Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1899-07-27
NUMBER S.
The Cloven Foot.

| week contain Information that will be
startling to many of our people. We
are informed that an American syndi-
cate composed of some of the largest
| financial institutions and the leading
millionaires of the country, represent
ing many billions of wealth. was or
ganized during the past year for the
purpose of building a railway in China
from Hankow to Canton, distance of
seven hundred and fifty miles. 1t is
known as the American-China Devel-
opment Company. We are further
informed that this syndicate mas enter
ed into an alliance or agreement with
similar syndicate of British capital
lists whereby each pledges the support
of their respective governments to
back them up in their enterprise and
force concessions from China. 1t has
also leaked out that the United States
Department of State has instructed
Minister Conger to make demands
| upon the Chinese government in be-
half of the American syndicate. The
| National Wdtchman has pointed out
repeatedly that the object and purpose
of the United States in conducting a
war of conquest and subjugation in the
pose of securing the Philippines be-
cause of any advantage they would be
to the United States. but that British
influence was sufficiently potent in
Washington to influence this action on
the part of the United States in order
that the power of this government
might be used to second the efforts of
Great Britain in securing a liberal
share of the territory of China that is
now being seized upon by and divided
among the powers of the earth.
The government OF China is harass-
ed by the demands made upon it for
''spheres of influence" by the different
nations, who are exhausting all their
resources of diplomacy, bluff, and bull
lying to the end that they may secure
the largest possible concession from
that government. 1t Is we'll known
that Hong Kong and the country ad-
jacent thereto is already practically
British territory and is dominated by
British interests. The concession
promised to the American syndicate is
located inland eighty miles from Hong
| Kong. and that the British syndicate
is to build line of railroad connecting
Canton. the terminus of the American
line, with the seaboard. Thus it will
| be seen that the whole enterprise is in
| reality British enterprise into which
American capitalists have been tempt
ed by the promise of tremendous re-
turns upon their investment providing
they could use the power of the Amer
| ican government to assist England in
the work of exploitation.
1t is we'll known that the European
combination, including Russia, has
been all along opposed to England ac-
quiring the lions share in the partition
of China. Therefore it became nee
essary to British interests to, in some
way, take Americans into the deal in
order that they might be able to use
the power of the United States to bluff
their rivals and secure the lions share.
These facts have been concealed
from the American people and would
not be given out at this time through
the public press except for the fact
that there was danger that the Chinese
government would cancel that portion
Americans, and it therefore became
necessary to appeal to the President
and have him, through the State De-
partment, speak directly to the Chi
nese government, informing it that the
United States government was back
| ing the deal. The press dispatches
| further inform us that Lord Salisbury
notified Sir Claude Mcdonald, the
British minister at Hong Kong, that
the entire contract relating to the two
companies = the American and the
British-would be treated by the Brit
ish government as British contract,
and that the power of England stood
to enforce the demands of both syndi-
Gates alike.
Thus we see that what has been
stated through these columns time and
again is true, namely, that a secret
alliance already exists between the
government of the United States and
that of Great Britain for the purpose
of exploiting China or rather for pull
| ing England's Chinese Chestnuts out
of the fire.
The revelations made by the press
dispatches point directly to the infiu-
ences that prevailed at Paris when our
treaty of peace with Spain was being
drafted. Were it not for these in
fiuences the United States government
would never have paid twenty millions
of dollars for the consent of Spain that
we might make a conquest of the Phil
ippine Islands. The revelations in
regard to this Chinese deal explains