In Siam, not including the Ping and Lao Shan States upwards of £100,000 is paid by the Chinese gambling monopolists for their licences. Five-ninths of this amount comes from the lottery-holders, and four-ninths from the gambling-houses. Nine-tenths of the monopolists sublet their farms, making from 15 to 20 per cent profit: 2 per cent of the money paid by the monopolists is said to be a private perquisite of the King of Siam. In his proclamation, “concerning the limitation of the ages of the children of slaves and of free people,” issued in 1874, the King of Siam declared: “With reference to gambling and all games of chance, where money is lost and won, it is a prolific source of slavery. These subjects have his Majesty’s best thoughts as to their eventual termination. They now yield a revenue of 11,000 catties (528,000 dollars), which is regularly expended in defraying the expenses of the Government. If gambling were completely abolished, there would not be enough at the command for Government and military purposes to meet the deficit that would be occasioned by such abolition. This subject, however, his Majesty has presented for the deliberation of the council, and when definite conclusions have been arrived at they will be made known to the public.” Fourteen years have elapsed since this proclamation was issued, during which time no further action has been taken in the matter. The king still draws revenue from the monopolists. The monopolists can still force the Prai-luangs, who form the majority of the inhabitants of Siam, to sell themselves, together with their wives and families; can still force freemen to sell their children, without the children’s consent up to the age of fifteen, and with the children’s consent up to the time that they reach their twenty-first year. To explain this clearly, and to show the present state of slavery in Siam, I will here quote Articles 6, 7, 8, and 11 of the law passed by the king in 1874, which has not been rescinded:— “_Art. 6._ If any of the people who are now free, having had no trouble necessitating their becoming slaves, should subsequently become involved, and the father, mother, the paternal grandfather, grandmother, the maternal grandfather, grandmother, uncles, aunts, elder brothers or sisters, be inclined to sell their children or relatives that were born in the year of the Major Dragon, tenth of the decade (A.D. 1868), (as the starting-point)—if less than fifteen years old, they may do so only temporarily (until they reach their twenty-first year)—and allow their services to the purchaser in lieu of interest, inserting their names in the bill of sale of the purchaser, with or without the knowledge of the person sold, the sale is valid according to the laws of the land, because the father, mother, and elder relatives are paramount, &c.