32
act as the compradores of the European houses, and the distribution of imported goods is in their hands. These articles are either obtained from their Chinese agents at Singapore-who purchase from the European houses at that port, or direct from the foreign merchants at Bangkok. The question whether the goods are bought in Singapore or Bangkok is determined by the closeness of the ties with Singapore. Those Chinese firms which are large shippers of produce to Singapore usually receive shipments of manufactured goods in exchange. It should also be noted that Singapore is a large market where stocks are always held of the staple articles of import, and where parcels of goods can frequently be obtained at reduced prices.
The Shipping Situation. The history of the shipping services with Bangkok is a remarkable record of German pertinacity coupled with mismanagement. Towards the end of the "eighties" a service of Messrs. Alfred Holt & Co.'s (Blue Funnel Line) steamers was established between Singapore and Bangkok, while the Scottish Oriental Co., Ltd., operated a regular line between Hong Kong and South China ports and Bangkok. These two British lines for some years almost monopolised the carrying trade, and in 1897 the British sbare was 74 per cent., and the German proportion amounted to 8 per cent. The visit of the King of Siam to Europe in that year brought the country into prominence at a time when the Norddeutscher Lloyd was in searchi of means to establish local branch services to feed its through lines of steamers. Negotiations were commenced, which resulted in the purchase of both lines, the Germans paying very high prices in order to obtain a position which would enable them to secure the trade, and obtaining a guarantee from the vendor companies that they would not compete for a long term of years. There remained, however, a few British and Norwegian tramp steamers, and in the somewhat drastic efforts which they made to exclude these outside vessels, the German company so exasperated the rice shippers that they adopted the practice of shipping to Europe and elsewhere direct by chartered vessels. Further competition was received from a second German company the Rickmers Line, from the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and from the East Asiatic Company's steamers. Violent freight wars resulted, followed by compromise, and the Norddeutscher Lloyd were neither able to secure a monopoly of the through trade, nor were they even in a position to make the line pay. In 1913-14 the share of each of the four leading countries in the carrying trade was as follows:-
Germany Norway
The United Kingdom Siam
-
32.4 per cent.
29-9 per cent.
22-5 per cent.
6
per cent.
While from the point of view of the Norddeutscher Lloyd dividends the regular service has not been a success, there is no doubt whatever that it has conduced to a considerable increase of the local German merchants" share in the trade of Siam, particularly in imports, and to an extension of German mercantile activity in the kingdom. It is extremely likely, although no proof exists, that in view of these advantages a subsidy was granted by the Imperial German Government to cover the losses sustained by the company. The fact remains that the local German firms have made unscrupulous use of their shipping facilities to coerce business into their hands, and it is highly desirable that the German line should not be allowed to retain the virtual monopoly of the traffic between Singapore and Bangkok after the war.
Messrs. Alfred Holt & Company have decided to re-euter the trade, and specially constructed steamers for the run are being built at Hong Kong. It is hoped that Messrs. Butterfield & Swire will see their way to maintain the service between Bangkok and South China porte after the war. They were largely interested in the old Scottish Oriental Line, and sold their fleet to the tierman company on the understanding that they should hold the German agency in Hong Kong, which they did until the outbreak of war.
The situation now is completely changed, and British interests require that this line should be under the British flag.
Customs Tariff. The Siamese Customs Tariff was determined by the Anglo- Siamese Treaty of Commerce of 1855, and remains in force to-day. The import tariff is remarkably simple:-Beer, 5 per cent. ad valorem; wines, 5 per cent, ad valorem; spirits, 2 ticals (approximately 38.) per gallon (with a small surcharge on higher strengths); all other goods, 3 per cent, ad valorem. The export tariff contains rather more items, but all duties are low, and of the two principal exports, teak wood is exported free, and rice pays an export duty of 4 or 2 ticals per coyan according to its class, i.e., approximately 4s. 6d, and 2s, 3d. per ton. The rise in the price of rice has
33
very much lowered the incidence of the duty since the days when the specific rate was fixed, but until recently no change could be made in the tariff without treaty revision By the terms of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 the former treaty provisions regarding Customs duties have been abrogated, and it is likely that the Siamese Government will slightly raise the duties to provide income from Customs sources sufficient to justify the abolition of other sources of rovenue which press unduly on the people. As the increases are not likely to be great, and as all nations will be treated alike, such revisions of the tariff need not affect British trade in the slightest.
Currency. -Up to November 1902 the currency of Siam was on a purely silver basis, and the exchange value of its unit, the tical, was subject to the fluctuations of the silver market. From that date the Siamese Government closed the Mint to the free coinage of ticals against deliveries of silver, and announced that it would, for the future, issue them only against gold at a price fixed at one shilling, or 20 ticals to the pound sterling. This has been raised by successive stages until it now stands at its final figure of 18. Ghd., or 13 ticals, to the pound. Notes are issued by the Govern ment Treasury, of which the circulation amounted on March 31st, 1908, to 14,796,010 ticals. This was secured by a general cash reserve, entirely distinct from the general Treasury funds, amounting to 9,003,474 ticals the balance, representing 39 per cent. of the notes in circulation, being invested in Consols and other Government stocks. The law allows of the investment of 50 per cent. of the reserve, but the percentage actually invested is always a lower one, to provide a sufficient margin for fluctuations.
Financial Facilities. Branches of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, and the Banque de l'Indo-Chine are established in Bangkok. In addition, the Siam Commercial Bank, Ltd., was formed under Royal Charter in 1906 to conduct ordinary anking business on European lines. This bank maintains a European department under the control of an official whose services are lent by the Deutsche-Asiatische Bank, with which corporation the Siam Commercial Bank is very closely connected. This institution, however, has not been a great success. Financial facilities in Bangkok are quite adequate to the requirements of British traders. In most commercial transactions the finance is either arranged by their head offices in London, or the goods are sent out on consignment, and remittances are made by telegraphic transfer when the goods are sold. The British houses are mostly old-established firms with ample financial resources and high financial standing, and they are usually able to secure an overdraft -either clean or with collateral--in cases where special facilities are required.
Legal Rights of Europeans. Prior to the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, British and other foreign residents in Siam enjoyed the privileges of extra-territoriality, and were subject only to the jurisdiction of their own consular and judicial officers. lly this treaty, however, in return for territorial acquisitions in the Malay Peninsula, Great Britain abolished her courts in Siam, and placed both her European and Asiatic subjects, with certain safeguards for their just treatment, under the laws of the country and the jurisdiction of the Siamese courts. In point of fact, British subjects are under the jurisdiction of international courts, in which Siamese judges sit to administer Siamese law with the assistance of a British adviser, who auto- matically becomes a judge with powers equal to those of his colleagues when the British subject to be tried is a European. A British consular official watches the trials of all British subjects, and has the power to intervene in the case, and even to stop it and try it himself, if it appears to him that a miscarriage of justice is occurring, This somewhat complicated system will probably be modified in the near future in the direction of a more complete subjection of all British subjects to Siamese jurisdiction.
British Artivity and Influence-British activity and influence in Siam may be divided into two spheres :--
(a) The Oficial Sphere, where, in the capacity of advisers and administrators to His Siamese Majesty's Government, British officials are contributing largely to the success of that programme of State roform and development, inaugurated under the beneficent rule of the late King Chulalonkora, and actively fostered by the present monarch; and
(b) The Mercantile Sphere, where the sound, old-established British trading houses have controlled the bulk of the foreign commerce of the kingdom since the first days of regulated intercourse under treaty in the fifties.
F 2087
E
613