SINGAPORE. The commercial history of Singapore. is remarkable. Singapore is the name of a town, of. an island in which that town is situated, and of a settlement, in which the town is the chief feature. It occupies the extreme south. of the Malayan peninsula, and is the most southern point in Asia. If the commerce of Singapore were limited to the produce of the place, it would hardly give employment to more than two or three vessels. But Singapore has become the London of southern Asia in the Indian Archipelago. All: the nations that inhabit the countries border ing on the Indian Ocean resort to it with the produce of their agriculture and manufacturing industry, and take in exchange such goods as are not grown or produced in their own countries. All of them find there a ready market, which at the same time is well stocked with European goods. This effect has partly been produced by the wise policy of declaring the harbour of Singapore a free port, in which no export or import duties, nor any anchorage, harbour, nor lighthouse fees, are levied.
The commerce of Singapore may be divided into the eastern trade, the Straits trade, and the western trade. The eastern trade, or that which is carried on with the countries east and south-east of Singapore, comprehends the commerce with China, the Spanish settle ment of Manilla, the independent tribes of the Indian Archipelago, the Dutch settlements on the island of Java and at Rhio, the new settlements at Sarawak and Labuan, the Aus tralian and New Zealand colonies, and the countries of the Peninsula beyond the Ganges which lie east of the Malay Peninsula. The
most important branches of this commerce are those with China, Java, and Siam.
The commerce of the Straits is carried on with the Malay Peninsula and with the island of Sumatra. The harbours on the eastern side of the peninsula, which trade with Sings pre, are Pahang, Tringanu, and Calantan, and this trade is rather active. The trade with the western coast of the peninsula is not important, and is almost entirely limited to the harbour of Salangore. The commerce between Singapore and the island of Sumatra is almost entirely limited to the ports along the eastern coast of the island. There is hardly any commercial intercourse with the Dutch settlements of Bencoolen, Padang, and Tappanuli, which are on the western coast. The commerce of the eastern coast is divided between Singapore and Penang.
The western trade of Singapore comprehends that with Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, the island of Ceylon, and Arabia, with the Cape of Good Hope, dauritius, and Australia, and with Europe and America. To enumerate the articles which constitute the materials of these three great streams of commerce would be to name almost all that Europe sells to Asia or Asia to Europe ; or which are interchanged among the nations of eastern Asia It is estimated that 300,000 tons of shipping now enter Singapore annually. The British and Irish produce and manufactures exported to Singapore in 1849 amounted in value to 494,0881.