Evening Post. SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1897. RUSSIA AND THE COLONIES.

Evening Post, Volume LIV, Issue 21, 24 July 1897, Page 4

Evening Post. SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1897. RUSSIA AND THE COLONIES.

We are apt to forget that we are Asiatics, that our colony is the most southern part of Asia, and that all things which happen in that great continent are of interest to us. We write and speak as if China, Japan, and India were far removed from us, while Europe was almost at our doors. We scarcely realise that the Chinese and Japanese \can reach our shores in three weeks or even 'less, and we have hitherto paid very little attention to the development of Northern Asia. We cannot, however, shut our eyes to the great strides in industrial expansion that Japan is making, nor can- we ignore the signs of awakening that the vast Chinese Empire is giving. But there is a grand enterprise now being carried out in Northern Asia, which must ultimately make its effects felt all over the continent and even in the distant Asiatic isles, and that is the TransSiberian Railway. This gigantic work is being" energetically pushed on, and is now within measurable distance of completion. Its total lenctfh will be 4741 miles, and its estimated cost is £35,000,000. A great part has already been constructed, the works having been simultaneously carried on at both the European and Vladivostock ends, and also at other points along the route, i With the progress of the railway settlement

is taking place in the rich agricultural lands of Southern Siberia. Thousands of emigrants from Southern Russia are continually wending their way eastwards. Liberal terms have been given them by the Government, those settling in the provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk receiving a free grant of at least 35 acres, while in other districts even more is given. This land is free from burdens, no rent is payable for it, but the holder can neither sell nor mortgage it. It remains in perpetuity State land, and here we have a suggestive hint of land tenure from autocratic Russia. In some provinces from 400 to 1200 acres can be taken up on condition that tbe land is improved by the expenditure of a certain amount of capital. The railway opens up wide areas of wheat, oat, and rye-producing land, which is being rapidly settled, and its trade capacities will be enormously helped by its having as its terminus a port on the Pacific. Whether the terminus of the main line will be at Vladivostock or no, is still open to question. Vladivostock, in spite of iuebreaking machines, is almost inaccessible during part of the winter, and the Muscovite Government has long been trying to get an outlet in a warmer latitude. The railway is to run through Manohuria, and the Russian Minister at Peking is supposed to have successfully negotiated for the use or cession of a Chinese port as the terminus of the great Siberian iron road. If such be the case we shall soon have Russia in Asia more accessible to us than Russia in Europe is to the United Kingdom, at least for warlike purposes. If, then, the colonies had Northern Asia opposed to them, would they not te very helpless without British war vessels ? Another consideration which the railway should awaken in colonials is the possibility of establishing profitable commercial relations with Siberia. At present the trade there is mainly in the hands of American, German, and English houses. But, we might reasonably ask, is there not also an openiug for our own products ? When the great railway reaches the Pacific the impetus given to Siberian trade will probably be very great. Colonel Waters, British Military Attache at St. Petersburg, has just returned to England from a six months' journe}' in Asiatic Russia, and is very emphatic in the stress he lays upon the commercial value of the Trans-Siberian Railway: — "The line will open up both agricultural and mineral resources, which, 'for practical purposes are almost inexhaustible. Siberia can produce about every kind of cereal, all sorts of live stock, and it possesses in abundant quantities the more important minorals— precious and other. The construction of a railway through Manchuria will open up a country rich in gold and very valuable from an agricultural point of. view. I f should say the line cannot be opened for through traffic in less than four years, and then the whole journey of over 6000 miles (to Moscow or Odebsa) will be accomplisiled in about 16 days." It will evidently be a very long time before the pioneers who develop this rich country will be able to draw their luxuries or even necessaries from their own districts. We seem also to fail to realise' the size and wealth of Southern Siberia. We ignore the fact that there are* people living in its cities who enjoy, all the luxuries of a high civilisation. Irkutsk, for instance, is lighted by electricity, and the latest Parisian fashions can be seen in its streets. * Its climate, "too, is less cold in winter than that of many cities in the New England States of North America. New towns and settlements are springing up in the wake of the " iron horse," and the new colonists will need many of the comforts of civilised life. Where will they procure them, more especially in the early days of their settlement ? Our trade mus>t expand as our colonies grow, and i? there not apossibility that the Northern Asiatic trade is being neglected by the inhabitants of Southern Asia? Might not the Governments' 1 and Chambers of Commerce of the various Australasian colonies uuite to try au experiment which could do little harm, in case of failure, and might in the event of success prove a great blessing to . our producers and workmen ? The railway will undoubtedly develop a large trade, - and the question is, who is to reap the benefit ? Europe naturally will have her lion's share, but if we can compete successfully with the Continent in British markets, why should we not also be able to deal advantageously with the inhabitants of Siberia ? There is an evident error in the cable messages regarding the scores in the second stage of the Queen's Match, though the aggregate scores at the end of the second stage, given in another column, are no doubt correct. The first stage consists of seven shot,s at 200, 500, and 600 yards, the possible being 105 points. The highest 300 scorers compete in a second stage, comprising 10 shots at 500 yards aud 15 shots at 600 yards, the possible score being 125. In view of this, it is impossible for Scott to have scored 151 and Howe 146 in this stage alone. No doubt those figures represent their scores in the first stage and the- first range of ,the second stage. The aggregate score of 207 made by Hawthorne is the lowest of the first 100 competitors qualified to shoot in the third land final sta^e. This "final stage consists of 10 shots at 800 and 10 shots at 900 yards, the possible being 100 points. The score of the winner of the set'ond stage (219) is a splendid one, as the possible is only 230 points, and Hawthorne's score of 207 is 11 points above that of the actual winner of the same stage lust year, and two points above that of the winner in 1895. The records are evidently badly beaten again, and this is no doubt due to the fact that the new Lee-Metford rifles, are being used this year for the first time. Hawthorne is the only New Zealander now firing in the final stage open to the first 100. Richardson and Howe were within two points and one point respectively of getting their place in the final lOO!' Victoria has also one representative in Carter. If our cable messages ring true, as there seems every reason to believe, tbe gold discoveries in the desolate, unexplored regions to the north of British Columbia bid fair to prove of enormous interest to the world and to ourselves, and to create a rush suclras that which was made half a century ago for the Australian fields. Three hundred miles of rich auriferous ranges ! What an opening for adventurous youth and bold enterprise ! The country, we learn from the authorities immediately available, is almost unknown, the climate intensely severe, and the necessaries of life hard to procure ; but what will these things matter when the gold fever comes on, and there is ample opportunity i of satisfying the lust for the " yellow I

dross" which we despise with our lips but adore in our hearts ? The region of the great find seems to be the ranges in tne basins of the Upper Yukon, Pelly, and Lewes rivers, in the extreme north of British Columbia and near the frontiers of 'Alaska. The ranges in question are about 1000 miles in a northerly direction from the eastern terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and as there is a great migration of miners already beginning to Klondike, the question of supplies will soon become urgent. As far as we can gather there is no reason why we should not participate in tbe trade which is bound to arise. The climate will probably forbid the start of serious work before the spring—say next May— but the " rush" is already beginning, and if we wish to be in the •swim we must take our measures betimes\ The coast nearest to the Upper Yukon Ranges is very broken, and apparently not unlike that of the West Coast of our own South Island. There is every reason, therefore, to believe that steamers of deep draught could find in the coastal jnlets deep water anchorage and good landing places. The distance from the head of the deepest of these fjiords to the centre of the range appears from tbe map to be about 150 to 200 miles. The natural way of transport for stores would, therefore, seem to be from Vancouver to the northern coast by water. The produce of Manitoba and other agricultural centres of 'the Dominion, thanks' to the long overland journey to Vancouver, would not have a great, if any, initial advantage - over our own. With our new • trans-Pacific service we might make an effective bid for what certainly has the appearance of being a by no means unimportant trade. The main* thing is to be ready and to strike at once for the object aimed at.