Harbin, Nov. 17.
The Heilungehiang authorities have arrested the brothers Vorontzoff, who have a timber concession on, the Western slopes of the Hinghan Range holding that they were illegally exploiting the forest-lands. Te will be remembered, that for some months past the C. E. R. has been attempting to get delivery of a large number of sleepers coming from this concession, but without success. The sleepers in question have been. prepared and are ready for shipment, the Chinese, however, will not allow them to be loaded into the cars. The consequence is that the C, E. R. is unable to repair its Western Section tracks, a matter which has been explained by the Directors to the Chinese officials in numerous dispatches but without. making the latter budge ao instant, in their decision. In addition to this the railway will lose a large sum of money, at least half a mil-Vion, if the concession is no longer allowed to be exploited, for last year this amount was given by the General-Manager of the C. E. to the Vorontzoff Bros. for a half, share in the exploitation of the forest lands. Whether or not the had the right to do this, is really immaterial, but the fact is that the Vorontzoff's were short of cash, and as the railway needs a great number of sleepers and other timber for its Western section every year, the arrangement was advantageous' to both parties.
The concession was obtained by the Vorontzoff brothers who have lived for the past 20 years in the Barga District from the Mongol officials who up to 1920 held the authority of Barga which actually, Was an autonomous state of very old standing, and formed what geographers describe as a part of Inner Mongolia, This territory actually extends from the Western slopes of the Hinghans to the Russian frontier and is very fertile, Tt was not until the beginning of this century that the Chinese officials in Manchuria began to absorb it, by first replacing the Bargut soldiers Ly Chinese and then bringing in Chinese settlers and ousting the officials. This was very much resented by the Mongols of this territory who are of Buriat-Bargut extraction and when the revolution took place in China in 1911, they succeeded in driving out all the Chinese troops and officials replacing them by their own militia and offic
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.