SIAM. DEATH OF THE KING OF SIAM AND SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE OF KING MAHA VAJIRAVUDH. File No. 892.001/1. Chargé Tarler to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Bangkok, October 23, 1910. His Majesty the King of Siam died 12.45 this morning. His Royal Highness Crown Prince Vajiravudh has been proclaimed King of Siam. Have sent the message of condolence for the President to the minister for foreign affairs of Siam. File No. 892.001/6. TARLER. The Siamese Minister to the Secretary of State. SIAMESE LEGATION, Gloucester, Mass., October 24, 1910. SIR: Confirming my telegram to you of this morning, I have the deepest sorrow in informing you of the irreparable loss my country has sustained in the passing yesterday morning, at 12.45 after a short illness, of my august sovereign His Majesty King Chulalongkorn the First of Siam. I have also, in accordance with the instructions of His Royal Highness Prince Devawongse Varoprakar, minister for foreign affairs, the honor to announce to you that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has duly succeeded to the crown and has been proclaimed King with the title of Maha Vajiravudh. Requesting you to be so good as to bring these announcements to the knowledge of the President of the United States. I have, etc., File No. 892.001/4. AKHARAJ VARADHARA. The Siamese Minister to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.] SIAMESE LEGATION, Gloucester, Mass., October 24, 1910. In deepest grief I beg to inform you that to the irreparable loss to my country His Majesty the King of Siam, my august sovereign, passed away yesterday morning at 12.45. I also have the honor to announce to you that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has duly succeeded to the crown and has been proclaimed King Maha Vajiravudh. AKHARAJ VARADHARA. File No. 892.001/4. President Taft to the King of Siam. [Telegram.] THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, October 25, 1910. I beg to offer to Your Majesty the expression of the deep sympathy of the Government and people of the United States in the loss sustained by Siam in the death of His Late Majesty King Chulalongkorn, and my good wishes for the prosperity and happiness of the Siamese people under your reign. WM. H. TAFT. File No. 892.001/4. The Acting Secretary of State to Chargé Tarler. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The President has telegraphed his sympathy to His Majesty King Maha Vajiravudh. Express to minister of foreign affairs sympathy of the Secretary of State. File No. 892.001/4. ADEE. The Secretary of State to the Siamese Minister. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, I have the honor to acknowledge with deep regret the receipt of your telegram of yesterday's date conveying the sad intelligence of the death of His Majesty King Chulalongkorn on October 23. The President, to whom the information was duly conveyed, has cabled his condolence to King Maha Vajiravudh and I take this occasion to express to you the deep sympathy of the Government and people of the United States and my own sincere condolence in the national loss sustained by your country. I would be pleased if you informed the department as to the date on which the funeral services will take place. File No. 892.001/7. (For MR. KNOX.) ALVEY A. ADEE. The Siamese Minister to the Secretary of State. SIAMESE LEGATION, Gloucester, Mass., October 26, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of the 25th instant, transmitted by the honorable Alvey A. Adee, in which you are so good as to inform me that the sad intelligence of the death of my late sovereign has been conveyed to the President, who has cabled his condolence to King Maha Vajiravudh, and to express the sympathy of the Government and people of the United States, as well as your own regret, at the national loss sustained by my country. I now hasten to offer to you my sincere gratitude for your most kind expressions of condolence, and to assure you that His Majesty the King, the Government, and the people of Siam will duly and warmly appreciate the friendly sympathy so generously extended to them by the President, the Government, and the people of the United States in their great bereavement. Permit me to thank you also for your inquiry as to the date of the funeral. In this connection I beg to explain that owing to the custom that the body of a Siamese monarch is not cremated until a year after death, and to the obstacles in the way of arranging a memorial service in Washington according to the rites of the Buddhist religion, I am constrained to forego the idea of a public service as impracticable under the circumstances. SIR: In confirmation of my telegram of even date I have the honor to state that I have been informed by the general adviser that the ceremony of accession will begin on November 8, 1910, and that His Majesty will be crowned on the 11th instant of the same month. The coronation festivity, however, will be postponed until after the cremation of His Late Majesty, which will probably take place next year. The style and title of His Majesty, who has just ascended the throne will be: Somdetch Phra Paramendr Maha Vajiravudh, Phra Mongut Klao, King of Siam. The style and title of His Late Majesty was: Somdetch Phra Paramindr Maha Chulalonkorn, Phra Chula Chom Klao, King of Siam. The style and title of His Late Majesty's predecessor was: Somdetch Phra Paramendr Maha Mongut, Phra Chom Klao, King of Siam. In each instance the first title is the personal name of the sovereign, and the second is the name of the reign. I am informed that there is a difference between the names "Paramendr" and "Paramindr." SIR: I have the honor to inform you that His Royal Highness Prince Krom Luang Devawongse Varoprakar, His Siamese Majesty's minister for foreign affairs, has been commanded, in the name and on behalf of the Royal Family and His Majesty's Government, to tender President Taft and the American Government and people their appreciation of their kind and sympathetic expression of condolence in their hour of deepest sorrow for the great and irreparable loss which they have sustained. You will attend ceremony as the special representative of the President. I have so cabled minister of foreign affairs. File No. 892.001/9. ADEE. The Acting Secretary of State to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Siam. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 4, 1910. I have the honor to inform Your Royal Highness that the honorable George Cornell Tarler has been designated to attend the coronation of His Majesty the King of Siam as special representative of the President of the United States, and to request that he may be cordially received in such capacity. ADEE. File No. 892.001/10. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Siam to the Secretary of State. [Telegram.] BANGKOK, November 5, 1910. I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your telegram of 5th instant. It gives me pleasure to inform you that Hon. George Cornell Tarler will be cordially received as special representative of the President of the United States at His Majesty's coronation. File No. 892.001/12. Chargé Tarler to the Secretary of State. DEVAWONGES. [Telegram.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Bangkok, November 14, 1910. His Majesty the King of Siam has been crowned. I was received in private audience. TARLER. File No. 892.151/4. No. 565.] OPEN TENDERS FOR GOVERNMENT WORK. Chargé Tarler to the Secretary of State. [Extract.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Bangkok, February 24, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to report, in continuation of Mr. King's dispatches, Nos. 538 and 539,' dated November 11 and November 18, 1909, respectively, that, having pursued the investigation suggested by the tenor of his communications, by interviewing such of my colleagues as I considered unbiased, and discussing the subject matter thereof with engineers and business men in Bangkok whose views were confirmed by correspondence sent by American firms and recently received by me, I am firmly convinced that the so-called "open tenders" for Government supply work are such in name only, and that the specifications and conditions imposed are discriminatory against American manufactures and in favor of those Governments which have advisers in the departments which formulate the said specifications and ultimately award the final contracts, and that the present system, therefore, as countenanced by the Siamese Government is absolutely devoid of any suggestion of equal commercial opportunity for all nations-a principle which must obtain here if American commercial interests expect to gain a foothold in Siam. In the matter of tenders for the waterworks supplies for Bangkok, recently called for, it appears that all American firms consider the specifications absolutely prohibitory. One American firm refused to make quotations for the pipes specified, and referred the matter to their English connections. Other firms informed their agents here that they can not bid on account of the prohibitory restrictions contained in the specifications. The crux of the matter is this: The specifications call for a certain style of rubber joint or gasket in the pipes, which, so far as is known, is manufactured only by a certain foreign firm. I am informed that this foundry is the only one that makes this specific joint, and when it is remembered that the controlling engineers and advisers in this department are of the same nationality it would seem natural to infer that favoritism is being shown to the manufacturers in this regard. One minister read to me a protest addressed by him to the foreign office charging favoritism, and concluding with the request that the tenders be made open in all sincerity and without any encumbering conditions or restrictive prohibitions. He asked me to take similar action. As the bids are to be opened on April 15, and it will be impossible for me to have the department's instructions before that time, and feeling that at the present time strenuous action will not be fruitful of desirable results, I shall, at my next interview with Prince Devawongse at the foreign office, take up the matter very informally, and, should the opportunity present itself, I shall express the view that my Government would learn with great satisfaction that in all tenders for Government contract work American manu I Not printed. |