Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President, Transmitted to Congress, December 4, 1893
Mr. Boyd to Mr. Gresham.
Bangkok, July 17, 1893. (Received September 2.)
Sir: I have the honor to inclose a report of the fight between the French gunboats, on the one side, and Siamese gunboats and forts on the other, which took place at the mouth of the Menam on the afternoon of Thursday, the 13th instant. This report is clipped from the Bangkok Times, the local Government organ, and may be considered correct; it also contains the correspondence carried on between the minister for foreign affairs and the French minister upon the subject of the French gunboats being granted permission to come up to the city, which correspondence took place previous to the engagement of the 13th instant.
The report in the inclosure, stating that the French merchant steamer J. B. Say had probably been disabled by a shot from the Siamese guns, has since proved correct. After the light her crew were endeavoring to pump out the water let in by the shot and thus save her from sinking, when she was boarded by Siamese officers, who arrested the crew and prevented any further work being done to save her; and after hoisting the Siamese flags over her, left with their prisoners, who have, however, since been liberated. The French minister has demanded reparation for loss of the steamer.
Since the engagement several conferences have been held between the French minister and the Siamese officials, and as I am informed this morning in an interview with the general adviser to the Siamese Government, Mr. Jacquemyns, somewhat of a modus vivendi has been agreed upon, and no further hostilities on either side will be indulged in for the present, pending further negotiations.
I have, etc.
Vice-Consul General.
A deplorable conflict occurred on Thursday evening at Paknam, which was occasioned by the forced entrance into the Menam of two French gunboats, and notwithstanding the opposition of the Siamese Government duly notified to them. We are enabled to give herewith a reproduction of official documents showing that this untoward event was due to an unfortunate misunderstanding which could have been avoided if the French men-of-war had consented to wait one or two days longer for further instructions. The net result of their failure to do so is that of the French sailors 3 have been killed and 2 wounded, while on the Siamese side 15 have been [Page 550] killed and 30 wounded, including a Siamese woman who was shot dead while in a railway carriage by a French bullet. Without further comment we give the letters and telegrams already referred to above, which will enable the public to form their own opinion as to the responsibilities of either party:
M. Pavie to Prince Devawongse.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to inform your highness that I have been invited by my Government to make known to the Government of His Majesty that the English Government having decided to send several ships to Siam, alleging as the motive for this measure the disturbed situation and the necessity of protecting their countrymen, the Government of the Republic have resolved for the same reasons to follow this example.
Two ships of the naval division are, in consequence, ordered to join the Lutin at Bangkok.
In charging me with this communication M. Develle has also invited me to state precisely that the action is exclusively of an identical measure with the dispositions which England and other powers have taken in the initiative.
The two ships put en route are the Comète and the Inconstant, and they have been announced to me by the admiral to arrive at the bar on the 15th July. I have, consequently, the honor to ask your highness to be kind enough to give the necessary orders for them to be provided with pilots on their arrival.
Accept, etc.,
M. Pavie to Prince Devawongse.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to inform your highness that I have been advised on the part of Admiral Humann that the Inconstant will pass the bar on the evening of the 13th July.
I ask, consequent, that you will be kind enough to give the necessary orders, as I have asked of you in my letter of this date. The admiral insists strongly as in conformity with the treaty that this ship may go as far as the capital, the Government having made known to him that they considered this as an unquestionable right.
Accept, etc.,
Prince Devawongse to M. Pavie.
Mr. Minister: By the letter of to-day you inform me that the English Government having decided to send several men-of-war to Siam, alleging as a motive for this measure the disturbed situation and the necessity of protecting their countrymen, the Government of the French Republic has resolved for the same reasons to follow the example, and that consequently two ships of the naval division, la Comète and l’Inconstant, must rejoin the Lutin at Bangkok. You add that they are announced by the admiral as intending to arrive at the bar on 15th July.
In reply, I have the honor to state that His Majesty’s Government has not till now received any notification from the English Government of any intention to send to Bangkok or even to Paknam or anywhere into the Menam other men-of-war than the Swift, which is now anchored before the British legation in the same condition as the Lutin is anchored before the French legation. And, as you say that M. Develle invites you to declare precisely that the exclusive object of the intended measure is to act identically in the same way as England and other powers, the logical conclusion which I infer from this declaration is that as long as no other powers will have more than one man-of-war in the Menam, France will not insist on sending other men-of-war besides the Lutin.
[Page 551]Let me add that the first man-of-war that came to Bangkok, among those which are here now, is the Lutin, and it is thus not exact to say that other powers took the initiative as to such a measure.
I need not remind you under what threatening circumstances the Lutin, which arrived here on 14th March, and which even on 20th March announced the intention of leaving on 21st, was on the same day ordered to stay until further instructions, and I think there is a general conviction that if the Lutin left Bangkok no other foreign man-of-war would stay here, and the disturbed situation would be changed into a very quiet one.
Accept, Mr. Minister, the renewed assurance of my high consideration,
Minister for Foreign Affairs.
P. S.—This letter was written when I received your note of this evening at half-past 10, whereby you inform me that l’Inconstant will be at the bar on the evening of the 13th July. I trust that for the reasons which are set forth above, you will telegraph to the admiral to show that the fact on which the sending of the ship is founded is erroneous.
I must also object to an interpretation of the treaty which would give to any power an absolute right to send into the territorial waters of Siam and to the capital of the Kingdom as many war vessels as they should like. The spirit of the treaty can not be that Siam should be deprived of the natural right of any nation to protect itself, and the French Government will easily understand that under present circumstances we can not, without abdicating our right to exist as an independent state, adopt such interpretation.
Mr. Pavie to Prince Devawongse.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your highness’ letter dated yesterday, in which you replied to the two letters which I addressed to you on the same day on the subject of the two French ships on their way to Bangkok.
I have not failed to inform my Government and the admiral of the objections made by the Government of His Majesty to their entry into the river.
I have equally made known that I have insisted, with your highness, that the Inconstant, whilst waiting a reply, anchors at Paknam conformably to the treaty.
In order to avoid all mistake, I shall ask your highness to be kind enough to receive me to-morrow at your usual hour.
Accept, etc.,
Prince Devawongse to Mr. Pavie.
Mr. Minister: I am in possession of your note of to-day at 7 o’clock p.m. and will have the honor to receive you to-morrow at 6 o’clock in the afternoon.
I feel, however, obliged to state without any delay and in order to avoid any misunderstanding that my objections against l’ Inconstant passing the bar are of a general nature and apply to its anchoring at Paknam as well as its going up to Bangkok.
Indeed, as no English ship besides the Swift is staying in or expected to come into any part of the Menam, the main reason which induced your Government to send the Inconstant and the Comète is failing in the case of Paknam, as well as in that of Bangkok. And the reasonable interpretation which, I think, ought to be given to the treaty as not depriving Siam of the essential right of any state to watch over its own safety and independence is applicable to any part of our territorial waters.
Accept, etc.,
Prince Devawongse to Mr. Pavie.
Mr. Minister: Notwithstanding your insistence in our interview of to-day on having the Inconstant and the Comète admitted to anchor at Paknam, it is my duty to maintain my peremptory objections, which I made in my preceding letter, against their entering the waters of the Menam, and to declare that, under present circumstances, the Government of His Majesty is unable to consent to the presence in this river of more than one war vessel of any state. All necessary instructions to that effect have been given to our naval and military authorities.
As it is understood between us, a steam launch of our navy will be to-morrow morning at the French legation, to be put at your disposal for meeting the Inconstant and transmitting all information which you will judge necessary.
Accept, etc.,
Prince Devawongse to Prince Vadhana.
Your telegram No. 35 received. The French minister in Bangkok made another call yesterday evening; gave me two notes. It is announced that as Great Britain has sent gunboats to protect its subjects, so France, to follow by the initiative, intends to send two gunboats more on the 15th of July. French minister in Bangkok informs me by letter that they expect to be well supplied with a pilot and permit to come up to Bangkok according to the treaty. We are compelled to refuse, as no more than one British gunboat is in the Menam, and to protest against such interpretation of the treaty as inconsistent with the integrity and independence of Siam. I maintain our right to disallow gunboats passage into our territorial water for menacing purpose. Represent the matter to the minister for foreign affairs, and telegraph me the result.
Prince Vadhana to Prince Devawongse.
Have informed the minister for foreign affairs according to your telegram of the 11th instant, and the minister assures me that they have no intention to send gunboats to Bangkok for menacing purpose, but only to act the same as the British Government would do. The minister for foreign affairs has told me that in consequence of my representation he will telegraph immediately to countermand order with regard to gunboats, and his excellency also assures me that France had no intention to send troops or attack Siam in any manner. On the contrary, they had an intention to send some one to Bangkok very soon in view of friendly arrangement, and the minister for foreign affairs said, “I have every hope everything will be arranged satisfactorily very soon.” I have written a letter to his excellency confirming this interview.
Let us add some of the indications resulting from a perusal of the official reports concerning the circumstances of this conflict. It will have been seen from the foregoing correspondence that only one French gunboat, the Inconstant, was announced as due to arrive at the bar of the Menam on the evening of the 13th instant. Instead of this, two vessels, the Inconstant and the Comète, reached there coincidently. Now, it will also have been seen that M. Pavie, the French minister here, would advise the Inconstant of the peremptory objections that had been made against the retention in the Menam waters of more than one gunboat from each power, and that a steam launch would be put at his disposal to enable him to issue instructions to this effect.
The commandant of the Inconstant accordingly received, at a quarter to 5 on the afternoon of the 13th, a message inviting him to await further information. It [Page 553] appears, however, that, thinking he had to follow the instructions of his admiral literally, he proceeded about 5:30 p.m. to enter the river under the direction of the J. B. Say, which acted as a pilot, and in this capacity took part in the action. The weather at the time was overcast and rainy. Seeing two men-of-war approaching contrary to instructions, the defenders of the fort fired a blank charge and afterwards sent 8 or 9 shots wide of the approaching vessels so as to afford full warning. After this the firing began in earnest, and was returned spiritedly by the two French, ships. The loss sustained by the Siamese may be explained by the fact that the fort offered a good target, being clearly discernible through the mist, while the gunboats, steaming at full speed with a favorable tide, offered only uncertain marks, though they did not escape unscathed. Our old friend, the J. B. Say, which had, as we have said, borne her part in the action, seems to have been the victim of her own daring. She has capsized at the entrance to the river, and it is believed—although we have no official verification—that this is the result of a shot. We can not help reflecting that these misfortunes would not have occurred if, as was first announced by the French legation, the two gunboats had not arrived until the 15th, as by that date all French colonial and naval authorities would have been in receipt of the telegraphic instructions promised by the French minister for foreign affairs as a countermand to the order issued regarding this entrance into the Menam.
royal proclamation.
The following is a translation of the Siamese manifesto which was placarded all over the city and suburbs yesterday morning:
[Translation.]
By His Majesty’s orders:
When the disputes regarding the frontier between the French possessions and Siam commenced, the French sent one man-of-war to guard the interests of persons under their jurisdiction. They did this for a longtime, and now, alleging that an English man-of-war has come to protect English interests, they have asked that two other men-of-war should be allowed to enter the river for this object. The French minister in Bangkok asked for permission that the two boats might enter the river; but it being our opinion that the present time was not opportune to have more than one man-of-war of each nation anchored in the river we consulted with him, and a telegram was sent to the French Government in Paris, and a reply was received that they would not insist on sending more men-of-war into the river. On his side the French minister at this capital agreed that the vessels should be informed of our objections and required not to come up. He asked for a steamer for an officer to go out and inform the vessels of this state of things. The two vessels, however, proceeded up to Paknam, at the Chula Chom Klao fort. The officers in charge fired a blank shot in the usual way. The two vessels took no notice, but returned the fire and proceeded up the river and anchored at the French legation.
There is every reason to hope that a mere misunderstanding has occurred, as the telegram from Paris clearly states that the foreign minister would avoid everything calculated to give offense to his majesty the King. Let the people, therefore, not be alarmed, or fear that a state of war will arise in Bangkok. There are now three French men-of-war in the river, and we feel assured that they will not try to take advantage of any harm which they may inflict upon us. We can not suppose that the 300 men in their boats will undertake to land and attack the numerous soldiers who have to defend our populous city. But it appears that the fear of the people is aroused by the fact that they do not know all particulars. Under these circumstances His Majesty has been pleased to order the local government department to take the necessary measures to have private and public property protected against evil characters. His Majesty has himself inspected the troops, and was greatly pleased to notice that all measures have been taken to protect his loyal and honest subjects. Regarding the whole question, conferences still take place between His Majesty’s Government and the Government of the French Republic, both in Bangkok and in Paris, as may be seen from the diplomatic correspondence relating to this subject. Therefore let all people remain quiet and live in peace among themselves and with those foreigners of all nationalities who are living amongst us under His Majesty’s protection.