The Indianapolis journal., 1898-01-31
TINY UTOPIA OF THE SEA
ISLAND OF CoCOs-KEELING, WHICH
is RULED BY MORAL FORCE.
1t Is British Possession, Has a Pop
uIatfon OF Four Hundred and Three,
and No Police Force.
London Telegraph.

history OF winch, uuly recorded III tHe
archives of the Colonial Office. is so ro-
mantle as to recall by way of suggestion
some of the experiences of Defoe's i'm
mortal Robinson Crusoe." The territory in
question is named Cocos- Keeling. one of a
group of some twenty small islands, spoken
of generally as the Cocos. and described
as IAN island-speckled ring of coral hold
ing its own against the waves" The
islands, varying in size from one to seven
miles in length, are connected under shall
low water by the hard cement rock on
which they rest, and which is formed Is
the disintegration through the blows of the
heavy surf of an enormous quantity of
corals and marine shells. Outside the
islands and nearly all round the group
natural barrier protects the lagoon, and
seaward of this bar there is a sudden slope
Into very deep water The principal island,
where a colony is now established, is called
Cocos- Keeling, for the reason that it WAS
discovered early in the seventeenth century
by one William Keeling, who, as curios-
ly painted wooden tablet in Carisbrooke
Church in the Isle of Wight records, was
Groom of the Chamber of our Sovereign
Lord King James anc General for the Hon
orable East India Adventures" 1t was
not, however, until the present century that
the place had, so far as is known. any
human inhabitants In 1925 traveller from
Scotland, Mr.. Clunies Ross, effected land
ing, and finding the Islands unoccupied, re-
turned with the characteristic enterprise
of his race, to his native country to induce
some of his compatriots to go forth and
colonize. On arriving with his recruits in
1897 he found that another adventurer, one
Alexander Hare, with about 200 followers
slaves who had been presented to him by
the Rajah of Bandjer-had taken possession.
This did not deter Ross from his enterprise,
but the two factions lived on bad terms
with each other. and though many of the
scotch colonlsts after q time Withdrew,
Hare, AN IDLE man of the most eccentric
habits, gradually deserted by his 1oi-
lowers who transferred allegiance to Ross
In 1854 Mr.. Clunies Ross died. and his son
became the uncrowned ruler of the novel
young colony He died in 1SI' and was
succeeded Dy his son, MIR. Ge - = Clunies
Ross, who had had the assistar = aud sup
port Of various members of the same fam
lily. In 1886 the territory was formally pro-
claimed to be part of the Straits Settle
ments, but a grant-in-fee OF It was made
to Mr.. Ross, who continues TO be the adj
ministrator on almost the same lines of
absolute chieftainship as were follow ed by
his father and grandfather After the
nominal annexation of the Cocos to the
Straits Settlements it was thought hat ii
might be desirable TO introduce tine penal
code of the latter under a government Off
cial in the place of Mr.. Ross's personal
control, but so strong was the proof that
the later was best suited to tF condition
Of the community and TO the universal de-
sire of its members that the suggested
change was never carried out, though Mr.
Ross had introduced certain small reforms
from time TO time on the advice OF me
colonial authorities.
HOW THE PEOPLE LIVE.
The population of Cocos-Keeling. when
the census was taken last year, was 594, of
whom 403 were Cocos born, principally of
Malay origin, the remaining 191 being Ban
.tamese coolies. These latter are engaged
in Batavia by Ross's agent for such terms
as they agree to-generally for ten years
They receive a free allowance of seven
bamboos of rice week, plus ffrewood, CO
coanut oil, salt and medicine;. they are al
lowed the use Of small plots of land and
supplied with building materials, niay take
cocoanuts for their own use, and fish any
where. Apart from this payment in kind.
they are entitled to ten rupees month for
husking cocoanuts. Whatever money they
do not spend is retained for them and paid
TO them at BATAVIA at the end OF their
service. The Cocos-born workers earn
slightly higher rates. The only currency in
the island consists of notes stamped on
sheepskns and signed by the head of the
Ross family, who has a small fleet of boats
going to and from Batavia, and supplies all
goods required by the inhabitants, having
complete monopoly in that respect, no
other shops or stores being permitted. Mr..
Ross has consistently refused to introduce
metallic currency, mainly on the grounds
that, besides not beng wanted, It would
lead to gambling. immortality and other
crimes or vices from which the place is
now free. There is no police force, but the
inhabitants in turn keep regular watch at
night against fire and over the safety of the
boats Very little attention is paid to school,
tical training given them by the Ross fam
lily in such useful lines as ship
and boat building, carpentry. joining,
smithing, and house rearing. In regard to
marriage and divorce. the Malay laws
being gradually superseded by English GUS
toms. More than one wife is unknown, and
divorce denGnOS misconduct
Every young man has to build himself a
house before marrying. When Mr.: Ross
1t was the practice of the husbands to beat
their wives. BY the adoption of somewhat
harsh steps he succeeded in making them
abandon the custom, but he now ackuowl-
edges that he has often been tempted to
regret that he ever interfered. since the
women being secure from all fear of cor
poral punishment have completely sub
dued the men-fok hardly any one of whom
can now be said to be really the head of
his own household" No opium or other
poison Is permitted TO be brought into
Cocos-Keeling, but toddy-drnking. is in
dulged in and cannot be prevented owing
to the ease with which the toddy can be
made from the raw material that abounds
Except for little weaknesses of that kind,
Mr.. Rosss subjects appear to lead con-
tented, prosperous and healthy lives. with
3us any unres5Iul desire 1or ehnnge, HIS
on the neighboring Christmas island.
THE SCOTCH BOSS
That the boss" of Coccs-Keeling is re-
markable Individual even for Scotchman,
must be obvious from the prolonged sue
cess OF his administration, as well as from
the unwillingness of the authorities to sup
plant his authority by the institution of
more orthodox form of government. A man
who for so many years has been able to
govern a mixed community Of 500 or 600
people by moral forces alone is an interest
ing personality. and in the Colonial Office
papers respecting this distant British pos
session there are many testimonies to his
worth. As stated above, there are no police
on the island. In former days Mr.. Ross
lived with his life in his hand, and though
diSdaining to have watchmen or guards
lest such protection should be ascrbed TO
compelled to sleep in snatches only, This
habit remained, SO that even now, when cir
cumstanceS have greatly changed, he is un-
able TO rest for more than an hour or two
at time. In former days the population
was largely composed OF fugitives from JUS
tice as well as every class of bad char
Rcter from the neighboring island of Java.
That Mr. Ross could control these lawless
people was due to the fact that he excelled
I'm all their pursuits and had never been
known 10 show fear. Even now. though he
is approaching sixty years. no man ON the
islands can successfully compete with him
building, or any other test of endurance or
skill ON the death of his father. thirty
five years ago. the present proprietor called
together all the people and asked if 1t was
their wish that he should take charge of the
islands. 1t agreed unanimously that he