Francis Bowes Sayre

“ In England, where the Premier wields the actual power of government, no one would tolerate the idea of following a fixed line of succession for Premiers, or of adopting any system which would run the country of its complete freedom of choice. If the King is to continue in absolute power, Siam's future welfare would seem to depend upon her being free to choose for her Monarch the best man available among the Royal Princes, regardless or rank or age ”

“ These responsibilities are more than sufficient to consume the full time and strength of any one man. If to all of these is added the weighty burden of carrying on the actual work of Government and deciding the multitudinous and endless minor questions which the conduct of government unforgivingly requires, the burden becomes too great for any single man to bear. ”

“ PROVISIONAL NATURE OF CHOICE Conditions are continually changing. Children are born, boys come to age, certain individuals die, some, through the course of time prove weak or incompetent, and others gain strength and prove their worth. It therefore seems important to me that the choice of the heir apparent should not be irrevocable. I should like to see the choice made a provisional one which could be freely changed as conditions change. I should suggest that the King and Privy Council consider the question of choosing the successor to the King afresh at intervals of every five or ten years ”

“ To my mind the advantages of the Supreme Council outweigh the objections to it. It serves as an effective preventative of backstairs influence which must always be an overpresent danger in absolute Monarchy. It provides for an effective avenue by which outside opinion may reach the ears of the King, and thus enable him the better to understand and appreciate the truth underlying any given situation . It gives to the King the benefit of the wisdom and experience of the ablest men of the Kingdom. ”

“ Viewed from this light the system of government by a Premier would seem to have distinct advantages. In the first place, if the actual work of government is committed to a Premier, if corruption creeps into the government or if intriguers or self-interested cliques manage to obtain the reign of power, as long as the King remains sincere and is accessible to others, The premier can always be removed and the group of intriguers upset, whereas a King cannot be removed. ”

“ As the work of government becomes more and more complex, however, the time will soon come, if it has not already done so, when no single man can possibly perform all the Ceremonials which the King must perform, properly decide large issues of national policy, settle questions arising in the Royal Family, and in addition at the same time carry on the arduous and strenuous work of detailed government. ”

“ In answer to the 3rd and 4th questions proposed by Your Majesty, my answer is that Siam I hop some day may have a parliamentary form of Government, but that the country is not yet prepared for representative government. I believe that those who are shaping the destinies of Siam should not lose sight of a representative form of Government at some future time when the spread of education makes this possible; for I believe that some much form of Government in inevitable and desirable with the growth of education and widespread intelligence among the population. ”

“ If there is to be an actual freedom of choice on the part of the Privy Councillors they must be freed from the embarrassment of having to give an open and non-secret vote possibly not in accordance with the wishes and desires of the King. The only way to ensure real freedom of choice is by secret balloting. Presumably it should require more that a bare majority to choose the heir apparent, The concurrence of three quarters of those present within against the possibility of a substantial proportion being disloyal to the heir apparent. ”

“ If the policy of any Ministry is misunderstood by the people generally, as long as it is an honest policy the Minister ought to welcome the opportunity of explaining and defending the policy so as to disarm and silence criticism. If on the other hand, the policy is due to intrigue or adopted for selfish reasons the method interpolation is often the best way to bring the matter to the attention of those at the head of the government. ”

“ Should the King have the right to choose any prince as his heir? If the King has this right, ought not this right to be extended to a Council of High Prince and Ministers of State in the case when the King dies without having chosen an heir? At present the King alone has the right to nominate an heir. It would be perhaps more logical to allow a Council of some sort to exercise that right when the King has not done so. ”

“ If it is possible therefore to secure a representative body which will represent popular opinion, I would like to see such a body given the power to put questions, I would like to see such a body given the power to put questions to the Ministers of Government. Such an outlet for popular opinion would form a kind of safety valve and do much to prevent such popular opinion from becoming by reason of its suppression dangerous. ”

“ In other words, in every country there should always be held in remove some power other than revolution, to remove one who proves himself in actual practice unfit for the carrying on of the government, and in a country like Siam this reserve power logically should be exercised by the King. ”

“ Your Majesty will doubtless wish to secure the advice of a few of the wisest men of the realm. Such questions might well be referred by Your Majesty to the Supreme Council for their advice and suggestion, always reserving the power of final decision to Yourself. In other words, my conception of the functions of the Supreme Council under such a scheme of government would be that it should from a purely advisory body to which the King might turn for advice on question of large policy. It should have nothing whatsoever to do with the executive work of government. ”

“ The person thus selected need not be confined necessarily to Royal Blood, nor to Kingly rank, but can be selected with absolute freedom of with a view solely to ability for the work of government, The work of carrying on the government may be placed upon the shoulders of whoever of all the men in the Kingdom in best fitted for the task by reason of the integrity, his strength of character, his executive capacity, and his ability to translate desired policies into practical achievement. ”

“ If the supreme council once begins to encroach upon the executive fields of government by interferings with the conduct of work in the separate Ministries, by advising as to appointments to be made under the rank of Minister of State, or in any other way taking part in the executive functions of government, it will thereby at once lessen the efficiency and increase the difficulties of every Minister. ”

“ A fourth advantage of the system of Premier Government is that it allows a division of work. Upon the King falls the inescapable duty of performing innumerable ceremonials, all of which require time and strength. Upon the King also must fall the decision of all questions of large national policy, — a task exacting the best of any man's time and strength. Problems involving the family affairs of the Royal Family also fall upon the King's shoulders, as well as innumerable other duties which no King can escape. ”

“ Without intelligent control by the people such a body would be sure to degenerate into a corrupt and tyrannical body. Until the rank and file of people in Siam have generally received a higher degree of education then at present it would seen therefore to be exceedingly dangerous to try to set up a popularly controlled parliamentary body. It therefore seems inescapable that at least for the present absolute power must continue to rest in the King. ”

“ Since it is absolutely vital that Siam should have a competent and able Monarch, since the welfare of Siam so directly depends upon the degree of competency and ability of her Monarch, it seems clear that Siam's welfare vitally and directly depends upon her being able freely to select as the Monarch the ablest, the most competent and the strongest of the Royal Princes. ”

“ Siam in my opinion, should not be so largely dependent upon a single crop. In the case of unfavourable weather conditions and a consequent shortage or failure of the rice crop, it means that Siam suffers unduly, and is sometimes placed in a temporarily precarious financial situation. It does not seem wise to place on one's eggs in a single basket. I therefore sometimes wonder whether Siam ought not to take steps to engage in the cultivation of some secondary crop, such as tobacco. ”

“ A Premier can be thus accessible in a way which is not open to the King, many of the difficulties of the late reign were due to the feet that His late Majesty was not freely accessible to those actually carrying on the work of the government, and he therefore often made decisions based upon opinions gained from a single self-interested clique which did not make for the welfare of Siam. ”

“ Because those who care most for Siam and who exercised wise judgement frequently could not reach him, he frequently failed to know the truth underlying the situations with which he dealt, and therefore noted in ignorance sometimes with regrettable results. ”

“ The thought in the back of my mind with regard to the question of financial policy is the fundamental problem of whether it might not be wise to reconsider afresh the proportion of revenues allotted to each Ministry in the light of the future hope of Siam. ”

“ It is the duty of a Premier to formulate the general policies to be followed by the Government and to unify the work of all the separate Ministries so as to attain those desired policies. To do so the Premier must be constantly accessible to everyone engaged in the work of carrying out these policies. ”

“ In as much as the future prosperity of Siam depends largely upon the stimulation and increase of her agricultural resources, does it not seem that perhaps a greater proportion of the revenues of the Kingdom should be allotted to the Ministry of Agriculture than that at present allowed? ”

“ If the system of Municipal Councils in the various cities proves practicable, it might later become possible to create a body containing one or more representatives from each important city with the power thus publicly to interpolate the Ministers. ”

“ Should not the allotment of revenue as between the different Ministries be freshly considered and determined more in accordance with what will make for the greatest prosperity and strongest Siam of the future? ”

“ I have been informed that there is no reason, so far as climate conditions are concerned, why tobacco should not be produced in Siam and that could be produced in the off seasons between the rice crops. ”

“ On the other hand, it has its dangers if its powers are not strictly confined to the giving of advice and if its advice is not strictly confined to question of policy. There will always be the danger that the very eagerness of its members to correct abuses will lead it to interfere with the work of the various Ministries and thereby to detract from the concentration of responsibility which should centre in each if the Ministers. ”

“ I believe that certain kinds of fisheries are now being injured through lack of protection. With proper fish protection and an efficient Fishery Department not only could this injury be stopped but the amount of fish available for feed actually increased. ”