MALAY STATES (BRITISH). The native states of the Malay peninsula under British protection are divided into two groups: (I) federated, and (2) unfederated. (For information concerning the botany, geology, etc., of the Malay States, see The federated states (area 27,506 sq.m.), under the protection of Great Britain, but not British possessions, are Perak, Selangor, and the confederation of small states known as the Negri Sem bilan (i.e., Nine States) on the west coast, and Pahang on the east coast. Each state is under the rule of a sultan, who is assisted by a state council, upon which the resident, and in some cases the secretary to the resident, has a seat, and which is composed of native chiefs and of representatives of the European, Chinese and sometimes Indian communities, nominated by the sultan with the advice and consent of the resident. The council, in addition to dealing with the appointment of headmen and religious matters revises all sentences of capital punishment. The administrative work of each state is carried on by the resident and his staff of European officials. The sultan of each state is bound by treaty with the British Government to accept the advice of the resident ; but great deference is paid to the opinions and wishes of the sul tans and their chiefs, and the British officials are pledged not to interf ere with the religious affairs of the Mohammedan commu nity. In the administration of the Malay population great use is made of the native aristocratic system, the peasants being gov erned largely by their own chiefs, headmen and village elders, under the supervision of British district officers. The result is a benevolent autocracy admirably adapted to local conditions and to the character and traditions of the people. That the welfare of the Malays, the people of the land, whose sultans have never ceded their territories to the British, must be regarded as the first consideration has been the guiding principle of the administra tion, and this has resulted in an extraordinary amelioration of the condition of the natives, which has proceeded concurrently with a notable development of the country and its resources, mineral and agricultural. To the work of
development the Malays have contributed little, sound admin istration having been secured by the British officials, enterprise and capital having been supplied mainly by the Chinese, and the labour employed being almost en tirely Chinese or Tamil. Mean while the Malays have improved their ancestral holdings, have en joyed a peace and a security to which their past history furnishes no parallel, have obtained easy access to new and important mar kets for their agricultural pro duce, and have been suffered to lead the lives best suited to their characters and their desires. Each principal department of the administration has its federal head, and all the residents corre spond with and are controlled by the chief secretary, who, in his turn, is responsible to the high commissioner, the governor of the Straits Settlements for the time being.
All matters of common interest to the Federation are settled by the federal council, a body created in 1909 in accordance with the wishes of the rulers. The council consists of the high commis sioner (president), the chief secretary to the Government, the four British Residents, the legal adviser, the treasurer, the heads of the medical, education and public works departments, the con troller of labour and certain nominated unofficial members, Euro pean, Malay, Chinese and Indian ; it meets generally three times a year and all Federal legislation is passed by it.