New-York tribune., 1899-01-20

organized. Railroads were built: there arc now
about two hundred miles Of them Schools were
onened And in brief the States were endowed
with all the appurtenances of civilization and
started fairly on the road TO enlightenment.
All this. as we have seen. was done with a
staff Of British officials that seemed absurdly
small In contrast with the scope and amount Of
work performed. Never. perhaps. unless in the
case of the illustrious Gordon in China and in
the Soudan has much been achieved by so
suoall q stan. The secret OF It. or the secrets,
rather may readily be discerned. In the first
nlace Il might have been said truly OF these
british administrators It was Of another little
band OF mighty deeds:
uandful OF men az were. we were English In
heart and In llmD, ..,. . .a
stroag with the strength OF the race. 10 command
10 obey, TO endure
They had been as we have said, selected sole
70 ,or merit and ability. and they were accord
,,glv CAPABLE OF doing the largest amount OF
.,ork IN the best possible manner. They were
not novices nor raw recruits: they were ex-
merits and veterans And, In the second place,
+bov succeeded in educating and discplining the
o,,ves Malays and Chinese. into efficient and
trustworthy aids.
one Of the most difficult problems to deal
nth was slavery. That abominable institution
~,sted in one form another, IN all the States.
II must be abolished. for 1t was altogether re-
,,.ror+ - the genius OF British civilization
Vet II was go closely connected with the Gus
.ons y not the religion. OF the natives that
orv abrupt attack upon It would seem like In
>r,neing upon them, and that the British were
,,,odoed not 10 do But little tact and patience
.o,yed the problem Time, education and moral
,oerence said the Governor. will do all. In
eo,aneor and Negri Sembian slavery was not
onscally sanctioned by the native rulers. but
-pas tacitly countenanced as method OF COL
1ecting debts. Insolvent debtors were seized by
their creditors and set to working out their
Indebtedness: and It usually took one lifetime
IN do e. In those States the Residents simply
discussed the matter with the Sultans. and per-
shaded them to have all such cases adjudicated
nv the courts, so that II might be determined
lust how long each man must work IN order 10
free himself; and also to forbid the continuation
of the system by extension to new cases Ihus
IN a short time slavery was abolished. without
any formal proclamation on the subject
In Petak the case was worse. Slavery and
slave trading existed there In their most detest-
abIe forms. Not only debtor enslaved
hut so were his wife and children. and his chill
drens children forever There was also' es-
neclaly among the Chinese. much enslavement
Of women for immoral purposes. The first step
taken by the Resident there was to refuse 10
assist. or to let his subordinates assist. In cap
turing runaway slaves. That is, he repudiateo
the Fugitive Slave Law. Next, he insisted that
creditors must accept payment OF debts ana
thereupon grant full release to the ensiaVeo
debtors end their families. In the third place
ne fol bade the enslavement OF any moro lree
men, In the fourth place. cruelty 70 slaves was
prohibted And finally he prevailed upon the
native Government TO redeem all remaining
slaves by itself paying their debts. This last
step was taken in the fall of 1882. the act OF
manllnlisson TO be completed in one year from
that time. The result Of IT was that masters
everywhere, In an enthusiastic Impulse set
their slaves free "for the glory OF God?' ana re-
fused to accept any ransom for them from the
state while the slaves refused to leave their
masters, but remained with them as voluntary
servants at any rate Of wages the masters
might give Thus slavery vanished from aIi the
states.