New-York tribune., 1901-07-29
THE SPOIL OF ASIA.
RUSSIA USING FRANCE TO PULL OUT
COREAN ,CHESTNUTS-WHY OTHER
POWERS CANNOT INTERFERE.

Washington July IS (speciaD-The govern
ment at Washington has come into possession
of important views upon the sweeping develop
ments now occurring in the Far East as enter
tained by of its most trusted agents at /
present in China-an official who has spent !
much of the last twenty years there and in
Corea and Japan, and whose rare perspcacity |
brings his conclusions be regarded as of the |
highest value and worthy of unquestioned credit. |
From this confidential communication the |
Washington Bureau of The Tribune is enabled |
to make the following verbatim extracts:
Corea is the storm centre. if there is one just |
now. The government OF the Emperor is 1
greedy, cruel and rapacious personal despotism. |
and Russia is playing with the territory !
cat does with mouse. She is perfectng her |
railway system in Siberia and Manchuria, and |
when she is ready she will come down through |
the Corean peninsula and plant her military |
and commercial establishments in the magni- |
fcent harbor of Masanpho, in the southeast |
whence she descend upon Japan, and which |
lies between the British interests in the north |
and their base at Hong-Kong. To this end Rus |
sia seeks to control, or build and control, a |
railway from the northwestern frontier of |
Corea. Mukden. to Masanpho. but her |
agreement with Japan forbids her seeking such |
concessions in Corea, and therefore France !
steps in to her aid
The effort to dsplace j. McLeavy Brown.
though made on side issue TO which he lent
hlmself with absurd stupidity, for the pur-
pose of getting the pledge of the customs rev.
enue for the loan. For the purpose of protecting
! nef credlt, iCored placed her customs revenue
under the control of a foreigner as commission
er. and without his consent it cannot be pledged
Mr. Brown was dismissed for refusing to vacate
some public offices. but, under pressure, was
reinstated and the matter is in abeyance for the
moment Russia views the opposition with toll
Grant amusement and will win. The ablest
diplomatic agents in Seoul the Russian.
French, and am pleased and proud to say,
our own. who does not lag behind and holds an
exceptionally strong position, due to his owr
experience and capacity for the work.
When the real purport of the McLeavy Brown
incident became evident Japan much
alarmed. and with good reason. Her finances
cannot stand the stress of her ornaments and
the Cabinet has gone to pieces on the financial
issue. n feeble, stop gap Ministry can hardly
be said to he III power, and the country is drift
ing. possibly into with Russia. like a
rudderlesS Junk. Whatever temporary success
Japan may have if she goes to with Russia,
it will insure her having to fight for her very
existence in her own islands, and that before
many years.
Great Britain could not stop Russia if she
would and If she could she would not. for she
does not care to accelerate the Russian advance
to the head of the Persian Gulf, which already
threatens India. The Russians hold the great
port of New-Chwang, without there being any
| where visible or in effect single shred or pre-
| tence of Chinese authority. and an official tells
me he astonished To see armed Russian
soldiers quietly allowed TO overhaul the British
steamer board of which he was travelling.
New -Chwane, mind you, was an open treaty port,
| but its merchants are being reconciled to their
new masters by necessity and by a singularly
liberal and frequent system of picnics, with un-
| limited champagne.
and. hearing in mind her eastern frontier open
| 20 Russia. and. in fact, her position between
the French hammer and the Russian anvil, she
takes no initiative at PekinE where Russia is
| concerned. Germany will probably seek some
| day for adventure among the possessions of the
| weak and lazy bumbledoms masqueradins as
republics in the Western Hemisphere-and
| Great Britain will exploit Africa and consolidate
| her federation.
| Frances fear and hatred of Germany
strong motives for the solidarity of the Russian
French policy but she has other motives and
/ heSitateC
their people ''loathe'' Germany. The other
French motive may be considered decidedly
speculative. but for various reasons, including
the eager but guarded interests of the clevevest
| Russian officer I have met am convinced that
| il is not
At present the great outlet for the vast wealth
| OF the north central provinces of China is the
Yangtsze and Hankow is at the head OF naviga-
tion for seagoing ships The railway which s
| being rapidly pushed TO completion by French
company from Peking south meets the YangtsZs
at Haukow. From Hankow to Canton an
| American company procured and surveyed
railway concession. which runs through beds
~ excellent coal for a hundred miles. as l am
told bv the engineer in charge of the survey.
The concession by its terms required the com
pany TO remain American but the control OF It's
stock has recently passed. at a very lucrative
price for the sellers. under Belgian French Rus-
sian control. French engineers swarm. as am
told by English officer who Journeyed from
Rurmah overland 10 Shdnghai. IN southern
China, and the French object has long been 10
divert the trade of the western provinces
Of China, which are very rich, To the headWaterS
OF navigation in TonOuin. Railway transporta-
ton cannot compete with water, as a rule, out
with unlimited Cheao coal and labor on the
line a great system tapping the Nangtsze at
the head Of navigation would seriously inter
fere with Great Britaiu's trade prohts on the
river and take Hong-Kong in the rear The
, Russians very nearly came 70 blows with the
/ British apparently TRIVIAL question OF
railway property al Tien-Tsin, hut perhaps II
is not so trivial when YOU consider that Tlen-
Tsin is at the head OF the Russlan-F rench sEs-
tenn to the south and that from Tlen-Isin 10
Shan Hal Kwan. where the Manchurian system
comes to the Great Wall is not far
Russia is surely reaching out for great Ice
free mort dominating the whole Yellow Sea and
forming the natural terminal or her siberian
system and in the other direction she is pro-
iecting the development OF the vast wealth. or
Central China and the trade and territorial
acgra ndizernent of her ally. You would not
doubt this IL you could nave seen hussiah
Tartar's ewes SNAP as did one morning, when
he came to call and tried the idea on him as
we leaned over the map ana TAXED or this
scheme and that for the future OF CHINA.