§ MR. HARRY FOSTER (Suffolk, Lowestoft)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Government have considered the three alternative courses, recommended by the British Resident in Pahang, with regard to the policy to be adopted towards that State, as stated in his Annual Report for 1891, recently presented to Parliament, namely, raising a loan, either in the open market or otherwise, to provide for an annual expenditure during the next five years of two or three hundred thousand dollars on public works; attaching the administration of Pahang (qua the European staff) to some more prosperous State, such as Selangor, and combining the budgets; returning to the system in force when he was appointed Resident of Pahang in 1888—namely, leaving all collections, as well as the general administration, in the hands of the Sultan and his Native officials, the Resident having only a Sikh bodyguard and one or two European assistants, and having regard to the strong recommendation contained in the concluding paragraph, whether the Government have come to any determination upon the subject?
§ MR. S. BUXTONThe Secretary of State is not prepared at present to make any statement on the subject of Pahang. The decision largely depends on financial considerations. Lord Ripon is in communication with the Governor of the Straits Settlements on the whole question, and is giving it his most careful attention.