Fred was evidently prepared for the question, as he answered promptly,
"A protector is one who defends or shields from injury. In government matters a protector is a person who has the care of a kingdom during the minority or illness of the king; or it may mean a cardinal or other high official who looks after the interests of a religious body. A protectorate is a government by a protector, or it may be the authority assumed by a superior power over a weaker or a dependent one.
"The case of France and Anam is that the treaty provided that the French should take the management of the affairs of the conquered country, and that the governor-general they sent here should be really the highest officer in the land. The Anamese can do nothing in the way of making and enforcing laws without the consent of the French; in fact, they are exactly in the condition of a colony, and the country where we now are is called the French Colony of Eastern Asia."
"Quite right," said the Doctor, when Fred had concluded. "Now we will hear what the French have done in the way of colonization."
"They have followed their old policy of making no interference with the local laws, except with such as had a character of oppression or cruelty. They required the native authorities to swear to be loyal to France, and when they did so they sustained them until there were complaints that they did not manage affairs properly. In such cases they have investigated the complaints, and done what they thought right in the matter, either by removing or sustaining the official. They have lowered the taxes and established regulations regarding civil marriages, and, on the whole, their presence has been a benefit to the people of Anam. In the matter of marriages they have followed the rule that they long ago adopted in Algeria; a native may be married under the native laws if he likes, and can divorce his wife at a moment's notice, and without giving any reason; but if he marries her in a French court, he is under French laws, and must abide by them. A great many of the natives of the better class insist upon having their daughters married in the French courts, as they know they will be better treated than under the old system.
"Several times there have been insurrections against the French, and some of them have cost a great deal of money and fighting. But they have always resulted in victories for the French, and in the addition of new provinces to the territory under their control. At present they have a protectorate over more than half of the peninsula; some of the smaller provinces in the North are nominally independent, while in some portions of the country held by the French the natives do very little more for the foreign government than pay a small tax to it every year.
"The population of the country under the French protectorate is said to be not far from four millions. There is an army of ten or twelve thousand men, of whom nearly if not quite half are natives. The natives are said to make good soldiers, particularly in the artillery. A great part of the garrison duty in the forts on the coast and in the interior is performed by the native troops, and they are said to get along very well with the French. In Cambodia many of the soldiers are from Manilla, as they are considered more warlike, and besides the king says it is cheaper to hire them from other countries than to use his own people. The army of Cambodia is smaller in proportion than that of the other parts of the country, and the French allow the king to do pretty much as he likes."
Fred had reached the end of his chapter, and consequently came to a pause. The Doctor complimented him on his excellent account of the invasion and occupation of Anam, and after a little general talk on the subject, the party broke up.
