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? Might not a similar remark be made with reward to the Ministry of Education, whose work again vitally concerns the future development of Siam? 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.
During the year B.E. 2467 out of a total national expenditure of Tcs. 96,452,497.00 the expenditure of the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture was only Tcs. 4,177,709.00 and of the Ministry of Education only Tcs. 2,640,344.00⟨.⟩ Should not the allotment of revenues as between the different Ministries be freshly considered and determined more in accordance with ⟨what⟩ will make for the greates⟨t⟩ prosperity and strongest Siam of the future?
The 9th. question which Your Majesty proposed is whether anything can be done to make the Chinese become Siamese as in the old days. This is a matter of such far reaching importance that I do not feel that I ought to venture an opinion as to it without considerably more study than that which I have been able to devote to it in the two days since Your Majesty’s questions were put to me. I shoul⟨d⟩ like before coming to any definite conclusions to discuss further with Your Majesty certain underlying problems of policy upon which this question must ultimately depend.
