Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/225

 THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES 173

The trade (excluding bullion and specie) was as follows in 1919 and 1918:—

t> i_ ' a i Nesri n. ToUl ToUl

Perak Selangor ^^^ Pahang m, wu

£ 4 £ £ £ £

Import*. 5,113,277 ' 6,500,221 1.582.7V0 670,118 18,866,412 8.720.M1

Export*. 14,552.210 j 11,765,624 4,933,756 1,314,173 3S,565,762 20,024,400

Chief items of import, 1919 :— rice, 3,870,066/.; opium, 330,405/. : tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes, 742,449/. ; cotton piece goods, 645,519/. ; sugar, 383,022/.; milk, condensed, 272,636/.; live animals, 473,524/.; spirits, 196,016/. ; petroleum, including benzine, 551,716/. ; ironware, 254,046/. ; machinery, 495,968/. Chief exports, 1919 : cultivated rubber (106,453 tons), 22,059,244/. ; copra, 600,434/. ; tin and tin ore, 8,745,635/. ; metils, 101,903/. ; timber, 33,304/. ; hides, 24,52?/. Imports (excluding bullion and specie), 1919, from U.K., 1,394,000/. Exports to U.K., 5,240.000/. Bullion and specie imported 1919, 74,742/. ; exported, 60,361/.

Shipping, 1919 (excluding native craft) : entered, 3,545 vessels, 1,444.899 tons; cleared, 3,538 vessels, 1,444,124 tons. Native craft, entered and cleared, 13,925 vessels, 372,117 tons.

There were in the 4 States in 1919, 2,362 miles of metalled cart roads and 1,791 miles of bridle roads and paths. There are also 700 miles of paths maintained by the Forest Department. The Government has made, purchased, leased, or is making, the railway systems of the whole peninsula south of the Siamese boundary, including the railway on Singapore Island. When the system is complete, there will be a main trunk line extending throughout the peninsula, diverging at Gemas in Xegii Sembilan into \Vest Coast and East Coast lines, and linking up with the Southern Siamese railway system on the Perlis-Siam and Kelantau-Siam boundaries respectively. The two Siamese lines converge at Ootajiao, in Singora, and hence a single line continues north to Bangkok. On the West Coast, the line is now open for traffic from Singapore as far as Padang Besar (Perlis Siamese boundary), a distance of 596 miles, and on the East Coast it is open from Singapore as far as Padang Tungka (in Pahang). A section in Kelantan from Tumpat to Tanah Merah (32 miles), and one from Pasir Alas to Golok ( Kelantan-Siam boundary) (12 miles) are also open for traffic. The section iu Johore, extending fioru Johore Bahru to Gemas (120 miles), is leased from the Johore Government. The line is of metre gauge. The total mileage open for traffic, including leased lines, was 1,003 miles in 1919. The lines under construction (1920) were about 72 miles, besides 2 miles of Hill Railway, in Penang, and doubling of lines in Singa- pore Island (16 miles) and in neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur (37 miles). The construction of a causeway carrying a double line of railway and a road- way is now proceeding (1920), connecting the island of Singapore with the mainland across the Johore Straits. An extensive scheme of deep-water wharves at Prai, on the mainland, opposite Penang, is ako in progress.

There are (1919) 96 post offices aud 39 other places for postal business. In 1919, 24,025,009 postal packets (registered letters, 707,639, and parcels, 171,718) were received and delivered. In 1919 there were 2,372 miles of telegraph and telephone line (12,000 miles of wire) under the Post Office department. The net revenue collected by the department amounted to 151,587/., and expenditure to 145,512/., Savings Banks, 10,270 de- positors, and 106,061/. deposits on December 31, 1919. The current