AN AMERICAN CHINESE BANE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 4047, 27 September 1887, Page 3

AN AMERICAN CHINESE BANE.

♦ . The Shanghai correspondent of the Standard telegraphed on August Ist: — "An astonishing financial coup has just been mado here. The American Silver llina and Mr Jay Gould, through tho agency of the Polish Count Alitkiowitz and tho Viceroy Li, have established an American-Chinese Bank, with a capital of £200,000,000, mostly American money. The new bank will receive and disburse all the moneys of the Imperial and Provincial Governments, and will havo char?' of the oontracts for the railway and telegraphs, as also for the nonage, the issue of bank-notes, and the War Department. The anno r cement of this gigantic speculation has naturally created something like a panic among other financiers of other nationalities. " Mr Warton Barker, of Philadelphia, has further confirmed the report of concessions by China to an American syndicate. He says, according to the New York correspondent of tho Standard, that the telephone privilege has been granted for 50 years, and that a Philadelphia syndicate intends to establish a long and short distance system throughout the empire. The next enterprise will be the construction of railroads. Tho lines at present completed are : One from Tientsin to Shanghai, following the course of the Grand Canal ; ore from Shanghai to Nanking, and thenco to Canton ; and finally one along the northern frontier, parallel with the Russian road. Thesyndicate expects to develop tho iron and coal industries, and at length to manufacture its own rails and engines, employing in this work native labour. The necessary capital for the operations tho syndicalo hopes to obtain partly in America and partly in China. The representatives of the syndicate who went to China last spring, sail for Homo In a fow days, bringing with them Chinoso envoys, who aro empowered to grant further concessions. Mr Bsirkor says tho Chinese Government was the first to moyo in the matter, and that tho eyndicato will aot with that Govornmontin the operations, giving the pnoplo of China als'> an interest therein. Mr Barker is a \yell-known Philadelphia banker and citizen of exoellont repute and much influonco, and has been the Philadelphia agent of tho Messrs Barings.