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The imports (in order of value) are from Singapore, Hong Kong, Great Britain, Germany, India, China. The exports (in order of value) are to Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, India, and various European countries. Into Northern Siam from Burina in 1903 the imports (chiefly treasure, cottons, silk, and apparel) amounted to 98,8367. in value, and the exports from Northern Siam to Burma (chiefly teak, treasure, cattle, elephants, and other animals) to 186,4427. There is also a considerable trade on the northern frontiers with the British Shan states and Yunnan, carried on by hawkers, who buy goods at one place and sell them at another where markets are favourable. Thus salt, iron, silk, and tea are brought southwards, and silk and cotton sarongs, yarns, prints, and hardware are carried to Yunnan.

The trade of the United Kingdom with Siam, according to the Board of Trade Returns, was as follows during the last five years:

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The chief article of direct import from Siam into Great Britain in the year 1903 was hewn teak-wood, valued at 107,1607. Among the direct exports of British produce to Siam the chief articles in 1903 were machinery and mill-work, of the value of 22,8601.; iron, wrought and unwrought, 40,3207.; cottons, 121,0597. There is a large importation of British piecegoods, transhipped at Singapore.

Shipping and Communications.

In 1903, 620 vessels of 520,958 tons (91 of 63,491 tons British) entered and 621 of 523,230 tons (88 of 60,511 tons British) cleared. More than half the tonnage visiting Bangkok is German (North German Lloyd); Norwegian vessels have the second place and British the third.

The railway from Bangkok to Paknam (14 miles) was opened in April, 1893; a railway from Bangkok to Korat (165 miles) was opened for regular traffic on November 1, 1900. A branch line 26 miles long to Lopburi was opened in January, 1901, and is being extended northwards to Paknampo, and thence ultimately to Chiengmai. A line to Petchaburi, 95 miles from Bangkok, was opened in June, 1903. A line to Tachin, 20 miles from Bangkok, is under construction. The total length of railway open is about 300 miles of State line, and 25 miles of companies' line. All the lines except the Lopburi lines have a gauge of a metre.

There are two electric tramways in Bangkok, one of miles, the other of 5 miles length, worked by a Danish company, and the electric lighting of the town is carried out by the same company. A third tramway, 14 miles in length, is under construction, and a fourth is under consideration.

Telegraph lines have been completed to the total length of 2,900 miles, and Bangkok is now in communication with Korat, Nong-Khai, Sesopone, Chantabun, Bangtaphan, and Chiengmai; with Moulmein, and Tavoy in

Lower Burma; and with Saigon in Anam; the overland telegraph line to Penang has now been completed; the working of the lines, however, is subject to vexatious delays, communication with Europe being frequently interrupted. There is wireless telegraphy between the mainland and the island of Koh-ai-Chang in the Gulf.

There is a postal service in Bangkok, and in 1885 Siam joined the International Postal Union. The mail service down the Malay Peninsula, and also towards the north of Siam, has been largely developed. Post offices, 1902, 153; letters transmitted, internal 950,000, external 631,017. In 1890 a parcel post service was established having connection with Singa. pore and the international system. A commission is now sitting with a view to reforming the postal and telegraph services.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

In Bangkok there are branches of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, the Chartered Bank of India, and the Banque de l'Indo-Chine; all of these issue notes; bank-note issue is in nowise regulated by the Siamese Government. The Government, however, in 1902 began to issue currency notes which have reduced the circulation of the bank notes. In June, 1903, currency notes to the value of 4,945,525 ticals were in circulation.

The legal money of Siam is the tical, a silver coin, weighing 236 grains troy, 910 fine. Other silver coins from the Siamese mint now current are the salung and the fuang, the former one-fourth, the latter one-eighth of a tical. Dollars are accepted in payment at the rate of 3 dollars for 5 ticals. The tical is worth about 14d. (17'46 ticals = £1), but a scheme has been approved putting the tical currency on a gold basis. For this purpose the mint, on November 26, 1902, was closed to the free coinage of silver; the exchange value of the tical has since risen from 22 to 18 ticals to the £, the proposed standard being 17 to the £, which, however, may be raised still higher.

The Tical, or Bat 4 Ticals

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Ticals

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1 Chang

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1 Catty these two last are moneys of account. 23 lbs. avoirdupois; 50 Chang 1 hap. or 133 lbs. ; Niu = 1.66 English inch; 1 Keup: = 12 Niu; 1 Sok = 2 Keup; 1 Wah 1 Sen 20 Wa; 1 Wah = 80 English inches; 1 Yot - 400 Sen.

Diplomatic and Consular Representatives.

1. OF SIAM IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Envoy and Minister.-Phya Raja Nuprabandh.
Councillor of Legation.-Frederick W. Verney.
Secretary.-Luang Ratanayapti.

Consul-General in London. -James Riches.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN SIAM.

Envoy and Minister.-R. Paget, C. M.G.

Judge-H. P. Wilkinson (acting).

Consul.-W. R. D. Beckett.

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2 Sok;

There are consular representatives at Bangkok, Chiengmai, Kedah, Lakon, Lampong and Iran.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Siam.

Foreign Office Reports on the Trade of Bangkok and of Chiengmai. Annual Series. London.

Trade of Siam with Great Britain in 'Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions.' Annual. London.

United States Consular Reports for 1901. Washington.
Alabaster (Henry), The Wheel of the Law. 8. London, 1871.
Bastian (Adolf), Die Völker von östlichen Asien:

Leipzig, 1866-1871.

Studien und Reisen. 6 vols. 8.

Bastian (Adolf), Geographische und Ethnologische Bilder. 8. Jena, 1873.
Bock (Carl), Temples and Elephants. 1 vol. 8. London, 1884.

Bowring (John), The Kingdom and People of Siam. 2 vols. 8. London, 1857.
Campbell (J. G. D.), Siam in the XXth Century.

London, 1902.

Carter (A. C.), The Kingdom of Siam. New York and London, 1904.

Clifford (H.), Further India. London, 1904.

Colquhoun (A. R.), Among the Shans. London, 1885.

Crawford, Journal of an Embassy to Siam and Cochin-China. 2 vols. 8. 2nd edition.

1830.

Doudart de Lagrée, Voyage d'exploration dans l'Indo-Chine. 2 vols. 4. Paris, 1873.
Gréhan (A.), Le royaume de Siam. 8. Paris, 1868.

La Loubère, Description du royaume de Siam. 12. Paris and Amsterdam, 1691.
Lemire (Ch.), La France et le Siam (1662-1903). Paris, 1903.

Macgregor (J.), Through the Buffer State. 8. London, 1896.

McCarthy (J.), Surveying and Exploring in Siam. London, 1900.

Mouhot (Henry), Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia and Laos during the years 1858-1860. 2 vols. 8. London, 1864.

Orleans (Prince Henri d'), Une Excursion en Indo-Chine. Paris, 1892.

and Siam. London, 1894.

Pallegoix (D. J.), Description du royaume de Thai ou Siam.

Around Tonkin

2 vols. 8. Paris, 1854. Reclus (Elisée), Nouvelle géographie universelle. Vol. VIII. L'Inde et l'Indo-Chine. Paris, 1883.

Satow (E. M.), Essay towards a Bibliography of Siam. Singapore, 1886.

Smyth (H. W.), Journeys on the Upper Mekong. London, 1895. Journeys in S.-W. Siam. Geographical Journal. Vol. VI.-Five Years in Siam. 2 vols. London, 1898. Sommerville (M.), Siam on the Meinam. London, 1897.

Thomson (John), The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China, and China, or Ten Years' Travels, Adventures, and Residence Abroad. 8. London, 1875.

Vincent (Frank), The Land of the White Elephant. New York. 1900.

Young (E.), The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe. London, 1898.

Younghusband (G. J.), Eighteen Hundred Miles in a Burmese Tat, through Burmah, Siam, and the Eastern Shan States. S. London.

SPAIN.

(ESPAÑA.)

Reigning Sovereign and Queen Regent.

Alfonso XIII., son of the late King Alfonso XII. and Maria Christina, daughter of the late Karl Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria; born after his father's death, May 17, 1886, succeeding by his birth, being a male, his eldest sister.

Maria Christina, mother of the King, was Regent during the minority of her son. The regency ceased May 17, 1902.

Sisters of the King.-I. Maria-de-las-Mercedes, Queen till the birth of her brother, born September 11, 1880; married February 14, 1901, to Prince Carlos of Bourbon, son of the Count of Caserta; died October 17, 1904, offspring, Alfonso, born November 30, 1901; Fernando Maria Alfonso, born February 28, 1903; Isabel, born October 16, 1904. II. Maria Teresa, born November 12, 1882.

Aunts of the King.-I. Infanta Isabel, born December 20, 1851; married, May 13, 1868, to Gaetan, Count de Girgenti; widow, November 26, 1871. II. Infanta Maria-de-la-Paz, born June 23, 1862; married, April 3, 1883, to Prince Ludwig, eldest son of the late Prince Adalbert of Bavaria. III. Infanta Eulalia, born February 12, 1864; married to Prince Antoine, son of Prince Antoine d'Orléans, Duc de Montpensier, March 6, 1886; the marriage was dissolved July, 1900. (All sisters of the late King.)

Parents of the late King.-Queen Isabel, born October 10, 1830; the eldest daughter of King Fernando VII.; ascended the throne at the death of her father, September 29, 1833; assumed the government on being declared of age, November 8, 1843; exiled September 30, 1868; abdicated in favour of her son, June 25, 1870; died April 10, 1904. Married, October 10, 1846, to her cousin Infante Francisco, born May 13, 1822, died April 16, 1902.

Cousin of the late King.

Infante Don Carlos Maria-de-los-Dolores, born March 30, 1848, son of Prince Juan, and grandson of the Infante Don Carlos, nephew of King Fernando VII. Married (1) February 4, 1867, to Princess Marguerite of Bourbon, died January 29, 1893, daughter of Duke Carlos III. of Parma; (2) April 28, 1894, to Marie Berthe, Princess de Rohan. Offspring of the first union are four daughters and a son, Prince Jaime, born June 27, 1870.

The King, Alfonso XIII., has a civil list, fixed by the Cortes, 1886, of 7,000,000 pesetas, or 280,0007., exclusive of allowances to members of the royal family; the Queen Regent having the administration and usufruct of the said sum until the King becomes of age. The annual grant to the Queen, as mother to the King, was fixed by the Cortes, in 1886, at 250,000 pesetas. The immediate successor was assigned 500,000 pesetas, and 250,000 to the second sister, they having been Princesses of Asturias. The parents of the late King, ex-Queen Isabel and her husband, have an allowance of 1,050,000 pesetas, or 42,0007.; and the four Infantas, his sisters, of 800,000 pesetas, or 32,000. The total amount of the civil list and allowances to the relatives of the late King was fixed by the Cortes in 1876 at 10,000,000 pesetas, of 400,000l.; now it is 9,500,000 pesetas, or 380,000l.

The following is a list of the sovereigns and sovereign rulers of Spain, with

under him subordinate governors over the various parts of his district. Until 1895 the administration of the country was divided between the Ministers of the North, South, and Foreign Affairs. It was then brought under the single authority of Prince Damrong, as Minister of the Interior, under whose administration great improvements have been already made. Official buildings, such as court-houses and gaols, are being erected all over the country, and the system of provincial gendarmerie is being extended. There is, however, an insufficient supply of suitable officials to carry out reforms. Several of the tributary districts are administered by their own princes; but of late years centralisation has greatly increased. The Malay States retain, however, a certain measure of independence. Commissioners, chosen by the King, are now regularly sent from Bangkok to most of these tributary provinces, both to those in the north, as Chiengmai, and those in the south, as Singora, and others, with very full powers.

Area and Population.

The limits of the Kingdom of Siam have varied much at different periods of its history, most of the border lands being occupied by tribes more or less independent. The boundary between Burma and Ñ. W. Šiam was delimited in 1891. By the Anglo-French Convention of April, 1904, the agreement of 1896 was confirmed, and its provisions more clearly defined, the territories to the west of the Menam and the Gulf of Siam being recognised as in the British sphere, and those to the east in the French. At the same time the integrity of Siamese territory is guaranteed. To take the place of the unratified treaty of October 7, 1902, a new treaty was signed by the representatives of Siam and France on February 13, and ratified December 7, 1904. The frontier between Siam and Cambodia, formerly (by treaty of 1893) lying along the Mekong River (exclusive of a neutral strip on the western bank), will now be altered so that a territory of 8,000 square miles, including the provinces of Maluprey and Barsak, will be transferred to French rule, and the Siamese Government abandons all claim to the Luang Prabang territory on the western side of the Mekong. There are rigid stipulations as to the troops which Siam may keep in the Mekong valley, and as to the improvement of waterways and construction of railways, neither foreign officers nor foreign capital being permitted in that region without special agreement with France, which now evacuates Chantabun.

men.

The area of Siam is about 220,000 square miles, about 60,000 being in the Malay Peninsula. The numbers of the population are even more imperfectly known than the extent of territory, and the difficulty of any correct result is the greater on account of the Oriental custom of numbering only the The latest foreign estimates give the population of the Kingdom as follows:-1,500,000 Siamese ; 600,000 Chinese; 600,000 Malays; immigrant Burmese, Indians, and Cambodians bringing the total up to 5,000,000, but The population may be reckoned at this estimate is probably too low. about 9,000,000. In 1901, 29,709 Chinese coolies entered Siam, and 19,266 departed. Bangkok has a population of between 300,000 and 400,000, about 100,000 being Chinese. Siam is called by its inhabitants Thaï, or Muang-Thai, which means 'free,' or 'the kingdom of the free.' The word Siam is probably identical with Shan, applied in Burma to the Lao race, as well as to the Shan proper and the Siamese.

In recent years the results of Western civilisation have to some extent been introduced, and with the assistance of a British Adviser to the Ministry

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