Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-10-28
SIAM AND THE SIAMESE.

SLAM AND THE SIAMESE.
Siam is q kingdom about which
good deal has been written, but Of
which very little is generally known.
UP to comparatively recent period
1t was chiefly associated in the minds
OF most Englishmen with the famous
Siamese twins. It was not until 1857
that, after several failures, a treaty of
friendship and commerce was negotiat-
ed between England and Siam. In the
following year transient interest in
Siam was aroused in the British public
by the arrival of ambassadors from
Bangkok, and their reception by the
Queen, to whom they brought magnifi-
cent presents. Since then, the de-
velopment of commercial relations be-
tween this country, especially between
British India and Siam has been con-
siderable, and political complications,
to be adverted to further on, have
created Siamese Question The area
OF Siam proper is more than twice that
OF the United Kingdom, and the native
population is not much above six mil
lions. In large sections of it the chief
tropical products flourish, valuable
timber abounds; and the only partly
developed mineral wealth of the coun-
try is immense. In one respect the
Sismese have been fortunate. The
Sovereigns have often been far super
ior in energy and enlightenment to
most Asiatlc potentates. The late
King of Siam and his successor have
done what they could to introduce the
forms of Western civilization. Bang
kok, the capital, has the electric light,
tramcars, and Government offices of
European architecture, and the pres
ent King has also shown himself re-
former of abuses, especially of the
worst of Siamese social evils, the uni
versatility of serfdom and the preva-
lence of slavery. Further and much
needed reforms are expected from him,
but even were the political and fiscal
administration of the kingdom very
much better than it is, the Siamese, a
hght-hearted nation of Buddhists, fond
of amusement, and accustomed to fire.
quent holidays, are little fitted to de-
veIop the great resources of their coun-
try. Its internal trade is chiefly in the
hands of Cinnamon, who, with the
Malays, add some millions more to the
estimated population already stated.
oiO bCAhS SOioAi uONCtt anu
Europeans have been encouraged by
the policy of Siamese royalty to settle
at Bangkok, and to develop the ex-
ternal trade of Siam.
THE sIAArEsE QUEEN.
Political complications, we said, have
created Siamese question Its origin
and development call for some explana-
ton. Siam, it will be seen by a glance
at the map, occupies the largest part
of the lndo- Chinese peninsula, and has
On the West British Burma as it was
before the annexation of Upper Burma.
While Upper Burma remained under
Its old native rulers the whole breadth
of that period and the French posses
sions, for such they really are, in An
nam. Collisions between the English
and French IN the Indo- Chinese penin-
sula we're, therefore, very unlikly.
But the annexation of Upper Burma
has brought the Eastern frontier OF
our Burmese territory considerably
nearer the Western frontier of the
French possession, which has procured
for NJ. Jules Ferry the epithet, meant
to be opprobrlous, of "Le Tonquin-
ois," and which used to be known in
NhAOhN ~ " pChh
much priced by a certain class of snuff-
takers. Between these two frontiers,
French and English, lie districts in
which is a numerous mixed population
of Burmese, Chinese, and Mslays, a
British Protectorate over whom Is
recognized by the Kirg of Siam, but
whose futureis not yet fixed. Further
north are the British Shan States, an
- h. R,.tfoh
province of Upper Burma. Now
through the territories Just mentioned
runs southwark, and then through the
whole depth of the peninsula, the
River Mekong- Eastward of the Mekong
Valley, and between it and french An
nam, is range of mountains
garded as the western limit of the
French possessions But the French,
it appears, have revived an antiqusted
and obsolete claim set up by the old
Kingdom of Cambodis Ito which their
possessions in the Indo- Chinese penin-
sula once belonged). They are said
to be rapidly advancing westward to-
wards the Shan States in the north and
the British protected districts in the
south, so as to bring their new frontier
within dangerous proximity to ours,
with the further disadvantage of in
creasing our difficulties in the way of
delimitation. The immediate object
of the French is to make the Mekong
their boundary on the west instead of
the..mountain range which formerly
separated them from that river and its
valley. They are surveying the terri
tory between the Mekong and AMMAN,
and contemplate starting steamers on
it. Now the Mekong, after entering
Siam proper, makes further south a
detour to the east, and in the rough
triangle thus formed by it, with the
mountain range on its east, lies the
distinctly Sianese province, Luang
Prubang. Thus, If the French estab
lish themselves on the Mekong, they
not only become dangerous neighbors
of the Empress of India, but they seize
a province undoubtedly Slams. 1t is
impossible to say where the work of
annexing Slamese territory thus begun
will end, If a check Is not promptly
and decislvely given to it, and this, with
the danger of French approach to the
Burmese and other adjacent territories
of the Empress of India, constitutes the
new and important Siamese question.
ROYAL HAIR CUTTING IN SIAM.
Siamese children have their hair cut
only once, and this important cere-
mony takes place at the age of four
teen. Up to that time youths of both
sexes have their heads closely shaven
with the exception of small topknot,
the cutting of which indicates that the
child has attained his majority, and is
no longer ia statu oup,ILdri.
The tonsure of the Crown Prince of
Siam took place on the 22nd of January
of this year, and the event was csle-
brated with degree of splendor and
eclat hitherto unequslled in the his
tory of the country. Siam, from its
warm and sunny climate. and the char
acter of Its people, is particularly well
adapted for pageant and pantomimic