The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-16

1
I have spent two winters in the far
east, and the knowledge there gained
stood me in hand during our confer
ences.
Finally, on April IA, a contract was
signed by WI for the Chinese govern
ment one the one hand, and by the Chi
nese Development company for those
capitalists who still had faith in the
enterprise, on the other. After it was
signed a. complete copy of it was trans
; mitted by wire to Pekin, in order to
make assurance doubly sure. This for
mality caused a delay of but few
days, when an imperial decree was is
sued from the throne ratifying the con-
tract Then Sheng cabled his approval,
adding: Am glad and grateful that this
great work has been so well accom-
plished.'
SPANISH WAR INTERRUPTS.
1.-TWO days after the receipt of this
cable message Havana was blockaded,
and the financial world became very
uncertain in its attitude towards pos
sible international complications. 1t
was impracticable to proceed with for
eign business in which very large sums
of money were needed. People wished
to wait until the war was over Yet in
the face of this, one of the first things
the company was expected to do was
" d very idISS QeDOSfls Ill CASH,
Immediately upon receipt of the notice
by WI Ting Fang from the Chinese
government that the contract had been
ratified. 1t was salSo necessary to eX-
pend 100000 in making a preliminary
survey of the entire projected route of
the new road. Even these, however
were mere bagatelles when compared
with the floating of the general Securi-
! ties of the road, for our own company
had put itself under contract to secure
a loan for the construction of the en-
tire railway system, with its attendant
| docks, warehouses, bridges, stations
and other appurtenanceS, at an esti-
mated cost of $40, 100000 in American
gold. The enormous funds necessary
are secured by a special issue of i'm
| peria1 Chinese government per cent
| 50-year gold coupon bonds
But the war seems really to have
been of remarkable advantage to the
railroad scheme, in view of the wonder
full awakening in the United States
concerning our intercourse with China,
and in view of the remarkable change
of attitude of the people of the cast to-
ward the people of the west. In re-
spect of this latter point Colonel DENLY,
recent United States minister to China,
told me of an interview he had with
Ii Hung Chang, during which the lat
ter told Mr.. DENLY that the late war
was a positive shock to the people of
China; that he Gid and the Chinese
generally had supposed that the Ameri-
can people were like Cinnamon .(sic),
that is, a peace loving, humble minded,
sort of people, whose only thought was
the furtherance of the arts of peace.
I am surprised to find,' said Ii, from
news that has come from Manila, that
you know how to shoot so well. This
has given us different opinion Of the
American people. In fact, we are
dumbfounded and amazed at these
very warlike propensities.' It is really
so. If the Americans have been de-
lighted with their victory, the people
of the east have been dumbfounded,
and there is throughout the whole ORR
ent greatly increased respect for our
armed resources, which already is ac-
cruing to the benefit of our trade.
well, the war went on, and what at
first seemed like a genuine discourage
ment began to take on the aspect of a
special providence. The war lasted, as
the world knows, for 113 days. When it
ended we found, not a depleted national
pocketbook, but a great newly-opened
avenue of commerce, a highway amply
guarded by the prestige we had won
during the struggle. Then when the
assurances of peace actually began to
be accepted and the people returned to
that condition which Ii Hung Chang
and others considered our normal one
the financial world awoke one morning
to the fact that great scheme of
American ACKNOWLEDGMENT had been set |
going in the east, and that the policy of
American expansion had perhaps re-
ceived another push in the right direc-
ton. At any rate, the publication of
the franchise documents in Pekin con-
WINGED financiers that the movement
was genuine. They simultaneously eX-
pressed a willingness to take part and
then the matter of the $40, 900 came
easily. 1t was not long before we had
all we needed"
FORTY MILLIONS INVOLVED.
To draw up, negotiate, sign and exc
cute contract involving forty million
dollars is an experience that falls to
the lot of few men, and when this con-
tract involves a hundred million per-
sons in China and is sure 10 go a long
way towards forming the basis of a
commercial alliance between England
and the United States. the occasion of
the signing becomes momentous. to
say the least. Mr.. Barnes was asked |
how he felt while putting into definite
language the informal understanding
that had been reached between him and
the Chinese minister.
Il was pretty conscious, he relied |
and the fact that I had no one to ad-
wise me. although I am not myself a
lawyer, made it all the more interest
ing. His eXcellency, WI Ting Fang, did
not allow any mapping, either. He was |
greatly alive to the significance of the |
occasion, and is a man ably qualified to !
represent the most thickly populated |
country on earth. Twenty of the great |
est banking houses in the world have |
put 10 the money and undertaken the |
contract without asking for the change |
of a single line in the document am |
proud to have negotiated a document |
that will so materially hasten enlight- |
eminent, civilization and Anglo-SaXon |
federation. The Chinese minister is /
also very proud of his part in this i'm |
mense transaction. He is likely to re- |
ceiVe important promotion for his ser |
vices. He may be recalled to Pekin at |
any moment and made Viceroy or at |
least a member of the Tsung Lii Yamen |
But the men who, by lending their |
names and abilities as financiers ensure |
the success of the enterprise, deserve
and VIII receive the proper credit for
their liberality. 1 cannot state their
names just now"
THE MEN BEHIND THE SCHEME.
From another source. however. some
of the names on the roster of the Chi
nese railway syndicate were learned.
Probably no other country exists to-
day which includes so many members
of worldwide financial prestige. The
list includes: Ex-Vice President Levi
P. Morton, T. Jefferson Coolidge, eX-
minister to France; the Standard Oil
COMPANY: the Vanderbilt family the