Administration
With the founding of the company, the administrative divisions of North Borneo introduced by Overbeck were maintained by the establishment of the West Coast Residency and the East Coast Residency. The seat of the two residents was in Sandakan, where the governor was based. Each residency, in turn, was divided into several provinces managed by a district officer.[1] Over time, the number of residencies increased to five: Tawau Residency (also known as East Coast Residency), Sandakan Residency, West Coast Residency, Kudat Residency, and Interior Residency. The provinces were initially named after the members of the board: Alcock, Cunlife, Dewhurst, Keppel, Dent, Martin, Elphinstone, Myburgh and Mayne. The senior residents occupied Sandakan and West Coast, while the other three residents with the second class residencies occupied Interior, East Coast and Kudat. The residents of Sandakan and West Coast were members of the Legislative Council, the legislative assembly of the company.
The election of Cowie to the board of directors in 1894 marked the beginning of a major change in the style of administration: Before, North Borneo was governed by the company, and the governors were fully empowered and fully responsible. But since Cowie took over, he mostly ran things from London. Instead of the development of North Borneo, the satisfaction of the shareholders was in the foreground. Alfred Dent, who fiercely opposed Cowie's costly and money-wasting ideas, resigned and withdrew from the company.
Under Neill Malcolm, the administration was ordered to strictly supervise expenditure. Several governors reduced the number of district officers by eliminating the posts in Ranau, Pensiangan, Tenom, Sipitang, Penampang, Tuaran, Langkon, Lamag, Beluran and Semporna. Douglas James Jardine, who become the governor in 1934, completed the process by merging the Tawau Residency with the Sandakan Residency on the one hand and the Interior Residency with the West Coast on the other hand. He also removed the District Officer in Papar.
Municipal administration was governed by the Village Ordinance of 1891. This ordinance fundamentally changed the status of the chiefs, the traditional indigenous tribal leaders. Following its implementation, the company only accepted those chiefs who had appointed them as community leaders. Other chieftains, who had played an important role for generations, were either shut down or branded as criminals or troublemakers. Disrespect for these traditional leaders contributed to the spirit of local resistance led by tribal group such as Mat Salleh and Ontoros Antanum.
Tasks
The company had two responsibilities, namely:
The first governor of North Borneo, William Hood Treacher, devoted himself to the elimination of slavery. However, the land laws issued by him in no way respected the traditional land rights of the inhabitants. The second governor, Charles Vandeleur Creagh, in 1888, issued several proclamations that largely secured foreigners' access to land. A board of directors in London determined the tasks of the company over the governors. Locally, directors over-ruled the governor's instructions. The company established a state power, issued laws (proclamations), recruited Sikh policemen from northern India. Courts were set up to enforce the laws. Furthering the economic exploitation of the area was the construction of a railway line (North Borneo Railway) from Jesselton to Weston and Melalap, the promotion of trade and the establishment of plantations. Effective from 1 March 1883, the periodical North Borneo Herald and Official Gazette was published to disseminate the decisions of the Court of Directors, both within the administrative units of North Borneo, and the company's shareholders and investors.
- Economic development through the exploitation of natural resources of the area. The company was authorised to use the area for agriculture, to settle it, to promote immigration, to mine and to cut wood. An employee of the company and later plantation owner in North Borneo, Owen Rutter, openly named the purpose of "producing dividends".
- Due to the experience of the decline of the British East India Company, a passage was written to protect the rights of the residents. The company was legally responsible for protecting the customs and rights of its residents, but in practice it had to pay dividends, which often limited those rights.
