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munication which had been addressed by the Netherlands Minister to the Earl of Derby in regard to the importation of foreign liquors into Siam, Mr. Knox, then Her Majesty's Consul-General at Bangkok, was directed to furnish his Lordship with a Report upon the subject, and on the 3rd April following he addressed a despatch to Lord Derby, in which be said:-
"In the Treaties which Siam entered into with foreign Powers no mention was made in regard to the importation of spirits into this country.
"Spirits, therefore, came under the clause which provides that all articles of import shall pay a duty of 3 per cent.
"The omission of any reference to the importa- tion of spirits arose from the Siamese being unaware that they could be produced abroad of a quality equal to, and a price lower than, they had hitherto provided for sale to their own people.
"They were soon undeceived, and foreign spirits made in Java and China rapidly replaced those made in this country.
"By the importation of these spirits at so low a rate as 3 per cent. the Siamese Government sus- tained a very serious loss to their revenue, as large profits had been made by that that they had them- selves manufactured and retailed to their subjects.
They tried to make up this loss by levying a licence duty on all shops retailing spirits. Their right to do this was, however, denied by many of the foreign Consuls, and the attempt had to be dropped.
"As usual, when they get into a difficulty, they came to me to get them out of it, and I advised them in 1866 to give the late Sir John Bowring the necessary powers to proceed to the Courts of the Powers with whom they had made Treaties, and put matters straight.
"This done, I told them they would find no difficulty in getting the British Government to agree to fair terme. Also, as usual, they promised to do what I advised, but did not do so.
"They, however, in 1867, sent the present Kala- home to France, and he concluded a Convention with the French Government (copy inclosed),
"This Convention was reported to your Lord- ship in despatch No. 45 of the 2nd December, 1807,
Mr. Knox, No. 21; April 3, 1878.
By
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by Mr. Alabaster, and instructions were sent out
empowering him to conclude a similar one.
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Nothing, however, was done in regard to it until my return. On inquiry, I found that nothing had been done in regard to any other nation than the French; that they simply proposed to put us, that is, the British and the French, against the others; and as I knew this would not succeed, and that we should be merely placed in a false position, I told the Siamese that they must adopt a straight- forward course, and enter into Conventions with all those with whom they had made Treaties.
"I even did more, for I discountenanced the retail of spirits by British subjects, pointing out how ignoble the business was. My appeal was perfectly successful, and for years past no British subject that I am aware of has been engaged in retail- ing spirits in Siam. Considering the number of British subjects there are in this country, and that many of them are far from being well off, I think their conduct was and is highly creditable to them.
"In the meantime, several of the other Consuls, notably the late Consuls for the Netherlands and the United States, sold licences to Chinese-Siamese
or others who applied for them. Hence, retail spirit shops were sown broadcast over all the country. This evil has of late somewhat abated, but still exists.
"In April last year I received a despatch from the Kalahome, telling me of the great loss of revenue sustained by his Government by the free trade in spirits carried on by foreign subjects, and pro- posing that all such foreign subjects should be obliged to obtain the Government licence to sell.
"I replied that, as no British subjects were engaged in the trade, no inconvenience could be caused by them, and expressed my willingness to move my Government to agree to any terms they might be able to secure from foreign nations.
"In conversations which I afterwards had with his Excellency and others, I again advised them to appoint some one to visit the different foreign Courts and arrange with all.
"Instead of doing this, they have addressed letters to the Governments of the Netherlands and Portugal, with whose people they have lately had the greatest trouble.
[1836]
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