Page images
PDF
EPUB

of most of Great Britain's exports of highly finished goods the Empire share varies from 50 per cent. to 80 per cent. of the total.

The only substantial item in the British export list which entirely owes its export progress to increased foreign purchases is cotton yarn. The increase in the export of cotton yarn between 1923 and 1925 is due to German purchases, which increased from £5 millions to nearly £12 millions.

The high purchasing power of the Dominions, the advantage given to British goods by sentiment or by tariff preference, the shelter which British exports find in greater or less degree in every Empire country-these are the factors which in these post-war days of increasingly fierce competition account for the large purchases made by the Empire of so many British exports and for the general progress maintained on these exports.

A most interesting and conclusive test of the shelter afforded to British manufactures in Empire markets lies in the comparison between the British share of the imports into certain Empire markets and into foreign markets where there exists such similarity of economic and social development as would have led one to expect an equal demand for manufactured goods. Compare, for instance, the British share of imports into China and into India. In 1923 China imported 13 per cent. of her requirements from Great Britain. India, on the other hand, purchased 57 per cent. of her requirements from Great Britain. Compare Australia with the Argentine. Australia in 1923 took from Great Britain 52 per cent. of her total imports, while the Argentine only took 22.7 per cent. Again, take a Crown Colony such as Nigeria-79 per cent. of whose needs were supplied by Great Britain in 1923—and compare it with the Belgian Congo. In 1922 the British share of the Congo imports amounted to only 17.5 per cent.

The irresistible conclusion which must be drawn from an examination into world trade statistics is that, though Great Britain is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain her position in foreign markets, the overseas markets of the Empire have prevented trade depression from being as pronounced as it would otherwise have been.

This fact is of the greatest importance and may well be regarded as of happy omen. It is within Great Britain's power so to order her economic life as gradually to strengthen the purchasing power of the Dominions, India, the Crown Colonies, and the Protectorates.

If clear evidence is given of an intention to carry out

such a policy, Great Britain will be in a position to take council with the whole of the British Empire to find methods whereby the industrial strength of Great Britain may be preserved. For there is no reason to suppose that those responsible for the government and commerce of the overseas Empire do not realize that the very safety of almost every Empire country depends upon the maintenance of the economic power of these islands. F. L. McDOUGALL

PUTTING THE CLOCK BACK IN MALAYA

NOT so very many years ago perhaps three persons in every twelve had some idea of the geographical position of the Federated Malay States, commonly called the F.M.S.; and considerably less than that proportion possessed any knowledge of the position which the ederation occupied in the Imperial political scale. But the indispensable commodities, rubber and tin, both of which the F.M.S. provides in generous measure,* have, by their occasional startling fluctuations, brought the country that produces them in such quantity more prominently into view. It will not have been forgotten also that the Imperial limelights were shed upon the Federated Malay States when the latter made their magnificent gift of H.M.S. Malaya (which proved invaluable in the battle of Jutland) to the British Navy. But the Malaya Pavilion at the recent British Empire Exhibition has perhaps been the chief means of increasing our knowledge of the country; and all those who visited this building must have been impressed with the manifest importance of the Federated States of the Malay Peninsula.

In view of the remarkable prosperity of the F.M.S. to-day, the rapidity with which that prosperity has been achieved, and the significant value of the Federation to Great Britain, it may be justly claimed that any important reconstructive changes in the administration, such as those now being contemplated, are of much more than purely local interest. The claim, moreover, is enhanced by the fact that at the present time a vast amount of British capital is being sunk in the F.M.S. in rubber plantations; and doubtless plans for the sinking of a great deal more capital in the near future are being widely considered.

In order that the changes which the Colonial Office is contemplating may be fully understood by those who may not be conversant with the existing form of government in the F.M.S., it is necessary to refer, in outline, to the inception of federation, and subsequent federal administration. Prior to 1896 each of the four Malay States under British protection-Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang-was administered by a British officer (styled "Resident") and assistants, each State being, separately, * British Malaya exports a fraction under half the world's supply of rubber at the present time, and one-third of the world's supply of tin.

VOL. LXXXVII

5

under the control of the Governor of the Straits Settlements. The constant troubles, innumerable difficulties, and general lack of progress experienced under this system evoked the need for a remedy for these ills, and the British officers stationed in the different territories endeavoured to invent a remedy that would be both efficient and practicable.

It was left for Sir Frank Swettenham (then Resident of Perak) to conceive the plan which was ultimately adopted-that of federation-and in 1896 the four States became one for the purpose of administration. One cannot do better than give Sir Frank Swettenham's own account* of this historical development:

The new departure was formally inaugurated on July 1, 1896, since which date the four Protected States have been federated under one administration, with a Resident-General in control, the Residents remaining as before the chief executive officers in each State, while every important department was placed under one federal head, who is responsible to the Resident-General for uniformity of system in all the States.

In agreeing to the appointment of a Resident-General it was for the first time plainly stated that he should have executive control, under the direction of the Governor of the Straits Settlements, who would in future be also styled High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States.

The Malay Rulers cordially approved the scheme, because it did not touch their own status in any way, though it formally recognized the right of the Resident-General to exercise a very large control in the affairs of the States. He was not styled an adviser; his authority both in the general administration and as regards the Residents was clearly defined. The Malay Rulers believed that as a Federation they would be stronger, their views more likely to receive consideration should a day come when those views happened to be at variance with the supreme authority, be it High Commissioner at Singapore, or Secretary of State in England. . . .

By federation the rich States were to help the poor ones; so Pahang and Negri Sembilan hoped to gain by the arrangement, while the Rulers of Perak and Selangor were large-minded enough to welcome the opportunity of pushing on the backward States for the glory and ultimate benefit of the federation. It meant the abolition of inter-State frictions and jealousies. Above all, the Malay Rulers not only accepted but desired federation, because they believed that it would give them, in the Resident-General, a powerful advocate of their needs and their views, a friend whose voice would be heard further, and carry more weight, than that of any Resident, or of all the Residents acting independently.

It was perhaps more curious that the four Residents were equally in favour of a proposal which seemed likely to deprive them of some authority and status. They cordially favoured federation because they realized that the existing arrangement was unsatisfactory, and becoming impossible; while federation must make for unity of purpose and effort, for efficiency, for progress, for help where it was most wanted, and for a government no longer of one man but of five-the Resident-General and the Residents-with all the best special advice which federation could attract to the service of the Malay States.

* British Malaya (Bodley Head).

It is not necessary, for the purpose of this article, to give a detailed description of the results of federation; it is now common knowledge that Sir Frank Swettenham's achievement proved completely successful, and the four States developed with amazing rapidity. In 1909, however, Sir John Anderson, the then Governor of the Straits Settlements, expressed the fear that federation was gradually leading to over-centralization. He thought that control had slowly and automatically passed into the hands of the Resident-General ; and that the powers of State Councils had become in matters of administration nominal; and as regards legislation, owing to the policy of aiming at uniformity, their functions had declined into those of a registering body. Sir John Anderson thought that the Residents had become the mouthpiece, not of the High Commissioner, but of the Resident-General, who had no Executive Council to advise him and was subject to a vague and undefined control by the High Commissioner." Convinced that both Rulers and Residents would welcome any measures which would bring His Majesty's Representative, the High Commissioner, directly into the administration, Sir John Anderson decided to introduce a Federal Council,* over which the High Commissioner would preside, into the machinery of Government.

Shortly after this innovation had been made Sir John Anderson introduced in Federal Council a Bill, which passed into law, altering the title of Resident-General to that of Chief Secretary to Government. His reasons for introducing this Bill were that he considered the ResidentGeneral, instead of being the mouthpiece of the High Commissioner and the mouthpiece of the Residents to the High Commissioner, had combined the duties of both, and had to such a very large extent power to overrule the Residents that he had become practically the final authority to all intents and purposes. Sir John Anderson believed the alteration of title clearly defined the intention of Government with regard to the post; and that "the time had come when that intention needed to be clearly defined."

From that date until the present time the administration of the Federated Malay States has, except for some rela

* The Federal Council, which has remained in force, consists of the Malay Rulers, the Residents, and five unofficial Europeans, one Malay, and two Chinese, as members. The High Commissioner presides over this body. The Federal Council legislates on behalf of all four States, and passes enactments enforceable within the Federation. Each State Council passes enactments exclusively applicable to the particular Stato.

« PreviousContinue »