Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/516

 172 THE BRITISH EMPIRE: — THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

There are municipal bodies in each settlement, the members of which are partly elected by the ratepayers, and partly appointed by the Governor.

Area and Population.

Singapore is an island about twenty-seven miles long by fourteen wide, with an area of 206 square miles, situated at the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, from which it is sejjarated by a narrow strait about three-quarters of a mile in width. There are a number of small islands adjacent to it, which form part of tlife settlement. The seat of government is the town of Singapore, at the south-eastern point of the island. Penang is an island of 107 square miles, situated off the west coast of the Malayan Peninsula, and at the northern extremity or entrance of the Straits of Malacca. On the opposite shore of the mainland, from which the island is separated by a strait from two to ten miles broad, is Province Wellesley, a strip of territory forming part of the Settlement of Penang, averaging eight miles in width, and extending forty-five miles along the coast, in- cluding ten miles of territory to the south of the Krian, the whole con- taining an area of 270 square miles. The chief town of Penang is George Town. Off the coast of Perak is the small island of Pangkor, which, together with a small strip of the opposite mainland, has been acquired as British territory, the whole being knoAvn as the Bindings. Malacca is situated on the western coast of the peninsula between Singapore and Penang^about 110 miles from the former and 240 from the latter — and consists of a strip of territory about forty-two miles in length, and from eight to twenty-four and a half miles in breadth.

In addition, the Native States of Perak, Selangor, Sungei Ujong, Negri Sembilan, and Paliang, which occupy a large portion of the peninsula, are under British protection.

In Perak, Selangor, and Sungei- Ujong, Residents were appointed in 1874, who are assisted by a staff of European officers ; and it is their duty to aid the native rulers by advice, and to carry out executive functions. The supreme authority in each State is vested in the State Council, consisting of the highest native authorities and the principal British officials. The Residents are under the Resident General and High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States.

In 1883 the relations of the colony were consolidated with the small Native States on the frontier of Malacca. These States were confederated in 1889, under the name of Negri Sembilan. A State Council has been formed, and a Resident has been appointed. In January, 1895, Sungei Ujong (including Jelebu, which had been administered by a Collector and Magistrate under the Resident of Sungei Ujong since 1888) and Negri Sem- bilan Averc placed under one Resident ; and in July, 1895, a treaty Avas signed by which the administrations were amalgamated. The new federation, which retains the ancient name of Negri Sembilan {i.e. Nine States) comprises the states of Sungei Ujong, Sri Menanti, Johol, Jelebu, Rembau and Tampin. In 1887, byagreenient with the Raja of Pahang, the control of his foreign re- lations, &c., was surrendered to the British Government. This was followed by a further agreement in 1888 with the Raja (now .styled Sultan), under w.hich Pahang was taken under British protection, on the same terms as the Protected Native States on the west coast of the peninsula. Pahang is situate on the east coast, within 200 miles by sea from Singapore. The Sultan of Johor in 1887 placed, in the spirit of former treaties, his foreign relations in the hands of this country, and agreed to receive a British Agent. In July, 189G, the treaty between the four Protected Native States, Perak, Selangor,