The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-06-02
ufO THE HEART Of China.
Amerioeua VIII Build a Railway
From Hankow to Canton.
VERY VALUABLE CONCESSION.
After Three Years of NEGOTIATIONS
ne Anerican-Ehfna Development
Company secures Rights Never
D~fSSu Grmnted tn Amerieans-s~-
~.~.. M.x Ewrnf.h sou~ of the
Material for the Great Enterprise.

uaat TIE Unl,sd States ls rapidly oecohh-
- a esctcr In foreign countries ard tiaF
DE- hussnsss men are saecessfaiiy widen-
a. tne.r TRANSACTIONS 10 all parts Of the
.eobs IN seen not alone IN the conditions
Rrouxhs about in the Philippines, oat y
euEther shown by the news 5haE the TN
nsfA government has jazz granted valu-
hls,s os.ce.ren for ihe building OF a rail-
s~sv IN China 10 an American company.
S.s Ia Che first concession ever obtained
~ Americans from China, and the result
esrres b other than fsr-Eeaeaing and I'M
certant Tn. negotiations pending this
concssasen have been going on for some
Years ana 1; IL a fact worth noting tha'
= seattle man was largely instrumental In
obtaining the iong,sought-fer concession
sna the throne Of the great Monogram
eoQesumsn,.
4hs negotiations which led TO the nnas
unccsss OF the Amsrscan-Caina Develop
matt Company were carried on In Peking.
Il Petersburg and London. The main
s11tposs OF the corporation Is to build rail-
i3<adA although the right TO mine coal and
'A}kam 61hes valuable considerations are
ct6hehksd In the concessions The railroad
"a % Constructed By the company Is to ex-
4sud from the city OF Hankcw. on the
1 .Tsnfsss1usng river. in tbs province Of
'4Dpsh, 10 the city of Canton. in the
rnfov,ncs o. Qaang Tang. and thence TO the
s.s
Three Years of Negotiations.
hhs efforts so obtain these concessions
Arm China began three years ago. Then
de .idse that China offered 81 gFea, field
Gar tbA Investment Of American capital and
10 expectation that valuable concessions
haieas h secured frosn the government led
ii lrA Formation OF syndicate OF capita
4hsa Tho original members Of !; were
Th,friow Weed Blrnes. James Fl. Bene-
dot. George J. Blffus. OF Indiana; A. H.
Hrady. Hsnator Calvin :. Brice. the Car
xes.s Steel Company, Clarence Cary.
Charles III. Cosser. ex-senator J. y. Doiph.
Of Oregon: Hugh J. Grant. Alfred c. Har-
xison. OF Philadelphia: James Irvine, James
n Jsrvis, James f. Mcdonald j. +. Nc
Draw, Col James Mcknight. OF Seattle:
~ y. oicott William H. Parsons, +. f.
Randall. William A. Reed. George n.
Ehsidon, Marcus Stein. Sam Thomas,
Henry wolcott. Of Denver, Willard r.
Ward and Frederick Wesson. These are
practically the members Of the syndicate
sa IL exists today. They retained the Hon.
j. w. Foster. OF Washington. their adj
wiser and seat TO Picking 4. w. Bash Of
Seattle. 10 carry through there the pur-
poses Of the company. He Was selected be-
CAUSE he was believed TO be persona
tsa
with representatives OF the country after
the riots over the presence Of the Chinese
sn Washington In iSss. lie received certain
favors for the Chinese government 81 that
sifHe ard Immediately after the close Of
the China-Japan war. believing in the
opening up Of China by railway construc-
ton and the opportunity fer American In
vestment. made visit To- China. Through
his acquaintance with his excellency
Chang Yen iiuan. former minister TO the
United States. and by the aid OF hi. per-
sonal friend. j w. Foster. then counsel
for the ChiDese government In the peace
neroftatlons he received encouragement
from high court officials, particularly from
Ii Hung Chang who advised hts return
- the Cni;ust States TO form strong.
snonersa corporation lie returned 10 New
yerk and organized the syndicate by their
request within three months
Mr.. Bash went 70 Picking and remained
there. acting under the general advice OF
Clarence Gary. Of New York. and Mr. F'oS-
ser. He accomplished much toward seeur-
fng the desired concessions. Subsequently,
Mr.. Cary went ~ China for the syndicate
and later to ST. Petersburg and London
In January last Mr., Bash returned to
New York direct from shanghai China
bringing with him a preliminary agree
saent from hls eSrsilsney sheng IA Ien.
director general az Imperial Chinese rail-
ways, who received his appointment from
the throne hy the Endorsement 90 the two
srsat NlceFoy@, Chang chm Tung and
Wang Wen Shoe
He seetired fke transfer II the r,psotis-
tsons te his eSeeilucy VA Ting Fang min
tter - Washington. snd in association,
Win Thurlow Weed Barnes. specially an
roInte3 committeeman ana treasurer. ss-
cured Tor 'hs syndicate Tire Hsnkow-
Canton concession
This contract was signed on Aprii :.
assS by VA Ting Fang. Ak representative