St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-10-21
throne in 1868. and who governs bv

throne in 1863 and who governs b,
means of council of six princes ant
from ten to twenty members, appointed
by himself. NominaIly a limited mon
archy, there are so many ways OF settln9
aside the established laws of the king
dom that although the Siamese call
themselves the Thai, "thc Free and
their king ION the Muung Thai, "the
free kingdom" they are practically
under the same kind Of government as
most other Asiatics.
The king of SiuTn is, comparatively
speaking, a rich monarch, having al
annual revenue somewhat exceeding
g, 100000, Of which sum t2S7, 00t
comes from the land taxes, tG1, 600
! from the taxes on fruit trees, 600,
900 from the spirit tax, 412O, 90 from
the opium tax, El0), 600 from the gam
! bling tax, t.43, 600 from the customs
! duties, 10000 from the tin tax, e27,
600 from the tax on edible birds nests,
! and about the same amount from the
fisheries tax. As all the taxes are, how,
ever farmed out, and Siamese tax farm.
| els are no more honest than the people
! of the same business in other parts OF
the world, his majesty of Siam loses
no small sum annually from the
pccuat0ns and embellishments OF
his agents, and it is even asserted
that scarcely more than half the
amount due reaches the royal cot
fcrs. He probably snakes up the differ
ence in the personal service exacted from
all Siamese natives, every Siamese in
habitant of the kingdom being required,
if called upon, to give at leas. thret
months labor in the year to his sovereign.
The result may be beneficial, so far as
the king is concerned, but as he fire.
quently calls for this service at a time
when the crops should be planted, Guilt
waited or gathered, the result is far from
beneficial to either the agriculture or the
general prosperity of the kingdom.
All the inhabitants are required to
render military service, exceptions, how
ever being made in favor of the priests,
of the Chinese, WHO are taxed instead :;
of slaves, of government officials and OF
those who are willing and able to pur
chase exemption by hiring q substitute
The whole kingdom is practically, there
fore, at the kings command both in
time of peace and of war, and although
it is, in some respects, one of the richest
countries on the globe, It's natural ad
vantages lie unimproved and territory
almost the size of Texas has thus an an.
nual export of only about ST. 900, OO)
year, consisting mostly of rice, teak,
pepper and other tropical products.
AREA OF THE EMPIRE.
The limits of Siam on the north and
cast have always been rather indefinite,
for to the north, adjoining British Bur.
NAH, there lay number Of semi-indel
pendent States. which sometimes owned
allegiance to Siam and sometimes to Bur.
NAH, as the influence of one or the other
preponderated. The same difficulty ex,
listed in the East, where the Anamites
sometimes paid tribute to China and
sometimes to Siam. Siam itself has in
times past been dependency of the Chi
nese empire, and even now sort of al.
lcgiance is acllnowledy ed and tribute
paid So far as the Siamese territory can
he estimated, its utmost limits at the
-
|, 200 miles from north to south and 200
miles in width, Or very nearly one third
the size of the United States. That,
however, was before the English con.
quests in Burmah, which considerably
reduced the nominal size of the empire
Its present area is estimated at $50, OU)
square miles, while it has a population OF
1000 900 Siamcse, 1000, GEO Luosians,
and |, 900, 900 each of Chinese or Malays.
The Siaincse have been given Il bad
reputation by travellers is being turbu
lent, puarrclsomc and destitute of go ii
qualities. but apparently do not deserve
it, for the best authorities describe
them as p@aceabIc, polite an kindly
people. They are not particularly good
looking, having Mongolian aspect, with
large heals, broad faces, wide mouths,
short noses. low forcheads. aud the teeth,
in accordance with the prevailing
fashion, stained repuIsive black. Lika
most rations having little beard tEcY
regard this feature as blemish, and
early in life carefully extract all the hairs
from their faces Except a small tult
on the top of the head, the Uranium is
shorn, while the clothing, as is common
in Eastern and torrid countries, is of ar
exceedingly airy and primitive charac.
ter.
The fertility of the cultivated land in
the Ncuang valley is described by trav.
elers as something wonderful. Most oil
the river valley is what is called in this
country bottom land, which is annually
overflowed and fcrtiized by the river,
and is described us yielding as bounti-
fully as the valley of tho Nile. Tho
wealth of the forests is wonderful, but on
account of the climate large tracts have
never yet been explored, and what may
lie beyond is unknown. In the tropical
junglcs of Northern and Central Siam,
however, grow the gutta percha and lac,
dozens of odoriferous woods and hun
dreas of medicinal herbs. The bamboo
is found everywhere, and it and the
rattan form a large portion of the houses
of the population; teak, rosewood,
ebony and other valuable timber trees
are found in prorusion, and must in time
become sources of great wealth to The
power falling heir to the kingdom. That
power will also fall heir to Il good deal
of trouble with the population, which is
of so mixed and heterogeneous charac.
ter that the elements Of serious difficulty
are always present.
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Why Trees Attract Lightning.