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This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.}
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[December 12.1 4136
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL,
[43315]
No. 1.
SECTION 6
RECE TREGE 4 FEE 09
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received December 12.)
(No. 467. Confidential.) Sir,
Peking, October 22, 1908. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith a Report by Sir Alexander Hosie on a visit recently paid to Hsinmin-fu, Fakumen, and Tichling.
This visit was made for the purpose of ascertaining, by investigation on the spot, the conditions of trade in that locality as affecting the question of railway constiuc- tion; and this Report, which contains an unbiassed statement of the facts so far as they are obtainable, should be of material assistance in forming an opinion upon the merits of the dispute between China and Japan relative to the Hsinmin-fu- Fakumen Railway project.
The conclusion at which Sir Alexander Hosie has arrived, and which he supports by statistics of trade, is that Fakumen is much more intimately connected commer- cially with Hsinmin-fu than it is with Tiehling, on the South Manchurian Railway, and that an extension of the Imperial Railways of North China to Fakumen would serve a rich agricultural area which has at present only a very limited connection with the Japanese railway either at Tiehling or elsewhere.
The statements adduced in proof of this conclusion are, briefly, that the Fakumen district contributes at the present moment about one-third of the total traffic handled by the Imperial Railways of North China between Hsinmin-fu, Newchwang, and the country to the south-west of the Koupangtzu Junction; that while, during the summer months, the bulk of the Fakumen trade goes direct to Newchwang by the Liao River, in winter the traffic from Fakumen, which goes to Hsinmin-fu and passes over the Imperial Railways of North China, is double that which reaches the South Manchurian Railway at Tiehling.
In face of these facts it is difficult to see how the Japanese Government could reasonably object to the suggested compromise, that the extension of the Chinese railway from Hsinmin-fu to Fakumen should be sanctioned on condition that a branch line should be constructed from the latter place to Tiehling. Whether the Chinese, however, would agree to such a solution I cannot say.
I am sending a copy of this despatch to His Majesty's Ambassador at Tôkið.
I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure in No. 1.
Report by Sir A. Hosie of a Visit to Hsin-min-l'un, Fukumen, and Tichling, in
Manchuria.
PREVIOUS to the construction of railways in Manchuria the internal trade of that part of the Chinese Empire was carried on by junk in the open season (March to November), and by cart during the rest of the year, when the ground is frozen solid and the roads are fit for heavy traffic. In the open season, and more especially in summer and during and after the rains in July and August, the roads, consisting as they do of a soft loamy soil, are practically impassable, any attempts at transport resulting in ruts from 18 inches to 2 feet in depth, while in low-lying ground the roads are veritable quagmires, in which mules and ponies wallow up to the girths in mud and water and have to be extricated by harnessing additional animals to the teams. Such was my experience with the two comparatively light passenger carts on my recent visit to Fa-ku-men and Tiehling. As a matter of fact these small curts avoid the roads where possible and take to the bordering fields, but as the roads are frequently eroded many feet below the surface of the plains the steep banks on either side render deviations not always practicable. For this reason traffic by the heary Manchurian cart, laden with several tons of produce, and its team of seven or more animals, is completely barred, and can only be attempted during the winter months when the roads are frozen hard and smooth.
Before the advent of railways these heavy carts brought the produce of Manchuria
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