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.
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