Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/224

 172 THE BRITISH EMPIRE: — FEDERATED MALAY STATES

This Council consists of the High Commissioner as President, the Chief Secretary, the Sultans of Perak, Selangor, and Pahang, the Yang di per Tuan Besar of Negri Sembilan, the four British Residents, the Legal Adviser, and five unofficial members, and in addition to legislation deals with the annual estimates of revenue and expenditure. All legislative enactments are submitted to the High Commissioner and the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The courts in the States are : — (1) The Supreme Court, comprising the Court of a Judicial Commissioner and the Court of Appeal. (2) The Court of a Magistrate of the first class. (3) The Court of a Magistrate of the second class. (4) The Court of a Kathi and the Court of Assistant Kathi. (5) The Court of a Penghulu. The Court of Appeal consists of two or more Judicial Commissioners, the chief Judicial Commissioner being President. There is a final appeal m civil matters to the Privy Council.

The number of cases of murder, homicide, robbery, &c. , reported in 1917 was 729, discovered 226 ; in 1918, reported 821, discovered 258. The number of prisoners in gaol on December 31, 1919, was 1,602.

Efficient Government hospitals are established in all districts, with separate hospitals for Europeans. A very complete Institute of Medical Research has been established at Kuala Lumpur.

The revenue of the States in 1919 was 8,415,7582., war tax, 562,710/., and the expenditure, 8,245,6452. (1918, revenue, 7,985,7002. ; expenditure, 5,283,4732.).

Leading items of revenue in 1919 were — licences, 2,090,861Z.; customs, 2,102,8892.; railways, 1,745,0372. ; land revenue, 355,9532. ; fees of court or office, 296,6792.; interest, 595,6502. ; municipal, 242,1752.; war tax, 562 7102.; and of expenditure — railways, 3,082,5462. ; public works, 1,009,1132. ; miscellaneous service (including war contribution), 1,894,2302.; personal emoluments, 993,5772., other charges, 962,5002. ; interest on advances, 105,0002. Public debt, 1919, 1,750,0002.

The staple cultivations of the Federated Malay States are coconuts, rice, rubber, sugar, tapioca, pepper, gambier, and nipah palms. The chief industrial enterprises are the cultivation of rubber, and the mining of tin. The Krian irrigation works in Perak irrigate 70,000 acres ol rice (padi) land and supply drinking water to the district. The canal is 21 miles long with 16£ miles of branches and 188^ miles of distributory channels. The total area of rubber estates of over 100 acres at the end of 1915 was 499,500 acres (78,284 tons were exported in 1918 and 106,453 tons in 1919), and coconut estates, 54,800 acres (the total acreage under coconuts was 182,000 acres). The forests produce many excellent timbeis, besides gutta- percha, oils, resins, and canes. In 1919 the total quantity of timber of all kinds taken from the forests, on which payment was made, was 955,960 tons, in addition to a large quantity used free of royalty by the native Malay population and the tin miners. The gross revenue of the Forest Department for 1919 amounted to 213,8292. The duty on the export of tin forms the largest item of the revenue of the States on the West Coast. In 1919 the tin export amounted to 36,938 tons, and in 1918 to 37,370 tons. Duty paid in 1919, customs, 1,160,1702., war-tax, 47,939/. In 1919, 16,402 ounces of gold, and in 1918, 18,309 ounces were produced in the Federated Malay States. Besides gold and tin, many minerals arc found, including lead, iron, copper, mercury, arsenic, manganese, wolfram (exports 1919, 430 tons), scheelite (exports 1919, 225 tons), plumbago, silver, zinc, and coal, but with the exception of coal, they have not so far been discovered in workable form. The exports of tungsten ore in 1919 were 655 tons. The labour force engaged in mining at the end of 1919 was 113,107.