The Governor Stated To
The Malay Chief And Abdullah That It Was The Duty Of England To Take
Care That The Proper Person In The Line Of Succession Was Chosen For
The Throne.
He inquired if there were any objection to Abdullah, and on
none being made, the chiefs signed a paper
Dictated by Sir A. Clarke,
since known as the "Pangkor Treaty." Its articles deposed Ismail,
created Abdullah Sultan, ceded two tracts of territory to England, and
provided that the new ruler should receive an English Resident and
Assistant Resident, whose salaries and expenses should be the first
charge on the revenue of the country, whose counsel must be asked and
"acted upon" on all questions other than those of religion and custom,
and under whose advice the collection and control of all revenues and
the general administration should be regulated. After the signing of
this treaty piracy ceased in the Perak waters, and Larut was repeopled
and became settled and prosperous.
[*Abdullah informs "our friend" Sir W. Jervois, that his position and
that of Perak are "in a most deplorable state," that there are two
Sultans between whom no arrangement can be made, that the revenues are
badly raised, and the laws are not executed with justice. "For these
reasons," he says, "we see that Perak is in very great distress, and, in
our opinion, the affairs of Perak cannot be settled except with strong,
active assurance from our friend the representative of Queen Victoria,
the greatest and most noble....We earnestly beg our friend to give
complete assistance to Perak, and govern it, in order that this country
may obtain safety and happiness, and that proper revenues may be raised,
and the laws administered with justice, and all the inhabitants of the
country may live in comfort."]
So far, as regards the Sultanate, I have followed the account given by
Sir Benson Maxwell. Mr. Swettenham, however, writes that Abdullah
failed to obtain complete recognition of himself as Sultan, and instead
of fulfilling the duties of his position, devoted himself to opium-
smoking, cock-fighting, and other vices, estranging, by his overbearing
manner and pride of position, those who only needed forbearance to make
them his supporters. It may be remarked that Abdullah was not as
yielding as had been expected to his English advisers.
The Pangkor Treaty was signed in January, 1874. On November 2d, 1875,
Mr. Birch, the British Resident, who had arrived the evening before at
the village of Passir Salah to post up orders and proclamations
announcing that the whole kingdom of Perak was henceforth to be
governed by English officers, was murdered as he was preparing for the
bath.
On this provocation we entered upon a "little war," Perak became known
in England, and the London press began to ask how it was that colonial
officers were suffered to make conquests and increase Imperial
responsibilities without the sanction of Parliament. Lord Carnarvon
telegraphed to Singapore that he could not sanction the use of troops
"for annexation or any other large political aims," supplementing his
telegram by a despatch stating that the residential system had been
only sanctioned provisionally, as an experiment, and declaring that the
Government would not keep troops in a country "continuing to possess an
independent jurisdiction, for the purpose of enforcing measures which
the natives did not cheerfully accept."
As the sequel to the war and Mr. Birch's murder, Ismail, who had
retained authority over a part of Perak, was banished to Johore;
Abdullah, the Sultan, and the Mentri of Larut, who was designated as an
"intriguing character," were exiled to the Seychelles, and the Rajah
Muda Yusuf, a prince who, by all accounts, was regarded as exceedingly
obnoxious, was elevated to the regency, Perak at the same time passing
virtually under our rule.
A great mist of passion and prejudice envelops our dealings with the
chiefs and people of this State, both before and after the war. Sir
Benson Maxwell in "Our Malay Conquests," presents a formidable
arraignment against the Colonial authorities, and Major M'Nair, in his
book on Perak, justifies all their proceedings. If I may venture to
give an opinion upon so controverted a subject, it is, that all
Colonial authorities in their dealings with native races, all Residents
and their subordinates, and all transactions between ourselves and the
weak peoples of the Far East, would be better for having something of
"the fierce light which beats upon a throne" turned upon them. The good
have nothing to fear, the bad would be revealed in their badness, and
hasty counsels and ambitious designs would be held in check. Public
opinion never reaches these equatorial jungles; we are grossly ignorant
of their inhabitants and their rights, of the manner in which our
interference originated, and how it has been exercised; and unless some
fresh disturbance and another "little war" should concentrate our
attention for a moment on these distant States, we are likely to remain
so, to their great detriment, and not a little, in one respect of the
case at least, to our own.
When the changes in Perak were completed, Mr. Hugh Low, formerly
administrator of the Government of Labuan, was appointed Resident, and
Mr. W. E. Maxwell, who had had considerable experience in Malay
affairs, Assistant Resident. Both these gentlemen speak the Malay
tongue readily and idiomatically, and Mr. Maxwell is an accomplished
Malay scholar. Of both the superior and subordinate it may truly be
said that, by tact, firmness, patience, and a uniformly just regard for
both Malay and Chinese interests, they have not only pacified the
State, but have conciliated the Rajahs, and in the main have reconciled
the people to the new order of things.
LETTER XVIII
Province Wellesley - Water Buffaloes - A Glorious Night - Perak
Officials - A "Dismal Swamp" - Elephants at Home - An Epigrammatic
Description - The British Residency at Taipeng - Sultan Abdulla's Boys - A
Chinese Mining Town - The "Armed Police" - An Alligator's Victim - Major
Swinburne - A Larut Dinner Party - A Morning Hymn
BRITISH RESIDENCY, LARUT, February 11.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 83 of 118
Words from 84089 to 85093
of 120530
