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Show RAILROADS IN CHINA. 1 The congratulations sent by the Kaiser to Dr. I Fischer on the completion of the German railroad I to Tsi Nan Fu, and his expressed hope that the I doctor "will be rewarded with further similar sue- I cesses" is significant. Germany is in full sym- I pathy with Russia in her present war. The rea- I son given is that Russia is Christian while Japan 1 is pagan, but there is a deeper, or at least an- 1 other reason. I For the murder of half a dozen German mis- I sionaries Germany took a port and a large prov- I ince in China. She is now circling It with a rail- 1 way and she, like Russia, wants more land. The I Review of Reviews tells of her railway building I In China as follows: I "In the populous province of Shantung, a Ger- I man railroad runs from Tslngtan or KiaoChan I Bay, into the heart of the populous Shantung province via Wei Hsion. The contractors prom ise to reach the capital, Chinanfu, within a year, while their ulterior plans include a line from Tsingtan via Ichowfer to Chianfu, so that German Ger-man lines will ere long completely encircle that mighty province. At Chianfu this road will meet another great trunk line, partly German and part ly English, which is being pushed southward from Tseinsln to Chin Klong." Railroads are the modern world's great conquerors. con-querors. China had given concessions for the building of 6,000 miles of railroad when the Boxer troubles broke out. The work was then suspend ed, but it is resumed now. China is building some roads on 'borrowed British capital, but she ha5 given concessions for other roads to English, Ger man, Italian and American syndicates. It will b a wonder if she is not partitioned before there lr peace again between Russia and Japan. Russia B! Germany, France and Great Britain are all anxious B for that mighty spoil and only mutual jealousy K lest each may not get a full quota keeps them flf from proceeding at once to gratify their desires. Hi There are many people in this country who Bl are asking: "Suppose the Great Powers partition Bf China, would it not be better so? China has upon H her the inertia of four thousand years. She is B pagan through and through; why would not a H short, sharp struggle bo better than another cen- fl tury of peace, with the accompanying slavery of B men and the moral death as well as slavery of K women?" B The answer is, it is not the best way to ac- B complish what the most ardent desire. The two B great modern evangels are the locomotive and B the public school house. Large concessions for B railroads have already been secured from the Chi- B nese government, more can be. B No people are more alert to see and grasp B commercial advantages than the Chinese. No B more subtle intellect exists than In China. No B other people are so imitative as the Mongolians. Twenty-eight years ago some English capitalists B built a railroad from Shanghai to Wu Lung, 14 B miles in length. The people were crazy with ex-B ex-B citement, and in answer to popular clamor the B government bought the road, tore up the tracks B and dumped the engines into the river. But five B years later, chiefly through the influence of Wu B Tung Fang late Chinese minister to the United B States the Chinese themselves, under direction B of an English engineer, built a railroad from the B Kaiping coal measures to Taku at the mouth of B the Pel-Ho river the ocean gateway to Peking. B Tne benefits of that road were an object lesson B to the Chinese, and soon other branch roads were B built by them and concessions were granted to B syndicates of three or four other nations. With peace, China would in a few years be B ramified with railroads. With them constructed factories would bo built, mines opened and the changes would follow there aa swiftly as they have in Japan, that in fifty years has emerged from an ocean-locked nation, sitting under the shadows of four thousand years of ancient customs cus-toms and thought, to an alert, first-class modern power. The school house would swiftly follow the locomotive, loco-motive, ancient superstitions would give way to modern thought in the minds of the young and one by one the cruelties would cease and enlightenment en-lightenment would begin to erect Its signal sta-nal sta-nal stations. With fair treatment the Chinese would soon be in accord with the peaceful invaders. in-vaders. But with China partioned by force there would have to be tens of thousands of men slaughtered and a hate would be engendered which would well-nigh well-nigh be quenchless. Then, too, there would be added a species of slavery baneful alike to the ruling rul-ing invader and the subject Chinese. The way of peace is much the better way, so much the better, bet-ter, that every power of Europe would see it at a glance, save for the insatiable land hunger which possesses them all. Each wants a section of China, that there might be the exercise of European power and trade advantages to each possessor. President Presi-dent McKinley and Secretary Hay saw what the natural trend of things would be when the army contingents were sent to the relief of the missionaries mis-sionaries in beleaguered Peking, and hence insisted, in-sisted, and successfully, too, upon keeping secure the integrity of China and maintaining the open door. But if the present war progresses for many months the pressure will be renewed and it is easy to imagine a situation when there would be no power to protest against the spoliation except Japan and the United States. The outlook is disquieting. It was cabled a week ago that with one great victory won over the Japanese the Czar would offer proposals of peace. Whether true or not the State department H of the United States ought to continually keep H before both Russia and Japan its good offices to i , H help restore peace, for as things are moving the )' H commerce of the United States in the Orient will H soon be greatly menaced, and a clash about com j H mercial rights has been the mother of a thousand H wars. - M H |