THE BRITISH COLONIES IN THE STRAITS OE MALACCA. 
of the case, and quite irrespective of political views, and merely 
in consideration, of the fact that the possession of Pinang was 
obtained from a Rajah of Keddah,—still from its being paid to a 
Siamese officer or fjot'svnov of Keddah, and immediately afterwards 
from its being paid over by him to Siam ; it has too much the 
appearance oi being a rent or tribute. All this seems to be ano¬ 
malous in politics, and had better perhaps be at once got rid of by 
a commutation, but securing at the same time the office of governor 
as at present, on his duly preserving his allegiance to Siam, to the 
legitimate nearest descendent of the Rajah who ceded Pinang 01 to 
Siam itself. We may however be pretty sure that unless this be 
done the payment will be perpetuated, since for its sake the Siamese 
government will for so long as any of the descendants of the. Rajah 
just noticed remain, place one of them as governor over Keddah, 
or at least, as now has been done, the central portion of it. There 
is, it maybe added, no scarcity of scions of the stock of the Rajah 
of Keddah. . 
The original intention in securing Pmang was purely of a general, 
commercial nature and for the purpose of electing clocks and build- 
ino’ships and to be a naval depot—a nd to this agricultural and other 
objects were merely adjuncts. It became one in the chain of trad¬ 
ing colonies with which the British have since girded the world. 
'gome writers have expressed surprise that the British govern¬ 
ment had not dictator tally, assumed a more preponderating attitude 
than the cession admitted of, amongst the Malayan states of the 
Peninsula by colonization or otherwise—especially as the Malays 
are said to have themselves been desirous to witness it. 
But it seems that such policy at any time would have been of a 
questionable kind—and therefore the subject calls for a few passing 
observations. 
The whole population, excluding jungle tribes, of the Malayan 
Peninsular states not directly subject to Siam, does not exceed as 
far as information can be obtained 200,000 persons of all ages and 
both sexes—and it is probably overrated. The Rajahs are generally 
poor, grasping, and disposed to oppression; _ the whole country 
with exception of the scattered localities occupied by that popula¬ 
tion, a jungle. The tin, gold, and other valuable pioduce of 
these independent states has always and naturally found 4ts way to 
English entrepots—and their subjects trade freely with the latter. 
A moral preponderance has also long ago been established, which 
might be shaken by any attempt to gain a physical one, which last 
however has never it would appear been contemplated. 
The British could not, without being aggressive, endeavour to 
emancipate the dependent states, and any guarantee they should 
afford to the independent ones, against foreign aggression, would 
probably only lead them to court it, or at least to lay themselves 
open to it in the hope of drawing the British into an open war with 
Siam. 
