The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-14 00:00:00

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tlndeed so little has been thought of thee% invickuable
possessions, that at the very time that the tilde orthese
settlements amounted to 7,000,000/. Lord Wm. Ben-
tinck expressed an opinion that theyouglitztaOlabile. placed
a
on the same footing as any Bengal
on this footing they have been kept ever since, and even
now, with a trade of ten million sterling, and conse-
quently of enormous value to the mother country in a
commercial point of view, they are looked upon by the
Indian Government as of no value whatever.
At first the vacancies in the local civil service were
filled by military and uneovenanted offices. The chief
duties were official,under the Queen's Court, and there-
fore there was no room for exclusive feelings; but after
a short time military officers were alone employed. These
taken from their regiments were placed to perform the
duties of police magistrates with the most extensive
even to the trial and punishment of persons
jurisdiction,accused of felony, and this without any previous training
or opportunity of acquiring knowledge of subjects so
foreign to their professional habits and ideas, and they
were even appointed to take charge of stations, like Sin-
gapore, with a large population and great mercantile
interests. This was, however, abandoned in 1847, and
a few Bengal civilians were appointed to the vacant
posts.
At each settlement there is now a governor, and a
resident, who also performs the duties of collector and
judge, and an assistant'resident whose duties are almost
solely judicial in her /siajesty's Court of Judicature, as
justices of the peace. Under these there are two super-
intendents of convicts and two land surveyors. The
office of resident is considered to be necessarily con-
fined to covenanted servants, and as vacancies were soon
expected. Bengal civilians were sent down to fit them
for the duties by a previous training. The prospects of
promotion did not answer the expectations of these gen-
tlemen, and they consequently did not remain.
In order to provide for future vacancies, two plans
present themselves, either to re-establish on a
very reduced scale the old Penang civil ser-
vice as before, by direct appointment and not through
Haileybury College, or to employ gentlemen found
qualified by training and knowledge for the duties re-
quired of them. The circumstances of these settlements
are so entirely distinct from those of India that none of
the objections, which are so strongly urged in India,
apply here to the appointment of uncovenanted officers.
The old services being extinct, the regular services not
extending so far, it cannot be said that any injustice
will be done to the civil services by not placing these
settlements within the limit of their exclusive privileges.
In former years the difficulty of retaining the services
of their officers at a time when they were allowed to
trade, and not depend on salaries, caused great inconve-
nience to the Honourable Company, and, in consequence
the system was devised of binding all in heavy penalties
not to leave the service without permission, while on
the other hand, they were to receive all the officers in
planndyiaoh.fastThnheoeirwad,sebv by change
formerly on the part of the com-
ant. s Andofthe
questioncircumstances, turnedarises in
as fa-
vourtoAthneyadmvaainvtearsgaetioofn retaining the
ntacthueexics, olusirvecoud b
civill seer:ladicee.
punishable by ordinary course of law, as in the Queen's
colonies. But if it is considered necessary that persons
should be bound down by particular agreement, it will
be easy to make it a stipulation previous to employ-
ment in the Straits, as was formerly done at 13encoolen.
That every one should enter into a covenant with or
without advantages as an equivalent. At Bencoolen it
was found necessary to employ a number of gentlemen
in the country, not regularly appointed from England ;
and in order to bind them to good behaviour they were
obliged to execute covenants which differed in some re-
spects from those of the regular services. If it should
be thought necessary, every officer, previous to appoint-
ment to any office of trust, can be required to execute
such covenant. This will place his services sufficiently
under the command of Government to prevent any evils
which might be anticipated from want of due controul.
This plan, without interfering with the rights or privi-
leges of the Indian services will effectually answer the
purpose of securing properly qualified officers, for all
the duties of the Straits employment.