CO129-391 - Acting Governor Claud Severn Governor Sir May - 1912 [7-8] — Page 279

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Government at Canton has nothing to do with the management of the Railway.

4.

Financially the Chinese Section is not in a good position. Before the occurrence of the revolution the daily receipts had reached $2,100 a day. Since that occurrence the traffic, and especially the through traffic, has fallen very much with the result that receipts diminished to from 1950 to $1,650 a day. There has recently been a slight recovery to $1,800 a day.

But on these receipts a loss is made oving to

the depreciation of the bank notes issued by the Provisional Government. These have been at a discount rising gradually from three per centum to as much as 40 per centum.

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The Manager of the Branch at Canton of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank recently wrote to the Chief Manager in Hongkong in terms of the enclosure hereto. The discount on the notes had risen to 40 percentum after that letter was written. The Provisional Government has since made a strenuous effort by inducing certain merchants to take a large quantity of the notes off the market to diminish the discount which has fallen to 10 per centum. But the relief is only temporary. Already holders of notes purchased at the high discount are sheving a disposition to sell and it is manifest that the exchange value of the notes must soon fall again.

6.

Through traffic on the Railway has suffered very much owing to the unpunctuality of trains on the Chinese Section. The management is slack and indifferent to punctuality. This unpunctuality has inflicted on the British Section indirect loss,es for exemple in the case of freight on pigs from Tai Po to Hongkong by the through train due in Hongkong at 7 p.m. The train arrives so late that pigs cannot be brought into Victoria.

This unpunctuality has been agravated by a

wash-out due to flood in June last on the Chinese Section. But

apart