal to 28,173 tons of tin. At 
86^. a ton, wUich is a fair average price, the metal 
exported in 1889 was worth 2,269,712^.; while the 
estimated value of that of 1890 was 2,422.878^. With 
insiguificant exceptions the whole of this money less 
the royalty or export duty charged by Government, 
has gone into the pockets of the Chinese. Ts it theo 
impossible for Europeans to get a footing iu the 
mining districto and work their claims at a profit F 
Not at all, I think, if mining adventurers are content 
to being in a modest way ; but the events of the past 
few years justify the most extreme scepticism as to 
the possibility of the success of an English company 
formed to work an untried concession. 
To eummariee tbe general purport of these remarks, 
> the European mining adventurer, whether an individual 
era company, should, to be successful— (a) Deal direct 
with the Government for mining land instead ol 
buying from a middle-man. (i) Start with a small 
cnpital, and consequently with a small labour force, 
which cau be superintended with moderate case. As 
experince is gained the works, if suooessful, can be 
exteuded, and the labour force increased, (c) Imi- 
tate the Chinese, and spend as little as possible on 
aiiytbiag that is not directly remunerative. The re- 
sources of the Peninsula in respect of gold are so 
VBguely known that I am able to say little abont 
them. The precious metal may be found in su£Scient 
quantities to pique curiosity, arouse cupidity, and incite 
speculation, and yet the most diligent search may 
result iu the discovery of nothing that will pay % 
dividend. The existence of gold in the Batang Padang 
district in Persk has long been known. The Perak 
Administration Report for 1890 mentions the discovery 
in that district of " tin-stuff rich in coarse gold ; " 
and the Resident adds : " This district has alwayf 
produced stream gold, but no attempt has been made 
to make gold the principal object of mining, nor to 
search for it in the reef." 
For every ton of metal produced in a year at least 
four coolies must be employed. One hundred coolies 
will work out \\ acre of an ordinary tin-field in a 
year. To produce yearly 250 tons (value at 86^, 
21,60U^.)— and less, I suppose, would not be satisftotory 
