32
been taken in that direction so far.
(c)
Canton-Whampoa Line. Meanwhile a project
for a railway from Canton to Whampoa has been broach-
ed by a native official, Chang Pi-shih, formerly
Chinese Consul-General at Singapore. His scheme in-
cludes wharves and godowns at Whampoa, which would
accommodate large ocean-going steamers, and thus en-
able the latter place in some measure to compete
with Hongkong as the deep-water port of Canton. A
survey of the proposed line of route has already been
made by some American engineers.
There is little doubt that such a railway, once
constructed, would operate prejudicially to the in-
terests of Hongkong; and it is much to be regretted
that the delay in commencing work on the Canton-
Kowloon line should ever have allowed the alternative
scheme to assume a concrete form. Had the Canton-
Kowloon line been in operation, or even only in course
of construction at the present moment, it would
scarcely have been found worth while to plan the ad-
ditional line. Besides which, the conditions pre-
valling at Whampoa are not exactly ideal: unless the
river