ch; and by this direct taxation, to which
Muda Hassim and his brother seem ready to accede, the system of fraud
and exaction would be abolished, the native mind tranquillized, and
the legitimate government would become the protector rather than the
oppressor of its dependencies. By this measure, likewise, a tone might
be imparted to the native chiefs and rulers of rivers, and the people
at large taught to feel that, after the payment of a specified sum,
a right existed to resist all extra demands. Beside this, these rajahs
are convinced that a certain yearly revenue is what they require,
and is the only means by which they can retain their independence;
and I have impressed it on their minds that, to gain a revenue,
they must foster trade and protect Europeans in their dealings.

"If Labuan were English, and if the sea were clear of pirates, I
see no obstacle to bringing these and other measures into immediate
operation; and I am assured we should have the sincere and hearty
cooperation of the Borneon government.

"Since the advent of Europeans in the Archipelago, the tendency of
the Polynesian governments generally has been to decay; here the
experiment may be fairly tried on the smallest scale of expense,
whether a beneficial European influence may not reanimate a falling
state, and at the same time extend our own commerce. We are here devoid
of the stimulus which has urged us on to conquest in India. We incur
no risk of the collision of the two races: we occupy a small station
in the vicinity of a friendly and unwarlike people; and we aim at
the development of native countries through native agency.

"If this tendency to decay and extinction be inevitable; if this
adaptation of European policy to a native state be found unable to
arrest the fall of the Borneon government, yet we shall retain a people
already habituated to European manners, industrious interior races,
and at a future period, if deemed necessary, settlements gradually
developed in a rich and fertile country. We shall have a post in time
of war highly advantageous as commanding a favorable position relative
to China, we shall extend our commerce, suppress piracy, and prevent
the present and prospective advantages from falling into other hands;
and we shall do this at small expense.

"I own the native development through their own exertions is but a
favorite theory; but whatever may be the fate of the government of
Borneo, the people will still remai