to have been admitted by them, it is stated that the practice continues to be of frequent Occurrence and has caused much annoyance & delay, but the Spirit farmers or lifiers by whom the seizures have been made have not been required by the Siamese Authorities to pay any compensation for their illegal & often violent action.
In one case Messrs Windsor Redlich & Co, the Agents at Bangkok for Messrs Handegside & Co whose Ships carry the British flag, have represented that in the course of 6 months their losses through seizures of Spirit in contravention of existing treaties amounted to $51756.94 or Picals 9,594.31 as per correspondence. In regard to some of the more recent cases of this nature, correspondence has taken place between the Siamese Foreign Office & the British Agent & Consul General, and has reached this Dept. I transmit the papers herewith for your information, together with 7 petitions of British Subjects referred to therein.
I regret to have to observe that the measures taken seem to have been to secure the observance of the existing law by the Farmers, who seize property & arrest people in a high-handed manner, as described in the petitions, but hitherto, notwithstanding the strong representations...