Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-02-25
THE GROWTH OF HARBIR Russia's Base of Supplies Tn
 Manchuria. P.
KNOWN AS THE MOSCOW OF ASIA

KNOWN AS THE MOSCOW OF ASIA Development of the City Tn a Few
 Years One of the Wonders of the
 World, but Americans Are Kept
 out-Distinctly a Russian C1ty-Fer-
 tile Agricultural Environa.
 The war in the far east has made tn- teresting reading out of the narrative of Henry B. Miller, United States con- sul at Newohwang, Manchuria, whose report for the year 1908 of conditions in the district of Manchuria has been recently published by the department
 MT. Miller devotes his main attention to the remarkable growthApf the town of Harbin, whose development he characteriges as "one of the greatest achievements in city construction the world has ever witnessed Viceroy Alexeien has made Harbin his head quarters and will conduct his cam- paign from that point
 GHarbin,, which is called the Moscow of Asia, is located on the SungaH riv- CT, where the Manchuria spur of the Siberian railroad crosses and where the Chinese eastern branch stretches south to Dalny and Port Arthur. It is $50 miles west of vladivostok and about 800 miles north of Port Arthur, the geo graphical center of Manchuria.
 Surrounding the city, spreading out on all sides for hundreds of miles, lies an extremely fertile agricultural coun- try, yielding corn, wheat, oats, barley, beans. millet, hemp, tobacco. vegeta- bles and various fruits. There are also vast tracts of timber and mineral lands and stretches of grazing country. The place is now divided into the old town, some few miles from the central depot; Preston. the river town and present commercial center, and the administra- ton town. in close proximity to the rail- road station. The whole town of Har- bin MT. Miller calls Russian product, nonexistent before. the advent of the railroad engineers. The city was ere ared by the Russian sessrnment under the supervision of the Manchurtan Rail- way company.
 "It is as distinctly a Russian city," says the United States representative, ''as though 1t were located in the heart of Russia, and none but Russians and Chinese are permitted to own land, construct buildings or engage in any permanent enterprise. The land for many miles has been secured 50 as to make it impossible for any foreign tn- duence to secure a profit or foothold close to the city, and foreigners are not recognized as having any rights what ever, but are permitted there by suf- feranee. The chief railway engineer is the administrator of the city and up to the present time has had complete control of everything, but in the new scheme for the government of Manchu- ria some form of municipal organiza- ton will be permanently established" An idea of the rapid growth of Har bin may be gathered from few statts- tics. Four years ago the town began to assume shape. In 1901 the popula- ton had grown to 12,OO0 Russians, by 1902 it jumped to 10000, by May of last year 1t more than doubled itself, and five months later the census showed q population of 60,000, not counting soldiers Over 9S per cent of these are Russians, 400 are Japanese, and 300 more include Austrians, Greeks, Turks and Germans. Harbin has no Americans.
 Located in a special settlement lives the Chinese population of more than 10000. The employees of the railway company, with their families, contrib ute 11,000 paore to the sum total. At the present time it would be conserva- tive to estimate the aggregate popula- ton at 125,OO0.
 Harbin has few of the characteristics of the boom city of western United States, for it is founded on an endur- ing basis and not on speculation. It is the center of the entire railroad ad- ministrat ton of Manchuria, and, since the Russian commercial enterprises of the far east are under the direction of the railway company, it is the opinion of MT. Miller that 1t will also be the center of Russian industrial and com mercial development. It Is the head quarters of the civil courts and the chief military post and the point of control of the great army of railway guards. The city therefore contains the principal administration buildings and the residences of the officials and em- ployees of the Manchurian Railway company. The outlay for administra- tive purposes on the city has alone mounted already to the sam of 30,O00,- GOO rubles, o- about $15,000, 900. To mention hut few of fha nthar rrkorni-