Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 32.djvu/136

100 lOO HARVARD LAW REVIEW by the people of the province ahnost equaled those that the fol- lowing year greeted the Crown Prince. During the fall of 1903 Strobel and Westengard were in Paris negotiating with the French government for a new Siamese treaty. Strobelaremained behind to complete it, while Westengard preceded him to Siam by some weeks. During the first summer the king sent Westengard as his per- sonal representative to investigate the vexatious questions of the eastern frontier bordering on the French Protectorate of Cam- bodia. For months he traveled through a region where few Euro- peans have been. As royal commissioner he was shown every consideration by the local governors, and won the confidence of the ofl&cials with whom he dealt. His letters present a vivid picture of the coimtry, the wild life, its interesting people, and reflect an earnest man skillfully handling with success the most intricate problems of human psychology and attaining a consummate grasp of obscure human affairs. They show, too, keen zest for fife, appreciation for beauty in nature and Asiatic art, — in short, a great depth of human imderstanding. From Battabong he writes in September, 1904: "Most of our work is done, and we have considerable leisure on our hands. We have had a very deUcate and difficult work to do. I wonder if we have accomphshed anything. Time will show, and very quickly — whether we have erected a house of stone or only a palace of cards. The country and people — the political situation — the problems of internal administration are all very interesting and very difficult. I have seen a great deal of a state government and law such as our ancestors must have lived imder a thousand years ago. Curious institutions, whose parallels in Europe are faintly outhned in old, old books, are in full vigor here, but must fall swiftly before the approach of the white man armed, as he is, with powerful political weapons obtained through the treaties with Siam. I see a province, which is in reality a little kingdom. At its head is a man who is certainly the Lord of his people. His rule has been almost absolute. Law? Yes, there is law — his word. But as for the law of the printed page, you can hardly find a line of it. Until the white men actually settled down here — two or three of them — even the treaties hardly ran here. In fact, I found one important treaty was not to be foimd here!