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CHINA
only be considered as problematical. Turning to existing railways, continual changes of management of the various Chinese-owned lines, especially in the North, and lack of funds have retarded the placing of orders for locomotives and rolling-stock, which are badly needed. It is a matter of regret that in many cases purveyors of railway material still remain unpaid for equipment supplied 10 years ago. Many of the railways have remained completely in the hands of the military throughout the year, and the necessary funds for their upkeep and for the maintenance and replacing of rolling-stock have not been forthcoming. In the case of the Peiping-Hankow Railway it is estimated by reliable experts that a sum of at least 15 million dollars must be spent in the near future on only absolutely necessary replacements of locomotives, coaches, cars, rails, and sleepers, and on repairs to bridges and the permanent way. A certain amount of material has been purchased with funds obtained by the Minister of Railways through the sale of the Belgian Boxer Indemnity Bonds, the balance of which is to be used to pay for equipment to be supplied to the Tientsin-Pukow and Lung-Hai lines. As a general rule, where purchases have been effected, business has been chiefly in cheap materials. The Canton-Hankow Railway placed a fair number of orders for American locomotives. The Shanghai-Nanking Railway functioned continuously during the year and showed every sign of increasing efficiency. The permanent way was kept in a good state of repair, and with an increase in locomotives and rolling-stock this line will become, even more than at present, one of the few outstanding examples of the benefits of railway enterprise to China. It is not too much to say that, unless railways can be removed from the control of militarists and organised and run on a purely commercial basis, there can be little hope of efficiency, and existing lines must and will continue to deteriorate to a dangerous point. New development, again, has been hampered by want of capital. Foreign investors are disinclined to sink money in railway enterprise without adequate safeguards, which do not appear to be forthcoming. Moreover, apart from the political aspect, from an economic point of view it is undesirable that railway development should be built up on foreign capital only. While loans may be raised for the purchase in gold of equipment unobtainable in China, the cost of construction and of labour should be covered and financed by loans floated within the country itself, and it is on these lines that railway development appears most likely to progress and to progress successfully.
Roads
Endeavours accurately to gauge the existing road mileage in China have proved fruitless, and, although estimates have been obtained from various sources, they are too divergent in point of view of mileage and too prone to include mere tracks and roads where bridges still remain to be built as to make any attempt at publication not worth while. Generally speaking, road improvements during 1929 have been more in the nature of municipal progress than in the shape of arterial highways. From practically every port the same legend is repeated with most monotonous regularity. Within the protection of the larger cities streets are being rapidly widened, in many cases involving the demolition of houses without adequate com- pensation to the owners, and roads are being constructed to the immediate suburbs and motor-bus and transport companies are being formed. But further afield highways come to an abrupt stop, banditry, extortionate taxation, the commandeering of vehicles by the military, with consequent loss of capital and lack of funds, proving insurmountable obstacles even to the most zealous pioneers. Even in those parts of the country, especially Kwangsi, where in the preceding year there was every reason to hope that the past twelve months would have seen the larger cities linked together by a network of passable even if rough highways, the first enthusiasm has worn off, and a deadly apathy, the offspring of maladministration, has not only put a check on further development, but has allowed even those roads which were a fait accompli to become deserted and to fall into a state of hopeless disrepair. A few shining exceptions exist and are noted under the various ports concerned. These, however, in most cases have been the outcome of strenuous efforts on the part of the Inter- national Famine Relief Committee, while, here and there, military commanders imbued with a civic and patriotic spirit have been responsible for the results achieved. But the progress made, meagre though it may be in comparison to what was anti- cipated, has borne fruit in the number of motor vehicles, especially trucks imported for use as omnibuses and lorries, in various parts of the country, and these usually have proved a paying venture. Development
Development so far has been in the sale of the very cheapest trucks, but, on account of the rough nature of the roads which are being