Jan. r, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
487 
PROGRESS OF NORTH BORNEO AND 
THE PROSPECT OF TAXATION. 
The recent action of the Briiisli North Borneo 
Government in notifying the increase of certain 
duties might have been anticipated by any one 
who knows tlie history of tlie Chartered Companj\ 
Established in 1881 by Sir Alfred Dent and some 
iufiuential men like Sir Rutherford Alcock, 
whose death has so lately been communicated to 
us, the Chartered Company have seen their 
attempt prosper, and after sixteen years of pater- 
nal Government the territory can boast of a well 
established planting enterprise which is gradually 
increasing and comprises tobacco, colfee, gambier, 
pepper and other plantations in adtlition to the 
.sago plantations which existed in 1881. Some of 
these have advanced to a [laying stage, but no 
revenue is as yet collected except from tobacco 
which pays one cent a pound or in 
other words about one per cent of tlie 
value. VVe ahso have a well established timber 
trade witlx China, and the shipping engaged 
includes two steamers of 1,347 tons and 
825 tons res|)ectively which maintain a very valu- 
able and constant communication with China 
whence a large proportion of our labour force is 
drawn. Time was when the Chartered Company 
paid a bonus on each trip to China and a large 
proportion of the ten thousand pound.« sterling 
expended in the eighties on introducing Chinese 
immigrants had to be expended on chartering 
steamers to convey the immigrants ; and even 
after the timber trade with China commenced 
the Government subsidised steamers and ga^e 
assisted passages from China by tickets issued 
here and in China. This paternal care extended 
to the trade with Singapore and it was only in 
1891 that the subsidies to foreign steamers ceased. 
Since then the' expansion of the trade with 
Singapore has enabled the shipping companies 
to hold their own, and today we are witness 
to the competition for tins trade by the China 
Mutual Shipping Association which has lately 
commenced running two steamers from Singa- 
pore. But while watching the development 
of their territory, the Chartered Company have 
not benefited in any material w'ay on the 
capital they have expended-— a little over 
half a million sterling — except in 1889 and 1891 
when dividends of 2^ per cent were paid, and in 
August of tliis year when the modest men of 1 
per cent dividend on the paid-up capital wa.s 
declared. On this last occasion the shaieholders 
pointed out that the capital expended might 
fairly be viewed as a National Debt on which 
the Directors should try to pay a fixed rate of 
interest, as is done in all civilised countries. 
This suggestion naturally brings the Government 
face to face with its Revenue duties and the late 
increase imposed on the export of timber com- 
mended itself from several points of view. 
The duties formerly imposod were very low, 
and in the case of sawn timber were nil : 
moreover, when the first duty was placed on 
timber, exchange stood at a higher figure than 
it does today. Exchange is now so low that a 
profitable timber trade may be done with Europe, 
and the small increase in the export duty will 
probably not materially affect such a trade. An- 
other point of view is tliat the timber exported 
was not grown by the timber companies, and 
it is only taken from the most easily accessible 
points along our coasts and rivers, and is there- 
fore worked at the niinimum of expense ; and if the 
Chartered Coni|)any is ever to receive any return 
from this valuable asset it must be today, and 
6Q 
before these points are denuded of their natural 
forest growth. It nmy fairly be expected that, 
as the desirable tiiuber.s are exhausted along the 
frontage, increased knowledge and more effective 
appliances will reduce the working co.st. U[) 
to the present it is an open fact that want of 
capital has not allowed our timber companies 
to do justice to the magnificent stores of timber 
.so freely laid open to them, and from tins point 
of view the opinion has been expressed that it 
would be better to prohibit small exporters fiom 
entering into the trade. From yet another point 
of view the present is not an unfavourable tiuiC for 
increasing the timber duties as the [irices ruling 
are fairly favourable, and exports have conse- 
quently increa.sed from Sandakan, while Kudat 
has lately addetl some 5,004 to 10,000 cubic feet 
per month. Looking to the future it may naturally 
be expected that the Chartered Company will 
expect established industries to pay for the be. 
nefits accruing from a well established govern, 
ment. Tlie paternal sympathy with tlie grow, 
ing interests of the Colony are today exhibited 
by a continuance of the old steamer-subsidising 
])olicy wnich has largely assisted the establish- 
ment of the local Sabah Steamship Company 
which maintains frequent coastal inter-port com- 
munication and is a dividend paying concern, 
jH’ofitable to those concerned in it; and last, 
though not least, by the erection of a telegrapli 
wire acro.«s the territory and by the construction 
of a Metre Gauge railway now being construc- 
ted from the West Coast to the interior. All 
this cannot be done without money, and it seems 
but fair to expect a small return on the capital 
expended on the development of the Colony. The 
history of the past sixteen years is a record of 
patient-waiting and of hi.peful anticipation that 
the Colony established by the Chartered Company 
would pay its way. This has become an accom- 
plished fact and the next hope to be realized is that 
the Colony may pay a fair return on the capital 
expended. This also seems to be in a fair way of 
realization, not by imposing heavy Cus- 
toms’ duties but by .so carefully levying 
duties as not to be a iiardship or a deadweight 
on advancing trade. There are some articles on 
which a heavy duty, properly placed, would 
benefit trade. Our sago now sells for twenty- 
five per cent, less than Sarawak sago, a difference 
entirely owing to our allowing the natives to 
export it in a filthy, raw state ; and the action of 
the Government in the future taxation of this 
product will probably lead to a much higher 
value and to large, local, sago cleaning comp.anics 
wdiich will be domiciled on our shores and add 
to our population. The Government has no in- 
tention of departing from its policy, hitherto 
maintained, nf assisting trade and enterprise in 
every legitir.i ... . way ; we offer our land at no- 
minal prices, ju.,i ,ve offer to give land for nothing 
under certain conditions ; but at the same time 
it is to be expected that we shall ask for the 
return of a small percentage of the incomes 
extracted from the land and from the trade which 
the Government of the Chartered Company has 
been so successful in building up. — British North 
Borneo Herald, Dec. 1. 
- 
THE GUTTA-PEltCHA CORPORATION, 
LIMITED. 
(From the Daily Chronicle, Dec. 2.) 
Capital £200,000, in 80,000 seven per cent, cumula- 
tive preference shares, 120,000 ordinary shares, both 
of £1 each, of which the whole of th© preference 
