The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-06-26
The United States and China's Loan.

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Our State Department has assented
to Great Britain's request that it shall
not press our protest against China's
concession to British, French and Ger
man bankers Of the Hankow-Szechuen
railway loan of $27, SOC, 900; only Ton
condition, however, that a share of 20
per cent. in the loan is granted to Ameri-
can financiers and that now and here
after Americas rights under the con-
vention Of 1904 are distinctly recognized
by all the parties in interest. Secretary
KNOX further declines to admit the
validity of the objection made by the
London Foreign Office that our State
Department did not protest until after
the European financiers had concluded
their negotiations with China.
The fact that such an objection should
have been raised indicates that the text
of the agreement of 1904 between the
United States and China is less familiar
to diplomatists in London than it is in
Pekin. The protest Of the American
Charge d'Affaires at Pekin, in an in
terview with Grand Councillor CHANG
C%HIH-TUNG, the most potent magnate in
the central part Of the Yangtsekiang
Valley, against the ratification OF the
Hankow-Szechuen railway loan nego-
tiated by European bankers, was made
on the specific ground that China was
bound by the undertaking into which
she entered with the United States in
1904 to apply in the first instance for
American capital if a foreign loan
should be required for the railroad just
named. Under the circumstances it
was not the duty Of our Government to
protest in the absence of an antecedent
application. 1t had a right to treat
the agreement with European bankers,
which had been made in violation OF the
convention of 1904, as non-existent. As
the ease now stands, it is probable that
the British Foreign Office will suggest
the nomination Of delegates from the
United States to confer with the Euro
pean bankers concerned as to the terms
on which American %inanciers may par
ticipate in the transaction.
The openness and earnestness with
which President TAFT and his Cabinet
have come forward in support of the
American banking syndicate which has
recognized the importance OF taking an
active If not a leading part in the devel-
opment Of China indicate clearly that
the foreign policy Of the present Admin
istration will be centred not in Europe
but in the Far East. Such q policy, no
doubt, is traditional so far as refraining
from European complications is con-
cerned. 1t is at the same time easy to
foresee that Mr.. TAFT's policy, in so
much as it will be Far Eastern, will be
more aggressive and will mark q de-
parture from the policy Of ldiSsez faire
on which until quite lately American
public opinion insisted.
The Washington correspondent OF
the London Morning Post has pointed
out that as a colonial administrator,
experienced in the affairs Of the Far
East, our present Chief Magistrate I'm
derstands that in the Orient diplomacy
and finance are closely related, and that
a diplomatist whose fellow countrymen
are engaged in great commercial n
lures commands more respect than the
representative Of a Government whose
people have only q minor share Of the
traffic Of the nation to which he is &C
credited. 1t is doubtless true that our
Federal Executive is more concerned
about the appointment Of q qualified
Minister to Pekin than he is about fill
ing any other diplomatic post. This, a
the Morning Post perceives, is because
President TAFT appreciates the pros
pective commercial Importance of China
and sees in 1t not only a great and profit
able market for American manufactures
but also a vast field for the remunerative
employment OF American capital.