mprising the Luang Prabang district
lying east of the Mekong and the provinces of Malupre and Barsak.
Seeing that the process of filching territory from the Siamese was as
safe and easy as taking candy from children, the French tried it again
in 1907, this time obtaining the provinces of Battambang, Sisophon and
Siem-Reap, constituting a total of some seven thousand square miles,
thus bringing within French territory the whole of the Grand Lac and
the wonderful ruins of Angkor. In 1909 it was England's turn again,
but, disdaining the crude methods of the French, she informed the
Siamese Government that she was prepared to relinquish her rights to
maintain her own courts in Siam, the Siamese being expected to show
their gratitude for this concession to their national pride by ceding
to England the states of Kelantan, Trengganu and Kedah, in the Malay
Peninsula, with a total area of about fifteen thousand square miles. It
was a costly transaction for the Siamese, but they assented. What else
was there for them to do? When a burly and determined person holds you
up in a dark alley with a revolver and intimates that if you will hand
over your pocketbook he will refrain from hitting you over the head
with a billy, there is nothing to do but accede with the best grace
possible to his demands. In a period of only sixteen years, therefore,
France and England, by methods which, if used in business, would lead
to an investigation by the Grand Jury, succeeded in stripping Siam of
about a third of her territory. The history of Siam during that period
provides a striking illustration of the methods by which European
powers have obtained their colonial empires.

It was the Great War which, by diverting the attention of France and
England, probably saved Siam from complete dismemberment. Now, in
robbing her, they would be robbing an ally and a friend, for in July,
1917, Siam declared war on the Central Powers, despatched an
expeditionary force to France, interned every enemy alien in the
kingdom and confiscated their property, thus ridding France and England
of the last vestige of Teutonic commercial rivalry in southeastern
Asia. The Siamese, moreover, have had a national house-cleaning and
have set their country in thorough order. Their national finances are
now in admirable condition; they have accomplished far-reaching
administrative reforms; they are opening up their territory by the
construction of railway lines in all directions