Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 32.djvu/140

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HARVARD LAW REVIEW
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I04 HARVARD LAW REVIEW mind) I hold the post. It is only as long as I can see that I am able to do effective work. But I also think that this is one of the great reasons why I have been able to do some effective work. "It is true that an enormous amount still remains to be accom- plished. But of course the art of government is one which must be pursued incessantly; and in a place like this, where so much has to be built up — where so many bricks must be made without the requisite straw — the task is even larger than at home, where the machinery and establishment of government is already so old. The problems that we now face here are becoming more and more like the ones that confront the governments of Europe and America. In so doing the face of affairs changes. I feel as if, with the signing of the British treaty, the 'heroic age' closed. No more can we negotiate for the surrender of territories as large as a small kingdom in Europe. No more alien races populate sections of what was once called the ' Empire of Siam.' Many treaties are still to be negotiated, but they are of a different character. Apart from these, the most interesting questions are those of legislation. As you know, we must make our codes. This work is not only necessary for the internal administration, but it is of great political importance." When in June, 1915, he took his final departure, the Siamese government, the press and the people were outspoken in their expressions of regret and gratitude. Mr. Hornibrook, then the American minister at Bangkok, wrote the State department: "The great progress made along educational, political, commercial and sanitary lines in this country has been largely due to the influ- ence of the General Adviser." An article published in a Bangkok vernacular newspaper, from the pen of the King himself, states: "During the twelve years in which Phya Kalyan filled first the post of Acting General Adviser and later was promoted to General Adviser, he has served in these posts with great faithfulness, dignity and conscientiousness rarely rivalled. His friendliness and social intercourse with the Siamese have been such that those who come in contact with him in business sometimes forget that he is not a Siamese. "In all matters which he has had to examine and carry through he has always been actuated with the desire to further the interests of Siam. He labored without any! discouragement in spite of the difficulties or laboriousness of the task, and continued trying with