Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-17

be all born free and. equal with the ex-
ception of the members of the royal fam
lily. There is. to be sure, the nobility.
But no man is born a nobleman. NO
title descends from father to son, except
in the royal family. The son of a noble
man must prove himself worthy OF no
bility before he attains that rank. And
nobility is won only because of merit
and of good work performed. In the
case of the brothers of the king their
sons do not receive the same title as
their fathers, but are one degree lower
in rank and their sons, in turn. are one
degree lower in rank than their fathers,
unless by merit they may attain the
higher rank. Thus the descendants of
the royal princes may ultimately become
| the same as the rest of the people. There
are five ranks in the nobility.
Population Nine Millions.
The population Of Siam has been esti-
mated at about 100000 and the area
of the country is about the same as that
of France. The SiameSe are different
race from either the Chinese or the
Japanese. Their straight black hair and
dark eyes give the Siamese some resem-
blance Of the japanese, but their eyes
are straight and the general expression
of the SiameSe cOuntenance Is more that
of a European.
The capital Bangkok, is a handsome
city of some 100000 inhabitants The
street cars. the street lighting, telephone
system and modern sanitation all give
the impression of modern western city
The style of architecture Is being more
and more modelled after the western style
and particularly the Italian. Their houses
are many of them similar to the detached
houses which are found In the suburbs
of cities in this country The dress
adopted by the people is western to a
great extent also In the public schools
the only foreign language taught is Eng
lish, which is the commercial language
of the far east. Although the religion OF
the Siamese is Buddhism, the government
maxi no objection to such foreign mis-
sions are established in Siam. par
ticularly because many OF the schools es-
tabliShed by the missions teach English.
The late king, just before he died, re-
quested his son not to spend large sums
of money upon a great funeral for him,
but TO spend such money as he desired
to devote to the memory Of his father
for the benefit of charitable institutions
The present king has voluntarily sur
rendered about S65OOOO from his civil
list for the benefit of the government.
A Peaceable People.
The Siamese are a peaceable people,
| but they are also intensely patriotic. The
| army system there Is very similar to that
of Germany, and each young man is
| compelled to serve his three years in the
standing army and then enters the re-
serves None Of the Siamese shirks this
| 600 men is maintained, we'll equipped and
we'll drilled. and should be able to give a
| good account of itself
AS an evidence of the consideration
which the English and other foreigners
have for the Siamese. extraterritorial
| courts such as are maintained in China
| and other far eastern countries, are not
| maintained there. When a British sub
| ject commits an offense in Siam he is
| tried in Siamese court, and under the
| laws of that land. Not foreign soldier
| is maintained in Siam by any of the
! nations as a guard for the legation there,
| but the protection of the European repre-
sentatives is left entirely to the Siamese
| police.
| The railroads in Siam are owned by the
| government, with the exception of a few
| short spurs. The government has found
| these roads good investment, paying
about per cent. Siam is remarkab bly,
free from public debt. owing only about
five million pounds, most of which was
| borrowed to construct railroads and
other public improvements.
| Siam is primarily an agricultural coun-
| try and among her principal exports are
| rice, tea and hides. There are rich min
| eral resources in the country. many of
| which have not yet been developed in
| Guiding oil. tin and gold The country
| has stable monetary system based on
a gold standard.
| The quantity of labor is very limited in
| Slam. and, in fact. many Chinese laborers
industry. There is no emigration from
SIAM