apply itself to determine the future constitution of Scotland. But it is to be expected that a definite and overwhelming demand for self-government for Scotland would meet with respectful acquiescence on the part of the English people.

The tendency of the age is toward political and administrative decentralisation which, since the Treaty of Versailles, has in numerous instances proved successful and satisfactory. It is strongly felt by the promoters of the party that the constitution of a revived Scottish State should, under proper safeguards, be framed in Scotland under the auspices of a Scottish parliament, as only under such guidance might a polity in consonance with the genius and spirit of the Scottish race justly be conceived. Finally, it need scarcely be said, there is no bias or intention whatsoever towards separatism from England or the British Commonwealth, only a sincere desire for co-operation and a more feasible federal alliance which, the promoters are assured, would tend not only to the best interests of both countries, but to a growth in mutual regard and prosperity.

LEWIS SPENCE

A

PROGRESS IN SIAM

writer on Siam, in England at any rate, unfortunately labours under one great disadvantage not borne by writers on other countries, namely that the majority of English folk have only the vaguest idea where Siam is. If one may judge from one's own friends, some insist on placing it in China; others always confuse it with Assam, in India-where the tea comes from; while in some cases complete ignorance is openly and brazenly confessed. But at a time when China is colouring the thoughts of many of us, and the Far East in general is looming larger and larger on the European political horizon, Siam is well worth careful study by all who wish to see how an oriental State can develop along her own path-with European help, it is true, but with only such as she herself chooses, and with entirely her own folk at the helm of the ship of State.

It is not too much to say that Siam affords one of the most interesting examples at the present day of self-government by an Eastern race. This should be of particular interest to ourselves on general grounds, in view of our heavy Eastern responsibilities, and also for the special reasons that the British Empire supplies as much as 70 per cent. of Siam's import trade, and that British subjects have a preponderance locally among European races, both in the commerce of the country and among official advisers. Moreover, a large number of young Siamese receive their education at our schools and universities, there being at this time as many as 250 Siamese students in the United Kingdom. But, apart from these considerations, Siam is a land of more than passing interest, with her economic potentialities, her history and historical remains, her architectural beauties, and her wide field for scientific study.

Lying between Burma and French Indo-China, with British Malaya on the south and the British Shan States between herself and China on the north, Siam possesses a geographical position which should be favourable to her development. Her integrity has been guaranteed both by Great Britain and by France. She is thus free, or as free as any State can be in these turbulent days, from external aggression, and can turn her mind without

anxious thoughts of the foreigner to her own peaceful development. Siam is ruled by an absolute monarchy, but for over a hundred years her kings and princes have identified themselves with their people in a peculiarly happy way, and have striven to understand and further the nation's needs. The result is that the attitude towards the royal family to-day on the part of the people in general throughout the land is not only respectful and obedient, but is also one of real affection and loyalty. They know that the king has their interests at heart.

The Siamese belong to the Tai race, which was to be found in Southern China many centuries ago, and remnants of which still exist there to-day. Partly through over-population and partly as a result of the Mongol wars of conquest, led by Gengis Khan and Kublai Khan, the Tai were at various periods forced to migrate southwards into the country now called Siam. In fact, it may be claimed that the foundation of Siam was largely due to the Mongolian invasion of China.

When the Tai came into Siam originally, they found the country occupied by aborigines called the Lawa, under Môn sovereignty in the north and Khmer sovereignty in the centre and south. Gradually gathering strength, by successive waves of immigration, the Tai drove out both the Môn and Khmer, and eventually, about the middle of the fourteenth century established two independent kingdoms of their own, with their capitals at Chiengmai in the north, and at Ayudhya in the south. The Chiengmai dynasty, after 260 years of unbroken succession, was overthrown in 1557, and from that time (with certain interruptions from Ayudhya) Northern Siam remained a vassal state of Burma until about 1790, when the Burmese were finally driven out. Northern Siam was then broken up into a congeries of petty chiefdoms, from which triennial tribute was exacted by Bangkok in the shape of gold and silver trees, but which were otherwise left to their own devices until, in the 'seventies of the nineteenth century, a Siamese Commissioner was sent to reside at Chiengmai and the whole of the north (an area of about 36,000 square miles) was incorporated in the kingdom of Siam.

In the south, the Ayudhyan dynasty, though defeated by the Burmese on many occasions, managed to retain its independence

*The Shans are another branch of the same race.

up to the capture and sack of the capital in 1767. After that date the southern country was largely at the mercy of lawless bands of robbers, but a Tai hero arose who collected a force sufficiently strong to chase the Burmese out of the country and to establish a new capital on the west bank of the river Menam, immediately opposite the modern city of Bangkok. Unfortunately in 1782 he became mad, and his chief general, the first king of the present dynasty, was chosen to succeed him. The capital was removed to the east bank of the river, where it has remained ever since.

For those readers who would like to dive more deeply into the history and customs of this country, both north and south, three recent books may be recommended: the first, "Siam," by W. A. Graham, of which a revised edition was published in 1924; the second," A History of Siam," by W. A. R. Wood, C.I.E.; and the third," An Asian Arcady" (the Land and Peoples of Northern Siam), by Reginald le May. Both the latter were published towards the end of 1926, and will be found to contain, each in its own way, a full and graphic description of the country with which they deal.

Without going into details, it may be said that there are marked racial differences among the present inhabitants of Siam, and even where the races are more or less identical in origin many of them have markedly different customs. For example, the western Lao tattoo their bodies from the waist to the knee or thigh, while their eastern cousins do not. Altogether there is a population of ten millions spread over a country nearly four times the size of England and Wales, and consisting partly of fertile plains in the basins of important rivers, partly of wild mountainous regions divided by fertile valleys, and partly of impenetrable jungle.

During the course of the seventeenth century Siam had become an important trading centre for the merchant adventurers of the West, with Englishmen, Frenchmen, Dutchmen and Portuguese jostling one another in the streets of Ayudhya. Towards the close of that century a serious attempt was made by Louis XIV to colonise Siam and convert the king and his people to Christianity; it ended in 1688 in a revolution and the expulsion of all foreigners from the country. All through the eighteenth century foreigners found but a scant welcome in Siam, and this feeling persisted during the first three reigns of the Bangkok

dynasty, when the Government of India on more than one occasion tried to open up friendly relations. It was not until after the Bowring Treaty of 1855 that the kingdom began to wear its present settled form, and the attitude towards foreigners then assumed an entirely different shape. King Mongkut, who had been a priest for many years prior to becoming king, and who had evinced an astonishing enthusiasm in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, realised the value of contact with the West and trained his son, King Chulalongkorn, under the guidance of an English governess, the famous Mrs. Leonowens, to follow in his footsteps.

When King Chulalongkorn succeeded to the throne, the administration of the country was in a very rudimentary form. Communications, except by water, were practically non-existent, and provincial governors, as far as they dared, each acted the part of king in his own castle. It was not until the 'eighties of last century that King Chulalongkorn really began to grapple with the task of reforming the administration on Western lines, of bringing the whole of the country under the control of a Cabinet of Ministers in Bangkok, with himself at their head, and of formulating the scheme of development, which is being energetically pursued to-day.

It is not proposed to give a detailed description of the events of King Chulalongkorn's reign, which lasted from 1868 to 1910. Enough to say that a regular hierarchy of civil officials was created to govern the administrative divisions into which the country was split up, from high commissioners, governors and district officers, down to headmen of communes and village elders. The army was overhauled and placed on a conscription basis. The law courts and the judiciary were re-organised, and the drawing-up of civil and criminal codes, on the lines of the French and Indian systems, was begun. A post and telegraph service was established, and it joined the Postal Union as long ago as 1885. An electrical power station was set up, and Bangkok had an electric tramway system in the early 'nineties. A policy of railway development was inaugurated, which has been vigorously pursued ever since, and many other important works were undertaken, too numerous to mention here. Finally, an event of the utmost importance to the country, slavery was abolished by law, and at the close of the reign may be said to have virtually ceased.