Pueblo chieftain., 1921-02-28
BY Frederic J. Haskin.


Washington. d. C. Feb. 25.-The un-
developed wilderness of Siberia is the
natural outlet for the pioneering spirit
of America. now that it has crossed
tho American continent Tho Far East,
to make a paradox. is the New West
But the conquest OF this new from
tier is to be a bloodlcss one II is to
be a conquest OF development, relying
for its success on the cooperation for
mutual benefit OF the American people
and the Russian people.
This is understood to be the view of
the American capitalists who have OBJ
tained great concessions OF Goa, and
oil lands. and trapping and fishing
rights in Siberia from the Soviet gov
ernment.
The Vanderlip Syndicate, as this or
ganization is COMMONLY called. has
been the subject of great deal of
speculation 1t has made deal with
the Soviet government. What arc to
be the consequences OF such a move?
Does IL mean that American capital.
or some of it at least. approves OF the
Soviet government II so-and likewise
II not-what political consequences will
follow this most daring and spcctacu-
lar move of American finance?
All 70 these questions have been
asked again and again, and also var
!ously answered in a speculative way
by critics of the enterprise. Tho an
swer OF the men who have put their
! money into the Vanderlip Syndicate is
about as follows:
The enterprise of the syndicate is n
purely industrial enterprise. and is in
tended to have no political implica-
tions. II does not mean that the men
represented by the syndicate approve
of the dc facto government of Russia.
on the other hand. II has been espe-
IL.
not Soviet standards OF and methods
of labor shall prevail in the work
which the syndicate proposes TO do In
Siberia. The syndicate is understood
to recognize the fact that the stability
OF the Soviet government is an un-
known quantity. and to accept this
as an inevitable factor of risk in its
operations, The implication is that the
syndicate is hoping that political de-
velopments will favor its enterprise,
and that II believes tho stakes are
worth the chances taken
A Market for the West
What it especially emphasizes is the
Importance OF Siberia as n iiold for
American industrial energy. The Pa
cific coast. 1t points out. is rapidly be-
coming great Industrial, manufac-
turing community. This community
needs two things-raw material and
market for its products. Unless 1t
finds a foreign market for its products.
these must necessarily come more and
more into competition with the manu-
facturcs OF the East and the Middle
West.
The fact which tho syndicate wishes
to impress upon the American people
is that Siberia is the logical source OF
raw material and the logical market
I for manufactured products OF the great
1 Pacific coast industries. IL is not gem
| orally realized that the Peninsula OF
| Kamchatka is no further from San
I Francisco than is the Panama canal.
1t is only 10 days from Seattle to Kam-
chatkn by freight steamer 1t there
fore follows that the great Pacific
coast cities are really closer to Siberia
than they are to South America. Fur
thermore, Siberia is much less dcvel-
oped than South America, and there
fore offers far greater opportunities.
OF special Importance Is the cnor-
nous coal supply of Siberia. There
are no important coal deposits on the
Pacific coast, and the expense OF get
ting n coal supply there is one of the
great obstacles to the industrial devel-
opment of the Pacific coast. II is
stated on authority of the syndicate
that coal from the kamchatka mines
could be delivered to the Pacihc coast
cities at one-half the present market
price. 1t is also stated that there is
enough coal in the concession area to
supply 10 times the number of indus
tries now opening on the Pacific coast
for 500 years. Under these circum-
stances the favor which the project
finds on the Pacific coast is under
standahle.
To develop these coal mines is Ia
be tho first great object OF the syndi-
cate. Its concession gives It the cxclu-
sive right TO develop the coal and oil
deposits in Siberia east of the iGoth