Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-05
THE FUTURE OF CHINA
Railway Concessions Above
Yangtse River,
specIal Cablesram to The Star.

Special Cablegram to The Star
PET<IN November 4.-The agreement
which has just been signed for the uniting
the interests in railways or railway conces-
sfons north of the Yangtse river Is OF great
Importance in tie future development OF
China.
For many years the various groups try
ing to obtain concessions from the Chinese
government naturally received the support
of the minister of their own nationality
and also naturally the violent opposition Oh
the ministers of any other country whose
rights would thereby be prejudiced AS TINS
even went so far as to finding the rival
English groups opposing one another the
position of the English minister Eecame
one of considerable difficulty, and the TASK
Of the Pekin government OF refusing CON-
cessions all the easier. After some years
Of this unsatisfactory condltlon OF tningS
the two principal English groups agreed TO
consolidate and apply for business in the
future on joint account. Ihese Two groups
were the Pekin syndicate and the British
and Chinese corporation.
In order to carry" out the agreement
company was formed called Chinese Central
Railways Qdmited) with capital OF 500
O00 of which equal amounts were SUP
scrihed by the Pekin syndicate and the
British and Chinese corporation. The rights
transferred to this company were all those
which either party held. or claimed to
hold north of the Yangtse and south OF
Pekin, with the exception of the small rail-
way belonging to the Pekin syndicate from
their mines at Taokou on the Wei river.
They also bound themselves that all fu-
ture concessions should belong to the ANAL
gamated company. This union OF interests
was satisfactory, in so far as the British
minister had then only to support one group
of British claimants. but 1t did not in any
way remove the objections and opposition
Of the French minister at Pekin. Moreover
the Belgians who had been successful In
obtaining the concession of the Pektn- Han
kow railway were at the same time seek
ing for the grant of an important railway
running due west to Szechuan. Negotiations
were therefore commenced between the
French and Belgian groups to unite with
the British In the same manner as the
two English groups had previously united.
This is the agreement which has Just
been completed, the result of which Is that
40 per cent of the capital has been sub
scribed by the English group, 40 per cent
by the French group and 10 per cent by the
Belgians. The shares of the English group
are divided between the Pekin syndicate,
the British and Chinese corporatio and a
small portion for the Yangtse valley COM
pany. The French participants are Mes
sieurs Mardac, banque de pIndo-Chine:
Compton d Escompte, Societe generate. and
the Reggie des Chemins de Fer. This, there
fore, means that the large English ~and
French institutions having railway inter-
ests in China as well as the large French
banks having smaller interests will, with
the cooperation of the Belgians be hence
forth working together.
One of the first railways to be taken in
hand will be the construction of the Eng
lish portion of what is generally known as
the Anglo-German line, running from Nam
kin to Tientsin.
The agreement of 1893 provided that the
portion of the railway in Shantung and in
Chill should be financed by GERMANY with
German material, the part south Of Shan
tung by English money with English ma
terial. 1t Is this latter portion which be-
comes the subject of the Anglo-French
agreement. and is therefore vested in the
Chinese Central Railways Gmited) The
railway company has also made prelimin-
airy agreement for a railway from Pookow
to Sin Yang. The company has made sur
veys of line into Szechuan which formed
the subject of a paper recently read at the
Royal Geographical Society by Col Mani
fold.
This paper gives In detail the story of the
manner In which the Americans lost con-
troll of the Chinese concessions and relates
how the English French and Belgians OBJ
tained control after the Americans had
surrendered. In other things the paper is
interesting Col. Manifold in his London
address SAYS:
1T is impossible to forecast what vast
change this will make in the opening I'D of
China. and the field 1t will open up for the
investment Of European capital. One will
remember the difficulties which have arisen
of late between the Chinese government and
the concessonaires of the Hankow- Canton
railway. which was an American concern.
These difficulties have been set aside owing
to the understanding between the govern
ment and the said concessionaries by which
the government pays 100000 pounds sterl-
ing to the concessionaires against the can
collation. OF the concession and the taking
over OF the built part of the line, amounting
to some twenty-four miles. This arrange
ment shows the value which that American
concern had In the eyes of the Chinese gov
eminent"