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Brunei: Revival of 1906
THE YANKEE CONSUL AFFAIR
In 1864, an American named Charles Lee Moses received appointment
as the first US Consul General in Brunei. Sultan Abdul Mumin (r. 1852-
1885) was much impressed by the ambitious promises made by the US
Consul General and agreed to build a consulate building for him. The
Sultan believed that Moses would bring economic benefits and American
protection to Brunei. Moses succeeded in convincing the Sultan to lease
out for ten years almost the entire North Borneo, comprising 21 districts
from the Sulaman to the Paitan rivers, and territories from Paitan to
Kimanis – including the Balabac and Palawan islands. In return, the Sultan
was to receive $4,500 in annual payments, while Pengiran Temenggung
Pengiran Anak Hashim’s share was another $4,000.
For Moses, the concession was purely a profit-making venture.
He went to Hong Kong and sold his newly acquired lease rights to W. J.
Torrey, an American businessman, who with two other associates formed
a company known as the American Trading Company of Borneo. When
Torrey came to Brunei to renegotiate the lease, the Sultan appointed him
Supreme Ruler and Governor with the title of Raja of Ambong and
Marudu with “all other powers and rights usually exercised by, and
belonging to Sovereign Rulers.” Torrey’s venture to develop Kimanis ended
up in heavy losses and he eventually abandoned it. The Sultan too did
not receive his payments. Moses soon fell out with his partners and
requested the Sultan to cancel the lease which he had transferred to Torrey
Meanwhile, Moses himself became persona non grata in Brunei,
as he had made empty promises to the Sultan. The Sultan’s many requests
for British help in recovering the money owed to him fell on deaf ears.
Moses promised to recover the dues owed to the Sultan by the China
Steamship and Labuan Coal Company that had leased coal mines in
Muara. When he found himself unable to recover the dues, Moses
demanded that the Muara mines be transferred to his ownership, further
complicating matters between him and the Sultan. Moses then set fire to
the US Consulate building and tried to implicate the Sultan in order to
demand compensation. An American Government inquiry exonerated
the Sultan and dismissed Moses from its service. This episode, nicknamed
by some historians as “the Yankee Consul Affair”, shows how desperate
Brunei’s position was at that time.
Baron von Overbeck, an Austrian Consul General from Hong
Kong, bought Torrey’s rights in January 1875. Two years later, von
Overbeck came to Brunei and renegotiated the lease with the Sultan and
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