The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-22
England R~egaining Influence at Pekin

The as~cendancy of NJ. DE WrrTE in the
councils of the Car, already attested by the
appearance Of the peace proclamation, has
been proved in a more substantial way by
the relaxation OF Russian opposition to the
promoters OF British interests in the Chi
nese capital. The st. Petersburg Govern
ment does not seem to have made any We
hement protest against the dismissal Of LII
HUNG CHANG from the Tsungli-yamen,
although in that veteran ~wire-puller it had
lately found a useful tool; it has viewed
with apparent equanimity the acquisi-
tlon by an English syndicate of extensive
coal and iron concessions In Shansi, and it
has ceased to resist the execution of the
contract by which British capital Is to fur
nish the money needed for the construction
OF the N~ew-chwang Railway. What will be
deemed Of even more Importance by the
we'll wishers OF the Middle Kingdom is the
fact that Russia has not s~triven, or at all
events has not managed, to thwart the
project Of educational reform outlined in a
recent rescript of the Chinese Emperor,
which, II carried out, may place his sub
iects abreast of the Japanese in the assim-
ilatlon OF Western science.
Il Is impossible to overrate the value OF
the concession made to the Pekin syndi-
cate Of London, which has obtained the
right to open and work the coal and iron
deposits OF Central and Southern Shansi,
together with the right to build and operate
all railways needed for the expectation of
the products. Shansl, 1t will be remem-
bered, Is the province which lies immedi-
ately west Of Chih-i and which is itself
bounded on the west and south by the
Hoang-ho. The coal and iron mines Of this
region have been known, and In a fltful
and superficial fashion have been turned
to account, from immemorial times. Indeed,
1t was here, according to Chinese legend,
that the Emperor FUH-HE, or FoHI, who Ia
aaid to have reigned from b. c.. 1858 to
2s39. made the accidental discovery of iron
through having burnt n quantity OF wood
on a brown earth. Baron Won RICHTHoFEN,
who Is the chief scientific authority on the
mineral wealth OF the Middle Kingdom, has
testified that the iron Is OF great purity and
0aslly fusible, while the necessary means
for manufacturing it, such as all sorts of
clay and sand required for crucibles and
moulds, and a very superior anthracite
coal, lie ready at hand.
IT should be mentioned that the coal Of
Shansi is OF two kinds. bituminous and all
thracite, the line of demarcatlon between
the two being formed by a range OF hills.
The extent of the coal field is incalculable;
1t was RIcHTHoFEN's opinion that, at the
present rate Of coal consumption, the whole
world could be supplied for thousands of
years from Shansi alone. Speaking OF the
entire coal-bearing plateau, he predicted that
its unparalleled conditions would. eventu-
ally, give rise to some curious features In
mining. His belief was that, when a rail-
way should be built from tho plain 10 the
mountainous part of Shansi, branches OF it
would be constructed actually within the
body OF the beds of anthracite, which are
among the thickest and most valuable on
earth, and that these branch roads would
continue for miles underneath the hills west
OF the coal belt of Ping-tlng-chow. Such
tunnels would allow tine products OF the va
rious beds to be put directly on railway cars
destined for distant places,
u appears that, in addition To the con-