COPY.
74
On October 5th 1911 through traffic from Kowloon
to Canton was inaugurated. The arrangements for joint working were based on a Provisional Agreement which was never ratified by formal signature. It continued however to form the basis
in the main of the working arrangements between the British and the Chinese Sections and was never formally questioned by the Chinese Authorities until 1930. There were suspensions of the service from time to time but they were due to political disturbances over which the Railway Administration had no control. The major suspensions occurred in 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1926.
It became increasingly obvious however that a new Revised Agreement had to be concluded if joint working was to be maintained. The Chinese Authorities resented the pro- portion of through earnings allocated to the British Section as unfair. They also resented and passively repudiated the clause penalising the Chinese Section when disturbed conditions in China interrupted working.
In order to get the correct background of the problem certain facts have to be borne in mind. The distance from Fowloon to Canton is 110 miles, of which 22 miles are in British territory and 88 miles in China, in other words the British Section is 20% and the Chinese 80% of the whole. On a mileage basis therefore the British Section share would be 20% instead of 35% as hitherto. The line is parallelled by a navigable waterway throughout its length. Point-to-point traffic is relatively unimportant and terminal passenger traffic provides 75% of the total receipts. This traffic however is subject to the competition of river steamers which are modern and comfortable. To attract passengers therefore the railway must provide a very much quicker route and quote a special rate. As regards freight the water way is supreme and is likely to remain so until the railway is linked up with