The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-01 00:00:00

THE STATE OF SARAWAK.

A deputation, consisting of the following gentle-
men,—Mr. Crawford, M.P., Lord Goderich, M.P.,
Mr. Gregson, MY., Mr. Horsfall, M.P., M. E7-art.
M.P., Mr. Drummond., M.P., Sir Dalrymple El-
phinstone, M.P., the Mayor of Manchester (Mr
Mackie), Mr. William Fairbairn, Mr. Thomas
Fairbairn, Mr. Pender, Mr. Ross, and Mr. Simpson,
from Manchester ; Mr. Charles Turner, Mr.
M'Micking, andlMr. Adam Gladstone, from Liver-
pool ; Mr. Nicol, from Glasgow ; Mr. Ingram Tra-
vers, Mr. Coulson, and Mr. John Smith, had an
interview with the Earl of Derby yesterday, in
reference to the propriety of retaining the State of
Sarawak under the protectorate of the English
Government.
Mr. CRAWFORD said that the gentlemen who had
asked for this interview formed a deputation which
might be said very fairly to represent the state of
the public mind at the various places from which
they had come. They were gentlemen from Liver-
pool, Manchester, and Glasgow. There were also
some gentlemen from London, and Lord Goderich
to express his own private opinion upon the sub-
ject, and the sentiments of those whom he repre-
sented in Yorkshire. Mr. Drummond, who had
taken a warm interest in Sir J. Brooke's private
and public career was also there, and some gentle-
men acquainted with the local trade of Borneo. He
would compress what he had to say into a very few
words. He need not refer in any detail to the
early part of Sir James Brooke's connection with
Borneo. The matters in connection with it were
well known, but he would remark, in passing, that
in every instance Sir J. Brooke's proceedings in Bor-
neo had met with her Majesty's approval, and spe-
cial favours were conferred upon him upon his
return to England after his first proceedings in
Borneo. He (Mr. Crawford) would come to the
beginning of last year, whence in consequence of
the outbreak in Canton a feeling. was generated
and instigated among the Chinese in Sarawak, who
rose in opposition to Sir James Brooke's govern-
ment, when he had almost a lucky escape with
his life, but finally he succeeded in put-
ting down the rebellion, and established his go-
vernment, upon as firm a basis as he could. There
were gentlemen there who would testify to the fact
that the energetic measures taken by Sir James
Brooke saved Singapore. The effect produced upon
Sir James Brooke's mind was that unless he received
some degree of protection from this country it would
not be possible for him to carry on the government
• of Sarawak as an independent State; that he must
fall into one of two courses—he must either aban-
don the settlement, to the great detriment of the
British name, or he must accept offers from other
foreign Powers. They knew perfectly well that if
Sir James Brooke were to leave Sarawak and he
did not surrender the territory to the Dutch, the
Dutch would themselves take it. They knew that
the American Government were not indisposed to
avail themselves of the opportunity of establishing
themselves in that quarter. And it was with a view
to convey to his Lordship the view taken in Eng-
land as to the position of British interests in Borneo
that the deputation had called upon him that day.
Although he had known Sir James Brooke per-
sonally for a great many years, and had a strong
sense of what he deserved at the hands of his coun-
trymen, he was prepared to argue this case not
upon private rights, but simply upon general and
public grounds, and with that view he would first
call attention to the general geographical position
of Sarawak : how it commanded the China seas ;
how, :should. it fall into the hands of a foreign
power, the position of Sarawak might be made
detrimental to our commerce, particularly consi-
dering the great extent of tradeC that would take
place between this country and China. There was
another commercial consideration connected with
Sarawak which seemed to contain an element for
very serious consideration, and it was this :
We might reasonably hope to be within a short
time in possession of an electric telegraph as far as
Singapore. The laying it to Singapore was a
matter of no difficulty, and in taking that course
to India it would pass through a consecutive chain
of the British • possessions, from Malacca to
Singapore. But how it was to be carried up the
China sea, we hardly knew, unless they had these
means of continuing our chain of telegraphic com-
munication. They looked to the necessity of tele-
graphic communication with China as paramount.,
They saw from day to day that the telegraph was
superseding the post ; how the post had become
subsidiary to the telegraph. They saw the great
advantage it had given to this country over a great
number. of others to have the postal service of all
the world in its own hands, and not to be depen-
dent upon a foreign Power for its political and
commercial despatches. They thought there was
a great principle involved in regard to telegraphic
communications, and they looked upon the position
of Sarawak as beimg essential to the foundation of
our supremacy in that part of the world. They at-
tached importance to it in that respect. But there
was another consideration of still greater magnitude
—the immense mineral resources of that part of the
country. There was a gentleman present who left
Borneo not more than three months ago, who had
been employed for some time in working the coal
mines in Sir James Brooke's territory, and he would
be able to tell now, or in any other form, the cha-
racter of the coals that were produced from the
collieries and the comparatively very cheap and
economic terms upon which coals of the best qua-
lity could be supplied at Singapore. When they
looked at the enormous quantity of coal sent out
annually to Singapore, when they saw that steam
was superseding as far as it could all other means
of conveyance by water, and that that coal can be
supplied in any quantity that may be desired from
Sir James Brooke's territory, they thought they
had upon that ground alone an ample and sufficient
case for coming and stating to his lordship, as the
head of her Majesty's Government, that they con-
sidered the retention and control over Sarawak to
be at this juncture a matter of paramount import-
ance. These were the principal commercial grounds
upon which he, for his part, entertained the view
he had endeavoured to express; but there were
others. A company had been established under the
name of the Borneo Company, which had commenced
and was now carrying on a large and beneficial trade
with Borneo. What the consequence would be of
that trade being lost by passing into the hands of the
Dutch was only too apparent. The exclusive
character of the Dutch trading with the East was
a matter of fact'; it was particularly adverted to in
the correspondence that passed in 1844 between
Lord Aberdeen and the representative of the Dutch
Government, the papers relative to which were pre-
sented to Parliament in 1854. The exclusive
character of that trading was the subject of a re-
monstrance on Lord Aberdeen's part, and even at
the present time the restrictive policy of the Dutch
had been pushed as far as it ever had been before,
and he had no hope of anything like a fair dealing
between us and the Dutch in those seas. They
therefore, upon those grounds maintained that every
interest in this country in a commercial sense was
dependent upon our allowing or not allowing
Sarawak to go into the hands of other parties, and
it would be a disparagement to us in the East if we
were to allow Sir James Brooke to retire from Sara-
wak and suffer the country to fall back into the
same state in which it was before Sir J. Brooke
went there. Those were the principal grounds,
taking the commercial view of the case; and he
ventured to ask his Lordship seriously to consider,
on the part of the Government, the proposals which
the deputation now made, which proposals were
two :—They asked, in the first instance, either to
take the State of Sarawak under British protection
—that is, formally to say to the world that Sara-
wak is under the British Crown, who will resent
any attack made upon it ; or else, if that view
should
for any reason not be an agreeable view to
the Government, that they would be prepared to
take a cession of the rights to the Crown. Sir
James Brooke's views were directed towards a pro-
tectorate ; he was in that condition of health which
would render it extremely doubtful whether he
would be ever able to return to Sarawak. He had
a nephew now in charge of the Government of
Sarawak, who was perfectly competent to dis-
charge all
the
duties of the Government
credit
to himself, and with the
same amount of
satisfaction which Sir
James Brooke himself
that he expressed the
sentiments, given. He believed
Sir James Brooke, but of sentiments, not only of
many
when he said that the public
gentlemen present,
Sir James Brooke's name still would prefer seeing
connected
administration of affairs in Sarawak, with the
should be placed in a situation and that he
occasional visit of a British ship of
war,
by the
ad
other means which the word " protector' aotre"by any
would
imply, and that he should be secured from any
ternal attack. or from insurrection among his oe:i;
people, which would be the consequence, in a great
degree, of the English protectorate being granted
to him. The deputation would not be, perhaps,
unprepared to hear that political consilierations
may suggest themselves to some minds as to the
inexpediency of such a step being taken. As to the
power the British Government had of adopting
Sarawak, that question was set at rest by the Je-
cided view that was taken byLord Aberdeen at the
time that the correspondence was passing between
himself and the Dutch Minister. They conceived
that the questions as to the position of the Dutch
and English interests were thoroughly considered
at the time ; the Dutch then stated the utmost of
their demands, and those demands were unequivo-
cally set aside by the English Government • and
they were of opinion that the view whi •ch Lord
Aberdeen then took was not •
only a right view, but
entirely consistent with thd • •
e policy an interests of

this country. In that view of the case they came
here to ask her Majesty's Government seriously to
give their consideration to this very important
question, and not to suffer the British character and
name in any way to be impeached by the with-
drawal of Sir James Brcokc f'rom Sarawak, and
much less that we should allow people who, in a
commercial sense, are entirely hostile to us, as the
Dutch are, to obtain possession of this state, when
the use which they would put it to would be to
damage and impede our interests in the East. He
believed he had now stated the views generally
entertained by the deputation present. There were
gentlemen there who would express the views of
those they represented from other parts of the
country, and there was a gentleman also present
who would be able to speak from his own personal
knowledge of the enormous resources in a mineral
point of view of the state of Sarawak.
Mr. TURNER said, that after the remarks made
by Mr. Crawford he scarcely thought it necessary
to do more than express the great importance at-
tached by the mercantile community of Liverpool
to this State. They were unanimously of opinion
that it was of vital consequence to their trade that
Sarawak should be maintained under the protection
of the British Government, so as to give to that
country those rights and privileges which are en-
joyed in this country ; and it was quite clear that
it should not be allowed to go to the Dutch, or any
other foreign country. It could not have escaped
his Lordship's notice that there was scarcely any
country in the world, in the Eastern seas, where
British merchants enjoyed that freedom of trade
which the British Government afford to foreign
merchants, and the greatest importance is attached
to the maintenance of this possession, which will
almost give the command of the China trade to
those who may hold it. His Lordship had already
heard from Mr. Crawford that there is a large field
of coal in the territory of Borneo, and held in his
hand a memorandum, made by an officer in the
Dutch navy, in which it appears that the Govern-
ment attach very great importance to the coal fields
there. I was sent to a merchant in Liverpool. The
gentleman states that he cannot give his name be-
cause it might compromise him with his Govern-
ment.
The Earl of DERBY—It is from an officer in the
Dutch navy ?
Mr. TURNER—Yes. The Dutch are extremely
jealous of any settlement in the Straits of Malacca,
or anyyhere in the Straits leading to China. They
have a large settlement close to Sarawak, and they
look with considerable anxiety to the decision of
her Majesty's Government on this point. There
had been paragraphs in foreign journals stinting
that his Lordship's Government have decided not
to encourage Sir James Brooke, and there was a
paragraph in the Singapore paper, which showed
that the Dutch Government are quite alive to the
desirability of increasing their possessions in Bor-
neo. All the merchants connected with the East
India trade and those best acquainted with the
country are of opinion that the retention in some
way or other by her Majesty's Government is
necessary, so as to secure the freedom of trade at
Sarawak, which can only be done either by a pro-
tectorate or some other mode which must be left to
her Majesty's Government. They think it of im-
portance not only that the trade with Borneo itself
should be protected, but also our anticipated trade
with China, the whole of which will pass through
that sea.
Mr. T. FAIRBAIRN said he appeared for another
large manufacturing district—Manchester. Very
soon after the return of Sir James Brooke from
Sarawak he was invited to Manchester, and a
petition to the Government was adopted and signed
by between eighty and ninety of the leading firms
of that city. At that time the India Bill to take
over the Indian territory to the Government was
not settled. The prayer of the petition was in
these words ,—" 1. To bring the future Govern-
ment of the Straits settlements under the direct
control of the Colonial Department of her Majesty's
Government. 2. To secure for the benefit of Bri-
tish commerce the manifold advantages, natural
and geographic, of the Sarawak country. 3. To
urge upon the Executive Government at once to
conclude arrangements with Sir James Brooke, the
present rajah of Sarawak, for the exercise of his
rights and powers either by making Sarawak at
once a British settlement, or by bringing it into
direct dependency upon the new Straits Govern-
ment." He might add, quite irrespective of the
benefit, that Sir James Brooke has conferred on
civilisation by his conduct in Sarawak, by the sup-
pression of piracy, and the organisation of order,
his trade with his own political capital had been
very remarkable. At the time of SiT J. Brooke's
settlement the town of Sarawak was not worthy of
the name. It was a straggling village, with a tribe
of about 1,000 or 1,200 ; at the present time there
is an ordinary town of 25,000 inhabitants, courts of
justice, mosques, and other matters indicative of civi-
lisation. In 1847 the trade was very small; then the
exports to Singapore did not exceed in value
£25,000 to £30,000. In 1857, during the lapse of
ten years, the value of the exports has increased to
£300,000, and the interests involved are very con-
siderable. There are close upon 100 English men
and women living under Sir James Brooke's Go-
vernment ; but the British subjects amount to
between 300 and 400 people. If Sir James Brooke
retired from that country it cannot stand alone.
The interests involved both as regards the lives of
hundreds of fellow countrymen and the amount of
capital invested on the faith of the protection
thrown over Sir James Brooke during a portion of
hii career is very serious. He was only speaking
the opinion of Manchester of those who are here.
The majority of those who signed the petition,
were in favour not of a protectorate, but that it
should be ceded to the British Government.
The Earl of DERBY—There was some gentleman
who wished to speak of his own personal know-
ledge with regard to the resources of Sarawak.
Mr. CRAWFORD—It was Mr. Coulson. He has
been employed in working the coal mines in

Sarawak:
Mr. COULSON said he had examined the coal
mines of Borneo, and he would only speak of what
he had seen. The extent of coalfield that he had
discovered there is 40 miles in length and 80 in
breadth, and very valuable coal it is, it being used
by the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and also
some other commercial steamers. They had also
opened a coal mine, which is at present at work.
The Earl of DERBY—Where is that coal mine ?
Mr. CouLsoN—lt is in the dependency of Sara-
wak, about 20 miles from the sea.
The Earl of DERBY—Within the Rajah Brooke's
territory ?
Mr. CouLsoN—Yes, my lord.
The Earl of DERBY—Within what has been
ceded to him ?
Mr. CouLsoN—They have laid down a tramway
of three miles, and the coal mines are in full ope•
ration. At present two Dutch steamers have been
there and taken_ coals from the colliery. They
have pronounced it a very good steam coal, and he
knew of a good many seams of coal in the district
from four to five feet in thickness, which could be
produced for about 6s. a ton, and from his expe-
rience of coal mines in this country he had no
hesitation in saying that it- is equal to a great
many of our Durham coals.
The Earl of DERBY. —To what extent have
those mines been worked?
Mr. ConEsoN said they had been worked under
the mountain for about 300 yards, and when he
left Borneo there were about 500 tons of coal in
the same steamer for Sin6apore, which sold for
about
6 dollars a ton, which is equal to 30s. in
Singapete. The mines were driven at the foot of
a bill, without any machinery. In fact, the gene-
ral coal devosits in the Isle of Borneo were very
easy of access -,-vithout any machinery.
The Earl of D..`:E331(. We have all been told a
,o.reat deal of the v.7.lue of coal in Labuan, and in
Sarawak itself; hitherto we have had no great
proofs by experience. It is now some time since
that territory has been occupied, and we have not
derived any advantage—:lo much so that the last
r,
Government were on the ,oint of giving up La-
buan, and abandoning it its a costly and useless
settlement.
Mr. CouLsoN.—There can belii3le doubt about
its value.

Mr. TURNER referred to a report written it'
the
Pacific Company from the managing director
,
the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company, re-
ferring to the subject of the Borneo coal.
Mr. FAIRBAIRN.—When you sold the coal at 6s.
a tog, do you know what the price of English coal
was at the same time ?

Mr. COULSON said he did not know what the
price was at the time; the average price of Eng-
lish eoal in Singapore was about 355.
Mr. FAIRBAIRN.—The price of English coal in
Singapore has averaged between six and seven
dollars.

Mr. COULSON.—The Borneo coal is equal to any-
thing we can get from India.
Mr. CRAWFORD.—Thera is another production of
Sarawak, which is antimony, which is used for
type, and, mixing up the two questions together,
when we lo'ok, at some future day, to the removal
of the paper duty, that maybe of importance.
Mr. TURNBit.—Is not the Sarawak coal con-
s sidered generally better than the Labuan coal ?
Mr. COULSON.—So far as it had been tried, the
former coal in Sarawak 'was not so good as that
discovered lately.
YAIRBAIRN—The evidence of Mr. Coulson is
that the last coal discovered is superior to that
found before.
Lord GODERICH said he did not wish to detain
his lordship afterithhiemfulblusttahteembeenitiemveadde h bye t s e
who hadmight
of Sir I. Brooke, and all
say
it wasPrthemc d,oep(inion