PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
EPEPEC.O. 882
6
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO.
94
20. While on the subject of anticipated traffic, it will be interesting to consider how far that derived from the New Territories, including Sham Chun on the border, is likely to go towards paying interest on cost of construction and running and main- tenance expenses. For this purpose a quarter of a million people carried over 10 miles -rather less than half the length of the line by the East route--and 50,000 tons of goods carried over 20 miles appears, from the data available, to be a very moderate annual estimate of traffic. Third-class fares at 3 cents per passenger per mile, and an average goods rate of 30 cents per ton per mile, though considerably higher than present launch and junk rates, would, considering the saving of time and the gain in convenience, scarcely be considered excessive. On this basis the receipts would amount to $375,000, or, say, £37,500 per annum. Putting interest and sinking fund at 5 per cent, on £500,000, and running and maintenance expenses at £500 per mile, the expenditure per annum for the 21 miles of line by the East route would be £35,000.
On this calculation the line would pay without taking into consideration direct trade with any places in China beyond those which supply the Sham Chun market. In this rough calculation first and second-class passenger traffic, cattle traffic, and additional traffic brought about by the development of new industries, have been left out of consideration.
21. Assuming the same cost of construction of a line along the West route, the greater length being counterbalanced by decreased length of tunnelling, the running and maintenance expenses for the additional 12 miles of line would, except in so far as additional traffic might be secured by tapping the Un Long instead of the Tai Po market, convert the profit of £2,500 into a loss of £3,750.
VI. ADMINIStrative, Naval and Military AdvantageS.
22. The present administrative centre is at Tai Po, which is already connected with Kowloon by a 14-feet carriage road 18 miles in length, which can be traversed in under two hours by bicycle and under three by pony, while by steamer or by launch in smooth weather it is within 4 hours of Hong Kong. Though this commu- nication is good it would, in my opinion, be a decided advantage to have Tai Po, if it remains the administrative centre, in railway communication, that is, within an hour's journey of Hong Kong for all classes of traffic. Mr. May is of opinion that Kam Tin, near the Western route, would have been a better centre, as being nearer the districts occupied by the most influential clans and nearer Deep Bay, which requires more police watching than Mirs Bay. On the other hand Tai Po is most conveniently placed for visiting from it the numerous inlets on the eastern side of the New Territories, which are only accessible by launch, while the western side is fairly accessible by road, and would be more so with a railway connecting Tai Po with Shek U Hue. On the whole, there is little from an administrative point of view to guide the selection of either route beyond the fact that the present head- quarters, on which some expenditure has been incurred in connection with the provi- sion of permanent quarters for officers, is on the east.
23. On the subject of the naval and military advantages of the two routes, I asked the opinion of the Commander-in-Chief, China Station, and the General Officer Commanding the Troops in South China, pointing out that though the pro- posed railway, which it was hoped would eventually form part of a trunk line to the north, was a commercial rather than a strategic line, it was obviously desirable that strategic considerations should not be overlooked when deciding on the location of that part of the line which lay within the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Government. Sir Gerard Noel stated that " from a naval point of view the Eastern route is-in every way preferable," and Major-General Hatton that he and his military experts are of opinion that the Eastern route would best serve military purposes.
24. From the foregoing considerations I am of opinion that unless the engineers' detailed estimates show that by reason of the cost of the tunnel a line by the East route will be considerably more expensive than the longer one by the West route, the proposed railway from the old boundary to the new frontier of the Colony should follow generally the trace indicated by the red line on the map, with stations near the seventh, twelfth, and sixteen and a half miles, as there given.
I have, &c.,
MATTHEW NATHAN,
85
Enclosure A in No. 59.
i
APPROXIMATE Area of Land under Cultivation, and Estimate of Population of the country served by the Two Rontes.
Miles from Kowloon.
Western Route,
7
TSUN WAN :-
Population, 3,270.
دوند
Cultivation (rice and pineapples), 1,400 acres.
Population,
13
TÀI LAM CHUNG,
1,000.
Cultivation
SO KUN WAT.
15
23
29
314
(rice), 500
acres.
UN LONG MARKET (including Un Long, Ha Taun, Ping Shan, Shap Pat Heung, Kan Tin, and Pat Heung Districts) :-
Population, 22,200.
Cultivation (rice and sugar), 13,100
acres,
SAN TIN (served by Eastern Route,
but not so well) :-
Population, 2,150,
Cultivation, 1,720.
Fastern Route.
TAI WAI. Kau Yeuk Districts :--
Population, 4,530.
Cultivation (rice), 1,350 acres,
TAI PO DISTRICT:-
Population, 6,550.
Cultivation (rice), 2,600 acres.
FAU LING (served by Western Route,
but not so we!!) :-
Population, 2,870.
Cultivation (rice and sugar),
1,770 acres.
Routes adjoin
SHEUNG SHUI DISTRICT:-
Population, 5,600.
Cultivation, 3,100 acres.
331
LO FU FERRY (BOUNDARY) :—
New Territory Population, 2,190.
Cultivation (a large amount cultivated by persons living in
Chinese Territory), 2,750 acres.
Western Route.
Summary.
Total Population
36,510
Total Cultivation... 22,570 acres.
Population per mile 1,090
Cultivation per mile
674 acres.
Eastern Route.
Summary.
21,740
11,570 acres.
1,035
Total Population
Total Cultivation...
Population per mile
Cultivation per mile
551 acres.
(This route serves the largest
fishing district.)
Miles from Kowloon.
121
I
161
18
21
NOTE. By the eastern route at Taipo there would be water communication with part of the Tung Hoi district, and possibly by steam launch with villages on the north shore of Mirs Bay. A launch has been running between Sha Tin, Im Tin and Sha U Chung, carrying up to 50 passengers, but it has now stopped owing to a prosecu- tion for carrying an excess number of passengers.
The main villages of the Sha Tau Kok district would also connect with either route at Sheung Shui or Sham Chun by a road about 7 miles in length. The popula- tion affected being about 5,500. Many persons from the Sha Tau Kok district present travel to Hong Kong by the Sham Chun launches.
Governor, &o.