The times., 1898-04-24
THE EASTERN SITUATION.
England Gets Another Concession
in China.

New York, April 2S.-The Evening
Posts London correspondent says:
The British policy of the open door. in pursuit
Of which, as l explained in yesterday Dispatch
the British government recently sought and still
desires the cooperation of the United States. has
this week made decisive coup in North China
group of English capitalists. among whom
may be named Baron Rothschild. Earl Mayo and
Mr.. Causton, the last of whom is associated
with Cecil Rhodes in the South Africa Chartered
Company, calling themselves a Pekin syndicate,
have secured. after long diplomatic tusse be-
tween England, Russia, and France, a sixty year
concession of the enormous coal and iron fields,
$50 miles by 40, in the Shansi province
The value of the concession may be gauged by
the fact that Baron Won Richthofen estimated
that the anthracite alone from il would meet the
coal consumption of the world for over , 900
years, while the British railway under
construction through this region, gives new
artery of free commerce in China, and vastly in
creases Brtains hold North China. The
prolonged negotiations now successfully COM
pleted were fully detailed in my dispatch OF
March as follows:
''Strong pressure is being brought to bear on the
government to hold out for the policy of open
China in its entirety, but. falling moral and
material support from other powers the
age of the British ministers is clearly waning.
This pressure comes most heavily from British
capitalists, who long have sought to bring Lord
Salisbury TO see that the valuable coal and
mineral deposits of the Shans province in North
China which the only known deposits OF
value. form the real key to the position in the
Tbaxy hot tba SIR.
cial conflict in the Pacific for which the trad
ing powers of the world-that is to say, Eng
land Russia, Germany, France, Japan, the
United States, Canada, and Australasa-are pre-.
pairing, that power will predominate which holds
these raw materials of the civilization that is
| to come. English capital and enterprise now are
waiting TO be applied TO these deposits. but ii
(these capitalists argue) Russia gets North China
absolutely in her grip, Great Britain and other
powers must quit sooner later and be TO this
! extent handicapped in the Pacific trade
BY securing Weihai-Wei British diplomacy
scored triumph, but mainly naval triumph.
BY securing these concessions in Shansi Lord
! Salisbury and Sir Claude Macdonald, the British
| minister at Pekin. have shown the reality of the
| policy of the open door, for they did il in the
| face OF the most active opposition of Russian
| diplomacy at Pekn, aided by France. With a
! Dountlful supply OF inc. pest coal on lHe spot,
! Great Britain holds a trump card in the com
mercial game in the North Pacific.
| 1t is not little significant that in the pur-
| suit of this policy OF the open door Lord Sails
| bury solicited and obtained the active dipo-
matte support OF the Italian government while
| it is noteworthy that Charles Rudini. of the
| Italian premier, is himself member Of the
| syndicate and is now in Shans In connection
| Herewith Lord Salisbury, who is expected back
again the foreign Office from the south Of France
| in restored health himself initiated the dipo-
matte negotiations which resulted in this conces
sion. Their success doubtless proved the best
possible tonic after the influenza from which he
now has almost completely recovered.
There has been some silly newspaper tak
| this week about Lord Sllisbury's Illness having
been diplomatic in character. This is absolutely
untrue. His illness was so real as to compel
| immediate rest, but has he allowed
himself TO consider his retirement either from
the prime ministership or the foreign secretary
| ship. tie retains both positions.