CO129-216 - Governor Sir Bowen - 1884 [5-6] — Page 535

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to the making of a railway connecting Vehing with Tientsin, the fortified Port at the mouth of the Veiho-

The resent complications with France, and the fear of imminent attacks by the French on various points of the coast, and of internal rebellion, have doubtless done much to impress on the Chinese official mind the necessity of greater facilities for the transmission of intelligence and

stax

the

conveyance of troops and munitions of war to any part of

the

the vast Empire that might be threatened with foreign

invasion or

with domestic insurrection. Thus

the prospect of war which recently was considered dangerous, may prove ultimately, in its results, to have been favourable to the

of Trade and Commerce.

interests

5.

It should never be

forgotten, however, that the peace and progress of China appear at present to depend, in no slight

degree,

on one man, that is, on

Li Hungchang retaining his present

commanding.