This Would Bring
Prosperity To The People, Render Administrative Reforms Possible, And Open
China For The Chinese Quite As Much As For The European Merchant Or
Manufacturer.
From the viewpoint of Chinese interests, the most useful
lines would be two that should connect Pekin, Tientsin and all the
northern part of the country with central and southern China.
Trunk lines
could be constructed for this purpose without any difficulty. They would
pass along the old trade tracks, and would encounter populous cities the
whole way. Through eastern Shansi and Honan, for example, to Hangchow on
the Yangtse; thence to the Si Kiang and Canton; such lines would be shafts
driven through the heart of the Middle Kingdom, connecting the North and
the South. For the entire distance, some 1,300 or 1,400 miles, the extent,
fertility and variety of the soil are described as remarkable. From the
North, abounding in cotton and varieties of grain and pulse, to the South,
where many vegetable products of the Orient are met, the redundancy of the
population is a striking feature. A constant succession of villages, towns
and cities would be transformed into a picture of bustle and business.
The internal economical conditions of China to-day are very much the same
as were those of India when railways were introduced. The only difference
is that the Chinese people are better off per man, and that the Chinese
and Indo-Chinese, unlike the natives of India, are born travelers and
traders. Yet, even in India, contrary to expectation, the passenger
traffic on the railways has, from the first, exceeded the goods traffic.
In 1857, the number of passengers carried by railway in India was
2,000,000; in 1896, it had risen to 160,000,000. In the first named year,
the quantity of goods transported was 253,000 tons; in 1896, it was
32,500,000 tons. There has been witnessed in India during those forty
years an expansion of commerce which, at the outset of the period, would
have been deemed incredible. The imports and exports rose in that time
from 400,000,000 to 2,000,000,000 rupees. Forty years ago, India was
merely a dealer in drugs, dyes and luxuries; now she is one of the largest
purveyors of food grains, fibers, and many other staples. Few persons are
aware how favorably the earnings of Indian railways compare with those of
other countries. The average earnings of railways in the United States are
3 per cent; in Great Britain, 3.60 per cent; in India, 5.46 per cent. This
in spite of the fact that, in India, a man can travel 400 miles within
twenty-four hours for the sum of $2.08. The policy of low charges has
answered well, the people, on its adoption, at once having begun to travel
and to send their produce by rail. In China, also, low rates will be a
necessity. Another fact of importance to China is that, out of the 260,000
people employed on Indian railways, 95.66 per cent are natives. Only the
higher posts are held by Europeans. In China, the proportions would
probably be even more in favor of the native element.
Mr. Colquhoun, who is a high authority, has no doubt that, as Richthofen
anticipated years ago, China will eventually be directly connected with
Europe via Hami, Lanchow and Sian. "No direct connection of this kind,"
says Richthofen "is possible south of the Wei basin, and any road to the
north of it would have to keep entirely north of the Yellow River and run
altogether through desert countries." The same reason which confined the
commerce of China with the West during thousands of years to the natural
route via Hami will be decisive as regards railway communication also. In
respect of natural facilities, and because of the existence of populous,
productive and extensive commercial regions at both ends of the line, it
is the only practicable route. It is further to be noted that the whole
tract would be provided with coal. The province of Kansuh rivals Shansi in
the richness and extent of its coal fields; no section of it north of the
Tsungling Mountains appears to be deficient in coal measures, and, in some
parts, a superabundance of the combustible exists. The coal formation
extends, with few interruptions, from Eastern Shansi to Hi through thirty
degrees of longitude. There is scarcely, remarks Richthofen, an instance
on record "where so many favorable and essential conditions co-operate to
concentrate all future intercourse on so long a line upon one single and
definite channel." As regards railways within the empire, a Pekin-Hankow
line has been arranged for, as we pointed out in the previous chapter,
with a so-called Belgian syndicate, and, if properly executed, should be a
good line; but, as we have said, it is the opinion of experts that the
best railway contemplated in China would be that from Pekin via Tientsin
to Hangchow, with an extension later to Canton. The line would pass some
forty towns, with an average population of 25,000 each, and a large number
of villages. The length of the Grand Canal from Tientsin to Hangchow is
650 miles. According to Mr. Colquhoun, no better line for a railway exists
in the world, from the viewpoint of population, resources and cheapness of
construction. It follows the most important of the actual routes of
commerce in the empire, passes the greatest possible number of cities,
towns and villages, and connects great seaports with rich coal regions of
authenticated value.
We pass to the telegraph and postal service. It appears that government
telegraphs are being rapidly extended throughout the empire. There are
lines between Pekin and Tientsin, and lines connecting the capital with
the principal places in Manchuria as far as the Russian frontier on the
Amour and the Usuri, while Newchwang, Chefoo, Shanghai, Yangchow, Souchow,
the seven treaty ports on the Yangtse, Canton, Woochow, Lungchow, and, in
fact, most of the principal cities in the empire, are now joined by wire
with one another and with the metropolis.
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