HL Deb 28 February 1876 vol 227 cc1000-18
LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY

, in rising to call the attention of the House to the state of things in the Malay Peninsula and to move for Papers, said: My Lords, I shall commence by stating that the Secretary of State for the Colonies has suggested to me to wait for a despatch which he expects from Sir William Jervois; but as that despatch can have little reference to the greater part of what I desire to place before your Lordships, or to the Questions that require an answer from Her Majesty's Government, and as reports continue to arrive of the plunder and burning of villages by the officials of the Straits Settlements, it appears necessary to call your Lordships' attention without delay to the state of things in the Malay Peninsula. It might have been expected that the noble Earl the Colonial Secretary would have laid Papers on the Table at the commencement of the Session—since these affairs were more important than those of the Gambia. A paragraph in the Speech from the Throne refers to the military operations and loss of valuable lives in that country; and it is a matter of satisfaction to find an expression of regret for the loss of those lives, for which loss the Secretary of State for the Colonies is primarily responsible—as also for the bloodshed, injustice, and expenditure which have occurred, and which may follow later. The same paragraph of Her Majesty's Speech says that the military operations have reestablished the just authority of this country. I hope to show to your Lordships that some of those operations and losses of life have happened in countries where there is not even a semblance of just authority on the part of England. Her Majesty's Government will perhaps inform your Lordships whether all the military operations in Perak and also in Sunghi Ujong, which is more than 100 miles away from Perak, and which had nothing to do with Mr. Birch's death, were undertaken by their instructions or at the discretion of the Colonial Governor? The Correspondence relating to the affairs of the Malay Peninsula shows that the Duke of Buckingham on the 22nd of April, 1888, Earl Granville on the 10th of September, 1869, and the Earl of Kimberley on the 26th of August, 1871, all warned the Governors of Singapore that they were not to enter into formal negotiations with Malay Princes, nor to extend the responsibilities of Her Majesty's Government without specific instructions. It becomes, therefore, equally unaccountable either that Sir Andrew Clarke should have appointed Residents, and that Sir William Jervois should have assumed the Government of Perak by officials of his own without instructions, or, on the other hand, that the noble Earl the Secretary of State should have reversed the policy laid down by his Predecessors, and by the Indian Government, without either informing Parliament of his intentions, or taking proper precautions to carry out his measures without the loss of valuable lives. I must ask your Lordships to go back a little to the causes of the recent events. The Secretary of State on a former occasion (May 19, 1874) informed your Lordships that the pirates in the tin mines of Larut had rendered British intervention necessary—but a dispatch of Sir Henry Ord of July 24, 1873 (No. 13 of the Blue Book), re-establishes the truth that the Chinese disturbers of the peace of Larut all proceeded from Singapore and Penang, and drew supplies and munitions from Penang without restriction. A despatch of the Earl of Kimberley of December 22, 1873, to Sir Andrew Clarke, says— I feel the same difficulty as Sir Henry Ord in understanding how these factions can have been supplied from Penang with junks, boats, arms, ammunition, and provisions, unknown to the authorities of that settlement. Such a state of things must not be allowed to continue, and I request that you will impress upon the Lieutenant Governor that I expect the utmost vigilance to be exercised to prevent Penang from being used as the base of operations for carrying on an armed conflict within a neighbouring friendly State. This is sufficient to prove to your Lordships that it was from what Sir Henry Ord names, "want of due vigilance." That the pirates mentioned by the noble Earl (the Earl of Carnarvon), and who have been the pretext for Sir Andrew Clarke's intervention in January, 1874. originated in Penang and not in the Malay Peninsula. I must now refer to No. 14 of the Blue Book: a despatch of the Earl of Kimberley of September 20, 1873, to Sir Andrew Clarke, which desires him to report on the condition of affairs in each State, on the measures he would recommend, and on the advisability of appointing a British officer to reside in any of the States; this despatch concludes— Such an appointment could of course only be made with the full consent of the Native Government, and the expenses connected with it would have to he defrayed by the Government of the Straits Settlements. Well, instead of reporting as he was instructed to do, Sir Andrew Clarke, mero motu, mates an engagement with one of the claimants to the Throne of Perak, and with certain Chiefs, which was made reluctantly, for the appointment of Residents in Porak and Larut, at a cost of £2,000 each, to be a first charge on the revenues of Perak, although in his despatch of January 26, 1874, No. 39, he says—"This charge would be gladly borne by the Straits' Government." In this despatch. Paragraph 39, and in another of the same date, No. 40, he admits that he has exceeded his instructions. These despatches were answered by the noble Earl (the Earl of Carnarvon) on the 6th of March, 1874, No. 43, and the hesitating language of this despatch contrasted with the decided language of the noble Earl's Predecessors. This despatch said— As far as your explanations enable me to judge, I am disposed to hope, that without unduly compromising Her Majesty's Government in the internal affairs of these States, your proceedings may have the effect of allaying disorders and promoting peaceful trade. I have formed no opinion as to the salaries which should be received by the Resident and Assistant Resident, if Her Majesty's Government should determine to sanction these appointments. In this despatch the noble Earl feared that a resident might perhaps compromise Her Majesty's Government, does he now not fear annexation? The next document in the Blue Book is an address to the noble Earl (the Earl of Carnarvon) from the Straits Association. This probably accounts for the noble Earl having departed from the instructions given by his Predecessor (the Earl of Kimberley), and saddling Perak with £4,000 a-year for remedying the effects of the want of due vigilance on the part of the Penang Government. I will now ask leave to remind your Lordships of what took place in this House when I called your Lordships' attention on the 19th May, 1874, to the arrangements made by Sir Andrew Clarke. I pointed out then that these arrangements must load to the conquest of Perak, and that the Straits Press was asking for the conquest of the whole Malay Peninsula, and entreated Her Majesty's Government not to sanc- tion these arrangements, and in any case to appoint respectable men, and not to allow these officers to be called Residents, a designation, which was associated with ideas of conquest, and acquisition of territory. The noble Earl (the Earl of Carnarvon) declined to make any reply, such as might have discountenanced all desire for conquest, neither did he allow your Lordships and the country to know what was being prepared underhand and in secret. But he told your Lordships that the Malay Peninsula was "the fairest portion of the earth." He again used the same expression, and said the Fiji Islands were the fairest portion of the earth, when he invited your Lordships to consider the acquisition of those Islands. Doubtless in that midnight complaint poured into the ears of Jezebel, Ahab also described Naboth's vineyard as "the fairest portion of the earth; "and the tactics adopted in the case of Naboth's vineyard have been adopted in the case of the Malay Peninsula also; for as men of Belial were set up to bear false witness against Naboth, so also men in Singapore and elsewhere have set themselves up to bear false witness against the Malays, and to accuse them of being pirates. I need not trouble your Lordships with proof that the accusation of piracy made against these States of the Malay Peninsula is unfounded; that matter has been amply and satisfactorily disposed of by a letter from Sir Benson Maxwell, well known to be a person of weight and experience in those countries, published in The Morning Post of Tuesday, the 15th of February. I have also here the letter of a Mr. Bain, who navigated in the Straits of Malacca for 11 years, between the years 1847 and 1864, and he never heard of any piracy, nor saw there any suspicious craft; and I have a letter from a lawyer in Penang showing that the so-called Chinese piracy of Larut originated in Penang. The noble Earl will remember that I repeatedly, both in the House and out of it, pointed out to him the nature and character of the officials proposed to be appointed as Residents, and that such appointments must lead to a disaster. It has been pointed out by others in the following passage in a letter to The Times, in the Blue Book (No. 44), which was sent to the Colonial Office by the Straits Association:— The success of Sir Andrew Clarke's experiment, however, will depend materially on the personal character of the Resident who is to represent British power and to exercise British influence. If he is liked and respected by the Malays, he will lead them easily, as the Brookes have done in Borneo. But to be liked and respected he must understand them, their language, character, and habits; he must be patient, cool, and firm, and he must be sober, truthful, and incorruptible. It is easy to see that this portrait is drawn from life of what a Resident should or should not be. If the noble Earl the Secretary of State should dissent from my assertion that unfit men were appointed as Residents, I shall be obliged to ask him to lay before your Lordships the late Mr. Aitchison's letter, and the correspondence on the subject between the noble Earl and myself at the end of 1874 and beginning of 1875. The noble Earl will, however, hardly attempt to deny it, or else how could he account for not having confirmed these appointments made by the Straits authorities? When Sir Andrew Clarke proposed an arrangement to the Chiefs of Perak in January, 1874, he established Raja Abdullah as Sultan of Perak, instead of Raja Ismail, who had been elected Sultan three years before, and who had been recognized as Sultan by former authorities of the Straits, and by the greater part of the country. He did this, notwithstanding that he knew that Raja Abdullah was addicted to opium, and from passages in Mr. Irving's Report, it is pretty clear that he was selected because it was hoped that he would be a more pliable puppet in the hands of the Straits Government. It was alleged later by Sir William Jervois that the Residents did not succeed in the objects for which they were appointed, though Captain Speedy appears to have done a great deal at Larut, at least by his own account. Now, I would ask the noble Earl whether he gave these Residents any instructions as to the performance of their duties, or whether he left them to find them out by the light of nature? I have been lately reminded that the noble Earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, when addressing some students at Addiscombe before they proceeded to India, told them that they would each represent this country in India—that no civil officer there can have any private life. Did the noble Earl address any such advice to his Residents. I would say a few words about these Residents. Captain Speedy was under more favourable circumstances than any of the others, for he had few besides Chinese to administer, and he came to Larut not as a nominee of the Straits Government, but as one who had entered the service of the Mantri of Larut. These Residents it was supposed were to inculcate lessons of order and economy in finance, but the Resident in Larut at once erects a residency worthy of a colonial Governor. The penang Gazette speaks of its "noble proportions" and centre room 70 feet in length. He then provides himself with a bodyguard of Chinese, dressed in blue satin tunics and red circular hats, and he appears to have no fewer than 17 elephants at his disposal for a picnic for his Penang friends. In his Report he invariably speaks as though he were the Ruler of the country, instead of the adviser of the Euler. He mentions having circulated the copper coin of the Straits, and having forbidden the coin of the country to be received in the Larut Treasury. As a natural consequence the coin of the country fell into disuse; and he says that, owing to the scarcity of copper coin, only 97 cents instead of 100 can be obtained for the dollar in the Larut bazaars. He then reports that he established a Court in which, as nearly as possible, he always follows the Indian Penal Code. Now, the late Mr. Iltudus Pritchard, in commenting on that Code, says that its authors appear to have thought that he who invented a new crime conferred a benefit on the human race. Mr. Speedy did not, however, usually administer this complicated code himself; it was administered by a late clerk in some trading firm in the Straits. During the year 1874, 770 persons were tried by this Court. Now, though Larut has been represented as full of truculent pirates, there was only one trial for attempt to murder; 186 were tried for assaults, 97 for unlawful assembly, an offence more consistent with a department in a state of siege under a French Prefect, than with a Malay State and a British Resident; and 11 were tried for breach of conservancy: I do not know what offence that is, unless it be the new crime Mr. Pritchard said the authors of the code wished to invent. Of the administration of the Perak Residency I will say nothing on account of its unfortunate termination; but as something has been said of it in the newspapers, I shall be glad to bear any defence of it from the noble Earl. Then a Mr. Davidson was appointed Resident in Salangore; it was known that be bad advanced large sums to Tunku Dhya Uddin, and this was an obvious objection to his appointment, yet Sir Andrew Clarke excuses this appointment by stating that he had transferred his claims to Messrs. Guthrie—a transfer which, on the evidence of the Blue Book, is palpably colourable. No reply of the noble Earl to this dispatch of Sir Andrew Clarke appears in the Correspondence. Sir William Jervois then by proclamation, and acting without instructions from home, as he stated to his Legislative Council, altered the arrangement made by Sir Andrew Clarke, and vested the government of Perak in his own officers. He professed to do this on the authority of Sultan Abdullah, the man whom the Straits Government had set up instead of the Sultan who had been reigning for three years. A man whom Sir William Jervois knew to be incapacitated by opium, and who, even had he been the lawful ruler of Perak could have no authority or power to transfer the allegiance of his subjects to foreigners. This usurpation by Sir William Jervois, carried out so indiscreetly by Mr. Birch, would perhaps be sufficient to account for the attack on that officer. The speech of Her Majesty mentions representations to the Chinese Government, and an inquiry into the lamentable outrage in Yunnan. Why was no similar inquiry made into the circumstance of Mr. Birch's death? Was it because China was stronger than this Malay State? Will the noble Earl the Secretary of State say whether or not Mr. Birch had caused one or more Malay Chiefs to be flogged, whether he had or had not burned down people's houses, as reported by a Times Correspondent, and done acts which were tyrannical in one who was not a Ruler, but only an adviser of the Ruler? If the consent of Raja Abdullah to Sir William Jervois's assumption of the Government of Perak gives a semblance of authority to the Straits Government in Perak, that cannot be alleged in another country where no such transfer of the ruling power took place. Yet Sir William Jervois, when he had obtained troops, invaded Sunghi Ujong, a country separated from Perak by the State of Salangore. As Sunghi Ujong is not in all the maps, the case will be better understood by comparing the Malay Peninsula to Italy. Perak corresponds to Tuscany, Salangore to the States of the Church, Malacca and Johore to Naples, and Sunghi Ujong would correspond to Benevento or some place in the Kingdom of Naples, in the interior, on the southern slopes of the Appenines—so that it is separated from Perak by Salangore, or the States of the Church. A battle was fought in Sunghi Ujong, in which eight of Her Majesty's troops were killed. So little was it believed in this country that a general invasion of the Malay Peninsula was being carried on that The Times fell into natural mistake of describing this action as having occurred in Perak. It will be remembered that it has been alleged that the intervention in the Malay Peninsula was dictated by a desire for civilization and the welfare of the Malays. Here is one of the results of Sir Andrew Clarke's policy as described by The Straits Times— Great dissatisfaction has been expressed amongst the troops at the disposal of the money derived from the sale of the cattle captured in Sri Menanti by the troops. They were afterwards sold by public auction in Sunghi Ujong, and although only realizing a wretched average of 7 dollars a-piece, the total sum amounted to nearly 1,500 dollars, and this sum has been placed to the credit of the Sunghi Ujong treasury, to cover part of the expense of the expedition. I prefer not to use any words of my own to describe the acts of the Straits authorities and their troops in Sunghi Ujong, lest some should think them excessive and others inadequate. I will therefore place before your Lordships the comments of two of the principal newspapers of Singapore. The Straits Times of January 8 says— We must confess that in reading our special correspondent's description of the march of Colonel Clay's column in Sunghi Ujong.…. it rather jars on one's feelings to read that Captain de Fontaine and his Arabs brought up the rear with orders to bum and destroy everything as they advanced, which order they carried out in the most emphatic manner. The Straits Observer, of January 4, says— We do not know what our French, German, or American fellow-colonists may think, but Englishmen must feel very small when they read in yesterday's Straits Times the accounts so unctuously given of the proceedings of the British force now operating in Sunghi Ujong. Mind, we have invaded the country without cause. We have not a murdered officer to avenge, as in Perak, nor have we any treaty, convention, pact, or agreement of any kind to justify our placing our foot on their soil against the inhabitants' wish, nor have these people done more than defend their country against invaders, who will assuredly rue the day they did so as soon as the news roaches England. When the Colonial Press expresses itself in this manner, it fully exonerates me from any charge of precipitation in calling the attention of the House to such proceedings, and to the way in which they have imperilled the fair fame of England. Your Lordships will have observed that a force of Arabs are mentioned, who made a blackened line through what has been called the" fairest portion of the earth." I believe these men were collected from various nationalities: certainly no Arab among them would be received by his respectable fellow-countrymen. Their leader is a Canadian Frenchman, with traditions of Huron and Iroquois warfare. Should not this remind the noble Earl of Lord Chatham's protest against such warfare and such allies? A little before this time a notification was made by the Colonial Office that no measures were to be taken for the annexation of any part of the Malay Peninsula. This order from the Colonial Office does not appear to have had any effect, or to have been attended to. Is it possible that when this telegraphic order was sent out the telegraphic cable did not work, for at one time an interruption took place? But how is it that although the murderer of Mr. Birch has been reported to have been killed operations are still continued and more villages are burned? Is it intended to drive out all the Malays from Perak to make way for Chinese immigrants? Does the Colonial Office propose to establish a Chinese colony in Perak, and has it counted the cost of maintaining troops in Perak, without which the Chinese faction fights will continue? The Malay population was formerly looked to as a counterpoise against the enormous Chinese immigration into the Straits Settlements. The Malays never gave us any trouble. That element of safety is now removed, and the strength of the Chinese will be greatly increased. Then there is the incident of the burning by a young Civil officer of the house and property of a Chinaman, who had given information about Mr. Birch, but had not saved his life. Can the noble Earl say whether he has inquired who was the perpetrator of that disgraceful act, and how he has dealt with an official capable of such conduct; and will he inform the House whether he has yet ordered compensation to the Chinaman for the loss of his property? Will the noble Earl inform your Lordships how much his policy has already cost the country in lives and expenditure, and whether as many lives have not been lost as in the Ashantee Expedition? How many officers and men have died of jungle fever or cholera besides those that have been reported? To conclude, will Her Majesty's Government justify the bloodshed which has taken place, and state whether they or the officials in the Straits are directing the measures which have involved this country in a course for which it was entirely unprepared, of invasion and conquest. I would suggest that the best way out of these embarrassments would be to re-instate Sultan Ismail, the de jure, and till Sir Andrew Clarke's intervention the de facto Ruler of Perak. To convert the Residents into Consuls, respectable men depending on the Foreign Office, like Her Majesty's Consul in Siam, or under the Indian Office, if the Foreign Office will not have them, and to purge the administration of the Straits. On a former occasion I pointed out the disorganized state of the Government of the Straits Settlements as a reason for not undertaking further responsibility in the Malay Peninsula. Since that time there has been little improvement, and at this time the number of "unconfirmed" officials and acting appointments, are the subject of general complaint in the Straits, and in the Colonial Press. I then mentioned that the system of "virements" or transfer of unexpended balances, as the noble Earl then named it, or of spending money for a purpose different from that for which it had been voted had become general in the Straits Government; I should fear that this bad example has affected the noble Earl himself, since he has eked out the resources of the Fiji revenue by transferring an unexpended Judge of Penang to Fiji. I gather from the newspapers that out of four Judges belonging to the Straits, only one is at his post. Perhaps the noble Earl follows the maxim, "Inter Arma silent legeg." But the non-official members of the Legislative Council at Singapore do not agree with it, and gave to the Governor this protest for transmission to the Secretary of State.

"Legislative Council, Singapore,

"Oct. 29th, 1875.

"We, the undersigned, non-officials members of the Legislative Council in the Straits Settlements, respectfully protest against the decision of the right hon. the Secretary of State, as conveyed by a despatch, dated 5th August last, to charge the Colony with the half salary of the Judge of Penang during his absence connected with, or whilst engaged in, the duties of Acting-Chief Justice of Fiji. And we furthermore protest against any portion of his salary, whilst so employed, being charged to the revenues of this Colony; because, if it is considered that, without injury to the interest of Penang, one of its Judges may be granted an extension of leave for the purpose of undertaking a special service in no way connected with the Straits Settlements, it is only just and fair that the Colony should be relieved of all expense connected therewith, because it is alienating the revenue for Imperial or other purposes with which this Colony has nothing whatever to do, and establishing a precedent prejudicial to its interests.

"(Signed)

"H. A. K. WHAMPOA, J. SHELLFORD, THOMAS SCOTT, E. LITTLE, R. B. READ.

"Singapore, 29th Oct., 1875."

Last Saturday's newspapers announced that Mr. Whampoa had received a decoration of St. George and St. Michael, at the noble Earl's recommendation. Perhaps the noble Earl will inform your Lordships why he has not also rewarded the other four sturdy and independent defenders of financial order, especially Mr. Read, who has long enjoyed the esteem of his fellow-colonists.

Moved That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty for further Correspondence respecting the Malay Peninsula.—(Lord Stanley of Alderley.)

THE EARL OF CARNARVON

said, their Lordships would hardly expect him to follow step by step the extremely discursive, not to say rambling, statement of the noble Lord. Two hours, he thought, would scarcely suffice to follow the noble Lord in the multitudinous points he had brought before their Lord- ships, if anything like a clear explanation was to be given on those points. There were, however, some points on which he felt bound at once to state the facts—and this not because Her Majesty's Government were attacked, but because the charges brought forward by the noble Lord bore unfairly and unjustly against persons who were absent from this country. He must protest against the course taken by the noble Lord. When the noble Lord mentioned to him his intention to bring this question under the notice of Parliament, he told the noble Lord that the Government had every desire that it should be brought before Parliament; but that the Papers were not yet complete, owing to one despatch, which Sir William Jervois considered essential to a thorough understanding of the case, not yet being among them, and the Government thought that in justice to all parties concerned the case ought not to be presented to the Legislature till the Papers were complete. Notwithstanding that, the noble Lord had thought fit to proceed in a business which it was absolutely impossible rightly to understand without the Papers. The noble Lord had spared no one in his sweeping censure—he had used very strong language indeed as against Her Majesty's Government and as against other persons concerned in the late transactions in Malaya, including by implication the noble Earl the late Secretary for the Colonies; but the noble Lord had intimated that since the present Colonial Secretary received the Seals of office there had been a great change in the policy of the Colonial Office as regarded the Malay Peninsula. It would have been well if the noble Lord had given any kind of proof in support of that assertion; but not one tittle of evidence had he brought forward to support his statements. No doubt, from the first the noble Lord had been an universal and indiscriminate prophet of evil. When he (the Earl of Carnarvon) came into office he stated in a despatch that he did not feel it necessary to make any change in that policy, but approved the provisional appointment of the Residents. He thought the circumstances which had subsequently occurred showed he had acted with caution. The Papers, which he hoped to lay on the Table before many days had elapsed, would show how the case with respect to those Residents really stood, and when the noble Lord had read them he would be likely to find good reason why he should modify the opinion he had expressed that evening. If the noble Lord's speech had been simply an attack upon Her Majesty's Government he should have left it unanswered—at least, until the Papers had been laid upon the Table; but the noble Lord went further, and imputed blame of the severest kind to the officers who were employed in the suppression of the disturbances—persons who had done no more than their duty, and had done it, he believed, with great moderation and forbearance. He could not justify himself if he were to sit in that House and hear the statements of the noble Lord with reference to those officers and allow them to go uncontradicted. A very wise and wholesome rule prevailed in their Lordships' House that when any Member of it intended to bring a charge against the conduct of another Member he should give notice of that intention to the person concerned.

LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY

was understood to say that he had not brought charges against the personal character of the officers.

THE EARL OF CARNARVON

said, the noble Lord, in the remarks he had made, had put forth to the whole world that our officers had sanctioned a system of violence, cruelty, and devastation which if true would have been highly censurable. If such charges were to be brought against any Member of their Lordships' House, the rule to which he had referred required that notice should be given him beforehand. If that was only fair in the case of men who could attend in their places and on the instant reply to the charges made against them, how much stronger was the necessity for notice in the case of officers serving at distant stations? But though notice had not been given to those officers, he (the Earl of Carnarvon) happened to have at hand some documents from which he could quote extracts to meet the charges of violence, cruelty, and devastation so lavishly scattered by the noble Lord. In the Papers which he would lay before their Lordships within a week or two were passages from Instructions written by Sir William Jervois and by the principal officers engaged in the operations to which he now begged to call the attention of their Lordships. On the 22nd of November Sir William Jervois wrote— There is, however, one broad principle which should desire to guide you as far as possible, and which I wish you to impress, not only upon the officers in command of the forces, but upon the officers commanding any expedition—viz., to avoid, as far as possible, the punishment of the innocent along with those engaged in armed resistance to the Government of Perak. I am aware that under present circumstances it is difficult to discriminate; but, so far as possible, with a due regard to the safety of our own forces, I desire that all places shall be treated as friendly until there is evidence to the contrary, and that punishment shall, as far as possible, be confined to places where resistance is made. On the 7th of December Major General Colborne, commanding, issued these Instructions— The Major-General commanding desires that in camp and on the march all officers will give particular attention to the prevention of the appropriation of property of any kind except by order and by regular payment. The setting Are to or destruction of property, except under orders from competent authority, is strictly forbidden. It is important that all natives of the country and others (with the exception of those in arms and opposing the advance of the troops) are to be held as friendly, and to be treated with consideration, and encouraged to bring in supplies for the use of the troops. General Ross, the next in command wrote— Captain Young moved his party in a similar manner up the right bank to a village of the same name. His orders were to collect any arms, but not to destroy or injure houses or property, as the inhabitants have been well disposed. Prom the next extract he had to read it would be seen that General Colborne felt it necessary to order fire to be opened and loss to be inflicted on a particular place; but he expressed a regret for having to do so, and alleged that it was necessary. He wrote— I have instructed Major Amiel to open fire on this place, and to inflict such loss as he may be able to; also to land and destroy houses and property in the vicinity. Much as this necessity may be regretted, I see no other means of endeavouring at once to stop the commencement of a practice which, if allowed to extend, might be followed up by disastrous results. A detachment of 50 men, 3rd Buffs, and 50 Goork has arrived here yesterday undorcommand of Colonel Storey. It is my intention to desire Brigadier-General Ross, C.B, to send an additional 100 men of the 3rd Buffs to Blanja, so that I may be enabled to send a detachment to occupy Bhota or the neighbourhood. He (the Earl of Carnarvon) thought it would be found that every one of the officers, whether superior or subordinate, constantly followed out the line of general instructions laid down by Sir William Jervois and the General in command—namely, to avoid destruction of property whenever it was possible to so. So far as he could see, there had been no wanton destruction of property, and certainly no wanton destruction of life, on our part. He could see no traces of anything which justly deserved the name of excess. It was impossible that war could be conducted without many things occurring, which everybody ought to regret; but when the officers engaged in the Malay operations were found laying down instructions which strictly forbad destruction of property, and enforcing respect towards the lives and possessions of the well-disposed Natives, he thought it hard, cruel, and monstrous that any Member of their Lordships' House should make such charges against those officers as the noble Lord had brought forward on no better foundation than scraps from the local papers. He should not go into the whole of the transactions; but their Lordships would remember that the disturbances arose with the murder of Mr. Birch, who was at the time acting as Resident. Troops were sent to the spot, and the disturbances in Perak were being brought to an end, when, in consequence of a fight between two Chinese factions, it became necessary to order two detachments of troops to interfere for the purpose of restoring peace. At the time of these occurrences, a further disturbance arose on the frontier. A pass was seized and stockaded, and at that pass a concentration of Malays was effected. No doubt that was a most serious moment. Had the authorities shown any vacillation or irresolution, the disturbances might have extended so widely that they would have become a general war. Our troops were re-inforced, and the stockade was carried in a most gallant manner. It was found that the chiefs of the villages were in the stockade at the time the successful attack was made upon it. Until the Papers had been laid upon the Table of the House it would be impossible satisfactorily to discuss the policy of our action in the Malay Peninsula either past or future; but he felt bound to say that he had no doubt whatever that the course which had been taken by us in that Peninsula during the last few months had been the means of saving this country from one of those little, but costly, wars with which we were too familiar. Had the Government hesitated or vacillated instead of acting as they had done with vigour and energy, the war would have spread from one end of the Peninsula to the other. The murder of Mr. Birch had taken the Government by surprise, and it had been followed immediately by a considerable local disturbance which, for the moment, placed our people there in a most critical position. There were but few troops on the spot, and, to increase the difficulty, the telegraphic communication at this important moment was imperfect. Fortunately, however, troops were obtained from Hongkong and from India, and in the course of a very few weeks 3,000 men were collected there; and it was to that rapid concentration of our troops at the point of danger that our final success was due. Had the number of men brought together been fewer, or had they been assembled more slowly, the consequences might have been most disastrous. The noble Lord had found no word of praise for the military and naval officers and men who had taken part in the Expedition; but in his (the Earl of Carnarvon's) judgment both the sailors and the soldiers who were engaged in it on this occasion, as they always did, had shown the greatest gallantry, they had performed the most arduous duties, and had surmounted the most formidable difficulties; and, in short, both services had shown those qualities which always distinguished them, and upon which the country could invariably rely with the most absolute certainty. It was not for him to claim credit for Her Majesty's Government in this matter; but he might venture to express his opinion that they deserved some amount of credit for the fact that they were alive to the danger and that they concentrated their forces in time. It was not so very long ago, while India was under the control of the East India Company, whose Government the noble Lord looked back upon with so much regret, that a similar disturbance occurred in the same part of the country. It being met in a somewhat feeble and vacillating manner, our troops were routed and two of our guns were taken. It being necessary that the ignominy we had sustained should be wiped out, more energetic steps were ultimately taken; but it was only after a 12 months' severe fighting that the campaign was brought to a satisfactory conclusion. If any further proof were required of the fatal effect which delay and vacillation in the conduct of such a war entailed, we had only to look at the result of Dutch operations in Sumatra, where for the last two years that nation, in the same country, against the same race, and under almost the same conditions, had been wasting life and treasure unsuccessfully, just because they could not make up their minds in the first instance to send out a force of sufficient strength to accomplish their object. He must further point out that, much as he regretted the necessity for sending out this Expedition, it had in one respect been eminently useful; because not only had we succeeded in bringing three of the murderers of Mr. Birch to trial, but indirectly we had shown such nations as Burmah and China that English justice would pursue its object under all difficulties, and had given them to understand how great a Power we were in the East. In conclusion, he asserted that while our military measures had been well and efficiently carried out, the greatest moderation and forbearance had been exhibited; and he expressed a strong hope that before any long time had elapsed all enmities in the Peninsula would be composed, that fitting punishment would be inflicted upon the murderers of Mr. Birch, and that order and peace would be restored in what might be well termed one of the fairest parts of the world.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY

said, he entirely concurred with the noble Earl in the view that it was impossible to discuss this subject satisfactory until the whole of the Papers relating to it were upon the Table. He had no desire to disclaim any responsibility that properly belonged to him; and was ready to admit that although he had not actually sanctioned the act of Sir Andrew Clarke in appointing a Resident in the Peninsula, still he was at first inclined to think that step promised well; and in fairness to that gentleman he must observe that he had had no opportunity of expressing any official opinion on the course he had pursued. He preferred, however, not to express a more decided opinion on that matter until he had seen the Papers relating to the subject. But upon another point adverted to by the noble Earl—namely, the conduct of our naval and military forces engaged in the Expedition—there was no reason whatever for delaying to express our opinion, heartily and frankly. The despatches of the commanding officers had been laid before the public both by the Government and the newspapers, and, whatever might be our opinion upon the general policy of the Expedition, every one must feel that the manner in which the operations were carried out reflected the highest credit upon all concerned; and it was not without considerable pain that he had heard the remarks of the noble Lord (Lord Stanley of Alderley) in reference to this subject. The conduct of both our naval and our military forces was beyond all praise, and they had promptly and courageously discharged their duty under circumstances the difficulties of which were by no means to be underrated. As regarded alleged acts of inhumanity committed by our men, he felt bound to accept fully the denial of the accuracy of those imputations which had been given by the noble Earl, and he should be surprised and bitterly disappointed if it should turn out that there was the slightest foundation for them. No doubt many things were done in a state of war which afterwards caused regret; but after all it must be remembered that war was war, and it must be expected that some things would occur which would occasion painful reflections. But on the whole, he thought that the conduct of our naval and military officers and men engaged in this Expedition would be found to deserve the approbation of that House.

LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY

said, in reply, that he complained of the noble Earl's putting words into his mouth to obtain cheers from his Friends. He had said nothing of Her Majesty's troops; he had spoken of an Arab force, and M. Fontaine was not in Her Majesty's Army List. The noble Earl had given no answer as to what these forces were doing in Sunghi Ujong. As he (Lord Stanley of Alderley) was not a military man, he had not given any opinion of the military operations from a military point of view.

On Question, resolved in the negative.

House adjourned at half-past Six o'clock, till To-morrow, half-past Ten o'clock.