Straits Settlements

Dindings The Dindings—named after the Dinding River in present-day Manjung District—which comprised Pangkor Island and the town of Lumut on the mainland, were ceded by Perak to the British government under the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. It was hoped that its excellent natural harbour would prove to be valuable. This did not come to be with the territory being sparsely inhabited and altogether politically and financially unimportant. Malacca The Dutch colony of Malacca was ceded to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for the British possession of Bencoolen and for British rights in Sumatra. Malacca's importance was in establishing an exclusive British zone of influence in the region, and was overshadowed as a trading post by Penang and, later, Singapore. Penang and Province Wellesley The first settlement was the Penang territory, in 1786. This originally comprised Penang Island, then known as the Prince of Wales Island. This was later extended to encompass an area of the mainland, which became known as Province Wellesley (now Seberang Perai). The first grant was in 1800, followed by another in 1831. Further adjustments to Province Wellesley's border were made in 1859, in 1867 with a treaty with Siam and in 1874 with the Treaty of Pangkor. It was administered by a district officer, with some assistants, answering to the resident councillor of Penang. Province Wellesley consisted, for the most part, of a fertile plain, thickly populated by Malays, and occupied in some parts by sugar-planters and others engaged in similar agricultural industries and employing Chinese and Tamil labour. About a tenth of the whole area was covered by low hills with thick jungle. Large quantities of rice were grown by the Malay inhabitants, and between October and February, there was snipe-shooting in the paddy fields. A railway from Butterworth, opposite Penang, runs into Perak, and then via Selangor and Negri Sembilan to Malacca, with an extension via Muar under the rule of the Sultan of Johor, and through Johor to Johor Bahru, opposite Singapore. == History and government ==

East India Company rule The establishment of the Straits Settlements followed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, by which the Malay Archipelago was divided into a British zone in the north and a Dutch zone in the south. This resulted in the exchange of the British settlement of Bencoolen (on Sumatra) for the Dutch colony of Malacca and undisputed control of Singapore. The population of the settlements were largely Chinese, with a tiny but important European minority. Their capital was moved from George Town, the capital of Penang, to Singapore in 1832. Their scattered nature proved to be difficult and, after the company lost its monopoly in the china trade in 1833, expensive to administer. in George Town during the 1910s During their control by the East India Company, the settlements were used as penal settlements for Indian civilian and military prisoners, earning them the title "Botany Bays of India". There were minor uprisings by convicts in Singapore and Penang in 1852 and 1853. Upset with East India Company rule, in 1857 the European population of the settlements sent a petition to the British Parliament asking for direct rule; but the idea was overtaken by the Indian Rebellion of 1857. When a "Gagging Act" was imposed to prevent the uprising in India from spreading, the settlements' press reacted with anger, classing it as something that subverted "every principle of liberty and free discussion". As there was little or no vernacular press in the settlements, such an act seemed irrelevant: it was rarely enforced and ended in less than a year. Crown colony status On 1 April 1867, the Straits Settlements were transferred to the British Colonial Office and became a Crown colony, making the settlements answerable directly to the Colonial Office in London instead of the Government of India in Calcutta. Earlier, on 4 February 1867, letters patent had granted the settlements a colonial constitution. This allocated much power to the settlements' governor, who administered the colony of the Straits Settlements with the aid of an Executive Council, composed wholly of official (i.e., ex-officio) members, and a legislative council, composed partly of official and partly of nominated members, of which the former had a narrow permanent majority. The work of administration, both in the colony and in the Federated Malay States, was carried on by means of a civil service whose members were recruited by competitive examination held annually in London. Penang and Malacca were administered, directly under the governor, by resident councillors. == Population ==

The following are the area and population, with details of race distribution, of the colony of the Straits Settlements, the figures being those of the census of 1901: == Finance ==

, 1903 In the early nineteenth century, the most common currency used in the East Indies was the Spanish dollar, including issues both from Spain and from the New World Spanish colonies, most significantly Mexico, due to market circulation from the Spanish East Indies (Spanish Philippines). Locally issued coinages included the Kelantan and Trengganu keping, and the Penang dollar. In 1837, the Indian rupee was made the sole official currency in the Straits Settlements, as it was administered as part of India. However, Spanish dollars continued to circulate and 1845 saw the introduction of coinage for the Straits Settlements using a system of 100 cents = 1 Straits dollar, with the dollar equal to the Spanish dollar or Mexican peso. In 1867, the administration of the Straits Settlements was separated from India and the dollar was made the standard currency. The revenue of the colony in 1868 amounted to $1,301,843. In 1906 revenue was $9,512,132, exclusive of $106,180 received for land sales. Of this sum, $6,650,558 was derived from import duties on opium, wines and spirits, and licences to deal in these articles, $377,972 from land revenue, $592,962 from postal and telegraphic revenue, and $276,019 from port and harbour dues. Expenditures, which in 1868 amounted to $1,197,177, rose in 1906 to $8,747,819. The total cost of the administrative establishments amounted to $4,450,791, of which $2,586,195 were personal emoluments and $1,864,596 other charges. The military expenditure (the colony paid on this account 20 per cent of its gross revenue to the British government by way of military contribution) amounted in 1906 to $1,762,438; $578,025 was expended on upkeep and maintenance of existing public works, and $1,209,291 on new roads, streets, bridges and buildings. == See also ==