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STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 981 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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STRAITS SETTLEMENTS , the collective name given to the See also:

crown See also:colony formed by the See also:British possessions on or adjacent to the mainland of the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula, as opposed to the Federated Malay States, the British protectorates in the same region. The Straits Settlements consist of the See also:island of See also:Singapore with about a See also:score of islets of insignificant See also:size lying in its immediate vicinity, of the See also:town and territory of Malacca, the islands and territory of the Dindings, the island of See also:Penang, sometimes officially called See also:Prince of See also:Wales Island, and See also:Province See also:Wellesley. The colony of the Straits Settlements is administered by the See also:governor with the aid of an executive See also:council, composed wholly of See also:official members, and there is a legislative council, composed partly of official and partly of nominated members, of which the former have a narrow permanent See also:majority. The governor of the Straits Settlements is also high See also:commissioner for the Federated Malay States of the peninsula, for British See also:North See also:Borneo, See also:Brunei and See also:Sarawak in Borneo, and since the See also:administration of the colony of See also:Labuan, which for a See also:period was vested in the British North Borneo See also:Company, has been resumed by the British See also:government he is also governor of Labuan. The Cocos Keeling Islands (which were settled and are still owned by a Scottish See also:family named See also:Ross) and See also:Christmas Island were formerly attached to See also:Ceylon, but in 1886 the care of these islands was transferred to the government of the Straits Settlements. Penang and Malacca are administered, under the governor, by See also:resident councillors. British residents See also:control the native states of See also:Perak, See also:Selangor, See also:Negri Sembilan and Pahang, but since the 1st of See also:July 1896, when the federation of these states was effected, a resident-See also:general, responsible to the high commissioner, has been placed in supreme See also:charge of all the protectorates in the peninsula. The See also:work of administration, both in the colony and in the Federated Malay States, is carried on by means of a See also:civil service whose members are recruited by competitive examination held annually in See also:London. See also:Population.—The following are the See also:area and population, with details of See also:race See also:distribution, of the colony of the Straits Settlements, the figures being those of the See also:census of 19oI:— Area in Popula- Population in 1901. Square tion in Euro- Eura- Other See also:Miles. 1891. See also:Total. peans. suns.

See also:

Chinese. See also:Malays. See also:Indians. Nationalities. Singapore . . . . 206 184,554 228,555 3824 4120 164,041 36,080 17,823 2667 Penang, Province Wellesley and 381 235,618 248,207 I16o 1945 98,424 1o6,000 38,051 2627 Dindings. Malacca 659 92,170 95,487 74 1598 19,468 72,978 1,276 93 ~ Total 1246 512,342 572,249 5058 7663 281,933 215,058 57 150 5387 1 The population, which was 306,775 in 1871 and 423,384 in 1881, had in 1901 reached a total of 572,249. As in former years, the increase is solely due to See also:immigration, more especially of Chinese, though a considerable number of See also:Tamils and other natives of -See also:India annually See also:settle in the Straits Settlements. The total number of births registered in the colony during the See also:year 1900 was 14,814, and the ratio per moo of the population during 1896, 1897 and 1898 respectively was 22.18, 20.82 and 21.57; while the number of registered deaths for the years 1896-1900 gave a ratio per moo of 42'21, 36'90, 30'43, 31'66 and 36.25 respectively, the number of deaths registered during 1900 being 23,385. The cause to which the excess of deaths over births is to be attributed is to be found in the fact that the Chinese and See also:Indian population, which See also:numbers 339,083, or over 59% of the whole, is composed of 261,412 See also:males and only 77,671 See also:females, and a comparatively small number of the latter are married See also:women and mothers of families. The male Europeans also outnumber the females by about two to one; and among the Malays and Eurasians, who alone have a See also:fair proportion of both sexes, the See also:infant mortality is always excessive, this being due to See also:early marriages and other well-known causes.

The number of immigrants landing in the various settlements during 1906 was: Singapore 176,587 Chinese; Penang 56,333 Chinese and 52,041 natives of India; and Malacca 598 Chinese. The total number of immigrants for 1906 was therefore 285,560, as against 39,136 emigrants, mostly Chinese returning to See also:

China. In 1867, the date of the See also:transfer of the colony from the See also:East. India Company to, the Crown, the total population was estimated at 283,384. See also:Finance.—The See also:revenue of the colony in 186$ only amounted to $1,301,843. That for 1906 was $9,512,132, exclusive of $106,180 received on See also:account of See also:land sales. Of this sum $6,650,558 was derived from import duties on See also:opium, wines and See also:spirits, and licences to See also:deal in these articles, $377,972 from land revenue, $592,962 from postal and telegraphic revenue, and $276,019 from See also:port and See also:harbour dues. The See also:expenditure, which in 1868 amounted to $1,197,177, had risen in 1906 to $8,747,819. The total cost of the administrative establishments amounted to $4,450,791, of which $2,586,195 was on account of See also:personal emoluments and $1,864,596 was on account of other charges. The military expenditure (the colony pays on this account 20 % of its See also:gross revenue to the Imperial government by way of military contribution) amounted in 1906 to 1,762,438. A sum of $578,025 was. expended on upkeep and See also:maintenance of existing public See also:works, and $1,209,291 on new roads, streets; See also:bridges and buildings. The Dindings and Province Wellesley.—The various settlements of which the colony of the Straits Settlements is composed, and the protectorates named in this See also:article, are all dealt with separately, except the Dindings and Province Wellesley.

The former, which consists of some islands near the mouth of the Perak See also:

River and a small piece of territory on the adjoining See also:main-land, belonged originally to Perak, and was ceded to the British government under the treaty of Pangkor in 1874. Hopes were entertained that its excellent natural harbour would prove to be valuable, but these have been doomed to disappointment, and the islands, which are sparsely inhabited and altogether unimportant both politically and financially, are now administered by the government of Perak. Province Wellesley, which is situated on the mainland opposite to the island of Penang, was ceded to See also:Great See also:Britain by the See also:sultan of Kedah in 1798. It See also:marches with Perak on the See also:south, but on the north and east with Kedah. The boundary with Kedah was rectified by treaty with See also:Siam in 1867. It is administered by a See also:district officer, with some assistants, who is responsible to the resident councillor of Penang. The See also:country consists, for the most See also:part, of fertile See also:plain, thickly populated by Malays, and occupied in some parts by See also:sugar-planters and others engaged in similar agricultural See also:industries and employing Chinese and Tamil labour. About a tenth of the whole area is covered by See also:low hills with thick See also:jungle. Large quantities of See also:rice are grown by the Malay inhabitants, and between See also:October and See also:February there is excellent See also:snipe-See also:shooting to be had in the paddy-See also:fields. A railway from See also:Batu Kaman, opposite to Penang, runs through Province Wellesley into Perak, and thence via Selangor and the Negri Sembilan to Malacca. There is also an See also:extension via Muar, which is under the See also:rule of the sultan of See also:Johor, and through the last-named See also:state to Johor Bharu, opposite the island of Singapore. - See Straits Settlements See also:Blue See also:Book, 1906 (Singapore, 1907) ; Straits See also:Directory, 1908 (Singapore, 1908); See also:Journal of the Straits See also:branch of the Royal See also:Asiatic Society Singapore) ; See also:Sir See also:Frederick Weld and Sir See also:William See also:Maxwell, severally, on the Straits Settlements in the Journal of the Royal Colonial See also:Institute (London, 1884 and 1892); See also:Henry See also:Norman, The Far East (London, 1894) ; Alleyne See also:Ireland, The Far Eastern Tropics (London, 1904) ; Sir See also:Frank Swettenham, British Malaya (London, 1906) ; The See also:Life of Sir See also:Stamford See also:Raffles (London, 1856, 1898).

(H.

End of Article: STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

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