Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-09-01
4 Recent French Conquest ii Coriiin
CHINA

CHINA.
T,r T,ln;-i"n rall.c : being rcpc?ted
~ France in 1 ,.uar!cr OF tie globe So
ci,tan. - 10 :t"r.tct bat little attention.
Ec.,niiy came the n"w' from Hong
Kong that the French had captured
Iilnnoi after !wo hours bonibar'iment.
FOR she second tim, the French are in
l,o-~r~>iun nf III" capital OF TonqIl,
and tEi- time they viii undoubtedly
stay. Tonguin. "r Tong hin~. is one
Of the three Prp.inccS Oh the Empire %
Nnam. or Cochin China. h!rh Siir.ch",
alOnt he China SEA. with the Celestial
Empire IL the nprtn. and the Kingdom
o! Siam 20 the wr>i. InnIiIin is the
most nnr,h"riv III these provinces, and
laws along tho calf of Tonqun. he
climate i, sua;c..t to severe hcat and
coi.l. and there are frequent and heavy
illlS III rain. Nhi caiI-e disastrous in
inda,ions. But for all that the cinat"
j. wholesome. and The whole region is
o3c Of great icriilitv. II contains rna%-
niliccn; forests OF line wond~; produces
endless crops OF rice, cotton. r;n~cr,
Indian corn. SuTar-cane and tea; and
embraces vas! plantations of mI'-
berry for the rearing OF silh-worm1.
producing the finest article oi silk:
while the earth contains rich de
POSTS OF gold. silver copper and iron.
Adjacent Ia Tonquin is the French
colony of tamh"'iia. and for several
wear, past the French have been moving
slowly, h,jt deliberately, i'll the direction
Of annexation. They have had an OK
cisc for interfering in the operations -.
pirates in the adjacent sea. and the OK
p"di,ion which was fitted on; last year
for the o-tensblc Suppression of The
pirates is about resulting. Is was eX-
prcicd. in the anncNa,ion of the whole
province 10 the French dominion i'll
Farther India. liannoi. the city which
has Just fallen into French hands. is the
capital OF Tonquin, and is >;tulatr'l on
Sank-koi River, 100 miles nor;hwr>,
from is confluence with the Gull 81
Tunqun. |; is \ poorly built town of
li0. 900 inhabitants. most OF the house,
being made Of lumber aud mud. But il
is already the center OF Il valuable com
mrrr" which admits OF vast dcNc."l-
mcnt ut Tie hand, of Che French. In
1870 NJ. GARNER. nj thu head of only
$50 men. captured the citadel of Han
moi. aud with two "oilca~cS practically
annexed the whole prov ncr (" the
French dominionS. VI. GARNER and his
officers were aSSas 'inated. hut his sac
cc"sor had almost secured the formal
ccS>ion OF Tonqun when the arrival of
4 new Governor, NJ. Philas,rr. led To y
sudden reversal ofthc forward policy and
France cnntentcd herself with treaty
with tPr King Of Anam. signed The l5th
of March. 1874. which recognized her
sovereignty over the six provinces. OF
Lower Cochin China. and established a
sort of proicctorate over AnaIn Itself.
This nominal protcctoratc, however.
has no, satisfied the coloni>tS and those
at home who were interested in the
trade of Cochin China. and now the OPP
crationS of those convenient pirates
which have for years dominated the
whole country above lIannoi have DIV
en- a plausible excuse for pr0trctorate
that will be found more substantial.
The annexation of Tonquin will plare
in the possession of France the whole
eastern coast of the China Sea. which
has many good harbors and several
outlets for the commerce of the region
The Meikone or Cambo.iia. the Saigon
and the Sang-Koi are magnificent
rivers. In 1873 French merchant
named Dupuis succeeded in ascending
the last named stream to Il point within
the Iunnal boundary. He showed that
it was perfectly avi@ablc, and that the
only obstacles to travcrsing it were
caused by the disturbed state of the
country on its banks. The French will.
of course. remedy this difficulty when
Trey obtain full possession of the coun-
try L0,,tyO,l PfDcr