Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1893 — SIAM AND ITS PEOPLE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SIAM AND ITS PEOPLE.

FACTS ABOUT THE LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. OnK, of the Difficulty Betwea flrmi and Slam—Extent of the ttmmtmm Kor jrtre—lts Great Natural Wealth lUCag*tal the Oriental Venice. Coveted by the Ihath, The trouble between Slam and France, is only another phase of the ever-recurring and never-ending Eastern question, the difference between this and former appearances being that in this case the trouble broke out a little farther east than nsuaL For over 200 years the French have been longing for an Eastern empire. In the time of Louis XIV. the dream of empire seemed about to be realized, and but for the almost accidental formation of a company of English traders the Empire of India might have teen French instead of English. The marvelous growth of the East India Company, the equally marvelous success of its srmed agents in Hindostan, pnt an end to the French hopes, and until the present generation little or nothing was accomplished. About 1787 the French, however, established a foothold in the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, and by treaty with the government of Cochin China acquired the island of Pulo Gondola and the right to establish a station on the main land. The right, however, was never exercised until 1815, when, a dispute arising between the French and the government of Cochin China, Saigon, the capital, was occnpied, and the whole of Cochin China became a French province. In 1862 further conquests began, and the surrounding country began to suffer. In the following year the kingdom of

Cambodia was formally taken under the protection of France, which then began to extend its dominions still further to the north. In 1884 trouble broke out, or was provoked, it matters not which, between the people of Tonquin and the French, and after a bloody struggle this country, then a dependency of China, was made a French province. This left the two French possessions in this part of Asia widely separated, and in order to consolidate them the coast territory lying between them and known as Anam was taken possession of. The area of Cochin China is estimated at 23,000 square miles, and its population at 2,000,000.

Cambodia an area of 38,000 square miles and aD estimated population of 1,800,000. Tonquln has an estimated area of 34,000 square miles and a population of 9,000,000, while Anam has 46,000 square miles of area and 5,000,000 inhabitants, the aggregation of all these giving a very fair start for a colonial empire. To the west of this territory lies the valley of the great river Menang, which, rising in Thibet, over 2,000 miles away, flows with many windings in a general southeastern course

through Thibet, a portion of China, a part of British Burmah and Siam, passing through the French dominions just before entering the sea. The Menang is the greatest river in that part of Asia, both in the length of its course and the volume of Its waters, comparing favorably with the Ganges, the Indus or Brahaaa-Maotra. The French found that the posfesskm of the coast lying to the east of the river was of little value without the river valley itself, and accordingly, to secure possession of this valuable

,to the east bank of the Menang and all Its islands. The limits of Siam on the north and east have always been rather in definite, for to the north, adjoining British Burmah, there lay a number of semi-independent states, which sometimes owned allegiance to Siam and sometimes to Burmah, as the influence of one or the other preponderated. The same difficulty existed in the east, where the Anamites sometimes paid tributo to China and sometimes to Siam. Siam itself has in times past been a dependency of

the Chinese Empire, and even now a sort of allegiance is acknowledged and a tribute paid. So far as the Siamese territory can be estimated, its ut most limits at the time of its greatest extent were about 1,200 miles from north to south and 700 miles in width, or very nearly one-third the size of the United States. That, however, was before the English conquests In Burmah, which considerably reduced the nominal size of the empire. Its present area is estimated at 250,000 square miles, while

It has a population of 2,000,000 Siamese, 2,000,000 Luosians, and 1,000,000 each of Chinese or Malays. Government of Slam. The Government of Siam is in some respects much likethatof other countries having a limited monarchy, while in one particular it is curiously different. There are two Kings, a first find a second, each of whom has a state establishment, but only one is honored as a sovereign, the other acting as a sort of Prime Minister. The whole country is divided into districts, the government of each being administered by a local official who Is Siamese, or Luosian,* r Malay, according to the prominence of people of these nationalities in the population. The reigning King is Chulaloog Kom 1., known also as Somdetch Phra Paraminde Maha, who ascended the throne in 1868, and who governs by means of a council of six Princes and from ten to twenty members appointed by himself. Nominally a limited monarchy, there are so many ways of setting aside the established laws of the kingdom that, although the Siamese call themselves the Thai, “the free,” and their kingdom the Muung Thai, “the free kingdom,” they are practically under the same kind of government as most other Asiatics.

The King of Siam Is, comparatively speaking, a rich monarch, having an annual revenue Bomewhat exceeding £2,000,000, of which sum £287,000 come from the land taxes, £65,000 from the taxes on fruit trees, £IOO,000 from the spirit tax, £120,000 from the opium tax, £IOO,OOO from the gambling tax, £143,000 from the customs duties, £90,000 from the tin tax, £27,000 from the tax on edible birds’ nests, and about the same amount from the fisheries tax. As all the taxes are, however, farmed out, and Siamese tax farmers are no more honest than the people of the same business in other parts of the world, his Majesty of Siam loses no •mall sum annually from the peculations and embezzlements of hts agents, and it Is even asserted that scarcely more than half the amount due reaches the royal coffers. He probably makes up the difference in the personal service exacted from all Siamese natives, every Siamese in-

habitant of the kingdom being required, If called upon, to give at least three months’ labor in the year to his sovereign. Tho result may be beneficial, so far as the King is concerned, but as he frequently calls for this service at a time when the crops should be planted, or cultivated, or gathered, the result is far from beneficial to either the agriculture or the general prosperity of the kingdom. A similar state of things prevails in regard to military service, all the inhabitant* being required to render it, exceptions, however, being made in

i favor of the priests; of the Chinese, who are taxed Instead; of slaves; of governmentofficials, and of those who are willing and able to purchase exemption by hiring a substitute. Tho whole kingdom is practically' therefore) at the King’s command both in time of peace and of war, and although it is, in some respects, one of the richest countries on the globe, its natural advantages lie unimproved, and a territory almost the size of Texas has thus an annual export of only about $12,000,000 a year, consisting mostly of rice, tea, pepper, and other tropical products. Bangkok a Singular City. Bangkok, the capital, is in many respects a singular city. Its popula. tion Is estimated all the way from 500,000 to 1,000,000, and is curiously mixed and cosmopolitan. Siamese and Chinese predominate in its streets, though the Malays are also very numerous, and frequent Europeans in Its streets demonstrate the presence of Western civilization and interest. They are, in fact, the leaven of Siam, and to their Influence and the spread of Western Ideas are due the various improvements noticeable in the great city, from which political power proceeds to the utmost boundaries of Siam. The army is officered by Europeans, chiefly English and Danes, the navy is commanded by European®, and of the many business enterprises in Siam, most of those which connect it with the outside world arc superintended by EUtopeans. There Is little love lost, jiowever, between the native and foreign elements of society, and the intense hatred felt for all foreigners by the large Chinese population may at any moment prove disastrous to all foreign interests. English, French, German, Russian are all alike to the low-class Chinamen, who cannot distinguish between their languages, and all are hated alike. There is every reason to believe, therefore that the presence of a hostile fleet in the river may at any time excite the passions of the populace to an uncontrollable degree, and mob violence in the East has a meaning which is unknown in Western lands.

Bangkok is the Eastern Venice. Formerly all its houses were built on the land, but the p evidence of cholera many years ago so alarmed the Government that it ordered the houses on the banks to be abandoned and directed the people to live on the river itself. Thousands upon thousands of houses were consequently built on rafts aud moored to the banks of tho river, and although the policy of river houses has been to some extent modified by the Government, no inconsiderable part of the capital Is still on the waters of the Menam. The houses are of slight materials, constructed on ..bamboo rafts, each attended by a canoe,’ for to the river resident of Bangkok a skiff is as indispensable as a street car to the suburban resident iq an American city. Formerly the right to build on the banks was reserved to the king, nobility, clergy and privileged characters. This right has been greatly extended and now Bangkok has spread its limits on both sides of the Menam. The most striking features of the city are the palaces and the temples. The former are located in a citadel securely fortified against sudden attack or prolonged siege, and comprise the palaces of the two kings and a variety of temples and other structures pertaining to the court. As the first king has about 5,000 women attached to the court in one capacity or another, the palaces are, as may be conjectured, very roomy. Prominent among the at.

tendants are the amazon guards of the harems. They are women trained to—-the arms and employed to gua/d the Ring’s wives, and whenever a lady of the harem appears in public, she is attended by a retinue of these female soldiers, who answer with their lives for her seclusion. Several very magnificent temples are within the limits of the palace walls, the most remarkable being that of the “Sleeping Idol” and that of the “Emerald Idol.” The Sleeping Idol is a statue 150 feet long, overlaid from head to foot with plate gold, in many places covered with inscriptions and representations of the transmigrations of Buddha. Not far away is the palace of the White Elephant, who is really a deity, and throughout Siam is reverenced as such. He has his court, his attendants, his throngs of servants, and is treated like a prince. The White Elephant is an albino, not completely white, but here and there having spots of cream color over his otherwise dusky hide. The Emerald Idol’s temple is a wonderful structure, of the utmost magnificence, the doors and much of the wall being plated with gold. The idol itself is said to he a solid emerald 12 inches high by 8 wide, the hair and dress of the rude figure being made of gold studded with precious gems. In spite of their barbarous magnificence, however, the pagodas of Bangkok present a wonderfully impressive appearance, as, situated in large parks and covered with porcelain p’ates and decorated with bells which sway to and fn? chiming with every breeze, they gleam through the tropical foliage and suggest that a people which could build such shrines as these should not bs designated as savages; for, although their civilization may be different from ours, it is nevertheless off a*kindi that, perhaps suits them quite as welL

The mosquito gives you some musio and then, takes up a collection for it —Galveston News.

AMAZONS OF THE HAREM GUARD.

RIVER HOUSES IN BANGKOK.

KING OF SIAM.

A DETACHMENT OF SIAMESE ARTILLERY.

THE MOST FAMOUS TEMPLE IN SIAM.