Commanding control of the railway to the south, the world will be in a very precarious position in the west of the proposed line. At present, the line is blocked by our possession of Amoy or Kowloon, but Swatow could be placed in communication with Canton. The Peking-Hankow-Canton line might find an alternative terminus that would compete with Hong Kong and Canton.
Some two years ago, I was informed by Hamilton Stewart, an English engineer who came out to prospect the Fukien and Kwangtung provinces in the interest of English capitalists, that there would be no serious difficulty establishing railway communication between Amoy and Canton. Given this possibility, and considering a connection to France for a separate line, a deflection of the Hankow-Canton line to either of these ports, and a port being established, would have a detrimental effect on British interests in the region.