GIFT FROM BRITAIN A CHINESE RAILWAY

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 132, 30 November 1935, Page 21

GIFT FROM BRITAIN

A CHINESE RAILWAY

INDEMNITY AND CONSTRUC-

TION

OPERATING XEXT YEAB

By the end of 1936, if all goes well, railway traffic will be in operation between Hankow and Canton, thus linking up the Yangtse Valley and South China, and, by means of ferries, Can.ton with Peking, and the trans-Siber-ian system, writes H. G. W. Woodhead in the "Sydney Morning Herald." The Canton-Hankow line may not unreasonably be regarded as the most important trunk railway in China. Had it been completed by the original (American) concessionaires in the early part of the current century, the whole political history of China might have been altered. For there can be little doubt that the isolation and remoteness of Canton have fostered separatist tendencies in the south, previous and subsequent to the first revolution, and down to the present day.

The contract for the construction of j the line was signed by the Chinese Government and the China Development Company in 1893, and actual work was begun two or three years later. For various reasons, however, the American concern was unable to

fulfil its undertakings, and it withdrew from the field on payment of substantial compensation. The construction of the railway was then undertaken by a company promoted by provincial merchants which succeeded in completing the line as far as Shiukwan, about 140 miles north of Canton, and 69 miles south of the HunanKwantung border. In 1911,' the. Peking Government entered into what was known as the Hukuang Loan Agreement, with a fourPower financial group. Among the railways included in this agreement was the Hankow-Canton line, which was to be constructed under the supervision of British engineers. SLOW WORK. Construction of the northern section of the Canton-Hankow line, from Wuchang to Changsha, was undertaken with Hukuang loan funds, but proceeded very slowly, owing to the. outbreak of the European war. Not until 1917 was the Wuchang-Changsha section open to traffic. In the meantime, a provincial company had. completed the Changsha-Chuchow section (of 35 miles) for the purposes of coal transportation. There thus remained a gap of about 270 miles between the Hunan terminus at Chuchow, and the Kwangtung terminus at Shiuchow, including a considerable stretch of mountainous territory, which, it ■ was estimated, would require sixty-six tunnels to penetrate. For many years there seemed to be no prospect of the necessary funds being obtained from, the Hukuang loan syndicate or domestic sources to complete the line. In December, 1922, when resumption of the payment of British Boxer indemnity instalments, which had been suspended in 1917, became due, the British Government announced its intention of remitting its share of the indemnity on the understanding that the funds would be applied to purposes mutually beneficial to China and Great Britain. These purposes, it was generally assumed would best be fulfilled by applying the money to the education, of Chinc-e, somewhat on the lines of the remitted American indemnity. In 1925, the editor of the "Peking and Tientsin Times," in a scries of articles in that journal, questioned the advisability of applying the capital sum, amounting t0'£11,186,547. solely to education. He suggested, as. an alternative, that two-thirds of the indemnity receipts should be invested in productive enterprises, with a view to the creation of permanent educational endowment. The two enterprises he favoured at the time were the completion of the CantonHankow railway, and the financing of the Chihli River conservancy scheme. Both these propositions could, he suggested, be made to pay their own way, and eventually to create an educational endowment. The British Chamber of Commerce at Tientsin endorsed this idea, which was subsequently approved by the Shanghai British Chamber and the Federation of British Industries. 1 CHOICE OF RAILWAY. 1 When the Willingdon delegation vis- ; ited China in 1026 it found that there ' had been a steady hardening of opin--1 ion in British commercial circles in I China against the application of the | indemnity funds solely to educational purposes. It recommended that a i substantial portion of the accumulated | and future indemnity instalments , should be earmarked for "investment |in some productive work in China, to ,be a permanent endowment, the returns i from which sho.ld be used to carry on the educational or other work which might be decided upon." The delegation advised (hat "the work in question be ' railwiiy construction, and among the railway projects which have been brought to their notice they consider the oik which should be pre-

ferred, provided political and other difficulties are not found to be insuperable; should 'be the completion of the Hankow-Canton railway."

The conditions under which the British indemnity was to be remitted were eventually embodied in an- exchange of Notes between the British and the Chinese Governments, in December, 1930, which, for the most part, ignored the considered recommendations of the Willingdon delegation. Fortunately, however, the Notes did not preclude the utilisation of a portion of the funds for the Canton-Hankow railway project, and in August, 1933, a provisional contract was signed for a loan on the security of the British indemnity, and certain cash payments, for the completion of the lirie. A loan for £1,500,000 was floated in 1934. Work on the railway was resumed in July, 1933, and according to present plans the 406 kilometres of new construction necessary to complete the line will be ready for traffic in the latter part of next year.

The progress made since August, 1933, and plans for the future are reviewed in an interesting pamphlet which was published recently by Mr. H. H. Ling, director and engineer-in-chief of the Chuchow-Shaochow section of the Canton-Hankow railway. A resurvey has enabled the construction engineers to select a route which will reduce the number of tunnels required from 66 to 14, the longest of which (through hard rock) will be .300 metres. Three large bridges, 306, 342, and 384 metres in length, respectively, will be required, and will be completed by the end of this year. In addition, many smaller bridges and concrete arches have been, or will be, constructed. The rails used are 851b, and of British manufacture. Some of the sleepers are of local pine or fir, others of. Canadian Douglas fir, and, more recently, Australian jarrah and hardwood have ■ been purchased. The

steelwork for the bridges and a considerable quantity of rolling stock have been purchased in Great Britain, including 28 locomotives and some 50 passenger coaches. POLITICAL IMPORTANCE. When the work is completed it will be possible to travel between Hankow and Canton in 32 hours or so, and between Canton and Peking in about double that time, by rail. But it is, of course, to goods traffic that the railway looks for most of its revenue. Hunan is one of the most important rice-producing areas in China. It is also rich in minerals (including coal) and in wood-oil, all of which at present have to be sent to Hankow for export. Its- coal and other products at present cannot reach Canton owing to lack of transportation facilities, while Canton and its vicinity, for the same reason, do little or no trade with .the Yangtze Valley. It is, however,-the political consequences of the completion of the line that are likely to be most important. Through traffic with Mid and North China will compel the Cantonese to realise that they are Chinese and living in China. There will no longer be any excuse for the policy of isolation and separatisnS. which Cantonese politicians have fostered for several decades past, and which, if perpetuated, must sooner or later lead to a definite cleavage between the Yangtze and the Southern Provinces. In any case, it.is not necessary—and possibly not desirable—that there should be.excessive centralisation of authority in Nanking. Some measure of autonomy must be conceded to the various provinces. The completion of the Canton-Han-kow railway is a- gift from the British taxpayer, the importance of which can hardly be exaggerated. If the completed line is efficiently operated, and strife between Canton and the Central Government is avoided, the enterprise will be one of the best-pay-ing railways in the world. Indeed, if feeder roads and subsidiary branches are constructed to exploit its transportation facilities, it should, in the course of a few years, become one of the most valuable of the Chinese Government's assets. : •