Mr, Hudspeth spoke of the ancient history of the five States: Tonkin, Annam, Laos, Cochin(China and Cambodia, which make up" French Indo-China. On a map which had been prepared he Indicated the long Mandarin route along which he had travelled, "and which runs from. Langson to Hanoi, to Tourane, Saigon, to the borders of Siam—possibly the longest street in the world, and certainly one of the oldest was already In existence in Roman times. and the Chinese travelled up and down it up to the 10th century Tt is one of the most fascinating routes in the world, he said.
was pointed out that a great civilization had once flourished in Cambodia, where the ancestors of the' Cambodians—Khmers—built Palaces, bridges, temples, of which the Femaing may still be seen at Angkor When William the Conqueror {nvaded England a. Khmer elvilizaton was Mourishing: great buildings were being erected and considerable ability in statuary displayed. There was not time however to develop and ketch in detail the historical back:
"The speaker observed that Tonkin Is rich In minerals, Anam in fruits, timber and silk, I, ios in teak forests and cattle raising' and Cochin-China surpastingly rich in rice folds. The heart blood of French Indo-China are the Red River and the Mekong River. It is these that have brought prosperity to the Annamese.
Material Benefits From French It would be dificult to over-estimate! the material benefits that have accrued to Indo-China through the advent of the French, he said. Free schools and colleges have been provided,—and there is_a distinguished university in Hanoi, Scholarships have been given, Free hospitals have been opened. Groat stretches of railroad have been Dullt, Good roads intersect the coun-
We concluded his address as follows: "Tam grateful to you for in-viling me here and for this privilege of addressing you. Somehow up in this Dome T feel even more near to those fine lads we all admire. To be present as the guest of this. Associa lon go many members of which have flown and" whose relationship is. 0 close with the men who now bear the brunt of the onslaught on elvilizaton today Is indeed a privilege which T appreciate, "As we all know Shanghai is going to have ils.own squadron which T hope will be manned by Shanghat boys or hoys who hail from China. Aiteady these boys have greatly distinguished themselves in the services of their country and humanity. The father of one of these boys who is now on active service with a squadron somewhere in. England fold me the other day something that T would like to relate te you.
"ths son one day, decided that he would "like to have something fon his plane which would ree mind him of Shanghai and his childhood days and so he got out a brush and" managed. to. paint the plane a Chinese dragon. Being much more of a fighter than an artist the dragon was not an outstanding example of art, but stil, it was a dragon, And underneath this Shanghai doy wrote T spit fire' A few days Inter the son of my friend had a bit of a crack-up and had to change his plane, When his father. learned of the dragon and the motto he promptly got busy and produced in his once in Shanghai a really fine looking specimen of a dragon and this he try in every direction and there {san excellent postal and telegraphig system. Possibly the French Government is the most paternal Government in the world, 'A' Japan-Indo-China agreement was made on September 22-23, 1940, in which Japan recognized the' territorial integrity of French Indo: China and French sovereignty over all parts Of the states forming that Union. It is hook yet known what effect this! will have on future developments.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.