Jan, 22.
The article by Mr. F, H, Bert! on gold mining in Manchuria, which appeared in yesterday's Bsaue, is but a recent statement of an old grievance, That there is considerable gold in the Heilungkiang Province is no Jonger in need of proof, but whether it is so much as some of the enthusiasts would allege, ov as little some of thos Gisappointed in negotiations with the Chinese insist, is still 'a matter of some speculation. he history of the foreign entrance into the gold fields of China has not been encouraging. Those who were bold enough to subscribe for mining under takings in Mongolia, found first the same difficulties in negotiate ing with the authorities there as. exist in Manchu¥ia, and when they, were at last fortunate enotigh to be able to niake some Progress towards working their concessions, the passage control into the hands of the Soviet put a period to all their ambitions. In Manchuria the @ifficult has been for foreign capital to get started for those ery. reasons which Mr. Bert emphasizes. The discovery of a Promising concession conveys no rights to the discoverer. He can peg out his claim, but the securing of documents may very well break his heart, for there no such thing as priority, but competition as to. who can give the best price to obtain title as against the finder. It will be seen that an enormous obstacle is here placed in the way of the development.of gold mining, for an initial outlay to obtain title, may not eventually be justified by results.
That is bad enough in but the requirements cancer 'a majority Chinese central is insupportable in the case of gold-mining. A highly technical Dusiness at its easiest, sold mining to be made to pay in China, probably more than anywhere else in the world, requires a degree of control by specialists which cannot be given by: Chinese at present, and would looked upon with suspicion by foreign capital nowadays if it'eould. But the offer which it is'teported that a British company has made involving the putting up of the necessary capital, an annual payment of £6,000 for a Chinese accounting staff, and the subsequent division of the net profits on an equal basis, must surely be one of the most generous offers made to the Manchurian authorities, even if foreign control is insisted on, More than likely it would be impossible to obtain the best value from such a concession if the technician did not have full licence to. apply the best methods an¢ machinery available; experience has amply proved that government interference in Manchuria has hindered the full development of its gold fields. Thus.in. the Three Eastern Provinces a production of 196,000 taels, estimated in 1925, has now dropped to an estimate of 50,000 taels for Heilungkiang, whence most of the Manchurian gold comes, despite the fact that] in 1923-4 a private Chinese company obtained no less than 140,000 taels of gold.
The'goneral charge of students of the gold possibilities of Heilungkiang is that Chinese methods are wasteful, especially when government controlled, and it is argued that with foreign capital hampered by the present mining laws of China the result would be little better. In the circumstances, especially when the silver situation is as much aggravated by the scarcity of gold, as by the overproduction of silver, it can be argued that} until China has herself done all she can to rectify matters, by the complete restoration of peace and the consequent greater use of silver in trade, together with an adjustment' of her mining laws to provide encouragement for foreign capital to assist in the getting of gold, she can hardly expect the sympathetic consideration for which so many of her spokesmen are at present asking. It cannot be believed for a moment that the working of the Manchurian gold fields to their fullest extent would have a very great effect on the present situation, but it can be argued that this is a matter in which China can do something to help herself to her own very good. profit,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.