The Tomahawk., 1917-09-20

View Of Banekol
IAMS entry into the great war
on the side of the entente al
lies has reawakened interest in
that far-Off country. It is not
such an insignificant dot floating loose
somewhere near the equator, when one
stops minute to think it over, writes
Adachi Kinnosuke, in the New York
Tribune.
Siam is bigger than Japan proper
I mean the country Is. She has $4,000
square miles Of territory. And the
insular Japan proper Is not quite
$4,000 square miles in area. Siam is
only 1880 square miles smaller than
Germany herself.
AS to the number Of the people in
Siam, she herself was not any too clear
until 1910. In November of that year
fairly accurate figures were obtained
as census figures go-and published.
The number given was 8,149,4S7. 1t in
cluded women. For years the serious
trouble with the Siamese census fig
ures had been q startling fact-more
or less true in political United States
and political Japan-that to them
women were no people at all.
Globe trotters who grace Siam with
their unwelcome presence are apt to
get away with the impression that the
City of Bangkok is something more
than all Siam. They have claimed in
their printed books that one-ninth Of
the entire population Of the kingdom
lived in the capital city; that there is
no other capital Of the world-save,
perhaps, London-which had such an
exaggerated proportion Of a country's
population centered in one city.
For once there is something back of
this impression. One-ninth Of the total
population Of Siam? Well, not quite.
But not far from the mark, for Bang
kok had in 1914 more than G2S 600 in
habitants, which is something more
than thirteenth of the entire popu-
lation Of the kingdom.
How Its Slaves Were Freed.
When King Chulalongkorn ascend
ed the throne Of Siam he was young
man, and the institution Of slavery in
the country was hoary thing. Re-
ligion had sanctified it; tradition had
ossified it. Slavery in Siam was in the
utter depth of depravity. That was bad
enough. .
But there was another thing which
was in q much more impossible depth
of degradation than slavery itself. 1t
was the incredibly selfish and benight-
ed attitude Of the wealthy and the
privileged class which owned the
slaves. Apparently the young king was
powerless; he could not do single,
solitary thing save through the COOP
Grafton and assistance Of this selfsame
privileged class, which surrounded
him on all sides. Compared to the
Slamese king, President Lincoln had
the freedom of action of q Rocky Noun
tain eagle.
And yet-and yet, the Siamese king
did the work. The year 1905 saw both
the Siamese born to slavery and those
who had sold themselves into bondage
walk out into the world and life as
free as any other mortals. And that
Is not the most remarkable chapter or
the remarkable story, either.
For under the Siamese king there
was not so much as hint Of civil
war! Another thing still more remark
able even than this, is that all this
work was done by an Oriental poten-
n
atmosphere, amid traditions, ideals
and culture which the Christian mis-
sionaries travel thousands Of miles to
destroy and to reform.
Resources Are Considerable.
People who laugh over the news Of
Siam's entry into the world war
and conjure up the visions Of humble
huts stuck up on piles or on pOntoons
along the muddy banks Of the Menam
of the households weaving their ways
up and down her innumerable canals,
or Of the stately towers Of Bangkok's
public buildings, palaces and temples
rivaling q sunset sky with their many
colored tiles-they do not know quito
Is much as they might. Siam Is not
altogether bit of picturesque scenery.
In the fiscal year Of 1915-1916, she ex-
ported more than 100000 tons of rice
valued at more than So, 449, OOO-yes,
she is as solid as all that and this
must mean something in the days when
food-simple, primitive nonfanciful
foos is the most fashionable topic of
conversations in all the chancellories of
all the great powers Of the earth.
To be sure Siam cannot make much
impression on the war finance Of the
entente allies. Her revenue for the
fiscal year 1861 is estimated mt
s26, ca2,OOO; the entire amount does not