#864
CANTON
port coming under the cognisance of the Foreign Customs during the past ten years is shown by the following net figures:-Hk. Tls. 201,720,711 in 1925; Hk. Tls. 201,566,440 in 1924; Hk. Tls. 219,203,728 in 1923; Hk. Tls. 197,287,935 in 1922; Hk. Tls. 165,232,378 in 1921; Hk. Tls. 140,814,317 in 1920; Hk. Tls. 147,953,136 in 1919; Hk. Tls. 103,226,078 in 1918; Hk. Tls. 102,844,910 in 1917; Hk. Tls. 109,081,638 in 1916; and Hk. Tls. 103,817,195 in 1915.
The chief causes of the decrease of some 18 millions of taels in the trade of 1924 and 1925 as compared with 1923 were the political unrest, the additional tax exactions levied in all directions, the resultant strikes and the tension between the local mer- chants and the Government.
Ample means of communication exist between Canton and Hongkong, a dis- tance of 112 miles by railway and about 95 miles by water. Foreign steamers and a large number of native craft ply daily between the two ports. There is daily .steam communication with Macao and regular connection with Wuchow and West River ports, and with Shanghai, Newchwang, and Kwangchauwan. The steam- launch traffic under the Inland Steam Navigation Regulations has proved a great success, though since rules were enforced in December, 1901, compelling all Chi- nese launches to undergo inspection at the hands of an engineer appointed by the Customs before obtaining licences to ply, the number of launches is not so large as previously. There is a safe and commodious anchorage within 150 yards of the river wall at Shameen. Canton was connected by telegraph (an overland line) with Kow- loon in 1883, and another overland line was completed fron Canton to Lungchau-fu, on the Kwangsi and Tonkin frontier, in June, 1884. An agreement was entered into with the South China Wireless Co., à British concern, in the latter part of 1923, for the installation of a powerful wireless station, to give a continuous commercial service with Hongkong and Shanghai and communication with Peking, Japan, the Straits Settlements, etc. The electric light and the telephone system have been introduced into a portion of the city. Through railway communica- tion between Canton and Kowloon was established in October, 1911. The British section of the line extends from Kowloon Point to Lowu, a distance of 22 miles. The Chinese section, which has its terminus at Taishatow (East Gate), is 89 miles in length. A connection with the Canton-Hankow Railway has long been contemn- plated. The survey by an American syndicate of a railway route to connect Canton with Hankow was made in 1899. Work upon the branch line from Canton to Samshui (about 30 miles) commenced in December, 1902, and a length of 10 miles, as far as Fatshan, was opened on November 15, 1903. The line was extended to Samshui the following year. The completion of the railway to Samshui brought the West River ports within easy distance of Canton, it being now possible to reach Wuchow, in Kwangsi, in less than 24 hours. That the advantages of rapid communication are appreciated may be gathered from the fact that about 3,000,000 of passengers a year are carried on this short line. There is very little freight traffic. Work on the grand trunk line was started at both ends by the American concessionaires, and a section, about 12 miles long, from Canton northward to Ko Tong Hu, was rapidly approaching completion when in October, 1904, on account of friction between the Chinese authorities and the constructor of the railway, work was entirely stopped. Then it became known that Belgian capitalists had acquired extensive holdings in the American-China Development Company, and, in consequence, a strong agitation was aroused among the Chinese aiming at the cancellation of the concession and the construction of the line with Chinese capital only. The agitation resulted in the concession being cancelled by the Chinese Government, who paid to the American- China Development Company a sum of Gold $6,750,000, as compensation, including the cost of the works already completed. As soon as the concession was cancelled a movement was organised by the commercial inen of the three provinces which the line will traverse to raise the necessary funds for its construction. A large sum of money was subscribed or promised by Chinese at home and abroad on condition that there would be no official control of the railway. The first section of the line-from Wongsha to Kongtsun, a distance of 17 miles, with three intermediate stations- was opened on July 17th, 1907, and in December, 1908, a further section to Yuntam, 44 miles from Canton, was opened. The railway is now completed as far as Shiukuan (Chiuchow), 140 miles from Canton. On the whole, the traffic is satisfactory, but the railway cannot be expected to pay well until it has been carried to Hankow or Shanghai, when it should be the most important and most profitable section of the railway system of China. The total length of the line in the Kwangtung Province will be 209 miles.