relations on a new footing of cordiality and mutual confidence, have removed the danger of international friction in the valley of the Menam, as well as in that of the Mekong, where the Shan States, under British protection, are now separated only by the river from the western provinces of French Indo-China. That a Siamese loan on very reasonable terms has been issued this year with great success, under the joint auspices of French and British financial houses, is both a tribute to the growing prosperity of Siam and a proof of the genuine desire on both sides of the Channel for friendly cooperation in what was a few years ago a dangerous arena of jealousy and strife. It was indeed high time that we and the French composed our differences, for whilst we were fighting over shadows, Germany, as the tertius gaudens, was possessing herself of the substance. Railway construction was becoming a German monopoly, and the German flag was taking the first place, which had so long been undisputedly ours, in Siamese ports. In fact, in 1908 more than half the tonnage entered and cleared at Bangkok was German.
Singapore and the Malay Peninsula.
It is, however, still with Singapore that the prosperity of Bangkok is, and must remain, most intimately connected. For Singapore, owing to its splendid position on the Straits of Malacca and to the magnificent hinterland opened up in the Federated Malay States, is the great emporium of South-Eastern Asia, and, indeed, one of the corner-stones of our Empire. Commanding the chief ocean highway to the Far East, its fortified harbour, with dockyards and wharves and coal-stores, is a naval station of the first importance, and one of the busiest commercial ports in the whole world. The shipping entered and cleared at Singapore, which, together with Penang and Malacca, constitutes the Colony officially known as the Straits Settlements, amounted, in 1908, to nearly 18,500,000 tons exclusive
