CO129-350 - Public Offices - 1908 — Page 456

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sliding down a couple of chutes. Chinese are noted for their frugality, and it rather surprised me to hear from the Japanese Consul-General that Japanese were able to compete successfully with the native retail shops. I have already made reference to this subject when dealing with Antung, A Commissioner of the Imperial Maritime Customs and a Chinese Postal Commissioner for Manchuria, both British, reside in Mukden; but no foreign custom-house has been opened, and the former simply acts as Adviser to the Native Customs Administration. The latter is busy establishing post-offices in the three provinces, and he informed me that he expected to have 150 in working order at the beginning of 1908. The Japanese have about forty offices.

As at Tairen, there is an experimental agricultural, botanic, and horticultural farm under Japanese superintendence, and afforestation and improved methods of agriculture and fruit growing are talked about.

K'uan-ch'eng-tzu and Harbin.

From Mukden I proceeded north to K'uan-ch'eng-tzu (Ch'ang-ch'un Fu), the great trade emporium of Northern Manchuria, and to Harbin, on the right bank of the Sungari, through which the Siberian Railway from Vladivostock passes on its way to Russia and Europe. Both places were opened as international marts by the Additional Agreement between Japan and Russia of 1905. There are through trains from Tairen to K'uan-ch'eng-tzu, which is the northern terminus of the South Manchurian Railway, and I had to be at Mukden Station at 11 A.M. on the 13th October to catch the train of that day. When day broke we had passed the cities of Tieh-ling, another of the marts, and K'ai-yüan, and were traversing the fertile slightly undulating plains of Western Manchuria. The crops were all harvested, and there was nothing to show that, while Southern Manchuria had yielded an unusually bounteous harvest, to the north of Kai-yuan a long-continued and disastrous drought had prevailed. Yet there was extraordinary business activity at the station of Ssu-p'ing-kai, which lies about 3 miles to the north-east of the important trade centre of Mai-mai-kai (Feng-hua Hsien). Bags of beans, piled in hundreds, lined a siding for at least half a-mile, and were ready to be loaded for the south. These beans had come from the collecting centre of Mai-mai-kai, which, previous to the introduction of railways, had sent its produce by cart to T'ung-chiang-tzu, another of the opened marts, on the Liao. What was taking place at Ssu-p'ing-kai occurs elsewhere, and fully explains the diminishing number of carts and bean-boats that now visit Newchwang. An important return cargo for the bean-boats was salt, but I noticed much of it now going inland by rail. The course of trade is rapidly changing, and, so far as the far interior is concerned, the railway is bound to win.

Until the dispute regarding the possession of the railway station at Kuan-ch'eng-tzu was arranged, the railheads of the Japanese and Russian lines were 7 miles apart, the Japanese terminus being the station of Meng-chia-t'un. The Japanese have now relaid their line to within a mile of the Russian station, and boundary-pillars of brick and plaster inscribed with the Chinese characters for "Terminus of the South Manchurian Railway," have been erected in a row, two on each side of the line, midway between the two stations. The present Japanese station stands on a platform between lines of rails, and workmen were busy adjusting the mile of tracks between the two stations to facilitate the linking-up and inter-working of the two different railway systems. But the Japanese are doing much more. The city of Kuan-ch'eng-tzu, like Mukden, is from 2 to 3 miles east of the railway, and a branch line is being built from the station of Shih-li-pu, 3 miles north of the Meng-chia-t'un, to within a mile or so of the city, with its terminus at Tou-tao-kou, and from this terminus the construction of the K'uan-ch'eng-tzu-Kirin line will be commenced next year.

The

In connection with this branch line the Japanese are accused of a dastardly act. Wishing to acquire the land in the neighbourhood of T'ou-tao-kou, and between T'ou-tao-kou and the city, they approached the owners, who refused to sell. One morning the houses were a mass of smouldering ruins. An Englishman, an eye-witness of the ruins, was my informant. The Japanese are now in full possession. The Japanese station at Kuan-ch'eng-tzu, which was reached at 1:30 P.M. on the 14th, was a scene of bustle and business. Covered Chinese springless carts and Russian droskies—the only vehicles which can withstand these roads—jostled each other to secure passengers for the city, while carts were loading and unloading goods and passing between the two stations and between the stations and the city. Many evil-visaged Europeans stood in front of booths which served as restaurants, and I considered it advisable to at once transfer my baggage to the Russian railway station, whither I accompanied it on foot. By this time it was too late to visit the city, but as I remained two days there on my return from Harbin it may be well to describe my impressions of it here.

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The city of K'uan-ch'eng-tzu lies on a plain, and the flatness of the surrounding country prevents a good view of the city being obtained. The only foreign building in the town is a branch of the Russo-Chinese Bank, and with that ambition which distinguishes the Russian builder, it is provided with a couple of towers which rise to a height of 60 feet from the ground. By the kindness of the manager I was able to ascend one of these towers, whence I obtained an excellent panoramic view of the city. It is surrounded by a mud wall more or less complete, and measures some 4 miles from west to east and 2 miles from north to south. Its resident population is estimated at 80,000, but there is a considerable floating population, and when I visited the city in 1896 the total inhabitants were said to number 120,000. But all these figures are guesswork, and the population of Mukden, which was supposed to be large, has recently been cut down to less than 150,000. From the tower I looked down on a sea of flat-roofed houses with large walled compounds behind, the inns or caravan-serais where goods are stored pending sale and removal. Almost every compound contains a primitive bean-mill, where oil is extracted and bean-cakes manufactured. There are a few other industries, such as the manufacture of indigo and felt. The streets were crowded, and many of the shops were doing a miscellaneous business, furs of various kinds being prominently displayed owing to the approaching cold weather. I shall speak later of the insecurity to which trade, now showing signs of improving, has recently been exposed, and of the confusion resulting from the diversity of the currency. There are at present 8,000 Chinese troops in and around the city. Its cart traffic with the north and east is still large, in spite of the Chinese Eastern Railway, which should be the natural transport channel, but the freight from K'uan-ch'eng-tzu to Harbin and thence south-east is so heavy that carts can still successfully compete in the north of Manchuria, and I was informed that 10,000 cases of kerosene oil had recently been sent by cart to A-shih-ho, which lies on the railway to the east of Harbin, instead of by rail.

In addition to the Russo-Chinese Bank, branches of the Yokohama Specie and Chinese Government (Hu Pu) Banks have recently been opened at K'uan-ch'eng-tzu. Japan is there represented by a Consul, and Russia by a Vice-Consul. Japanese of the type seen elsewhere number over 3,000, and are steadily increasing, and there are from sixty to eighty gambling establishments kept by them.

One point I have omitted to mention in regard to the railway between Mukden and K'uan-ch'eng-tzu is the loopholed stone block-houses built by the Russians at stated intervals along the line are not occupied by the Japanese railway guards.

I left by the train which, starting from the Russian railway station at K'uan-ch'eng-tzu at 8 P.M. on the 14th October, arriving at Harbin next morning at 6 o'clock. At Harbin one might be in Russia. At one time the same might have been said of Dalny (the Tairen of to-day), but Harbin was planned on a much larger and more elaborate scale, and it remains a monument of Russian aspirations. It had, however, a modest beginning. The River Sungari, on whose right bank the Pristan or harbour town of Harbin now stands, was in flood, and had overflowed its banks when the town was projected, and what is now known as Old Harbin, several miles to the south-east of the river, was selected as the site. A small town was built, but it was found inconvenient in view of the importance of the railway, and rising ground behind the Pristan was fixed upon for the erection of the Railway Administration and residential town which now goes by the name of New Harbin. Old Harbin, New Harbin, and the Pristan are, however, known collectively as Harbin, and they, with Alexeieff village, which lies between Old and New Harbin, are all within the Railway Settlement Reserve, whose area on the right bank is 27 square miles, and on the left bank 19 square miles, or a total of 47 square miles.

The railway line coming from the south-east divides the Pristan from New Harbin and sweeping round the east side of the former (the Sungari at this point flowing east by north) crosses the river into the Hei-lung-chiang Province by a fine iron girder bridge of ten spans, rising about 40 feet above the river. There is a bridge of boats about three-quarters of a-mile above the Sungari Bridge for passengers and vehicles. The station, a fine building with numerous sidings, engine sheds, workshops, and godowns, is conveniently situated between the harbour and residential quarters, and the line to Vladivostock branches off to the east.

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