The evening times., 1899-03-21
AMERICAN ELECTRIC
CARS FOR JAPAN
all the Larger Cities to Be
Supplied.
A Syndicate With Enormous Capital
Organized.
Work to He Done Through the 90
operation of Native
Company.

Seattle, WASH, March 21.-One of the
most extensive enterprises which Ameri-
can capitalists have for some time past
been interested in will shortly be under
taken in Japan. 1t consists OF supplying
all the larger cities of the Land of the
Rising Sun with a complete system Of cleo
trio railroads. One of the prime movers
in the scheme is DIR. W. Delano Eastlake
Japan" says DR.. Eastlake, sis only just
beginning to be realized as a hugely prof
liable country for the investment of capital.
That it has not been so looked upon in
the past / attribute only to its distance and
the very erroneous popular opinions of the
country.
For some reason we have come to look
upon ii as picture land of tea, flowers
fans, and quantity costumed pretty girls
land mirrored. perhaps. in such ope-
rettas as The Geisha,' while in point of
fact Japan must now be acknowledged as
one of tho powers Of the world. with an
army and navy any country might we'll be
proud of, complete postal and telegraph
services from one end of the islands to the
other; superb public school system; uni
versities that rival even some Of those OF
the old world, and consular and diplo-
to that OF no other power. 1t has many
railroads, all controlled by the govern
ment, and operated exclusively by natives,
1t mas It's native steamship companies, its
law and medical colleges, its business col
leges, modern Judiciary system, its Par
lament and Upper House, and police sys-
TEN IN which corruption and politics play
no part whatever.
becoming Commercially Great.
"A country of art, beauty, and pictur-
sequences il has always been recognized to
be; country of soldiers its recent unequal
war with China has more than proved it to
be, and it is rapidly becoming also one of
the great commercial powers of the world.
In the one point Of street railroads
Japan has been backward, to say the least
and this for many cogent reasons. In the
hrst place. IL is poor country, compare
tiveiy speaking, and Of capitalists in the
American sense of the word there are few,
II any. This may be explained by the fact
| that up to within comparatively few years
ago. the trader. pure and simple, stood at
the bottom of the social scale.
Another reason for Japan's backward
ness along the line of street railroads lies
in the fact that 1t has been waiting for
the best system before adopting any In
| word, ii has watched Americas expert
| ments in this line in silent interest, and
now stands ready to profit thereby. This
delay has been due to the authorities for
several Japanese companies have applied
for charters. So far | believe that the
underground trolley system is the most
| favored by those in power, and probably
this or some other similar system will be
| adopted.
There are at present two large COM
panies in Japan which have applied for
charters, but their capitalization is small
comparatively speaking. There is also at
! present a horse car line in Toxic, capt.
talized with one and half million yen. 1t
Is only Ia miles in length. A gradual
scale of fares, ranging from 1 to cents
gold, is charged For several years past
this road has been paying annual divi-
dend5 of about 80 per cent. Thirty-fiye per
cent ON million and a half is eneourag-
| ing, TO say the least, especially when the
7 dividends continue from year TO year, and
| even actually increase.
Syndicate With s4O.oOO.OOO
| Realizing the enormous possibilities
and my intimate knowledge OF both the
| people and the country of Japan-a knowl-
! edge that has awakened my most profound
admiration and respect-was certainly suffi-
| cient reason for my endeayoring to awaken
| the interest of American capitalists in
| this and kindred projects, and as a result
| a syndicate has been formed that stands
ready TO invest an aggregate of about $780,
/ 000, ,0G0 of American gold in Japan.
"Of course. all business will be done in
| connection with and through a Japanese
company. for no foreigner could secure
such franchises from the Japanese authori-
ties, nor would he be able TO do so after
| the country is opened to foreign trade out
| side of the treaty ports, in 1900.
1T is my object to bring about n closer
union between American and Japanese
business interests, and to inspire confidence
on both sides. That this is only gradually
beginning to exist is the fault of both sides.
| Japan is not naturally commercial coun-
| try, and a tradesman or artisan was for
merly the social superior of one who mere
| ly bartered and sold. On the other hand,
in the past this ignorance of business
methods has been made questionable use
of by foreigners. Americans included. There
are two trolley lines at present in Japan,
one of which is in Kloto, which are fiascos,
pure and simple. They are both single