Minister King to the Secretary of State.
Bangkok, Siam, March 31, 1905.
Sir: The Siamese Government has decided upon a systematic move against gambling in the Kingdom. There are now 103 large gambling houses throughout the interior. It has been decided to abolish 80 of these 103 on the beginning of next April; the remainder of the 103 shall be abolished the 1st of April, 1906; and there will be made a serious endeavor to abolish all the large gambling houses in this city on the 1st of April, 1907. To meet the very large falling off of revenue which will be caused by this move a readjustment of the land tax has already begun. By this plan it is calculated that all the loss in revenue caused by the abolishment of the gambling houses outside of the city will be fully met. To meet the loss of revenue caused by the abolishment of the houses within the city is a doubtful endeavor. For remedy for the loss in the country Siam depends upon herself by increasing the land tax; but in doing this she feels that she is placing all the burden upon her people that they should bear. For the loss of revenue caused by the abolishing of the houses in the city she will have to depend upon the cooperation of the Christian nations, and, anomalous as it may seem, herein she will find her difficulty. She proposes to meet the loss in the city by raising her import dues to a moderate degree. Being an extraterritorial country the treaties with the outside nations which now fix import dues at 3 per cent can be changed only by the permission of the Christian nations. * * *
Preparatory to this endeavor I have been approached by both Mr. Strobel and the department of the interior, His Royal Highness Prince Krom Luang Damrong, with the request that I make known to my government the full import of this decree and with the request [Page 842] that I should use my influence to secure the good offices of my government in support of this endeavor. I am assured by these gentlemen that the government is a unit on this question, and hence that there can be no difference or party feeling on the matter, so far as the Siamese are concerned.
Outside of the American missionaries there are very few American citizens in Siam and outside of missionary interests very few American interests represented in Siam. The American missionaries have been a very potent factor in bringing about this decree. Only yesterday Prince Krom Luang Damrong said in my hearing: “I consider the American missionaries are my most efficient agents in carrying forward my endeavors for the progress of Siam;” hence to lend the influence of our government to this work is not only to help Siam toward better things, but to forward the American interests which are most prominent in Siam to-day. That the American missionary is the advance guard of American commerce finds no stronger proof in any country than in this country; hence for the American Government to support the interests of the American missionary as they are to day prosecuted in Siam is, on the large, to support and to advance the interests of America in Siam. It is a real pleasure to be able to say this, and still more of a pleasure to see the many evidences that the Siamese Government recognize the value of our people in the country. Within the past six months Siam has sold to our mission station at Nan, hundreds of miles outside the real-estate foreign-purchase limit as defined by the treaty, a fine piece of real estate, and given them the first clean deed issued to a foreigner in Siam. * * *
This one concrete case I trust will serve to illustrate the relation of Siam to the American missionaries, of the American missionaries to the progress of Siam, and the reason why Siam turns with expectation to the American Government at such a time as this.
I have, etc.,