Directory_and_Chronicle_1909 — Page 1337

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, the protectorates of Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin, and the Laos, and the territory of Kwong-chow-wan leased from China, the whole (covering an area of 310,000 square miles) 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, Annain, and Cambodia, a representative of the Laos Administration, tive 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., exist in the Protectorate and are more or less mined. 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 seasons, the wet and the dry.

A loan of 200,000,000 francs was approved by the French Chambers in 1898 for the construction of railways in Indo-China. There are at present about 820 miles of railway completed and open to traffic in Indo-China. These are: Haiphong to Hanoi, 65 miles; Hanoi to Laokay, 184 miles; Hanoi to Langson and the frontier of Kwangsi, 1013 miles : Hanoi to Vinh, 2023 ; Tourane to Hué, 66 miles ; Saigon to Bao-Chanh, 55, miles ; Saigon to Mytho, 44 miles; Hue to Kwangtri, 42 miles ; Bao Chanh to Phantiet, 61 miles. The lines yet to be completed are the extention of the line Saigon-Phantiet along the coast of Annam through Phanrang, Bangoi (on Kamranh Bay) to Nhatrang, a length of 147 miles. From Phanrang a branch is to be constructed to the plateau of Lang-bian, which is intended to be the future hill-station and sanatorium for Cochin- China. This will have a length of 644 miles. Work is already proceeding on various sections. It is doubtful whether the South Annam coast line will be extended to join the Tourane-Hué line, and the latter connected up with the Hanoi-Vinh line, thus giving railway communication between Saigon and Hanoi, which is the original inten- tion. At all events many years must elapse before such a programme can be carried out. The proposed lines from the coast of Annam to the Mekong River are also in abeyance at present. The Yunnan Railway, which is an extention of the Haiphong- Laokay line to Mongtse and Yunnanfu, was opened to public traffic in June, 1908 as far as kilometre 71 above Laokay, and it is hoped that it may reach Mongtze early this year. The population is estimated at 20,000,000, 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 8,000. 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 Annamites. The Nuns resemble the Chinese and the Thos belong to the Kmer race.