Directory_and_Chronicle_1901 — Page 879

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, appears to be taking rank as 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., are said to exist in the Protectorate. 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 sea- sons, the wet and the dry.

The general budget for 1899 amounted to $17,620,000 and the local budgets were as follows:-Tonkin, $3,993,639; Annam, $1,845,835; Cochin-China, $4,550,000; Cambodia, $1,997,600 ; and Laos, $692,531; making a total of $30,699,604.

A loan of 200,000,000 francs has been approved by the French Chambers for the construction of railways in Indo-China, and provision is also made for a Government guarantee on a projected line running into Yunnan, which is to be constructed by a private Company. The lines approved in Indo-China are (1) Haiphong-Hanoi-Laokay; (2) Hanboi Namdinh-Vinh; (3) Tourane-Huế-Quangtri; (4) Saigon-Thanhoa-Lang. biang; (5) Mytho-Cantho.

The population consists of at least 17,500,000 most of whom are Annamites, the Cambodians and Laotians coming next in about equal numbers. The Chinese number 150,000, and European's amount to a little over 6,000. 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 Can- 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 Annamites. The Nuns resemble the Chinese and the Thos belong to the Kiner race.

The total force of the French army in Indo-China in 1897 was 24,100. The force is composed as follows: 3 regiments infantry marine, 4,800; 5 battalions of the foreign legion, 3,600; 4 regiments of native tirailleurs, 14,100; 6 batteries of European artillery, 800; and artillery auxiliaries (European), 500. There have to be added to the above the auxiliary services and the gendarmerie, which bring the total up to 24,500, under the orders of a General of Division and two brigadiers. There is also in Indo-China a native militia of 10,000 men.