is 39,000,000 ticals. The Mint has been closed to the free coinage of silver, with a view to the establishment of a gold standard, but no scheme for this standard has yet been published.

Mr. Black, the British Vice-Consul at Bankok, has been engaged by the Siamese Government as adviser to the Minister of Justice. The Crown Prince of Siam has returned home after completing a course of study at Oxford. A young Siamese gentleman of rank, who holds an appointment in the Civil Service, has been sent to that university for a year's study.

There were some disturbances in the Shan districts, in the northern corner of Siam which borders on French and English territory, and the British Political Officer proceeded to the spot with a considerable escort. At the close of the year the Siamese authorities reported that quiet had been restored.

By far the most important event of the year has been the signing of a new Convention in Paris on October 7 between M. Delcassé, the French Foreign Minister, and the Siamese representatives, who had been sent to France on a special mission for the settlement of pending questions between the two Governments. To understand its full bearing it is necessary to refer to the treaty of 1893 between France and Siam, and also to the agreement between France and England of 1896.

For some time previous to 1893 France had been gradually encroaching on Siam, and by the treaty of that year she extended her frontier to the Mekong, and obtained a formal cession of all the Siamese territory to the east of that river. Although the territory on the right, or western bank, was left to Siam, she was not allowed to erect any forts, or to keep any troops, within a zone of 25 kilometres from the river. As a natural consequence she has been unable to effectually maintain order. within the zone, and her inability to do so has been made a source of constant complaint by France, and used as a pretext for refusing to carry out that part of the treaty which bound her to restore Chantabun, a port in purely Siamese territory, which she had seized without a shadow of right. Siam had also a grievance against France in connection with the province of Luang Prabang on her northern border. Before 1893 the whole of the province belonged to Siam, and when the portion of it which lies to the east of the Mekong was ceded to France by the treaty it was understood that Siam's authority over the part to the west of the river would be undisputed. But very soon after the signing of the treaty the nominal chief through whom France professed to rule the eastern part put forward his claim to rule the western part also, and proceeded to enforce it by collecting taxes. The Siamese officials who attempted to interfere with him were seized and sent in chains to the French Governor, and the remonstrances of the Siamese Government were not merely disregarded, but were met by France with a claim to the western territory itself.

By the Convention signed on October 7 Siam cedes to

France the territory on the Great Lake between the rivers. Rolnos and Piek Kompong Tiam, and also the provinces of Meluprey and Barsak, an area of some 20,000 square kilometres. In return France engages to restore Chantabun, and Siam is to be allowed to keep troops at various points on the right bank of the Mekong. But it is stipulated that in the whole basin of the Mekong none but Siamese troops, officered by Siamese, are to be maintained, and if Siam desires to construct ports, canals, or railways, and especially the railways intended to link any point whatever in this basin with the capital, and if these cannot be executed by Siamese personnel and capital, it is bound to come to an agreement with the French Government. As regards the registration of Asiatics, a matter which has caused constant friction between the two Governments, it is provided that persons of Asiatic origin born on French territory, or in territory placed under the protection of France, may, themselves and their children, be registered as dependent for their protection upon the French Legation or Consulate in Siam. As regards persons born elsewhere, France will enjoy the same rights as would be accorded by Siam to other Powers. If this means, as it apparently does, that France renounces her claim to register all and every Asiatic, and to put them outside Siamese jurisdiction, Siam will be saved considerable annoyance and inconvenience. In the summary of the new treaty no special mention was made of the part of Luang Prabang on the west of the Mekong, and it was inferred that the right of Siam to that territory was fully acknowledged. But when the full text of the treaty was published it was found that this was far from being the case. France does not indeed make any distinct claim to the territory, but provision is made for the delimitation of a frontier line between it and the two Siamese provinces of Muang Pichai and Muang Nan, and it is then declared that the present Convention does not, any more than the Treaty and Convention of 1893, in any way change the traditional relations between the King of Siam and that portion of Luang Prabang situated on the right bank of the Mekong. No attempt is made to define these "traditional relations," and as they have formed ground for constant disputes in the past, they are likely to do so in the future. In fact, the very insertion of these special provisions regarding Luang Prabang implies that the authority of the King of Siam is less complete over that province than over the rest of his dominions.

Taken as a whole the new treaty cannot but be regarded as a one-sided bargain in favour of France; her gains are substantial; whilst those of Siam, except in the matter of Chantabun, to which France has no shadow of right, and which she is bound to restore even under the treaty of 1893, are illusory. It is clear moreover that, apart from the germs of future misunderstandings just pointed out in the treaty itself, France has no intention whatever of accepting it as a permanent settlement.

It is openly denounced by the Colonial party, who do not hesitate to declare that they will be satisfied with nothing less than the annexation of the whole of Siam, or at least the establishment of a French protectorate over it. The influence of this party is so strong that it seems doubtful whether M. Delcassé will venture to present the treaty in the face of its opposition. He has already prepared a road of retreat by alleging that there was an understanding between himself and the Siamese envoys that before the treaty was presented for ratification Siam should give some proof of her goodwill towards France by appointing Frenchmen as freely as other foreigners, by which no doubt he means Englishmen, to posts in her administration. If the Siamese Government felt that any particular Frenchman was better suited for a post than any other foreigner, and that he would not abuse his position for the purpose of extending French power at the expense of Siam, it would no doubt employ him. But having regard to the obvious aims of French policy, Siam might well demand that before she employed Frenchmen she should have satisfactory proof that France had no designs against her independence.

A convention, it must be borne in mind, was signed between France and England in 1896 with regard to Siam. By this convention both Powers guaranteed the independence of the kingdom of Siam within the Valley of the Menam. Outside those limits it was understood that the eastern part should be open to French, and the western parts to British, influence. As to the meaning of "influence differences of opinion have already arisen. Lord Salisbury and Lord Dufferin declared that the Convention was intended to secure the independence of the whole of Siam, and that England could not allow France to acquire territory or establish posts in the eastern provinces. The French authorities on the other hand consider that they have a free hand there, and that the Convention only applies to the Menam Valley. It seems likely that England will offer no active opposition to the action of France in the eastern provinces; for the present at any rate she is contenting herself with strengthening her position on the west and south, thoroughly organising and developing her own possessions and the Malay States under her protection. What she would or should do if France were to establish herself so firmly in the Eastern Provinces of Siam as to have the Menam Valley at her mercy is a question which does not fall within the scope of a review of the events of 1902.

CHARLES ROE,

CHAPTER VI.

ASIA (THE FAR EAST).

I. CHINA.

But

AT the opening of 1902 the Imperial Court was slowly pursuing its journey back from Si-ngan Fu to the capital, and the question whether the Empress-Dowager would venture to enter Pekin while the allied armies still retained garrisons in the city was exciting much debate both in China and abroad. On January 3 the Emperor, Empress-Dowager, the Empress and all their suite confided their persons to the care of the Belgian Railway staff at Cheng Ting Fu and proceeded thence by train to Pao Ting Fu, the capital of Chih-li. On January 7, after supervising the despatch of train loads of baggage, their Majesties continued their journey by train to Pekin. instead of using the railroad which had been constructed by the foreign military authorities up to the Chien Men, the gate in the Tartar city which faces the Palace, they alighted at the old terminus outside the Chinese city, and after thanking the railway authorities, Belgian and British, for the arrangements. made for their comfort on the journey, they entered their chairs, and arrived at the city gate at the hour which had been pronounced to be propitious. Escorted by nobles and cavalry they passed through lines of kneeling troops until they reached the Chien Men. The railway stations outside the gate had been masked by screens of matting, and the ruined towers on the wall had been flimsily restored to conceal the injuries inflicted by the allied forces. But groups of foreigners were on the wall, and, to the surprise of all, after the Emperor and EmpressDowager had burnt incense in the temples at the gate, the latter, before re-entering her chair, made a deep bow to the foreign onlookers, which was repeated when they acknowledged her salute. Her attitude and expression seemed to appeal for forgiveness of the past, and to show an intention of ushering in an entirely new phase in the relations of foreigners with the Court.

On January 22 the foreign representatives were received by the Emperor in the innermost of the large halls of the Palace with a new ceremonial, the details of which had all been previously arranged by protocol, and were conscientiously carried out. The Emperor confined his remarks to expressions of satisfaction at Germany being again represented at his Court, and of faith in the intentions of the Powers to deal fairly with China in the negotiations which were still unfinished. The Empress-Dowager had not been visible on this occasion, but on January 28, at a reception of the whole diplomatic body, she occupied a throne, while the Emperor sat on a low daïs in front of her. After the delivery of an address to the Emperor,

who replied in brief terms, the Ministers advanced to the steps of the throne, when the Empress-Dowager addressed some indistinct remarks to them, which were interpreted as expressive of her sorrow for the troubles that had occurred.

The position assumed by the Empress in the ceremony was regarded as an assertion of her holding the direction of affairs in her hands, and the recognition of her position by the Foreign Ministers afforded her a satisfaction which was evinced in an audience granted on February 1 by the Emperor and EmpressDowager to the ladies of the Foreign Legations. After being presented the ladies withdrew to another room, where the Empress, amid sobs and tears, bewailed the attack on the Foreign Legations, and presented the United States Minister's wife with bracelets and rings taken from her own person. After a banquet, at which the Emperor was the only man present except the interpreter, other presents of jewellery were made to all the lady guests. Later in the year the strange spectacle was again witnessed of the Empress-Dowager exchanging compliments from the foot of the city wall with ladies looking down. on her from forty feet above. In the autumn, following on other Court entertainments in Pekin, parties of ladies were invited to the Summer Palace, to which they were taken in barges towed by steam launches.

Among other innovations was the presentation at Court of Sir Robert Hart (after nearly forty years' residence in Pekin), of the Roman Catholic Bishops Favier and Jarlin, and of the of the Russo-Chinese Bank. A specially distinguished manager reception was given to the Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovitch. On these occasions the Empress-Dowager was present, and she conversed at some length with Sir R. Hart and the Grand Duke. But when Envoys came from the Emperor of Corea, the former vassal of China, the Empress-Dowager was not present at their audience. Her position towards the Emperor and the degree of government nominally left in his hands still remain undefined. But the homage paid to her by the Emperor and Court in December at the winter solstice was in accordance with special decrees defining the time and place and the subsequent homage to be paid to the Emperor.

While much interest was excited abroad by the events taking place at Court in the spring, close attention was also given to the negotiations between Russia and China regarding the evacuation of Manchuria. In 1901 China had been on the point of signing an agreement under which the occupation by Russian troops for another three years would have been authorised, the civil and military administration have been subject to Russian control, and exclusive rights in railway, mining and commercial matters have been granted to Russian subjects. Objections raised by other Powers to the conclusion of any private agreement before the peace protocol had been signed had prevented the signature of this document, but had not advanced