except population, the greatest and most prosperous of English Crown Colonies. The Straits Colony and the Malay States are so closely knit together—by position, by community of interest, and by many other ties—that, for purposes of comparison, they may fairly be counted as one administration. So regarded, British Malaya—as the united Colony and Protectorate would naturally be styled—stands easily first of all those British Colonial possessions which do not enjoy responsible government Moreover, this is a possession in which the nation may feel some legitimate pride, for no part of it has been acquired by conquest; no people and no potentate complain that our influence has injuriously affected their liberties, their dignity, or their comfort Neither the Colony nor the Protectorate has any debt whatever, though many great and useful works have been constructed out of revenue. Both Colony and Malay States are free to all nations, to all commerce; while no class and no nationality has any exclusive privileges.
About 2,400 miles to the west of Singapore is Colombo, with its splendid harbour protected from the fury of the south-west monsoon by a world-famous breakwater. The trade of Ceylon in 1908 was valued at £15,000,000, and most of it passed through Colombo. The great port of Hong Kong, with 10,000 tons of shipping entering annually, and an actual trade valued at £20,000,000 per annum, stands about 1,100 miles to the north-east of Singapore. Situated as it is at the mouth of the Canton River, on the shore of a land-locked harbour, furnished with splendid docks and appliances for every description of refitting, the value of this great commercial station, fortress, and arsenal is obvious. Hong Kong does for the South of China what Shanghai does for the Yang-tse provinces, and, between them, they furnish the markets where China sells its produce for export, and buys its foreign goods. Both ports are the headquarters of great fleets of European, Japanese, and Chinese owned vessels, which maintain a ceaseless traffic with the rivers and outlying ports of China, the ports of
