question was decided in favour of the Temenggong, and it is the descendant of the latter who presides over the destinies of the State to-day. The reigning Sultan has previously been referred to as a popular and progressive prince. His State is ruled in accordance with a constitution which his father, the late Sultan Abubakar, set up on his return from Europe in 1895. The control is vested in a Council formed on lines similar to those upon which the Federated States Councils are based. Unofficially and without remuneration the late Mr. C. B. Buckley (author of the well-known "Anecdotal History of Singapore," and brother of Mr. Justice Buckley) rendered most valuable service to the Sultan; but in 1909, by arrangement with the Colonial Office, Mr. D. G. Campbell, C.M.G., was lent as General Adviser, and that post he continued to occupy with signal advantage until he came home on leave in 1911, when Mr. J. B. Elcum took up the duties temporarily. Under the system of Advisorship the development of the country is being conducted on principles which have brought prosperity to the Federated States. The fact that the Sultan of Johore is an independent ruler makes more conspicuous the enlightened efforts that are being made to bring the State into line with British Malaya in all that concerns administration and commercial development.

CHAPTER XII

LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION

The Constitution-The defunct Lieutenant-Governorships — The Judiciary-Development of the Municipal system-The Colony's Free Trade system-Opium policy - Export duties - The military contribution-The price of the dollar fixed-Sir John Anderson's Administration.

THE Straits Settlements occupy a leading position amongst the directly governed possessions of the Crown, and the possibilities of further development are such that the Colony's importance cannot fail to be enhanced. Crown Colony Government all the Empire over, however, partakes very much of the same character. There is in supreme authority a Governor assisted by an Executive Council, composed in the case of the Straits Settlements entirely of officials, supplemented by a Legislative Council on which non-officials have representation. As in high dynastic concerns we talk of limited monarchies, so in this matter of Crown Colony administration we may refer to a limited constitutional system. Limited, it certainly is, for the official voice in the Council Chamber is all-powerful, and can, if need be, quite drown that of the unofficial element. As recently as May in the present year (1912) an important measure deeply affecting the trade of the Straits Settlements was carried by the casting vote of the Governor in the teeth of the strong opposition of the unofficial members. In actual fact, the Government of

the Straits Settlements is to-day practically what it was nearly half a century ago when the territories were first administered by the Crown. It is, perhaps, useless to look for anything approaching a frankly representative system of Government in the Colony in view of the peculiar diversity of its population, not only as regards ethnological characteristics but habits and aptitude for self-government. But with the considerable growth of the European element which has followed the development of trade and industry changes will probably at no distant date be forced on the Government in the direction of a widening of the representative principle coupled with a loosening of the rigid rules which keep legislation in official hands. Short of a reform in this direction, the existing system may be said to be as well devised as possible to give all interests a share of influence in the Government. The Executive Councillors, seven in number, are chosen so as to bring the central administration into direct association with every part of the administered territories. Similarly the Legislative Councillors, other than the eight officials, are selected with a particular reference to the requirements of the commercial community. Thus, the Chambers of Commerce of Singapore and Penang are allowed to nominate two representatives, while another member is appointed with a full consideration of the desires of the highly important Chinese community.

It is to be understood that the system of administration described refers only to the Colony proper-that is, to Singapore, Penang and Province Wellesley, Malacca, and the Dindings. The arrangements do not touch the Federated States (Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang); nor have they any concern with the five Protected States described in the preceding chapters. The

only authority common to all is that of the Governor, who holds the office of High Commissioner in respect of these Native States. It may be stated here parenthetically that the Governor is also Governor of the Cocos or Keeling Islands, situated 700 miles south-west of Batavia; of Christmas Island, lying in the Indian Ocean 120 miles south of Java; of the island of Labuan on the north-west coast of Borneo; and High Commissioner of Brunei, a State lying between British North Borneo and Sarawak. In the federated area, the principal British official is the Chief Secretary (formerly designated the Resident-General), who resides at Kuala Lumpur, the federal capital. A Federal Council, comprising the native rulers and their British Advisers and representatives of the planting and mining industries and the commercial community, meets periodically for the transaction of public business much as the Legislative Council does in Singapore. Each of the four States also has a Council to deal with important affairs and with it a British Resident. The Protected States have, as we have seen, an advisory system under which a British official established in each territory acts as a sort of amicus curiæ. In Johore, the functionary is known as the General Adviser; in Kelantan, Kedah, and Perlis he is simply designated Adviser, while in Trengganu he is styled British Agent.

At one period the principal local authority at Penang as well as Malacca was vested in a Lieutenant-Governor, who drew a handsome salary for duties which were largely honorific. When Captain Shaw, the Lieutenant-Governor of Malacca, died in April, 1879, no successor was appointed, and the same policy of inaction was adopted in regard to the Lieutenant-Governorship of Penang, when Major-General Anson retired in July, 1882. In the place of the old office, the Government instituted a Resident