KING OF SIAM.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13871, 24 October 1910, Page 7

KING OF SIAM.

(Received October 2Hh, 12.30 a.m.) j BANGKOK, October 23. | King Chulalongkora is dead. Chulalongkorn I. was born on September 21st, 18u3, and was called to the ' throne on October Ist, J 80S. Ho wai the fifth monarch of tho ChakraL* , d\ r nasty, which was founded in 1782 by a rebellious Prime Minister who 1-roved to be his own king-make; , . "Brought up amid tho enervating influence* of an Eastern Court, P'rahat, fc'omdeteh Pra Paratnindr Maha Chulalcngkorn Patindr Tepa Mai:; , . Mongkuc j Pra ChuU Klao Chow Yu hui!, Chulalongkorn 1., I/ord of the White ■ Elephant, King of Siam of the North j find South, Sovereign of the Laos arid j of the Malays, prominently ;cprodueo.s j the defects of his environment," wrote j Mr Angus Hamilton of the King a few j years ago. "'Wise by virtue of the | prico he has paid fdr his experienco, j ho is now the pillar of the Reforma- j tion, while the strength and determina- j iion of his rule to-day afford a strong I contrast to the time" in 1893, when, greatly daring f ho fiddled while Bangkok wan burning. With the French warships actually cleared for action, and the capital threatened with tho havoc of a bombardment, the King ' realised his responsibilities so little j that he passed whole days in feasting, j and spent tho night in giiy debauchery. Greatly sorrowing for i'he follrts of 1893, nevertheless, ho has iiad the wit sinco 1896 to null himself together, and by ton long years of self-re'proanh he has endeavoured to atone for his indulgences, until now he is in a fair way to win for himself a lasting place in tile annaJs of contemporary fc-iain " Mr Hamilton says of his work in regenerating Siam : —"Expert foreign assistance was procured and a thorough reorganisation promoted. Opprsssivo legislation was modified; trade was fostered by the conservation of th-s teak forests in the north and opening up of additional pruidy l'u>U\s in the south. Irrigation was introduced where profitable results might be anticipated, and the several Departments of Government were placed under the direct control of foreigners. As the result uf these measures, the last ten years has seen a remarkable increase in the pros perity of tho kingdom. Exports have trebled, imports have doubled, while the revenue has increased from a million sterling in 1890 to a little under i four million sterling in the present J year. . . . New canals have been j opened out, four hundred miles of rail- ! way constructed, some thirty miles of j electric street trams laid, a postal and telegraphic system provided, and the electric light introduced to tho capital, so that Bangkok nowadays is in measurable distance of becoming one j of the most T>roctrc?sirp centres on tho j Indo-Malay Peninsula." !

"Distinguished nowadays by a spirit of liberality and enlightenment, he is making tho study of his-country 3iis sole object. Those who are privileged with hrs acquaintance find in him the exnreeskm of an amiable regard for Western advancement. So modern, indeed, is he, that in his palace at Bangkok a 40 h.p. automobile is installed nest to the great white elephant, before whom his subjects make obeisance while they ply it."night and morning with bunches" of sugar cane So modern is he that in his Council Chamber he dictates despatches in English to an Indian stenographer, while the telephone, electric Fight, and revolving fans have been supplied to his apartments. \et. so infinitely an Oriental autocrat is he that he holds the life of his greatest subject as of no more importance than that of the meanest coolie."