HC Deb 28 July 1908 vol 193 c1226
SIR EDWARD SASSOON

I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies the value of the export and import trade of Brunei for the last year for which figures can be obtained; whether a poll tax of $2 per head has been imposed on the Kadayans in the Muara district, and, if so, by whose authority; whether such an imposition is not directly in contravention of Clause 3 in the Farms lease held by His Highness the Rajah of Sarawak from the late Sultan of Brunei; whether it was proposed to exact a similar tax from the Brunei Malays; and whether the cause of remitting, or of not imposing, such tax in such quarters was the expressed or the anticipated intention of those Malays to emigrate from Brunei.

COLONEL SEELY

I am unable to furnish any reliable figures as to the Trade of Bruni. In 1906 the dutiable imports were valued at $60,878 and the dutiable exports at $1,560, but no record was taken of the value of articles on which no duty was levied. The Secretary of State has no information with regard to the other points raised by the hon. Member, but the High Commissioner will be asked for a Report.