The herald., 1898-10-16

its harbor Is fce-bound for several months
Of the year. There is another harbor-on
the coast Of China-capacious. deep, land
locked. ice-free throughout the year, but
hitherto unimproved by that inert nation.
1t lies at the southern extremity Of pen
insula which reaches down to the latitude
Of San Francisco on the Ssth parallel.
Port Arthur is the splendid site Of Rus
sia's new naval station which will guard
| the entrace to the Gulf Of Pechili. on which
Tiertsin. the gate Of Peking, and a dozen
other populous cities are located Near
Port Arthur Is the additional harbor Of
Talien-wan, and ample territory for great
and powerful city.
From Tsitsikar on the Nertchensk-V -Vladi-
vostock cutoff, the Russian government
has secured the right of way for branch
direct to Port Arthur, which passes
through several highly cultivated valleys
dotted with populous and enterprising
cities. of which Kiren with 12O0O0 dnhab-
itants. and Mukden with quarter Of a
million. are the capitals of their respect
I've provinces.
About so miles below Mukden is the busy
seaport Of Newschang, claiming a popula-
ton of $4,000. 1t is located on a delta near
the head Of the Gulf of Liao-tung, where
the channel IS so shallow that vessels Of
not more than 1000 tons can reach its
wharves.
The deep-water harbor of Port Arthur Is
located ITO miles nearer the open sea, and
is undoubtedly the predestined main ter
minus OF the great Siberian railway on the
Pacific shores of the Russian empire. 1t Is
will NertrhcpSk d2d6 vptlaa from
Cheliabinsk. 6OeO miles from St. Petersburg.
and about TOO miles from London via Ber-
lin. Hero will be established DOCKS piers
and warehouses; immense depots Of mer-
chandise and official and mercantile resi-
dences; here will be erected impregnable
Notifications, to become headquarters of
the eastern army of the empire; here the
Pacific squadron Of the imperial fleet will
ride at anchor; In short, the natural adj
vantages of this superb location will be
supplemented by every artificial requisite
that powerful and ambitious government
II able to command from its unlimited re-
sources.
1t needs no seer to predict that under
these extraordinary conditions the new
military, naval and railway station Of Port
Arthur is destined to become one Of the
great commercial emporiums Of the world,
and that It Is bound to play conspicuous
part in the future history Of the world.
But Russian influence Is penetrat ting still
deeper into the heart Of the Chinese en-
pire. A Belgian syndicate, supported by
Russian and French ministers, has OBJ
tained a concession for the construction of
a trunk-line from Peking to Hankow, a
distance Of 700 miles, which Is to be COM
pieted In 1903. The same syndicate is also
to have certain privileges on an extension
of the road from Hankow to Canton, thus
connecting the three most populous CEN
ters of the empire and paralleling almost
the entire ocean front
AS the establishment and control Of rail-
roads carry with them the political, finan-
cial and commercial control of the districts
they enter and serve, it is plain that for
eign influence will soon dominate the Chi
nese empire, and that great country which
boasts of annals antedating those Of any
other nation will presently become. like
India, mere dependency Of European
powers.
But Great Britain. Germany and the 9TH
er great powers of Europe are by no means
unmindful of the transformation that is
going on in the "Flowery kingdom;" in
decd they are Fastening 1t. Russia had
cast longing eyes upon the undeveloped
harbor Of Kiao-chow on the southern coast
Of the Shantung peninsula, when Germany,
ever on the'alert, found an excuse to send
her warships thither. and without protest
took formal possession, and appropriated to
her own use enough adjacent territory for
first-class naval station.
Great Britain had previously seized the
commodlous harbor Of Wet-Hai-Wei on the
north side Of the same peninsula, directly
opposite the new Russian acquisition of
Port Arthur. These rival powers can there
fore keep a sharp eye upon each other, and