EARLY AGITATION FOR RAILWAY (cont.)
wherewith to exercise their powers, were sorely tempted by the offer of purchase. But the purchasers were Americans, the concessionaries were British. The pride of nationality overcame the greed of gold, and the American offer was rejected.
618
The Americans might "But the railway was not advanced a yard. found their own deep water terminus, Hongkong might wither for lack of trade, Great Britain might be made a laughing stock in China line could not be built till the cost of construction was forthcoming.
If
"Such was the position a year ago (1902). Such is the position to-day. Americans have a railroad in the course of rapid construction from Canton to Hankow. That railroad will connect with the Belgian line from Hankow to Peking. The Americans are negotiating with the Belgians for the control of their connection with the trunk line. If those negotiations are successful, the Americans will hold a railway line from the sea to Peking, along the richest trade route in China. Hongkong is eighty miles from the river terminus. The natural deep water terminus is Kowloon. They cannot utilise that terminus because the concession for that connecting line is in British hands. The British concessionaries have not exercised that concession. Their reason is that they cannot raise the necessary money. The money is not forthcoming because British investors distrust Chinese securities. If the Americans cannot gain access to a deep water terminus at Kowloon, they must find a new deep water port outside of British territory, must develop it as a rival to Hongkong, must constitute the whole of their railway an instrument inimical to Hongkong, and therefore to British interests.
"The questions, then are Can the concession be exercised in favour of Great Britain? Can the British investors' objection to Chinese securities be overcome? Can Hongkong be maintained in its present proud position of third greatest port of the world? The replies are: The concession can be exercised in favour of Great Britain, if the British Government so desire. The British investors' objection to Chinese securities can be overcome, if the British Government guarantee those securities. Hongkong can be maintained in its present proud position and can be raised to still higher heights of prosperity, if the concession, guaranteed by the British Government, be exercised. This is no mere local question. It is an Imperial question affecting the merchants of Great Britain, whose agents Hongkong merchants are. It rests with the Hongkong Government to impress the Home Government with the importance of the matter, with the imminence of the danger threatening the Colony of Hongkong and the prestige of Great Britain in the Far East. It rests with His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government to be true to his own expressed opinion that "without development the New Territory cannot thrive", to be true to his oath solemnly given last Saturday, and to urge upon the Government both of Hongkong and Great Britain the necessity of taking steps now to conserve to the Crown Colony her right of position as the premier port of China. One waits with confidence his speedy action".
Perhaps this comment did something towards changing the outlook of officialdom. The Government decided in 1905 to build the line over British territory, to meet the Chinese section, which was to be laid from Canton to the border (see 29.5.34). Work was commenced in 1906, and the line was opened to traffic in 1911. Since then improved trains and more powerful locomotives, and within recent years an excellent express service, have been introduced.
KOWLOON WHARF & GODOWN.
Closely associated with the "Star" Ferry Co. is the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company, Ltd. It represents the development of the port of Hongkong into one of the principal shipping centres of the world. There were early wharves, as we have noted, first of mere bamboo, then of substantial timber (see 26.6.33) with McGregor and Co. operating a wharf and godowns at Wanchai in the early Sixties. This, however, like Jardine's even earlier wharf, was almost purely a private