Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, March 6, 1910, Page 20

2 THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: MARCH 6, 1910. How the - I - a8 D ‘ British Are Developing a Jungle and Remaking a Nation W G TN e GCOVERNMENT OFFICESAT KUALA L (IMPUR, (Copyright, 1910, by ¥Frank G. Tarpenter.) INGAPORE, 1910.—(Speclal Cor- respondence of ‘Che iee.)—1 want to tell of the new ments the Malays. gener ago this was savage andsthe It had neither were n you among atlon move- A peninsula country a Jungle. railroads, there for travelers and the wilderness was inhabited chiefly by wild beasts and wild men. Today the English have taken hold of it and are mak- ing it blossom like the irrigated lands ot our-mew west. They have brought order out of chaos, and are building roads and raliroads, establishing schools and laying out towns. In the Federated Malay states, which contain something like 1,000,000 in- habltants, more than 600 miles of rail- ways have been bullt and more than 3,000 miles of cart roads and bridie paths. There are hotels at the capitals and outside them new gdvernment rest houses, where travelers can stay overnight. Thirty-five years ago the people of the country had never seen a postage stamp. Today the post offices are. handling more than 10,000,000 pieces of mail every year, and the Ppost office savings banks running into the of dollars, resting places have hundreds of deposits thousands Laws, Courts and Schools. The population is rapidly increasing. It has more than doubled since the English took hold, and it is being transformed from savagery to clvilization. The laws have been established and courts have been established. There fs a good police force, and the British ov- ernmeiit has a battalion of Sikhs, known as the Malay States Guard, who keep ex- cellent order. Schools have been started, Lospitals erected and public works of var- Yous kinds are well under way. In the state of Perak more than 10 miles of canals and irrigation ditches have been dug, and at the close of last year In the neighborhood of 160,000 acres of rubber trees had been planted. There are now some- thing ltke 20,000,000 such trees on the var- jous farms, and tens of thousands will be et out this year. The forests are being exploited, mines opened and the country prospected for tin, silver and gold. From one state alone as much as $80,000,000 worth of tin has been taken, and in all something ke 12000 ounces of gold are mined every year. In addition they are finding lead, iron and copper, as well as mercury, blsmuth, silver and zinc. The country is sald to be very rich, but no one knows yet what It contains, although & rude sort of mining has been going on for ages. The Malays are noted for thelr work in the “precious metals,” and the sultans of the past had goldsmiths and carvers of silver, lvory and wood. Some of them demanded gold and silver trees and flowers a part of their annual tribute, and the Malay spears and krises ‘nlaid with gold have always been noted. FHN Malays of the Peninsula. But_before 1 go further let something about the Malays as they live here In thelr own home on the tip end of Asia. They are the first cousins of our Filipinons and belong to the race which has overrun the Dutch Kast Indies. ‘There are something ke 25,000,00 of them in Java, a large number in Borneo, and mlllions in" the Philippine islands. The natives here are better looking than the me tell you Moros, but they have the same Drown skin, the same sturdy form and swaggering ways. They are clean-limbed, well made and by no means bad lookin Down here at the straits they dress in a bag-llke skirt known as the sarong, above which is a jacket which falls to their hips. The sarong reaches from the walst to the calf; it is a gray-figured calico bag, often of plaild, which Is open at both top and bottom, and is of the same width, throughout. When the Malay puts on his clothes, he steps into his bu.’ ralses its top to his walst and by a twist of the wrist, fastens it there In a knot. Under the bag he may wear calico drawers, or it poor he may be naked. The rich wear pantaloons of bright colors or white duck, but the sarong is always over the rest of their clothing. It seems to be the badge of the race, as are also the hand- kerchlef turban and sandals or slippers. Here at the BStraits of Malacca the Malays have been contaminated by for- elgners. The Europeans have taught them to drink and through the Chinese they have become opium smokers. They are not so good consequently as the people of the wilds. They are naturally lazy and have become the loafers of this part of the world. Some of them act as coachmen for the rich Chinese or Europeans. Others do light work about the towns, and a few llve in villages scattered over the lslands laboring only enough to keep soul and body together. Now and then one meets a rich Malay from the mainland, the son of an officlal or perhaps a sultan, but as a rule the Malays of the straits are shift- less and poor and they grow worse off every year. & Federated States. It one would seo the race at its best, h should go to the peninsula and travel through the British states. There are other provinces belonglng to Stam and Jehore where the progress is by no means 80 Breat, but In the federated states he will find towns which have sprung up In the jungle and public bulldings equal to those of Japan and India. But first let me tell you what thess states are. If you will take your map of Asta and look at the Malay peninsula, you Wwill see that it begins on the equator and runs 1,000 miles or so northward, the upper part belonging to Slam. About four or five hundred miles from the straits these British possessions begin. At the top s Perak, not as blg as New Jersey, and farther down the coast, Selangor and Negrl Sembilan, Which combined, are of about the same slze as Perak, while east of them lles the big province of Puhang, which is almost as large as Massachusetts and New Jersey combined. The four states altogether have more than 26,000 square miles, or about 2,00) more than West Virginia. Each state s ruled by a native sultan with a British officlal as resident adviser. The sultan fs merely a4 puppet and the Britisher pulls the string. Under the sultan @are numerous native officlals, the most of whom have English agents to help them, the whole government being similar to what the Dutch have in Java, The com- mon people think they are ruled by Malays, but the better classes know that the British are the real power behind every office and that John Bull is king These sultans live in great state. Thelr uniforms are decorated with gold leaf. They have gold-hilted swords, and when the: 8o about they have servants who carry gorgeous umbrellas to shield them from , / - EACH STATE 15 RULED BY ANATIWE SULTAN the sun. They have as retainers, men with spears and swords, and the common people bow down to the ground in their honor. Each sultan has his palace and a certain amount of money allotted to him by the British. The taxes are levied and collected under the direction of the British, and the revenues are expended as they prescribe. In Kuala Lumpur. The chief city of these states is in Sel- angor! It {s Kuala Lumpur, and it has a population of about 40000 people. Tt is there that the head offices of the British government are, although the states are ruled by the governor of Singapore. Kuala Lumpur may be reached by steamer from Singapore and by rall from the coast. It lles some distance inland, and has rall- roads connectibg it with the other states, The town has magnificent ‘government of- fices, several clubhouses, a hotel and num- erous stores. It is in & rich tin mining dis- triet, and it has a large population of Chi- nese, who are elther interested in or work in the mines. Outside the city plantations of coffee, pepper and cocoa have been started and the state has recently been granted lands on speclal terms for the planting of sago, pepper, gambler and rubber. The government consists of the sultan, his highness Tilah-El-Din-Suleiman-Shah, and the British restdent, H. Conway Bel- fleld. There I a council of state connected with them and there are separate offices for the secretary of Chinese affairs, for lands, mines, revenue, treasury and public works. The English clerks number several hundred, and in addition there are other forelgners engaged In mining and export- ings The town has a park, a native bazar and a gambling farm licensed by the state. The Britlsh claimi that the Chinese will gamble anyhow, and jthat the best way to restrict the vice and to make money out of it is to tax it Gambling and Opium. Sir Frank Swettenham, who was the resident general of the country for a long while, claims that the gambling habit Is ineradicable among both Malays and Chinese, and that it would take one po- liceman to every Chinese to stop it. He says the Malay rulers object to having public' gambling forbldden, and that they refuse to glve up the revenues which come from it. According to law, gambling is now licensed only in places and in bulld- ings approved by the police, and. that Within certaln hours. It is provided that it must be for ready money and in the halls open to all. The players are nearly all miners. The men who own the gambling houses aid In the suppression of lotteries. The oplum curse is handled in about the same way as the gambling. It Is farmed out to the highest bidder and he alone has the right to deal in raw oplum and to make it into the chandu in which it Is used for smoking. With the con- sent of the government he gives out licenses for the sale of this stuff and sells it at the price fixed by his contract. A chest of Indlan opium costs about $150 and upward. When It is turned into chandu it s worth $2600 and perhaps $3,000. So, you see, there Is a big profit in the business. The seling of liquors is farmed out the same way, as is also pawnbroking. It may be questionable whether such things are creditable to a Christian government. They seem & blot on the British administration, which is otherwise almost beyond criticlsm. v States Without Debtas. There federated states are among the tew colonies of the world which have no public debt. | They take in more than they spend every year and none of them owes * public works, THE GUARD OF THE SULTAN & cent. The revenus Of Ferak amounts to something like $15000000 and its ex- Dpenditures are less than $10,000,00. Selanger takes in over $10,000,000 per annum and it costs only about $7,000000 to run the state. Nigrl Sembllan has receipts of 32,200,000 and spends about $2,000,00. The only state which runs at all behind ls Pahang, and ft is yet on the edge of its development The governments are managed for the DPeople and the money ralsed goes back to them. ), The new raliways are almost self-sup- porting. Thelr receipts last year were 6,200,000 and their expenditures just about 100,00 more. This, in connection with the new tracks, which they are bullding and the fact that raflroads are practically new to the country, {s surprising. The customs receipts last year brought in over $12,000,000 and licenses almost $5,000,000, the latter ! being largely made up farm ernment spent last year over $5,000,000 on and it {s encouraging the development of the country along the lines of agriculture. In all the colonles planta- Hons are being set out and large agricul- tural estates started. I have before me & list of thoss now under operation in Selangor. They embrace such crops as rubber, coffes, cocoanuts, cloves and pep- per and they are largely owned by syndi- cates and other assoclations. Many of the estates are of 1000 acres, and some of 10,000 and 20,000 acres each, Among the chief crops of the Malays are rice and cocoanuts. The Chiness grow sugar, and the government has started pep- Der plantations, and there are many good pepper farms. The British have also Intro- Quoced silk worms and have expended large sums on the dntroduction of Arablan coffee, rubber and tea, ws well as cinchona. The einchona falled, but the tea and coffee suc- ceeded, and eventually plantations of this kind will be set out. I have already writ- ten as to rubber. Many of the new plan- tations are of para trees, which begin to yleld a protfit of $100 per acro per annum at seven years and which should produce $200 per acre at fourteen years, It Is estimated that when the trees are 2 vears old the profits will be §760 per acre per annum. Tho trees grow well and yleld abundantly. At 19 years old, one recently gave twenty-five pounds of rubber at a single tepping. That tree was ‘ninety feet high, and at three feet from the ground it had a girth of elghty-elght fect. At present the planters find it hard to get laborers. The Malays are not anxlous to work, the Chinese are miners and it has been necessary to go to Indla to find work- men for the plantations. These are brought here In large numbers and seem to thrive. AT Drones of he Orlent. Indeed, 1 doubt whether any civiliza- tion will make the full-blcoded Malay an industrious man. This is true of the Philip- pincs, and you will find few steady workers among the Malays of the straits settlements of the Dutch East Indlez. These people do not belleve in laying up money where moth and rust will corrupt. They want only enough to support life, to dress in good style and to give a feast when their chil- dren are married. Their needs are few, and when supplied they lay off untll want comes. Some of the rulers tell me they cannot get their own subjects to work thelr plantations and the sultan of Johore, who governs the state of the mainland opposite gambling, | clgarettes and clgars, oplum and pawnbroking receipts. The gov- of five and six with Singapore, says (hat he has (o get Chinese coolles to do work, for his own will not labor I have visited some of the Malay vil- lages. Their houses are scattered about under the trees near tho roads. They are usually huts about fifteen feet square, made of bamboos or boards with w thateh of palm leaves. The average house has only one or two rooms, the peopls eating or sleeping where the cooking s done. Thelr kitchen furniture fs an fron pan and a coconnut ladle, with perhaps & pot for thelr soups and stews. The bed i a mat spread on the floor, and the family sprawl there at full length while resting, The people of the interior live ot unlike the poorer classes of our Phillipptne Is. lands, and their customs are much the same. Nearly every one chews the betel nut, and men, women and children smoke I have seen girls clgarettes In thelr mouths, and the bables are taught to smoke by the time they are able to crawl, As to the betel hablt, this is universal, It consists of chowing the nut of the Arepa palm mixed with tobacco and lime, As the people chew they spit, and their sallva is the color of blood. The habit turns the teeth black, swells the tongue and puffs out the lips and mak; them crack. The chewing is sad to take Way hunger and fatigue, and the habit onos acqlred 1s seldom broken. I see 0ld Women pounding the nuts to a powder, that they may masticate them between thelr tooth. less guma. Tho better classes have betel spittoons, and betel boxea for the lime, leaves and nuts. Some high officlals have thelr chewing malds—girls who carry about the betel sets, and offer the deliclous mu~ terfals to them from time to time, preseats ing the spittoons at intervals, 4 Malay Women. These Malays, like our Moros, are Mo« hammedans. They study the Koran, keep Ramazan, and if they can dfford it hawe several wives. The girls are cspectally fine looking. They have light brown skins, long black halr and béautiful eyes. Thely noses are inclined to be flat, but thely teoth are like pearls where they are not betel chewers, and they have high fore- heads end good faces. Many have small walsts and small feet with square toes. They are sometimes married at 14, hut the more common age is from 17 to 20. Tha parents arrange the marages, and the wedding s long, tedlous and expensive, Wedding presents are usually in and it {s expected &lve what he can After the marriage the husband fre- Quently leaves his wife with her parents for soveral months, and then takes her home. He s expected to have one houss for each wife, and it is his duty to (reat each of his four wives altke, and to Aivide up his time equally among them. 1f he makes a present to one, he ought to give & present to each of the others, and if he does not there is arouble. Divorce is quite as easy In Malaysia as In other Mohammedan lands, hut the Malay woman has the right of her own volition to free herself from her husband, She need only wait 100 days before she may marry again. The married women are to a certain extent independent. Many of them assist thelr husbands, and in some of the states offices with salanies are given to the ladies connected with the court, FRANK G. CARPENTF his men money, that every guest will Short Sharp Snap Shots Selected from Several He Was Used to Them. INCOLN," sald a veteran Chicago Journalist, “used to laugh skep- tically over that scurrilous book, ‘Mrs. Trollope's Travels in America.’ “Lincoln used Mrs. Trollope's book were story of the senator and gospel. “This story—Lincoin often told it—was about & certain senator to whom a Wash- ington hostess sald at dinner “Senator, what kind of fish prefer? ** ‘Plaice, madam, thank ator answered politely. “A gentleman the other side of room then said, with a loud laugh ** *Oh, senator, still a place hunter, en?' ‘What's that to you, you dern stranger? exclaimed the senator, indig- nently, and, whipping out his revolver, he shot the punster dead. “But afterwards, when the joke was explained to him, the senator had u good laugh, and confessed that he had been rather hasty; and, Indeed, to show that lie bore the humorist no lasting grudge, he.went to the man's funeral.''—Ch Journal. to say true the that then plaie it tho was do yoa you,' the sen- on the TR Morgan’s Tale of a Minister. J. Plerpont Morgan, at the recent dio- cesan convention in New York, amused & €roup of clergymen with a story of a min- ister. e was as lgnorant, this good man, of financlal matters,” sald Mr. Morgan, “as the average financler ls ignorant of mat- ters eccleslastical. “He once recelved a check—the first he had over got In his lfs=and took it to & bank for payment. *'But you must endorse the check,' said the paying teller, returning it through his ttle window. ‘Endorse 1 & puszled tone. ‘Yes, of course. on the back.' "1 see’ sald the minister. And, turn- sald the old minister, tn It must be endorsed Ing the check over, he wrote across the back of it: ‘I heartily endorse this check.' cinnatl Enquirer. '—Cin- A Good, Straight Lane, President Taft has just reappointed Franklin K. Lane for a full term on the Interstate Commerce commission, showing that President Taft knows a good Lane when he sees him. President Roosevelt put Lane on the commission In the first place to fill out an unexpired term, and put him on at just the time when the Hepburn bill came along and the Inter- state Commerce commission was galvan- ized Into acute and arbitrary action. Lane arrived from California, grabbed hold with both hands and has been one of the most valuable, clear-headed, hard-working members ever had. There are those who think a government Job iy & snap, says a writer in the Satur- day Journal. Some of them are, but most of them are not. The men who are put In the judicial and executive positions in the service of this generous government —which is sald with all fingers crossed— the generous part of it, 1 mean—work harder than any set of men of similar apility in the wide world. It is a great and a dignitied honor to be a justice of the supreme court of the United Btates. Also, It Is & Job of work that keeps the great and dignified justices laboring by duy and by night nearly all the time. 8o with the Interstate Commerce com- mission. Since our paternal executives be- &an regulating the rafiroads the work that has been plied on the Interstate Commerce commission is appalling. There will be a switching case, for example, with & prin- clple involved, and along will come & fow miles of opinion and & few tons of brief, and, after sitting all day listening to dreary talk about preferentials and dif- ferentials, and all that, there are nights and nights of dull toll, searching through books, construing opinions, examining evi- dence and dolng a dosen Aispliriting and deadly tasi Work? Why, the members the commission of the Interstate Commerce work all the time. Lane was born In Prince Edward Island, but was moved to California so soon after that event that, It one s not too critical about It, one can almost say he is a born California. In any event, he s a real Californian, whether he was born there or not, Is the Pacific coast representative on the commission, and one of the biggest men, Intellectually, we have In our pulsat- ing governmental midst. Lane is smooth and round, cherublc. His face is round, his head Is round and not embarrassed with any too much hair; his chest is round—everything about him is round. He is a student, a worker, an impressive orator, a corking after-dinner speaker, a pleasant com- panion and & big lawyer. A lot of the multitudinous and Intricate work of the commission falls to him, and he handles it skillfully and expeditiously. e e The Pope and His Friend: The pope remembers old friends and when he knows that some person he Is acquainted with s in Rome he never falls to grant an audience, reports the New York Sun. A few days ago a salling vessol from Malta was shipwrecked on the Roman coast. Four men of the crew were drowned and the remaining seven swam ashore and were rescued with great difficulty by some shepherds. The master and mate were injured and they were conveyed to one of the hospitals in Rome. The pope read about the ship- wreck in the newspapers and the name of one of the men sounded familiar to him “I think that I must have known this man called Rugler in Venice, where he used to come on a schooner from Malta,” sald the pope to his secretary, “and I would like to see him.* An audience was arranged and Rugler, the mate, went up to the Vatican. The pope kept him over an hour in his private library, heard the story of the shipwreck and preseated him with a gold medal. “I saw your holiness in Venice once, years ago,” sald the mate commission sort of “To be sure answered the pope. “I remembered your name and the Vow you told me about, the vow you made when you were shipwrecked once before. Do you still keep it?" “Yes, your holiness, and I havo increased " answered the man He then told the pope that he ascribed the rescue to a repetition of the old vow, namely, that he would fast on bread and water twico every week for tho rest of his life. “But you already fasted twice every week for the other vow and now you will have to eat bread and water on foyr days our of seven,” exclaimed the pope, then he added: *“You are an old man and“t is cruel to starve yourself, so I prohibit you from keeping both vow The scaman expostulated. He said a bargain was a bargain, and as God had saved his life he was bound to fulfill his promises. The pope Insisted. He tried to convince the seaman that the vow was not binding, as it was too hard for a man of his age, but realizing that it was useless to argue the point he had a regular brief of dispensation drawn out there and then, signed and sealed it in the form and he handed it to the seaman, sayin “If you do not obey this you will be ex- communicated, and this exempts you from fasting." The seaman then bowed his head and promised to obey. i Only a Plece of Coral. The two men had not met for years. The man from out of town looked the other man over, “Same old Jim,” he sald. “Awfully glad to see you again. Strange how such old friends will drift apart. 50 you'rs married The other man nodded. ‘““Three years ago.” “Well, well. And I never heard of it untll I met Jack Ransim last week. Wha that? He was still studying the other man' appearance and his eye caught sight of & segment of cotal that dangled from his friend's watch fob. He lifted it and looked at it more closely. The surface of the coral ‘was roughened by slight Indentions. “Some sort of token, eh?' he rattled on, “You always wae a great chap for picking up worthless trifles. That's a queer charm.' He looked up and caught sight of the other man's face. “Why, 1 beg your pardon, Jim," he cried. “That's all right,” said the other man, a little unsteadily “Only, you sée, the boy whose teeth made those marks—he was nearly 2—died—last summer."—Cleveland Plain Dealer. Attorney. Agresd with the Court. A lawyer came Into court drunk, when the judge id to him “Sir, I am sorry to see you in a situation which is & disgrace to yourself and family and the profession to which you belong.” This reproof elicited the following col- loquy: “Did your honor speak to me?" “I did. I said, sir, that, in my opinion, you disgraced yourself and family, the court and the profession by your course of con- duet.” May i—i—it please your honor, I have been an attorney in—in—in this c-court for fifteen years, and, permit me to say, your honor, that this is the first correct opinion I ever knew you to glve.'—Dundes Ad- vertiser. » Senator Tillman, wrecks, sald: ‘“There is, I think, too much hustle, too much hurry, about some of our rallroads. This hustle, when we turn to the year's unpardonable casualties, seems as Inde- cent as the I Taylor case. “At 81 Taylor's funeral the undertaker were tones. “‘Too bad,' sald the undertaker, ‘that poor Sis wife wasn't with him when he passed away. How did it happen? “‘Mrs. Taylor, the doctor whispered, ‘was uptown at the time ordering her mourning outfit.’ “The undertaker, with & bitter wmile, turned away to supecvise the funersl pro- discussing rallway the doctor and conversing in low cesslon. *‘Hold on, gentlemen; he sald sternly. bearer?" ' ‘He's upstairs,’ another pallbearer ex- plained, ‘proposing to the widder.' "—New York Times. this won't do,’ ‘Where is the sixth pall- L Delighttal Limelight Man, Forbes Robertson, at a dihner In New York, pralsed the American critical sense. “But,” he sald, sighing, “lsn’t your crit- fclsm in its clarity and directness too cruel sometimen? “I remember a brother actor who played one night In a small western town. At the climax of the third act of his play the limelight was alweys thrown upon him. In this town, however, the lime- lght man shot the light nine or ten feot to the left and it was from the blackest shadow that my friend had to make his best speech. “Naturally, at the end of the act he In- dignantly asked the limelight man why the deuce the light hadn't been thrown wh it belonged. fly in the way,' the answered, biting & chew tobacco. “‘Why didn't you move the fly, shouted my friend. “*The limelight man rolled his tobacco to the other cheek, looked at my friend dreamily and drawled as he turned on his heel: 1t ye could act, T guess ye wouldn't want no limelight.” "—8t. Louls Globe- Democrat. limelight man trom a plug of then?' Far Fetched. George F. Martin, the tobacco expert, said, as he lit a Havana oigar: ‘“We Americans should be thankful for our ftobacco. It I8 the best and the chespest In the world. I have just re- turned from London, and there I found that & shilling clgar scarcely equaled an American nickel one. “The Londoumers are indifferent about thelr tobucco—indifferent and blase like an omuibus conductor I saw in Oxford = Sources for Sunday street. You know the London omnibus, It & a double-decker. If you sgamon 10D you must go up and down by a| Wy steep statr. “Well, this blase conductor pulled up his bus at Regent circus, and the ladies bound for Peter Robinsori's eagerly got out. But one fat lady, who had been sit- ting on top, came down the steep ang winding stalr very slowly. Her skirt flapped around her ankles, and at every step sho stopped and thrust It carefully down. The conductor waited with a bored expression, his hand on the bell rope, but he lost patience when the fat lady stopped for the fifth or sixth time to. thrust down her blllowing skirt, and he burst out ea- gorly ‘Now, then, lydy, ‘urry, Figgers ain’t no treat to me,’ olis Journal eahn't yout "—Mihneap- oo An Unseen Bounce, A certain Eplscopal clergyman fn West Philadelphia recelved a most inhospitable reception the other night when he went to call on a member of his vestry. The vestry man In question was alone In the house, the servants being out, when he heard a ring at the bell. Going down stalrs he found an Intoxicated negro, who demanded money for a drink. Highly incensed, the vestryman went back upstairs, afte orderiug the man away, but hardly had he seated him self when the bell rang for a second time. A wecond visit to the door found the same negro back again, and the vestryman, tho, oughly aroused, selzed the offende by shoulder and pushed his down tye steps While all this was going'on the clergy- man was walking down the street, and a fow minutes later had mounted the ste; of his vestryman’s house and rung VS‘ bell. He 6tood with his back to the @ when suddenly, to his astonishment, the portal flew open, a man rushed out and he recelved a most painful kiek, sending him flylng down the siippery steps. It required a lot of explanation and apology to closs the breach caused by the inaident. The clergyman and his vestryman are still on rether cool terma, » -3