January i, 1892.] THE T^^O»»^OAL AGttfOULTURIST. 
469 
The first ten approved applicants may select blocks 
of 1,000 acres, or two blocks of 500 acres each, which 
will be given free. After the end of the second year 
of oocupatioD, a rent of 20 cents an acre will be 
payable ; or, if desired, this may be conamuted by 
one payment of |3 an acre. If the block selected has 
road frontage, the depth must be three times the 
frontage. A bond Ude commencement of cultivation 
must bo made within twelve months after selection. 
Cost of demarcation, survey, etc., must be borne by 
the lessee. The Government reeerve the right to levy 
an export duty not exceeding 2| per cent. 
Applications addressed to the fiesident of any one 
of the Protected States, or to the Colonial Secretary, 
Singapore, Straits Settlemtnts, will receive immediate 
attention. 
Finally, by way of summing up, I mark a few 
passages :— ^ 
Oar hopee, of course, rest almost entirely on the 
tin-iadustry. Tin is the factor which governs every- 
thing in these States. We oannot expect to establish 
in the Straits of Malacca another sea-port for ocean- 
borne trade, when we already have Penang on the 
north and Singapore on the south. And in the absence 
of an indigenous agricultural population like that 
which any district in Java possesses, the progress of 
cnltivation must be slow. Even il we could hope for 
the conspicuous success attending a particular oultiva- 
tion which we have seen illustrated in Deli (Sumatra) 
in the case ol tobacco, and in Ceylon in coffee end 
tea, it would not compare in immediate results with 
a successful mining rush. When the price of tin is 
high, fresh mines are opened, and coolies and capital 
pour in from China ; wi}h the increase in population 
the excise revenue gnes up, lands nnd houses incrf a»e 
in value, and a general impulse is given to every- 
thing. And so, on the other hand, if low prices 
rule persistently for some time, inferior mines have to 
stop work, coolies leave the State, the excise farmers 
are rninned, and there is general depression. 
Supported by splendid mineral resouroee, tho princi- 
pal States have, unhko the British Settlements in the 
Straits of Malacca, been able to establish their finan- 
cial independence within a few, years of their first 
start under British guidance. Ihey can thus construct 
their roads and railways now out of revenue, actiqg 
as it tin might, some day fail them. Not that I think 
that there ia any reason to fear that the tin deposits 
of Perak and Selangor will be exhausted within any 
period that can practically concern us. We may, I 
trust, look forward to fresh discoveries in these States 
when the tin-fields, only partially open out as 
yet, show signs of diminished production. And, as., 
in the case ot gold-miniug in Australia, we may hope 
that when the alluvial deposits are exbansted, lode-, 
mining may take its place. In the Perak Adminis- 
tration Report for 1890, discoveries are mentioned, 
but lode-a)ining. which teems to offer to European 
enterprise a better field than alluvial mining, has not 
yet taken a foremost place in the industries of the 
Peninsula, 
This brings me to the subject of railway construc- 
tion in the Peninsula generally. There axe advocates 
for a trunk-line, or in,t,er-State line, which would run 
north and south, connecting all the States between 
Singapore and Penang, and which could at some future 
time be extended northwards through Siamese terri- 
tory to meet an Indian line at Tenasserim. This is a 
favourite idea of those who indnl^^e in visions of a 
short route from India to Australia. It is combated 
by others who concur in the views expressed by Sir 
F. Dicksrn, when administering the Government of 
the Straits Settlements last year, that, " with so fine 
a highway as tho Straits ot Malacca, ready mp.do and 
costing nothing for maintenance, no such line is 
required, or can be required, for many years to come." 
Leaving engineering difBcultii.8 out ottho question, we 
may probably assume that neither India nor tho 
Straits Sctllemonts will find the money to carry out at 
one time an undertaking of this magnitude, and that 
it ever our Australian follow-colonisls find it absolutely 
necessary to shortou their s.a-voyage to England to this 
extent, the lino must be built with Australian capital. 
But the extension of inter State railway communi- 
cation is much to be desired, and it seems to be not 
only reasonable but politic to keep in tiew in all 
railway exteiision now projected the possibility of 
through-communication being established at some time 
or other. Land -communication by rail with the food- 
producing districts (Siamese) in the north-eastern part 
of the Peninsula would be of incalcuable benefit in 
time of war to the Straits Settlements and to the 
Empire, of which tho coaling-station of Singapore is 
an outpost, 
I have often regretted that the studies of learned 
Dutchmen in the field of Malayan literature, ethnology, 
&c., are so little known to us, owing to the general 
want of acquaintance, on the part of Englishmen, with 
the Dutch language. Among the subjects which 
candidates for oadetships in the Straits Settlements 
may take up is Italian. But Dutch has no place, an 
omission which might well be brought to the notice 
of the Civil Service Commissioners. I ahould likp to 
see Dutch made an obligatory subject. 
An ample revenue is being realised in Perak and 
Selangor, even though a temporary check is being ex- 
perienced in financial progress. Let me say in conolu- 
eion that a Resident aims at being nothing more than a 
faithful agent of th« Governor of the Straits Settle- 
ments, and faithful friend and adviser of the Malay 
Sultan whom he advises, and' whose government he car- 
ries on. A distinguished Governor once quoted to me 
the candid admission of the chief of&oial member of a 
Colonial Council that, " when a Colonial Secretary 
begins to think that he is a statesman, it is time for 
him to go on leave " Statesmanship the Resident ia 
content to leave to the Governor, occupying himself 
with the busy post ot Administrator, supported and 
fortified, if he deserves it, by the confidence and good- 
will of his chief. I should deprive myself of a plea- 
sure, and should deem myself ungrateful if I did not 
take this opportunity of acknowledging the lessons 
learnt and encouragement received from such men as 
Sir Andrew Clarke, Sir William Jervois, Sir William 
0. F. Robinson, Sir Frederick Weld, and Sir Cecil 
Clementi Smith, who have successively governed the 
Straits Settlements during the last sixteen years— a 
period notable for steady advance in the strength of 
our administration in the colony proper, and in the 
organisation of civilised government in the Malay 
Peninsula; 
The paper was read after a business-like fashion 
rather than with elocutionary grace, and then the 
Chairman called on Sir Wm, Jervois, as an ex- 
Governor of the Straits, to open the discussion, which 
he did in a commendatory speech with interesting 
reminiscences of his experiences in the early days 
of the Residencies, where he used to be in mortal 
dread of the Selangor salute, knowing the crazy 
old gun which was being utilised, and how when 
he had given an offhand invitation to a Sultan 
to visit him at Singapore, it resulted in 100 men 
and 50 women coming down for entertaintment in 
one of Her Majesty's vessels 1 Sir Wm. Robinson, 
also an ex-Governor, followed, pleading hpwever that 
his single year's experience of the Straits, did hot 
enable him to say much. He contented himself 
chiefly with reading some appropriate and amusing 
extracts from a lecture delivered in Australia on 
"Social Life among the Malays." The white-haired 
and bearded veteran Sir Hugh Low followed with 
much that was interesting, showing how his heart 
was still in his old work if only the doctors 
would permit him to return, and urging that the 
authorities might adopt a more liberal policy in 
reference to the planters and their labour require- 
ments, by importing direct all the coolies required 
for public works, Ac. Sir Hugh believes that there 
is no chance of the tin mines being worked out 
for many years to come. 
I, was next, unexpectedly called on by Lord Bbassey 
to speak — I have been asked to take part, but 
expected somewhat more of a general discussion 
first, with one or more Straits Colonists leading off— 
