The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-12-10
WON WITH
THE IRON HORSE
From the New York Journal.

fiOHi lHt NtW AoAh JodiHdi-
Before the Hon. George Curzon quilted
the post of England's under secretary of
foreign affairs to We =viceroy of India he
was informed of plot, already well under
way. by which Russia was to make herself
mistress of China. When the final parti-
ton of the empire came the car would be
SO strongly intrenehed that he might take
whatever it seemed to him good to take,
in spite of the protest of the powers.
1t is an ingenious plot, very pretty piece
of diplomacy and is typical of the deep
scheme that will confront the United States
now that she is entered as a factor in the
far east.
The designs of Russia were we'll hidden.
They were discovered by accident. Silent
ly surely, without any one suspecting the
ear was acquiring the great northern pro-
vince of China, Mongolia, or nearly one
third of the empire. Already Manchooria,
adjoining Mongolia, is in the clutch Of the
Bear. That was understood, tacitly agreed
to, by the powers, but Mongolia was sur
prise even to the omniscent Lord Curzon.
The plot was laid in this way:
When Russia undertook the construction
of the Tlans-Siberia railroad it was
nounced that the route would be through
its own territory to Vladvostock, the port
at the mouth of the Amoor river, on the
Japan sea. Afterward a southern route
surveyed through Manchoorla. There
were protests, but the ears acquisition of
Port Arthur determined the matter. Tho
railroad is completed, today from the west
ern frontier to beyond Lake Balkal. On
the eastern side all that has been built is
stretch to Khabaroyka, about 900 miles
north of Vladivostock. A spur has been
run into the interior of Manchooria for
about 200 miles.
Ostensibly the road is to cut the difficult
Khingan mountains at the north. That Is
what England and Germany and France
expected. In reality no survey of the kim
gan mountains has been made, and Russia
has never announced that pass had been
selected Instead, for the past two years
Russia surveyors have been working to the
south in Mongolia, laying out a way
through the Cobb desert
The Trans-Siberian road will never be run
by the Amoor river. That is the PROPOSE
ton made to Englands under secretary
of foreign affairs, and the informa ton
came from one of the cars surveyors, a
Pole. Here is the route he marked out
the one he had surveyed:
The road will run to the south, along the
present caravan route, until within two or
three hundred miles of Pekin then 1t will
cut to the west. A line is under oonstruc-
ton connecting Port Arthur and Vladivo-
stock. The line that nearly reaches Pekin
will join this midway between the two
ports.
In such manner will Russia gain control
Of he int
csc empire. There will be a wild cry of
protest from the powers when the plot is
discovered. Perhaps England has already
protested Russia's smiling answer will be:
'There was no pass at the north. We
were forced to the south. Really, we
thought you knew. 1t is too late now. The
road is built
Troops of Russian soldiers already people
the villages in the Cobb desert. The road
will tap the rich Pekin district 1t will
appropriate to Russia the trade north of
the Yellow river-7half of China. Treaty
ports will lose their value. Monaghan Off
Gals have been made the aides of the car.
Russian officers and Manchoorian officials
are already hand in glove in the scheme to
give the province to Russia.
With the aid of the railroad to the south
Russia will be able to land soldiers in the
very heart of the Chinese empire. The road
Will 10 cAtSidSu " IShln, anu tD0 COmDneQ
powers will be unable to dislodge Russia
from the territory acquired.
such Is the latest expressed move of Rus
sian diplomacy, made public now for the
first time. 1t is an example of what our
diplomatists must look for. Heretofore the
diplomacy of the United States has differed
from that of every other great power 1t
has been laughed at by every nation except
ENG land, but 1t is secretly feared Ameri-
can ministers abroad, acting always under
instructions etc 70 1ar
pursue one method of procedure. They ask
Tor what they want and insist upon it.
1T IS fact not generally known that
America has presented to nearly every
country letters that If written by another
power would have the disagreeable term OF
ultima tums. Our diplomacy is a series of
ultimatums. Other powers get what they
can without asking for it, or If compelled
TO ask, seek to hide their real wish, or In
TIE end endeavor 10 force the grant by
Velied threats of commercial retaliation To
this are due Germany's exclusion of our
dressed meats, prohibitive laws in Switzer-
land and continued discrimination against
American products on the part of France
and Italy. With the United States as a
world power new diplomacy must snrine
up We must either cultivate the tact or
assimilation of European diploma lists or
iorce them to adopt, at least with us. the
habit OF speaking plainly.