The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-02-25

7 ore Of The European diplomats who have
la-elr visited Peking tells me the Russians
already practically own Manchuria. and
that they have forbidden the Chinese to
five concessions to any but Russians fcr
mining AID manufacturing there. The Chi
ness Government has been warned that
Nanchuria belongs to Russia. and that any
Meditation to permit Others than Russians
to come irtv II Will 5a considered as an en-
| croackmeut upon I;Issia's preserves. and
will he treated accordingly. Not long ago
an American attempted 70 get some gol!
mining c, ncessions il Manchuria. but was
told that they could Only be secured
through the Russians.
They Want All Asia.
> THIS American Travelled extensively
through Siberia and spent considerable
tine among the Russians In Manchuria. He
found that tn common feeling among tho
Russians IVES that all Asia was toJaI 20
come into their hands. . oucr or later. and
that they were row moving along the read
To that accomplishment. They said that
Russia wanted AIanchuria as a breeding
ground q" raise Rsss.Iu soldiers ana Il Rus
sian population to raise food aui supplies
{ : :hc great war Of the future. The army
viii soon be followed by emigrar;s, and
Russians ara already coming in along the
line Of their new railroad. There are regJI-
llr cF1iEraut steamers which come from
odessa. bringing co!anists to Siberia. These
VIII soon be directed to land their rassen-
gers at the Russian p, 1T on the Yellow Sea-
At rreSon; the Russian soldiers are. / am
told. bringing their families with them and
are c0lonizinE all along the liuc OF the
Eussian-Chirese railroad. The invasion Of
troops has been going on since 1897. and Il
is claimed that there are now 1850 Rus
sian soldiers in Nanchur:a and Eastern ST.
beri. The Russians take the lands along
the line Of their road. paying their own
prices fcr them. and all their actions go to
show that they consider Manchuril their
own territory. They look upon Mongolia
in the same light. and in these two grea.
countries have perhaps the most valuable
provinces of China. Manchuria Is naturally
rich. 1t has great areas OF good whea;
lands. and i, will In the future he one Of
the bread baskets of Asia. Il contains val
uahle minerals and deposits Of gold and
silver. Mougolia Is said 10 be rich IN its
agricultural and mineral resources. II Is
the chief horse-hreea!nS ground Of East
Asia. and as such will lie OF value to the
Russiars rs a feeder for its cavalry.
The Ru~sinus in Korea.
Al the same time the Russians are work
inG their way more ana more into Korea. .
and i is tlis that the japanese most OBJ I,
Jet 70. The Russians do all they can To-
secure the friendship Of tho Koreans. 4
feeling which would naturally 20 TO japan. .
had its people not anEercd the Koreans by
their r-lle treatment 81 them after they
had defeated the Chinese. The japanese
have been very conccitcf in their actions
toward the Koreans. They are domineertug
on the other hand. are conciIiatory. They
are employing the Koreans along the north
ern boundary OF the country and are doing
all they can TO gain their good will.
Japan's Preparations for War.
But what - Japan doing?
She is by no means Idle. I can tell you.
preparations are g0ins on both openly
and in secret. she Is perfcctinG her mil
organization. and she could fiji Kore.
with troops within a few weeks. She has
today one Of the best fleets Of war vessels
,hoat. and l.. It is believed here. far better
prepared for a long struggle than Russia
Japan has her spies all over the Chinese
Empire. They are japanese who UNDER
and speak the Chinese language
lutte as well as the natives. who wear pig
aiIs like the Chinese and are supposed 10
% chinese. The great variety OF dialects
md features In the different Provinces OF
make such spying comparatively
.asy. The spies are in the employ Of the
japanese Government. and make regular
eports 10 g.. Some % them are supposed ,
o Re Chinese merchants; others are en-
,Ioyed on the Chinese ships. and they are {
o be found even IN Picking. y
/ heard yesterday of a curious incident .
yhich shows how widely these spies are
catered. II occurred at Torrku. the port :
n the Yellow Sea where passengers from d
he steamers embark for Tientsin and Pc 8
ling. An American who spoke japanese v
ound here n party OF twenty young Jap z
nese students OF II commercial college =
no had been travelling with their professor :
bout the ports OF Korea and China. 4
They were being entertained at Tongku v