The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-12-09
The French in Cochin China.

~. French have earned small credit in
A. No., a., "a management Of their colo
nies, and at present u. "a 'u''s 'ne p',,'
sions, with one exception. COS. n1o'c 'n"n
they bring in. 1t is now reported. no" vel
that Cochin China has yielded during the
current year a surplus revenue of half a
million dollars. This fact is n striking
anomaly in the colonial experience Of France;
yet 1t Is rather what the French have left
undone in Farther India. and their unwary
sacrifice OF great opportunity. which
deserve particular attention.
When the French secured n foothold In CO.
chin China they had nothing 10 apprchcnd
from European rivalrics in that region.
British influence, dominant in Burmah and
powerful in Siam. had not crossed the Me-
kong or Cambodia river, which bisccts the
peninsula from north to south. To the east
Of that broad channel lay the States Of the
Annamite sovereign, including Tonkin, a
recently acquired dependency. The com
mercial value to France Of this rich and
populous country can be gagged by the
fiscal returns above mentioned from the mar
row section now covered by it's flag.
But the resources Of Farther India
BILE gain accruing to the masters Of the An
Mantle Empire. 1t is now known-and we
IRE indebted for the discovery to French
mcn-that the long-sought avenue to south
western China is the Song koi, or Red river,
which cmptics into the Gulf Of TOnkin. The
Chinese provinces thus laid open are the
most civilized and prosperous Of the Middle
Kingdom, and are computed by EIcHTHoFEN
b. contain a population Of one hundred MIL
lions By controlling the mouth Of this
great water road, the French would have
maintained the same relation toward the
vast tract drained by its upper course
which the British factories ON the Bay of
Bengal held in the previous century toward
the Mogul lords Of Delhi. Such was the
prize which, during the past decade and a
half, series of lucky events has repeatedly
pressed on the French Government, but
which was let slip AT the last moment when
the whole commercial world had awakened
t. its splendid possibilities.
: Tho actual possessions Of France in the
~ .. = . loliI.r, I n
tar East are not the run 81
policy, but each step Of the process o..
which they We're acquired seems TO have
been taken with reluctance and INDIGESTION,
A glance at the facts will demonstrate that
the French were impellcd from conquest to
conquest by the pressure of circumstances,
but that they never heartily accepted the
situation, on kept in view the one advantage
which could fully compensate for their labor
and expenditure When the first detachment
Of troops was landed in 1859, the French Adj
miral, RIGAULT DE GESoUILLY, designed
only transient demonstration which should
avcnge the murder Of some Catholic mis-
Bionarlcs, secure the release Of other,
from Imprisonment, and exact of the King
TU-DUC, II pledge Of good behavior in the iu
ture. But the occupation II Saigon, a forti
fled river port some twenty-five Leagues in
land from the coast, cntailcd long anC
costly war. For two years the Europeans
were closely besicgcd in Saigon and, al
though they were enabled after the arriva
of rccniorccmcnts TO defeat the AnnamtC
army yet the latter was immediately rcor
gained and the lighting was renewed 1t wa
not until the native forces had been bcatcI
In Series Of engagements, until wide
area had been OVcrrun, and the two strong
holds Of Mytho and Bcn-hOa carried by as
sault, that the King aud his mandarin
hierarchy would agree TO terms Of peace
BY the wal, of course, fresh claims hao
Decn acquired, and responsibilities inoullct
10 subject populations. Accordingly, three
provinces, composing the Hat, marshy re
gion Of which Saigon il the capital, wcr,
formally coded TO France. Soon aiterwarC
an Annamte Embassy appeared in Paris
and 80 littlo was the present or prosperity
value OF the conquest understood that tn
Ministers OF tho Second Empire mooted tn
evacuation OF Cochin China on payment @
three @llllon dollars. the sape TO take VI