The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-04-17
KING
The Progress Made by the Siamese Duf-
ing the Past Two Years.

fhs Progress Made by the Siamese Dnf.
ing the Past Two Years.
The young King Of Siam, Chulalong-
korn l., has of late years lost much of
the youthful appearance and geniality
of disposition for which he was so dis
tinguished, and he now begins to ex-
hibit in many ways the effects OF the
responsibilities Of royalty. Seventeen
years ago he assumed the reins OF
power, when he was crowned the
Supreme King of Siam, and by adj
herring to p peaceful policy and seek
ing to advance and benefit his people,
he has rendered the possession OF the
throne SO secure that, Notwithstanding
the internal political discussions which
have arisen, the subversion of his au-
therity has never been attempted. Up
to the present time his reign has been
a prosperous and comparatively happy
one, but since the occupation Of Anam
and the conquest Of Tonquin by the
ambitious French, who are seeking to
establish an empire in the East, his
Majesty has not been altogether free
from apprehension that, with the sue
cess of France in pursuing her policy
of annexation on the one hand and
England, with her "lust for terrific
rial acquisition" on the other, his
kingdom would be ultimately alb
sorbed by one of those two Powers.
On the occasion of his Majesty's
birthday, which was celebrated with
unusual demonstrations of Joy, the rep
re~sentatives Of the treaty Powers as
sembled at the royal palace, as usual,
and offering him their congratulations.
1t is a significant fact, which has caused
considerable comment in diplomatic
circles here and elsewhere. that the
address of the British Minister, who
acted as the dean of the Diplomatic
Corps, was unusually brief, and though
somewhat congratulatory, it was en-
tirely devoid of those complimentary
illusions which are customary on such
occasions. The King responded to the
address in his native language in a
digniied and graceful manner, and in
referring to the recent death of the
Second King his Majesty said: at
has been unanimously decided, after
duo consultation, to discontinue the
Office, and no future appointment will
be made to this position. All officers
and departments connected with the
Office will be combined with our own
immediate department according to
the laws and customs of the country.
until we shall be able to devise further
plans and arrangements for the well
fare Of the country. Wheneverchanges
in the administration have taken
place heretofore, we have consid-
cred that they were instituted for
the benefit of the country, and in
every instance the results have proved
satisfactory. The fact that we have
been able to administer with success
the affairs of all our dominions; COM
prising provinces extending over a
wide area, inhabited by people speak
ing different dialects, is a source Of
great satisfaction to us. Siamese, Laos
and Shans all acknowledge themselves
to be members of our nation, and re-
gard us as their sovereign and pro-
tector.
''We are using our best endeavors to
promote communication by water and
by land, in order to facilitate trade and
inter-communication, and where trav-
cling by common conveyance fails on
account of the distances and difficulties
of the road, we intend to use the steam
engine and establish and perfect postal
communications with different parts of
our realm. This we think is incum-
bent upon us as a member of the Uni
versal Postal Union. And for the
greater facility and dispatch of official
and commercial business we are ex-
tending our telegraph lines to connect
with many of Il seaport towns, and
already communication has been es-
tablished with some of them. When
ever it has been deemed advisable for
the benefit of commerce, we have
caused surveys and charts to be made
Of such parts Of the gulf as are fire.
quented by vessels and of the ports
where there is a probability Of an in
crease Of trade. As regards public ed
ucatjon, which we consider to be the
basis of national success and pros
perity, we have established examina-
tons and have inspected the list of
students in the numerous Government
schools which have been opened, and it
affords us great qualification to state
that the number of students is daily in
creasing, and that the system Of public
education gives great promise Of sue
cess. '-BangLok fSiam) Cor. ~ T.
Tribune.
POINTS FOR LADIES.