SIAM.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10765, 13 May 1911, Page 6

SIAM.

(D. A. Oswald, in "T.P.'s Weekly.") With a kingdom of about 19.5,000 square miles, inhabited by six and a half million people, the new ruler of Siam has come to the throne very differently equipped from his predecessors. In some respects the achievements of the Siamese have been scarcely less remarkable than those of the Japanese. As the natural result of a tropical climate. Siam has had to struggle against Uie indolence of her people and against thai corruption of the official classes which seems inseparable from an Oriental State. During the reign of Chulalongkorn I. many sweeping changes were effected, which in Europe would have taken centuries to accomplish, changes which tho late King forced on his people, so. as to bring his kingdom into line with. Western'ideas. Thus it is that Siam has,not_sharred the fate of her 'ancient rivals. """

Little or nothing authentic is known of - the ancient history of the country. ;The Portuguese, '.Spanish, French, and Dutch Governments, successfully established commercial ..relations with Siam early in the seventeenth, century, and about' fifty years later the English followed.. It appeared quite .probable for a time that;the French would outstrip all the Occidental nations in their influence over the Siamese, but a popular outbreak, in which French missionaries and traders were massacred, dispelled this expectation, and the country returned in the beginning of the eighteenth century to its traditional policy of exclusiveness. Within the past sixty years this has been greatly modified. Treaties have been made with Great Britain, France, and the United States, embassies have been sent to the Governments of Britain and France, and, generally speaking, European customs, ideas and improvements have been adopted by successive rulers. It was -King Chulalongkorn's highest ideal —an ideal previously unheard of in the East—to govern for "the good of his people. He had set himself a task which required much time, great patience, and tireless persistence. Only a man of exceptional strength of character could have car.ried through such an undertaking and remained indifferent to the opportunities for ease and pleasure afforded to the autocrat of an Eastern Court. The nobles could not, and would not, understand his purpose in trying to reform and revitalise Siam. For a .quarter of a century little, real progress was made. In 1895 troubles arose on the Franco-Siamese frontier, which culminated in the appearance of French gunboats before Bangkok. "The King will tell them to go, and they will have to go," said the.people, but •when the gunboats went it was to establish a blockade, and the settlement cost j Siam 100,000 square miles of territory. The Siamese now realised the necessity of putting their house in order; annexation seemed to be only a question of a few years, and so uncertain did the future appear that the King for a time seemed to despair. So matters were allowed to drift, Then in 1896 the independence of the Menam .Valley was guaranteed by Hie Anglo-French Agreement. Siam was given a new lease ct life and to her lasting credit she has shown that she knew how to use her opportunity. Since 1896, .however, 14 800 square miles of Siamese territory have been ceded to France, while so recently as 1909 the three Siamese tn.fctitary States of Kilantan, Trenggarin and Kidah, comprising in all Io,OOU square miles, were transferred to Great Britain. Siam has thus become a land of buffer State between the British in Burma and the French in Cambodia and Cochin China. Every living statesman who has stsidied Eastern politics of recent years has insisted on the maintenance' of the integrity and the independence of Siam as a British interest and every Chamber of Commerce is aware of the fact a progressive and friendlv State like Siam, under an enlightened ruler, is a commercial asset which we ought not to neglect, and could not replace if once lost. No country in the world has perhaps made such rapid strides in reforming its administration and ameliorating the condition of its people as Siam has done. When King Chulalongkorn took over the reins of government in 18/ 6, one of his first works was to introduce political reforms ol tar-reaching importance. He decreed a Constitution in May 1874, and notified the abolition of slavery: which by 1899 had completly disappeared. Similarly a postal ser- - vice was established, railways and tramways were opened, telegraphic communication was set up between Siam and foreign countries, and an efficient police svstem was introduced with beneficial results. Sanitation, education and the administration of law and justice were all greatly improved and taxation was lightened and simplified, so that Siam is now the most lightly taxed .country in Asia. At first the reforming zeal of the late King was not generally shared in by his great nobles and other court officials. Only a tew of them were "progressives. ' Not so many years ago the Government was administered by officers who seldom troubled their departments in person. Such a svstem of Government was, or course, impossible in a country that had been fired bv the spirit of reformation and progress, and so a new regime was introduced. Nowadays most of the Government departments are administered with the assistance of European advisers and a staff of European officials. . „ c ,. Theoretically the government oi Siam is excellent, but in practice it is not always air that could be desired, lhe Kingdom itself is divided into eighteen provincial circles, over each of which sits a Hin-h Commissioner, who derives his authority direct from the King, and whose area of jurisdiction is subdivided among a number of subordinate Governors of provinces. Until 1895 the administration of the country was left to the Ministers of the North, South, and Foreign Affairs. Then it was brought under the single authority of Prihce-Danrirong, who, as Minister of the Interior, had also been responsible for a number of reforms in the system of justice as administered in the native Courts. At his instigation a legal code was.to a great extent revised, and while -the Consular Courts still exercise jurisdiction over their own nationals, there is an International Court 'which tries suits of foreigners; against natives. On the executive side of Government the King is advised by a Cabinet, in which most of the portfolios are held by his Majesty's relatives, who officially are the heads of the various departments, the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, the Ministries of War, Marine, Justice, and the Interior, and the Departments of Finance, Public Instruction, Public Works and Police being represented. The Council of State, which was constituted on May 8, 1874, has now been superseded by a Legislative Council that was called into being as recently as January 10, .1895. Comprising the Ministeries of State and others, its total membership is 51: Its aim is to complete the legislative reforms of the kingdom, but important suplementary powers have been conferred upon the Legislative Council, by which in the event of anytemporary disability of the Crown 2 they possess the right to promulgate laws without the Royal assent. At all other times the signature of the King is essential before any law can be put into operation. Describing their national.character as "docile, indolent, timid, gay," a writer lias said: "The Siamese are devoted to holiday-making and ceremonies and processions which accompany the important anniversaries of life, death, and religion, and which cause an infinite amount of money to be squandered and time lost. When' a King or Prince is cremated, or '• when:.-a Crown Prince has had his top-knot,.shaven off upon attaining the age of puberty, the whole citv (Bangkok) is given up to idleness for days, and the barbaric splendor of the ceremonial is unique even in the Far East." The marriage customs of Siam are peculiar. When _a wedding is contemplated the negotiations are carried out bv elderly women, who ascertain if the intended bride and bridegroom are suitable, and arrange all details. But, with all their faults, .theSiamese are a charming people, lovable, gifted, and cultured. Their chief failings are lethargy and love of pleasure, and -they have' the characteristic capriciousn'ess of all. Orientals in their amours, limited or extended, of course, according to their social position and balance at the bank. To the late King, for example, wives were as einharassing as thev "wore to Solomon, for it.is the custom of the Siamese artsiocracy to dedicate its most atractive daughters +o the service of the Sovereign.