Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-09-15
LII: IN SIAN.
A country Where Foreigners arO We'll
come bur Where American Vessels arc
seldom Seen.

come bu, " here American Vessels are
seldom Seen
Iudge .Jnbn II Hallprmnn limited
Stetos minister To Siam now making II
short visit to Tins countrv was in s,
Tonis last weel, for a few days' stay he
foro Going to San Francisco. to sail ON
tha return trim to his n!ace Of office
From n rcnorted conversation with n rem.
rasentotivd of the Missouri H,uublicon
tbn fnllowino is taken in his words
..The feeling in Siam towards the United
States ;s of thc u, ST md kindest as Won
may know from the fact that one of the
princes with royal suite. is now on the
wny here TO reside. His name is pris.
dano nn1 Ii, will represent his land with
credit beiup hipbly educated and cul.
tn,el He sncoks French and English
i,nentlv md con not foiI toi make the
best of impressions. For NV own part.
have been living there nbnnt two vcars
frst going out as consul uader an MP
pointment by President Hayes, then be-
ing made consul-genernl by President
Garfield, and later resident minister by
President Arthur. and my experience an,l
relations with the government ,have al
ways been of the pleasant character. As
u native Of Missouri, claiming St. Louis
as nv home, my appointment. really gives
a mission to the state. the fins. it has ever
had. | am also the first minister going
out. all tending to attract more attention
and excite more interest in the association
of the two countries than would be done
under any other circumstances. The
government of Siam is an absolute mon
archv There is n council of state. known
as the senebodi, which has voice in af-
fairs, but the will of the King is su-
preme. He is II man of perhaps thirty
years, and called Chuiton Korn. He is
intelligent, Of fine presence and address.
and has done great deal of good for his
people since ascending the throne. His
adviser, or prime minister is called Sura.
wongse. and is an able diplomutist. well
up in outside ideas and events. The peo.
pie are honest, amiable and generally in
telligent, there being but few not able to
read and write. The women are of fine
feature and complexion, and appear more
freely in public than common in most
Eastern countries. The principal means
Of livelihood are tilling the soil andlfish.
ing. Siam is n rice-growing country. and
rice IA n GREAT stanlo The one grea,
drink is tea, although not much is raised
there, the supply coming for the most
part from China and Japan.
The prevailing religion is buddhism n
religion coming nearer trne Christianity
than any other know Of There are good
many missionaries working out there. but
they do not make much progress. They
do a good deal of good in the way Of
educating the yonng md introducing
English STYLES Of dress but their inroai,
into the Buddhist religion do not amonnt
to much Between the Protestant and
Catholic missionaries, the Catholic seen
to be more successful than the other the
bishop telling me lust before coming
away that he had fully 5000 communi
cnnts. | said that the missionaries wer,
doing good deal of good in efrectipe
reform in dress. although there are 9th
ers who do not think so. Take il yltl
the Young girls. who are bought and solo
for servants and mistresses As they he
come better educated and dress bette,
and more becomingly under missionar,
instruction they are more in demand anS
are worth more money. so that. som,
maintain that what ia apparently n benefi
and blessing in reality rchects to tbei
evil.
"BanVkok. the capital is Il city of fiy,
hundred thousand population. situate,
on the Menam river thirty miles inlan,
from the Gulf of Siam. it is the chic
port Of entry, and is the seat of a larg
trade with China. japan and India YES
+, sells of ordinary tonnage can reach it, bu
ANYTHING drawing over thirteen feet cal