Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-11

in the great Yangtze valley, where Great
Britain has already obtained an agreement
that no exclusive territorial concessions to
foreign governments shall he made, and
whose commerce is looked upon the most
important of that of all China.
While this project of tapping southern,
western and central China by a connection
with the Burmah and Indian railway sys-
TENS necessarily encounters many serious
obstacles because of the character of the
territory through which the connecting
lines must pass it is one of great import
ance and almost startling in its conception
and possibilities, since, if successful, it
would bring the existing railway system of
India, having q length of $1,000 miles. into
touch with the proposed railway system of
China, and connecting through China with
the great Russian transsiberian road. thus
giving a direct and connecting railway
line from Paris via St. Petersburg eastward
ly through Russia and Siberia, southwardly
through China and again westwardly into
and extending through British India.
Enormous Cost.
The cost of these proposed railway lines
in China will be- if carried out, enor-
nous sum. The lines constructed up to the
present time have been built under the
control and at the expense of the Chinese
government. The recent concessions pro-
pose to permit the construction of lines
by capital and organizations composed of
residents of other countries. The funds
Tor tnlS purpose are IN most cases TO De
secured by mortgage upon the railways
thus created, the disbursement and future
management to remain in control of the
foreign lenders during the term of the
mortgage, but the lines themselves, after
the mortgage lien is paid, are in most, If
not all cases, to become the property of the
Chinese government.
Thus far efforts of foreigners to obtain a
share or stock interest in addition to the
mortgage lien have usually been unsuc-
cessful, though in many cases the length of
time during which the loans are to run and
the control of the lines remain in the
hands of those furnishing the funds may be
considered as approaching an equivalent to
ownership, so far at least as the present
generation is concerned. In the American
contract an issue of debentures is permit
ted, which to certain extent may partici-
pate in the prospective profits of the
terprise, and in the Belgian contract those
supplying the funds are to participate in
the profits during the thirty years term in
which the loan is to run before payment.
That the intention of the Chinese govern
ment is to finally and absolutely control its
railways is further evidenced by the fact
that in its agreements with those proposing
to construct lines it requires that schools
of instruction for Chinese in the conStruc-
ton and management of railways shall be
established, and that certain proportion
of the employees of the road shall be natives
and citizens of the empire, thus providing
for the complete education in railway con-
struction and management of its own peo-
pie by the time that the system of roads
now proposed shall revert to the direct con-
troll and ownership of the government.
A series of regulations for railways and
mines issued in December, 1885, requires
that in all cases every endeavor must be
made to have the Chinese proportion of
the capital of such enterprise the greater,
and there must be proportion of at least
three-tenths of the shares owned by the
Chinese Sanction will not be given in
cases where all of the money is foreign
The regulations further provide that 1.-The
proportion of profits 10 be paid to the gov
eminent for railways will be four-tenths
and for mines 20 per cent, to be handed
to the board of revenue a requirement
which seems likely to prove, to say the
least, embarrassing to railway enterprises
which have not already secured conces-
SionS,