CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911 — Page 369

This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government..

367

CHINA RAILWAYS.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[3063]

No. 1.

5712

[January 26,]

SECTION 1.

21 FEB ⠀

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received January 26.) (No. 7. Confidential.) Sir,

Peking, January 6, 1911. IN my despatch No. 359, Confidential, of the 6th August, 1908, on the subject of the proposed construction of a railway line from Chinchow-fu to Taonan-fu, in Manchuria, I said that the success of the scheme would depend largely upon the capabilities of Chinchow as a winter, that is to say, ice-free port, and Mr. Max Müller, in his despatch No. 169 of the 29th May last, reported to you, on the authority of His Majesty's consul-general at Mukden, that the Provincial Government of Manchuria were prepared to proceed with the construction of a barbour at Hulutao, an inlet some 20 miles south of Chinchow, at a cost, according to a rough estimate made by Mr. Hughes, who had surveyed the harbour at the request of the Viceroy of Manchuria, of 4,000,000 taels.

Lord ffrench, Messrs. Paulings' agent in Peking, gave Mr. Max Müller to understand that it was unlikely that the American group would advance the necessary funds for the construction of this harbour unless the contract were given to Messrs. Paulings, and he thought it curious policy to commence the construction of a harbour before the question of the railway was settled.

However, it would appear that the Manchurian authorities, impatient at the delay in arranging the railway and loan questions in Peking, have taken the matter of the barbour into their own hands, and have actually, as you will see from the copy of a private letter which I have the honour to enclose, made a start by building a line of railway to connect the new port with Lienshan, a station 7 miles distant on the Peking-Mukden Railway.

I am informed by Mr. II. P. King, the Peking agent of Messrs. John Brown and Company, that Mr. Hughes has been appointed superintendent engineer of the new harbour works, and that tenders for the supply of material will shortly be given out.

A glance at the map of North China will show the importance of Hulutao, an ice-free port at the head of the Gulf of Liaotung, more than 200 miles north of Dalny and Port Arthur, connected by railway with all the principal points in Manchuria, as a distributing centre for the trade of the three eastern provinces; and one may not unreasonably regard this new enterprise as an indication of the determination of the Chinese Government to develop the territory west of the Liao River as a set-off to Russian and Japanese influence in other parts of Manchuria.

I have, &c.

J. N. JORDAN,

Enclosure in No. 1.

Messrs. Forbes und Co. to Messrs. Paulings and Co.

Dear Sirs,

Chinwangtao, North Chino, December 9, 1910. THE writer has just returned from a visit to Hulutao, where work has begun in connection with the new harbour about which you may have heard. Hulutao is the name of a promontory in the Liaotung Gulf, and is about 10 miles by a very rough track from the railway station of Lienshan on the Peking-Mukden Railway. The cutting for a branch railway from Liensban to Hulutao was begun about 6 weeks ago, and this branch, it is expected, will reduce the distance to the port to about 7 miles. Lienshan is 94 miles from Tangho, in the direction of Mukden.

The new port will bave a depth of 30 feet throughout at low water, while at spring tides the depth will be 40 feet, so that vessels of the largest size trading with the East will be able to enter the harbour at all times. In area the harbour will be five times the size of Dainy Harbour, and will have wharf accommodation for over twenty steamers. A treble line of rails will run alongside the wharf.

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