Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1897-08-06
THE COUNTRY OF SIAM
Expert Views Regarding Its
People.

Professor sommerviile's Recent Contrlbu-
tion TO the Literature Of Travei-His
Observations and Conclusions.
(Paris Edition, New York Herald
at would be mistake to attach
much Importance to the recently re-
ported conflict between the French
and the Siomese. Such matters are
of constant recurrence and in them.
selves arc but petty affairs They
arise out Of the situation closely re
sembling that Of Alsace- Lorraine ;
that is to say, although the Siamese
Government acquiesces in the oc-
cupation of territory by the French,
the inhabitants themselves object to
it, and this is constant source of
difficulty to the authorities, one that
has caused much anxiety to the
King"
This sentence sums up an opinion
expressed by Professor Maxwell
Sommerville upon the events re-
ported by the Herald's special cor
respo ndent at Bangkok Professor
Sommerville occupied the chair of
Glyptology in the University of
Pennsylvania. A stay Of some little
time in Siam, accompanied as it was
by rather exceptional opportunities
of seeing the country and Of Judging
the people, has given him the right
TO speak with some authority on the
subject of that little known country
His studies have been embodied in a
work just issued by J B. Lippincott
& Co., of London and Philadelphia,
and called 81 Siam on the Meinam,
from the Gulf to Ayuthia.
As a book of travel this new con-
tribution to literature dealing with
Siam is admirable from every point
of view. But it comes particularly
apt in point of time just at present,
when, according to the dispatches
published in the Herald too recently
to need recapitulation, the relations
between France and Siam are
strained almost to the breaking
point, and it was TO get an opinion
at first hand that the correspondent
of the Herald called upon Professor
Sommerville yesterday at the Hotel
du Louvre, where he has been stay
ing for some little time.
The general impression left by
Professor Sommerville's remarks
was that the Importance of the re-
ported aggre essions on the part of
the Siamese was considerably exag
gerated.
The Siamese, he said, have
lost Il considerable portion of their
territory to France The Gov.
ernment itself accepts the situation
in fact, it cannot do otherwise. But
the people who have been taken
over rebel against existing condi-
tions every now and again. Not
that wish you to infer that these
little outbreaks are of any extent, or
are reaching in their consequ-
ences. They are the natural out
come Of certain political condition
At the same time this restlessness
on the part of the people has given
the King great deal of trouble
Conflicts are occurring all the time,
and although the French, as a mat
ter of fact, are treated frankly and
honestly by the Government, ]
hardly think a Frenohman is per-
soma grata with the natives.
''This view applies to all foreig-
ners for, although the Siamese in
general are of a mild disposition, re-
cent events and conflicts and disturb
ances and also aggression on the
part of foreigners have led them tc
regard all strangers with a certain
amount of distrust, if not with ac-
tual antipathy.
''At the same time l repeat that
think the reports are much exag-
gerated, and to me it hardly appears
likely that any open conflict of wide
extent is to be feared "
Professor Sommerville' opinion
may be taken as of great weight
seeing that it comes from trained
observer, from a man who il
thoroughly familiar with the Fai
East, who has been stepped in Orien
tai lore for 80 many years that h'
finds himself peculiarly sympathe-
thic with Orientals, with their
modes Of life, of thought, with theii
literature, their arts and their in
dustries. This has been proved il
tho past by his many valuable con
tributiens to scientific knowledge OF
Oriental subjects, and his newl,
published book, Siam on the Meinan
is an additional argument in hi
favor. From topographic poin
of view the book is a remarkably
handsome one. 1t is illustrated
with some fifty or sixty finely re
~ ..1.....l a..fa 4 - In I. 4 +. Z. Il. -. 4.