Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-24
Syndicates With Millions Ready to
Build New Lines
as SOON As The TREATY Is MADE
Obstacles to Construction That
Must Be Overcome.
ROADS NOW IN OPERATION

SHANGHAI. October {, 1909.
have just returned from ride to Woo
sung. dirty little town on the Yangtse
at the mouth of the Whampoa river. II is
ten miles below Shanghai, and the Chinese
have now railway connecting The two.
This is practically the only railroad in
operation in the Great Yangtse kiang val
ley, a region which contains more than
twice as many people as the whole United
States, and surpasses in its indus
tries any country in Asia. The Shanghai
Woosung line is the beginning of a line
to So1chow, and thence 10 Chinkians
and Marking, formerly a part of the
great railway system which, sooner
later, VIII sridiron China At present no
building is going on, but the moment peace
is settled the great railroad of China
will begin.
Shanghai will be the center Of future
railroad operations. 1t will he the terminus
of many trunk lines. 1t j: The New York
of the empire. 1t has all the big banks
and is the headquarters of the great fnan-
ciers. Here Sheng. the director Of the i'm
peral railroads. has his Offices, and here
rather than at Picking, will be granted the
concessions by which hundreds uf millions
of foreign gold will he transformed into
tracks Of Steel. There are already a dozen
representatives Of big syn5;ca;es here
awaiting developments Among them are
Russians. Germans, Italians, French, Eng
fish and Americans. All are after conces-
siOnS and some have already obtained con-
CeSSionS which they want extended. They
hope that the powers will force the Chinese
government to guarantee the security of
foreign capital, and that railroad cOnces-
SioaS Will be 50 granted hereafter that
they can be built with foreign money and
be controlled by foreigners II This is done
stream of gold will flow from the money
centers of Europe and the United States TO
Shanghai 1t will spread out over the en-
pire and will eventually make it one of
the most profitable railroad countries OF
the world
What China's Railroads Are.
So far capital has been afraid of China.
The concessions provide that the work shall
be done by Chinese, the accounts audited
by Chinese and the foreigners who are fur
ntshins the money showed to the back
ground. AS a result there has been much
talk and little work. Our people imagine
there are thousands of miles of railroads
here Indeed, more than 4,Csta miles have
been planned and loose concessions granted
for as much track as would reach from
New York to Salt Lake City. The roads
already built would not make much more
than a double track between New YORK
and Washington. They embrace about 500
miles of working lines. with an addition Of
perhaps 900 miles ready for the rails.
Take rough glance at the system as 1t
row Is. The most Of it is in North China.
Take your map and pul your finger on
Ten Isin. You are at the central
station of the Tien Tsin-Peking- Shanhaik-
wan system This is the oldest system of
China and practically the only one which
IS doing profitable business. ! inspected
1t with General John w. Foster a few
years ago: 1t includes the line which
goes from Tien TSin 10 Shanhaikwan on the
Gulf Of Pechil at the end of the great
Chinese wall. and thence on around the
gulf to kinchau. 1t has also the line from
1fen Tsin to Pekin. eighty miles long. and
the little branch which runs down 10 the
sea at the mouth of the Peiho making al
together about :iT5 miles. Much of this
road has been torn up during the war. but
the track has been reaid, and by the time
this letter IS published the cars VIII be
running.
AT Port Arthur the RuSsian-C hineSe rail-
read begins and extends uorthward with
a branch to Newchwang into Man.
churia There is 30 miles of it In
actual operation, and the work Is GO