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Of Taxes: An enquiry into Dutch to British Malacca, 1824-1839

Of Taxes: An enquiry into Dutch to British Malacca, 1824-1839. Presenter: Dr Diane Kraal BLT Department Seminar, Monash Staff Club , 22 June 2012. Presentation Outline. Aim of research Motivation Background Research questions Methodology & methods Findings Contribution of research.

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Of Taxes: An enquiry into Dutch to British Malacca, 1824-1839

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  1. Of Taxes: An enquiry into Dutch to British Malacca, 1824-1839 Presenter: Dr Diane Kraal BLT Department Seminar, Monash Staff Club , 22 June 2012

  2. Presentation Outline • Aim of research • Motivation • Background • Research questions • Methodology & methods • Findings • Contribution of research

  3. Aim of research • The research aim is to investigate 19th century British Malacca’s taxation. • Period: 1824-39, transition from Dutch to British rule

  4. Motivation • To gain a clearer understanding of the reasons for the changed system of tax in 19thC British Malacca. we know that there was a change in colonial powers… …but what influences made the British tax system different to the preceding Dutch system…

  5. Background to study Naning War 1831-32 obelisk, Dutch Graveyard, Melaka

  6. Malacca: a trading port – Johor Malays sovereign Background to study Pre- 1511 Johor Malays

  7. Background to study Malacca: conquest by Portuguese Pre-1511 Johor Malays Portuguese Malacca 1511- Dutch VOC Malacca 1641 British ‘caretaker’ 1795-1817 Return of the Dutch 1818-1824 British Malacca 1824- 1957

  8. Background to study Malacca: conquest by Dutch East India Company (VOC) with Johor Malays Pre-1511 Johor Malays Portuguese Malacca 1511- 1641 Dutch VOC Malacca 1641- British ‘caretaker’ 1795-1817 Return of the Dutch 1818-1824 British Malacca 1824- 1957

  9. Background to study Malacca: taken by British East India Company into ‘caretaker mode’ Pre-1511 Johor Malays Portuguese Malacca 1511- Dutch VOC Malacca 1641-1795 British ‘caretaker’ 1795- Return of the Dutch 1818-1824 British Malacca 1824- 1957

  10. Background to study Malacca: post-Napoleonic wars; the Dutch return Pre-1511 Johor Malays Portuguese Malacca 1511- Dutch VOC Malacca 1641-1795 British ‘caretaker’ 1795-1817 Return of the Dutch 1818- British Malacca 1824- 1957

  11. Background to study Malacca: ceded to British by Dutch Pre-1511 Johor Malays Portuguese Malacca 1511- Dutch VOC Malacca 1641-1795 British ‘caretaker’ 1795-1817 Return of the Dutch 1818-1824 British Malacca 1824- 1957

  12. Thomas Braddell, Attorney-General of the Straits Settlements (1867-82) retrospectively wrote: After the British took formal control of Malacca in 1824 ‘arrangements were at once made to conduct the government on improved principles.’ • Major Research Question: • How correct was Braddell’s claim about the British approach based on ‘improved principles’ – in relation to tax - for the period 1824-1839? • If Braddell’s claim is correct, can it be demonstrated?

  13. Methodology Research design Positivist Non-positivist ‘Quantitative’ Qualitative Theoretical perspectives: Pol. Eco. theory: Adam Smith (1723-1790) Pol. Eco. theory: James Mill (1773-1836) Epistemology • Tax revenue data: Historical method • Statistical • Graphical analysis Methods Discussion/conclusions

  14. Data Primary data: • British Residents’ Malacca Diaries: 1826-1830 • Account journals and Ledger, Malacca: 1826-1830 • Dutch Records of Malacca: 1819- • Dutch East India Company (VOC) files to 1795 Main secondary sources: • Kathryn Sutherland, ed. Adam Smith: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (2008) • James Mill, Elements of Political Economy, 3rd ed. (1844), • Eric Stokes, The English Utilitarians and India (1959) • Paul H. Kratoska, "Land Law and Land Tenure in British Melaka," in Melaka: The Transformation of a Malay Capital C. 1400-1980, ed. Kernial Singh Sandhu and Paul Wheatly (1983)

  15. Quantitative data Dutch VOC 1641-1795, Dutch Govt. 1818-1824 Two main streams of revenue: trade & tax Tax farming: indirect taxation method, eg. customs duties, opium • British East India Company (EIC) 1824… • Two main streams of revenue: trade & tax • Tax farming: eg. spirits; no customs • Land rent • Direct tax assessment eg. commercial bldgs.

  16. Quantitative data Dutch VOC 1641-1795 Source: Reid(1993); Hussin (2002); VOC Archives.

  17. Quantitative data Dutch/British - customs revenue 1796-1824 Dutch British Dutch British Source: Braddell (1861) p.24; Hussein (2002) pp.423-425.

  18. Adam Smith (1723-1790) • “Wealth of Nations” 1776 • Two systems of political economy: • Agriculture • Commerce: • a. mercantile monopoly • b. free-market • ‘Of Taxes’: tax maxims- equity, certainty, convenience, efficiency • Land Rent

  19. Adam Smith (1723-1790) • “Wealth of Nations” 1776 • Two systems of political economy: • Agriculture • Commerce: • - mercantile monopoly • - free-market • ‘Of Taxes’: tax maxims- equity, certainty, convenience, efficiency • Land Rent

  20. Adam Smith (1723-1790) • “Wealth of Nations” 1776 • Two systems of political economy: • Agriculture • Commerce: • - mercantile monopoly • - free-market • ‘Of Taxes’: tax maxims- equity, certainty, convenience,efficiency • Land Rent

  21. James Mill (1773-1836) EIC employee/ “Elements of Political Economy” 1821 • Mill influenced the land rent system in Malacca • Was an ‘acolyte’ of Adam Smith • Mill used David Ricardo’s land ‘rent doctrine’ • Rent doctrine – too extreme –dropped by EIC in 1836

  22. James Mill (1773-1836) EIC employee/ “Elements of Political Economy” 1821 • Mill influenced the land rent system in Malacca • Was an ‘acolyte’ of Adam Smith • Mill used David Ricardo’s land ‘rent doctrine’ • Rent doctrine – too extreme –dropped by 1836

  23. Analysis of Findings Progressiveness in Malacca? • Customs duties • Land rent • Tax Farms and direct tax assessment Influences: Adam Smith? James Mill?

  24. Conclusion • There was a concerted attempt to conduct government on ‘improved principles’ in relation to tax, but with mixed results. • The Malacca case study, 1824-1839, has shown the difficulty of putting Enlightenment theory into practice.

  25. To understanding Adam Smith’s and James Mill’s influence on tax policy changes during the changeover in colonial governing powers. Extends knowledge in the field of tax history concerning the development of colonial tax to modern taxation practice. Adds to the literature concerning colonial Southeast Asia taxation, for the study elicits liberal thought from British Residents’ Malacca Diaries. Contribution of Research

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