The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-07-14
ApOWERFUL
SYNDICATE.
Monster Combination of British and
American Capitalists
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT oFCHINA

The British Government supports It's
Investors and the Washington Cow
ernmentwill BE Urged to Take "a Sim
liar stand For the Brice Concessions.
New York. July IA business alli-
ance Of American and English capital
lists has been recently formed which
is Of unusual interest and Importance,
because of the leading positions held
by these men on both sides Of the At
lantic; because OF the many millions
Of dollars involved in it; because the
United States government is about to
be asked to give the compact official
sanction and moral support; because
England has already formally approx
ed that, and because the field Of its
operations is beyond the jurisdiction
of both nations.
Announcement OF this alliance was
made yesterday by +. w. Whiteridge,
of the firm of Cary q Whiteridge, who
now fills the place left vacant by the
death of ex-senator Calvin S. Brice
as chairman of the executive commit
tee of the American-China Develop
ment company. The company is one
party to the agreement and the other
is the British and Chinese corporation.
This makes a combination of the most
powerful capitalists in the world. The
field of their activities is China,
The concessions which ex-senator
Brice secured from the Chinese gov
ernment for the American-China De-
velopment company consist of the right
to construct a railroad $50 miles long,
from Canton to Kankow, exceedingly
valuable coal mining concessions, and
other industrial franchises of less in
diyidual but great aggregate value.
The British company had contract
to build an 80 mile railway from Can
ton to Kowloon, on the sea coast. The
two resolved to pool their undertaking
and their profit. The British COM
pany apparently got the better of the
bargain. but their ability to sell Chi
nese bonds in the money markets of
Europe exceeded the ability of the
American company to sell Chinese
bonds in America, or anywhere else,
to such an extent that the advantage
is only apparent.
The American companys engineer,
w. Barclay Parsons, of this city, has
completed the survey of the railroad
line from Hankow to Canton, and an
agent of the syndicate is now in
| Shanghai. He reports that the ne
| gotiations at Peking have reached a
critical stage, and that there is a dis
position on the part of the Chinese
government, represented by Sheng Ia
jen, director of railways, to avoid full
filling its part of the contract. This is
the cause for appealing to our govern
ment for moral support.
Mr.. Whiteridge asserts that Lord
Salisbury has already instructed the
British ambassador in China to treat
the contract secured by the American
company, and shared with the English
company, as If it were a British con-
tract and urge the Chinese government
to fulfill its terms. The American
company sent MIR. Parsons to Wash
ington yesterday to make formal re-
quest that the government of the Uni
ted States take a similar stand. Such
a demand upon the United States gov
ernment is probably unprecedented.
The British and Chinese corporation
| limited (the London capital involved)
| is a syndicate composed of the most
powerful financiers in Great Britain,
among others Messrs. Adolph Won
Andre, Arbuthnot Brothers, Barring
Brothers, Sir John Barry, the Hong
Kong and Shanghai bank, Ernest Cas-
sci, the China and Japan bank, Sir
Auckland Colvin, Gibbs Brothers, Sir
Sandys Dawes, Lord Rothschild, Sir
| Thomas Switzerland, S. S. Gladstone,
| Sir Marcus Samuel, John Walter, the
lord mayor. and other people of well
| known standing.
The American-China Development
company includes Kuhn, Loeb & Co.,
Morton, Bliss & Co., Central Trust
company, H. G. Roster, of ]. p Nor
| gan & Co., Chase National bank, First
National bank, John Hegeman, presi-
| dent of the Metropolitan Life Insur-
ance company, ]. Donald Cameron Of
| Pennsylvania, Henry Wolcott, Hugh J..
| Grant, Carnegie Steel company, Ar
thur Sewall of Maine, c. c. Griscom,
| of the International Navigation COM
pany, the Rockefellers, Manhattan
| Trust company, some members of the
Vanderbilt family and others of equal
standing.
Cream puffs on ice all summer at George