INDO-CHINA
The French possession of Indo-China lies between 8 (leg. 30 min. and 23 deg. 23 min. N. lat, and 97 deg, 40 min. and 107 deg. E. long. (Paris), and comprises the colony of Cochin-China and the protectorates of Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin, and the Laos, the whole being under the direction of a Governor-General, who is assisted by the “Conseil Supérieur de L'Indo-Chine." The latter is a moveable body, meeting in any of the chief towns according to the summons of the Governor-General, but Hanoi, the capital of Tonkin, has become the principal seat of the administration. According to a decree of the 8th August, 1898, the Council consists of the Governor-General, President, the General Commanding the Troops, the Commander-in-Chief of the China Squadron, the Lieutenant-Governor of Cochin-China, the Residents Superior of Tonkin, Annam, and Cambodia, a representative of the Laos Administration, five other officials, the President of the Colonial Council of Cochin-China, the Chairmen of the Saigon, Hanoi, and Haiphong Chambers of Commerce, of the Cochin-China and Tonkin Chambers of Agriculture, the Chairmen of the Annam and Cambodian Mixed Chambers of Commerce and Agriculture, and two native members appointed by the Governor-General. The full Council meets once a year, and provision is made for a permanent Commission to transact such business as may arise between the sessions.
The deltas of Cochin-China and Tonkin are fertile; Annam, connecting them, is a long mountainous tract, with a narrow littoral on one side, and a wild sparsely populated hill tract stretching to the Mekong on the other. Rice, cotton, sugar, seeds, tobacco, spice, and fish, are the principal productions of the alluvial districts. The principal mineral production is coal, which is mined at Tourane, on the coast of Annam, and at Hongay and Kebao on the Tonkin coast. Other minerals, including gold, silver, tin, copper, lead, &c., exist in the Protectorate and are more or less_mined. The principal harbours are Haiphong in Tonkin, Tourane and Thuanan (for Hué) in Annam, and Saigon. The climate in general is hot and humid. The year is divided into two seasons, the wet and the dry.
The general budget for 1900 amounted to $22,998,000 and the local budgets were as follows:-Tonkin, 84,197,950 ; Annam, 84,081,416; Cochin-China, 84.204,204; Cambodia, $1,997,600; and Laos, $758,660; making a total of $38,237,870. The general budget provided for the year 1901 $2,693,000 (£269,3000) to be spent on public works. If to the aforesaid 'inscribed in the general budget are added those which are provided in the various local budget, for roads, &c., namely, $222,000 (£22,200) for the whole of the five parts of Indo-China, the sum of $3,165,000 (£316,500) is obtained, and this, without reckoning sundry works which will be executed by the provinces with their own means. A loan of 200,000,000 francs was approved by the French Chambers in 1898 for the construction of railways in Indo-China, which can be divided into three categories:--I. Lines in course of execution. (1) Haiphong to Vietri : This line is expected to be completed in March, 1902. Its length is about 158 kiloms. (97) miles). (2) Hanoï to Ninh Binh: This line of a length of about 118 kiloms. (73 miles) will be finished about April, 1902. (3) Saigon to Tanlinh: This line will be 132 kiloms. (82 miles) long. The works are said to be started, but there is no precise information as to when they will be completed. II. Projects submitted to the Home Government :-- (1) Vietry to Laokay, of a length of 225 kilomis. (140 miles). (2) Ninh-Binh to Vinh, of a length of 215 kiloms. (133 miles). (3) Tourane to Hué, of a length of 105 kiloms. (65 miles). III. Lines under consideration:-(1) Panlinh tó Lam-Biang and to Khanhoà, 468 kiloms. (290 miles). (2) Huć to Quang-Tri, 85 kilomus. (53 miles). (3) Laokay to Yunnansen 460 kiloms. (285 miles).
The population is estimated at 25,233,000, most of whom are Annamites, the Cambodians and Laotians coming next in about equal numbers. The Chinese number 150,000, and Europeans amount to a little over 7,000. The Tonkinese are larger and more robust than the Cochin-Chinese, and more intelligent and active. The Chinese have immigrated in large numbers to the south of Cochin-China, where they have obtained almost the exclusive possession of industries and commerce. The Cam- bodians are naturally apathetic, and have given way to the Chinese and Annamites.
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