TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8544, 26 July 1893, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The .trouble between The Difficulty France and Siam has been i with Siam. brewing so long, and was regarded as of so little moment when it first began, that probably a good many of the public are now wondering what it is all about. It was originally a frontier difficulty. Siam, we need hardly remind our readers, is a State which separates the French—noaan*'"''" , "': rt *"-f*y" our dwn possessions in Burtnah. What is the true frontier between Annam and Siam is not very clear, but there is no mystery about the frontier which the French want They announced some time ago that they would be satisfied wifchnothing less than the whole left bank of the Mekong River. As this meant simply doubling the area of Annam, according to the Siamese view of Annamese boundaries, it can easily be understood that the demand created the deepest consternation and amazement on the part of the ruling authorities afc Bangkok. Until recently the Freiich took no steps ia the direction of enforcing their claim by occupation, bub early in the present year they advanced their troops, and collisions between the French soldiers and the. inhabitants of the disputed territory naturally followed. This gave the French an opportunity of formally renewing, their demands, now increased by & claim for an indemnity as well, and it is the refusal of the Siamese to comply which has brought about the present crisis.

The Siamese urge, and with The French much show of reason, that Claim. the French claim to the

Mekong is.quite a recent invention, and a pure piece of "grab," having no foundation in justice. They point out that the French traveller, M. Gamier, in his "Explorations in Indochine," drew the frontier line between i Siam and Annam, as the Siamese now ask it should be drawn, and the claim to the left bank of the Mekong never entered into bia wildest dreams. ; When the trouble reached an acute stage, however, a few months ago, the Siamese made what seems a very fair proposal. As a temporary measure they were prepared to mark off in what they claim to be Siamese territory, a neutral belt from which all Annamese and Siamese garrisons should be withdrawn. At the same time they expressed themselves anxious to settle the frontier question definitely upon the basis of actual occupation. They declared that Siam was prepared to relinquish any tracts which could be proved to belong to 'Amtyq, and that she was ready to accept international arbitration on the validity of any Annamese claims. Between Powers of equal strength this would have been looked upon as a fair proposal, and probably would have, been accepted. It did not, however, suit a Government bent on annexation, and France persisted in her original demands. Why France is so anxious to get the Mekong is easy enough to understand. Independently of the enormous territorial acquisition which it would involve, the new frontier would put her in a position to coerce Siam into further concessions. There is also another reason. The French occupation of Tonkin has hitherto brought no honour to those concerned in it, and has been a heavy expense to the country. It is shrewdly expected, however, that the French hope, with the Mekong under their control, to open op commercial relations with South China by way of Yunnan, thus cutting into the profitable trade at present carried on by the English, and perhaps converting the Tonkin deficit into a balance on the right side. This, of coarse, constitutes an additional reason why the British Government should be interested in the i present dispute.

NoTWXTHSTAjrniNG what The Siamese Times says* about the difficalDefence. ties of completely subjugating Siam, that country, unassisted by one of the Great Powers, would have little hope of making any lengthened stand against the French demands. Her chief hope is in the intervention of England and China. Still, her resources

ere not altogether to be deepieed. There ia a standing army of 12,000 men, and there U a conscription embracing male inhabitant" j above the age of twenty-one years, but to this there are pretty numerous exemptions. It is stated that the Government possesses upwards of 80,000 stand of arms, besides a considerable stock of cannon. The army is to some extent officered by Europeans, and, according to the " Statesman's Yearbook"," has very largely increased of late years in efficiency and in numbers, and ,in the character of its equipments. As regards the navy, Siam in 1892 possessed two screw steamers of 2000 tons and eight guns each, several gunboats (mostly in bad condition) officered by Europeans, chiefly Englishmen and Danes, and some sea-eoing yachts. One cruiser of 2500 tons was being built. Recent telegrams, however, seemed to give the impression that Siam has lately been improving her navy as well as her army, and in regard to equipment has taken care to see that her ships are provided with and other lurnsaments of the most modern type.

If the confession of Mr The Missing Adam Wirth, "ahotoPicture. rious thief " now con-

fined in Louvain Gaol, is to be relied upon, a long-standing mystery has been at length partially cleared up. We refer to the disappearance of Gainsborough's portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire in 1876. On the dispersal; of Wynn Ellis collection on May 6bh, i# that year, this famous painting was knocked down at Messrs Christie's auction to Mr Agnew, the well-known dealer, for 10,000 guineas. Eighteen days afterwards London was startled by the news that the portrait had been cat out of the frame and stolen during the night from Messrs Agnew's gallery in New Bond street, where it was being exhibited. From that day to the present it has never been heard of. The only consolation which the Messrs Agnew possessed was that the sensation caused 1 by the robbery was the means of creating a tremendous demand for prints, and it was even rumoured that their revenue from this source more than compensated them for the loss of the picture. It is a pity that Mr Wirth is not able to say where it ia to be found. It would be worth another fortune now for exhibition purposes.