Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-22
The Maps Locating Them Declared to
Be Misleading.
ACONCESSION MERELY TEE FIRSTSTEP
Trans-Siberian and Central Asiatic
Lines Greatest Projects in History.
THE TIMID CAPITALISTS


to the mind, he says. is that comprehen-
be put into execution. The time when the
traveller will be able to go comfortably by
train from end to end of the vast empire
seems at first sight to be merely dependent
upon the celebrity with which the engineer
ing work can be carried out. A great
trunk line joins Pekin and the commercial
center of Hankow, being prolonged south
ward to Canton, whereby Hong Kong is
placed in rapid communication with the
capital. Another main route joins Pekin
and Shanghai the latter the commercial
metropolis of China. A third great line
across the mountainous regions of Yunnan
promises to place Burmah and India in
communication with the Yang-tse river,
and thereby with the whole Chinese en-
pire. fourth series unites Yunnan-fu, In
the extreme west with the southern port
OF Canton, and fifth main line indicates
the juncture of the rich mineral districts of
ShanSi with the center of the distributing
trade on the Yang-tse river. Besides these
great trunk railways there are numerous
minor projects. The Germans are going to
intersect Shantung with ring of railways;
all the important ports on the east coast
are to be connected. The Russians purpose
joining the Pekin-Chengting line with Tai
vuen. in Shansi and British Kaulung is to
be placed in direct communication with the
neighboring city of Canton.
Where the Difference Lies.
In viewing this program of railway enter
prise, says the writer, one must not forget
that there is vast difference between rail-
way concession and railway construction.
The two may, indeed, be said to be separat-
ed by financial! gulf which is frequently
incapable of being bridged over. A conces-
sion is merely the first step-one might call
1t a '.feeler'-in the direction of company
promotion. and it Is well to bear In nina
that the future railway system of China
does not depend upon the number of con-
cessionaires who come forward with paper
schemes-and generally nothing eise-n
their pockets but upon their capacity 10
persuade the public to invest money In the
enterprise. These remarks do not apply to
solid schemes such as those backed by In
situations like the Hong Kong and Shang-
hal banks, and they are not intended 10
reflect upon any particular project: but IT
is notorious that a great deal of gambling
goes on. when concession-hoWever worth
less-may be sold at handsome pront 10
unsuspecting purchasers.
THE foreign ministers at Pek1n are care
full no doubt. to urge only those claims
which appear bona fide: but 1t is open 10
everybody to take a pen and rule a iiae
across China without troubling about
geographical conditions and then rush off
to Pekn to try and get the concession
When this has been obtained 1T is COM
modify with which an advantageous zeal
NAV be made and the potentialities of the
scheme can be left for the purchasers TO
discover for themselves. There may lie
worthless and there may be valuable con-
cessions. But for the present, at any rate,
the actual construction OF trunk llnes III
China exists in the shadowy realms of adj
yenturous imaginations. Except in connec-
ton with the loan offered by the BRUSH
and Chinese corporation there does not
appear to have been single prospectus
been made are for the most part of the
toughest description.
China herself continues the author re-
ferred to- has in vain appealed to native
capitalists for funds with which to carry
out a progressive program of railway con-
struction without foreign aid She mas
failed because Chinese merchants distrust
the government officials. and Will not risk
Their money in financierng undertakings
which are controlled by them In spite,
therefore of Chang Chi-tungs patriotic en-
deavors to act in accordance with the ma
tional dictum, China for the Chinese, 1t
has of necessity been left to foreign enter
prise to provide China with the railways
which she does not really wish to have.
1t remains to be seen If the public in
western countries will be willing to put
their capital into schemes which, as
CARDS both political and commercial con-
siderations are somewhat vague and OBJ
viously hazardous.
Russian Projects.
The absolute control which the Russian
government possesses over the financial re-
sources of their country stamps every state
undertaking as capable of being carried
into effect. The two greatest railway
schemes in the history OF engineering are
the rans-Siberian and Central Asiatic rail-
ways. The latter needs scarcely more than
passing allusion, as, whatever may be
the future intention of Russia, the line has
not at present been extended beyond fash
,xI,
Chinese Turkstan at that point. To this
may be added the fact that the whole en-
ergy and resources of the Russian govern
ment are at present concentrated on con-
structing the section of the Transsiberian
line between the lake of Baikai in Siberia
and its projected terminus, Port Arthur.
The history of this colossal undertaking
needs no epetiton. 1t will be remembered
that the original scheme was to make Vlad-
isvostok the objective of the railway,
which was intended To skirt round the
Manchurian provinces, following the course
OF the Amur river as far as Khabarovka.
From the latter point the line has already
been constructed to VladisvOstok, a total
length of 4s7 miles, but in September 1896,
a treaty concluded with the Chinese
government conceding to Russia the right
OF making a short cut through Manchuria.
The route will save 1.2 miles, but the
principal object of the detection became APP
parent when Russia seized upon Port Ar
thur. an event which had been plainly fore
Swallowed by the rans-Manchurian conces-
sion In order to uphold the dignity of
China the Russians indulge in the pleasing
fiction of calling the proposed line the Chi
nese Eastern railway, but how far 1t is
Chinese may be gathered from the fact that
there is not single Chinese shareholder in
the whole concern. The Russians hold all
the shares and retain the exclusive control,
management and profits: the Chinese pro-
vide the clients and compradores some Of
the clerks and all the servants.
Typical Conjunction of Interests.
1t is a conjunction of interests typical of
Russo-Chinese combinations generally, says
the writer. AS the railway Is being built Of
Russian material and by Russian engineers
it may be pertinently asked where the Chi
nese come in at all. The compensation of
fered to China partakes of the same cynical
character as the title of the Trans-Manchu-
rian line. 1t is agreed that the railway
shall belong to her at the end Of eighty
years II would not require q prophet to
foretell what government will be seated In
Pekin long before that date has been
reached
The rails of the Trans-Siberian line have
been laid as far as Irkutsk, on the shores Of
the Lake of Baikal. The Russian engineers
encountered great obstacles at this point
The route round the head of the lake offers
considerable engineering difficulties. 1t was
therefore decided, in order to lose as little
time as possible, to construct ferry capa-
BILE of conveying train across the lake
WI fS tn he sod ha foh lichv