Another question which has also occupied the minds of all thinking men in Siam is the danger of unrestrained absolute power of the King. Absolute monarchy, like democracy, may become harmful at any time, because both principles rely on the perfection of human nature, a very frail thing to depend on. A sound democracy depends on the soundness of the people, and a benevolent absolute monarchy depends on the qualities of the King. It is unfortunately a fact that every dynasty, however brilliant, will sooner or later decay, and the danger of having some day a bad king is almost a certainty. I believe that every method has been tried so as always to obtain a good king on the throne, and every method has developed some flaw. The method of elected kings seems to be sound in principle; yet it produced some of the worst tyrants, i.e. some of the Caesars of Rome.
The alternative method used is to chance on having a bad king and make some institution that could control him.
This method also fails occasionally, as in the case of King Charles I of England, but on the whole it has worked fairly well.
I most earnestly desire to organize some institution which will serve to restrain any arbitrary or unwise actions of the King of Siam. (I presume that nobody will want to restrain his good actions?) I feel that if I succeeded in evolving something really useful, I would have done a great service to my country and the Dynasty.
The question is, what institution shall we organize now, admitting that the parliamentary system is impossible for the moment⟨?⟩
Perhaps the new Committee of the Privy Council could be made to serve that purpose in a small way? This is the reason why I think Mom Chao Sithiporn’s opinion is of some interest. I should like, however, to suggest
