Tue Paris paper that devotes itself to questions connected with the French colonies, La Politique Coloniale, has a long article in its issue of the 21st of 2 January on the Anglo-French Convention made by Lord Salisbury with Hanotaux, but finally concluded with M. Berthelot, on the Mekong and Siam questions, The first point to be noticed, it says, is the definitive interment of the famous Buffer State. The invention of this abortive expedient is assigned by the English Conservative Presa to Lord Rosebery, but the Politique Coloniale tells us that it is due to M. Waddington, formerly French Ambassador to London, Having been planted by him, it was watered by Lord Dufferin, who succeeded in persuading M. Develle of its attractiveness; bnt all the ink poured on its roots on both sides of the Channel could not prevent its withering away. Its decease is necompanied with new combinations very gravely affecting the integrity of Siam.
France and England have been constantly assuring each other of their determination to protect the independence and integrity of Siam. But if the King of that interesting country has taken much comfort from their assurances, he must have been sadly disabused. The two Great Powers have agreed on a singularly restrictive deli-miration of Siam, which emerges from the convention shrank to just the valley of the Menam. England has taken carte blanche to occupy whenever she feels disposed all the territory to the west of that valley, which gives her the whole of the Malay Peninsula, so 384 that the railway to be made hereafter from Calcutta to Singapore will ron uninterruptedly through territory belonging to Great Britain or under British protection; while England undertakes to shut her eyes to anything France may do on the eastern side of the valley. Once more the fable of the oyster and the lawyers is repeated the oyster is not yet entirely swallowed, but the French and English knives have made very large cuts on each of its skirts, As far as regard the Upper Mekong territory, France has got the best of the new convention. As she has already come to terms with China, France has now got the north-western frontier of her Indo-Chinese possessions settled. She has regained Muongsin, as to the value of which we may quote the following extract, published by the Paris Society of Gounmercial Geography, from a letter by Naval Lieutenant Simon, who had just succeeded in reaching the head of navigation in the Mekong, anglia, in a gunboat. He writes on the 26th of October last:
"By occupying Muongsiu the English have opened the rond from India to China, into which country they. can penetrate through Nunhuan, construct a railway, and thus very soon rain our Pongking, of which the principal condition of existence and prosperity is commercial intercourse with China. If we do not possess Muongein, Laos is no longer anything butanimpedimentum, the possession of which nothing can justify. Muongsin is on the left bank of the Mekong about eight days' march from Tangho." But the greater value of the convention to France depends upon whether and how soon she profits by the liberty given her by England to annex her new sphere of influence on the right bank of the Mekong, including the rich provinees of Battambang and Angkor, and the port of Chantaboon, The first advantage of the convention to England is that it removes one cause of disagreement between Bneland and France. It does so by a complete concession to France, but, frankly speaking, it is doubtful whether the territory given up on the Upper Mekong was of any value to England, however necessary it may be to France to round off her Laos territory. Next, it gives England the power to take at some future time, without remonstrance from France, the Siamese possessions in the Malay Peninsula, and a small piece of territory on the left bank of the Salween, England does not take any of this territory now; but whenever it suits her to occupy it, this convention allows her to doit without any objection on the part of France, Lord Salisbury had no doubt god reasons for making these terms with France; the following extracts from a letter to the Morning Port, signed "LRM." show how the agreement is viewed by some people at home
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.