Tin Production in Nineteenth-Century Malaya

R. Caunter (Superintendent of Police, Prince of Wales Island) to W.E. Fullerton, August 1826. Report on Management of Mines in the Malay Peninsula.

Source: India Office Records, Home Miscellaneous Series. Vol. 669, No. 36, pp. 712–14. India Office Library.

From the enquiries I have made respecting the modes of working tin mines in Junk Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula the general system appears to be for the Rajah or local Chief to undertake the matter, somewhere about 30 Drs the Bihar, and to supply them with every thing they require on terms that are sure to yield handsome profit. The local Chief is answerable for the King’s duty, which varies from 10 to 20 per cent, sometimes more, according to the degree of favour the local Chief may be in with his superior. When mines are thus worked the Chief of course monopolizes the trade in the article.

It is however not unusual for the Rajah to allow others to undertake the working of mines on paying him a stipulated tax or duty, and this custom is said to prevail in Perak and other Malayan states. The amount of duty levied depends on the amount of power of the Rajah. The grandfather of the present king of Perak only levied, I am told, a duty of 2 Drs a Bihar; whether this arose from his inability to exact more, or from a wish to encourage the trade of his country, I cannot say. The late king is said to have levied 12 Drs per bihar, & the present one exacts a duty of 6 Drs. Under this system the proprietor of the mines is allowed to sell his tin to whomever he pleases. If the proprietor gets 30 or 35 Drs a Bihar for his tin, clear of duty, he is supposed to derive good profit. What share of the produce the workmen have, or what rate of wages they receive, I cannot ascertain, only that advances are made to them by the Proprietors, who bear all the expenses of working the Mines, but indemnify themselves by supplying their workmen with everything they may require on terms most advantageous for themselves.

In may of the Siamese States,¹ the custom is to farm the mines, the farmer paying a gross sum annually in lieu of the duty on the produce, and having the exclusive right of supplying his workman & the people of the district at most exorbitant prices with all the necessaries and other articles they require. Under this system a larger price is given to the workmen for their tin, which the farmer gets his compensation for in the other advantages and privileges of his farm.

To:   W.E. Fullerton, Esqr.  Secy to the Honorable the Governor  For Affairs of the Ceded Districts.