INDO-CHINA
The French possession of Indo-China lies between 8 deg. 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; Anuam, 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 of the Tonkin coast. Other minerals, including gold, silver, tin, copper, lend, &c., exist in the Protectorate and are more or less mined. The principal harbours are Haiphong in Tonkin, Tourane and Thuanan (for Hue) 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 1902 amounted to 827,128,000. A loan of 200,000,000 francs was approved by the French Chambers in 1898 for the construction of railways in Indo-China, as follows:-Lines in course of execution. (1) Haiphong to Vietri: This line was completed in 1902. Its length is about 158 kiloms. (974 miles). (2) Hanoi to Ninh Binh: This line is of a length of about 118 kiloms. (73 miles) and was to be finished in 1902. (3) Saigon to Tanlinh: This line will be 132 kiloms. (82 miles) long. The works are now being proceeded with. Vietry to Laokay, of a length of 225 kiloms. (140 miles). Ninh-Binh to Vinh, of a length of 215 kiloms. (133 miles). Tourane to Hue, of a length of 105 kiloms. (65 miles). Panlinh to Lam-Biang and to Khanhoa, 468 kilomus. (290 miles). Hué to Quang-Tri, 85 kiloms. (53 miles). 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. The Laotians and Mois, oppressed by their neighbours and by their mandarin system, are lazy, timid and suspicious. The Muongs, who occupy all the basins of the River Noire and Song-ma, are more handsome and robust than the Anuamites. The Nuns resemble the Chinese and the Thos belong to the Kmer race.
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