[ { "id": 304230, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-185 - Acting Governor Marsh Governor Hennessy - 1879 [6-12]", "page_number": 175, "title": "CO129-185 - Acting Governor Marsh Governor Hennessy - 1879 [6-12]", "content_text": "## \n\n174 \n\nbe to address Her Majesty's Consul and pleased request that he will move the British Authorities at Hongkong to take the necessary steps in the matter, and also that the Commander of the gunboat \"Ising-fan\", Pang Wing-fee, may be instructed to proceed with his steamer to Hongkong in order to cooperate with Sergeant Tang On bringing the said Criminals to Canton to be handed over to the proper Court for trial.\n\nThe Viceroy begs to observe, with reference to this affair, that the said 13 offenders Hanghai pin are important criminals who have been accused by Ch'in pat and other aggrieved parties of abduction, robbery and spiteful murder. As they have now been arrested with the assistance of the foreign police in Hongkong, which place they are temporarily imprisoned, they should be conveyed without loss of time to Canton for trial and punishment.\n\nThe Viceroy has instructed Corporal Pang Hung fei, Commander of the gunboat Ising-fan to proceed to HongKong to take into his custody and bring to Canton the criminals Hunghai pin to be handed over through Her Majesty's Consul to the Viceroy for transmission to the proper Court.\n\nThe Viceroy begs to address this Despatch to Her Majesty's Acting Consul, for his information, and to request that he will be pleased to prepare without delay a Despatch authorizing Corporal Pang to proceed to Hongkong and take charge of and bring to Canton the said criminals.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-185 - Acting Governor Marsh Governor Hennessy - 1879 [6-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 373320, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-294 - Governor Sir Blake - 1899 [10-12]", "page_number": 50, "title": "CO129-294 - Governor Sir Blake - 1899 [10-12]", "content_text": "No. 279.\n\nGovernment House, Hongkong, 41th October, 1899.\n\nSir,\n\nI have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 160 of 28th August with enclosures, on the subject of piracy on the West River.\n\n2. I have been in communication on the subject with the Commodore stationed here, to supply anything like adequate protection will necessitate the employment of more vessels of the 'Sandpiper' class, and small armed boats that can operate in the creeks.\n\nThe piracies near Funghai on the Forchhol Bay, Fatshan Lirs Bay have also become serious. Those piracies are perpetrated upon Chinese junks trading between Hongkong, Amoy and Swatow, and licensed in Hongkong. I have called the attention of Admiral Seymour to the matter.\n\n4. As regards the West River piracies, I have the honour to ask your attention to my Despatch No. 278 of this date enclosing letters from the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce on the subject. The third letter was written at my suggestion, for the solution adopted from me and put forward is one that would not alone relieve the strain from piratical attacks...\n\nYour obedient Servant,\nJOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-294 - Governor Sir Blake - 1899 [10-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 488929, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-470 - Public Offices - 1921", "page_number": 77, "title": "CO129-470 - Public Offices - 1921", "content_text": "# though for the time being capital might only be raised in America and Japan yet the central management of the consortium should continue to be conducted by the British group.\n\nPolitical Matters not Discussed.\n\nThe remaining terms of the agenda of a political nature were not discussed. At the request of Mr. Armstrong, the British consul-general, Sir Charles Addis had attended at the consulate and was shown a despatch from Lord Curzon on this subject. Sir Charles Addis was able to assure His Majesty's consul-general that no political matters had been or would be the subject of discussion and further that the question of the inclusion of a Chinese group had already been considered and the suggestion of His Majesty's Government adopted.\n\nVotes of Thanks.\n\nVotes of thanks to the New York Chamber of Commerce, where the conference had been held, and to the chairman for presiding terminated the official proceedings.\n\nVisit of Chinese Delegate.\n\nSubsequently, in consequence of information received by the American group that a delegate of the Chinese Ministry of Finance was on his way to New York to discuss business with the consortium on behalf of the Chinese Government, the representatives of the groups were invited to await his arrival, but at an informal meeting with the delegate, Mr. Hsü Un Yuen, on the 18th October, it appeared that he had no definite instructions or authority to deal officially with the consortium. It is understood, however, that on a subsequent occasion he sounded the American group as to the possibility of an immediate temporary advance of 5,000,000 dollars. This overture was discouraged, but was made to serve a useful purpose in connection with the tentative offer embodied in the American group telegram which forms Appendix 3 above referred to.\n\nGeneral Attitude at Conference.\n\nIn spite of sharp differences of opinion on various points, general harmony marked the proceedings as a whole, and in particular the British group were sensible throughout of the loyal co-operation of their Japanese colleagues.\n\nSummary of Results.\n\nThe results of the conference may be briefly summarised as follows:-\n\n1. The definite inclusion of Japan in a common policy of substituting international co-operation for international competition in China.\n2. The prevention of any expansion or extension of existing Japanese special interests in China outside of Manchuria (see Appendix 4).\n3. The final abandonment of the policy of spheres of influence in China (see supra),\n4. The encouragement of the formation of a Chinese group to assist in the raising of capital in China itself by the issue of silver loans.\n5. The adoption of the principle that agreements pooled but remaining unexecuted at the termination of the consortium should revert to the original concessionaire.\n6. The adoption of the principle that no group which has failed to make any individual contribution to the pooled agreements shall be entitled to share in the individual contributions of the others.\n\nThese results are substantially those which, in accord with the general instructions of His Majesty's Government, it was the object of the British group to achieve, and they believe that the foundations of a new policy in China have been firmly laid in which British commercial interests have been fully safeguarded.\n\nLondon, November 6, 1920.\n\nC. S. A.\n\n## APPENDIX 1.\n\nDepartment of State,\n\nFor information of the British Group:\n\nGentlemen,\n\nWashington, October 11, 1920. IN connection with recent correspondence regarding proposed financial assistance to the Chinese Government you are advised that the Department has received a telegram of the 7th October, 1920, from the American Legation at Peking, stating that on the 4th October the Chinese Minister of Communications ratified an agreement for a Dutch-Belgian Loan for 60,000,000 fr. The text of this agreement was forwarded by pouch on the 20th September.\n\nThe above information was in reply to a despatch to the Legation, dated the 27th May last, calling attention to an item which appeared in the Washington Post of the 18th May with reference to a report that construction was to commence on the Lunghai Railway with funds borrowed from Belgium.\n\nMessrs. J. P. Morgan and Co.,\n\nFor the American Group,\n\nI am, &c.\n\nNORMAN H. DAVIS, Under-Secretary.\n\n23. Wall Street. New York.\n\n## APPENDIX 2.\n\nTelegram of October 27, 1920, from the American Group to their Representative at Peking.\n\nTHE Finance Minister has sent us unofficial message through Hsü Un Yuen that he would appreciate temporary advance of $5,000,000 to tide over present difficulty. We have explained to Hsü and should be glad to have you inform Finance Minister verbally that consortium cannot consider piecemeal business and that any loan to be successfully offered on American market must form part of comprehensive plan for constructive effort in China; otherwise public will not subscribe. During all of the consortium meetings there was evident the greatest wish to assist the Chinese Government along constructive lines looking to the development for China's benefit of her great resources. Nevertheless, in view of limited amount of fund available for China in near future because European markets are largely closed to any outside investments, the Japanese market has been undergoing difficulties and American market is not yet acquainted with Far Eastern issues, consortium considers that loan should be raised only for constructive purposes, particularly railways.\n\nAfter having discussed this matter informally with British, French and Japanese representatives of consortium in New York, we are sending this cable to advise Minister and other group representatives in Peking through you that we have been considering means whereby consortium can be of early practical help, and that, subject always to market conditions, we would be prepared to proceed now with consideration of a loan looking towards the completion Canton-Hankow Railway and, when additional funds become available, for the further development of the Hukuang Railway system.\n\nConditions precedent would be:-\n\n| Condition | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (a.) | Complete recognition by Chinese Government of liability of complete original issue of Hukuang bonds without distinction. On this point consortium adopted the following resolution :— \"It was resolved, without questioning that the course hitherto pursued by the Chinese Government has been followed in good faith, that it is now manifest that the successful flotation of further Chinese loans in foreign markets, which are necessary if the work of the consortium for the benefit of China is to be carried out, imperatively requires a public announcement by the Chinese Government with reference to the German issue of bonds forming part of the Hukuang Loan, to the general effect that after consideration of all the facts and the unprecedented conditions involved, and resolving all doubts in favour of the holders of such bonds, the Chinese Government has determined to recognise the entire issue without distinction.\" |", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-470 - Public Offices - 1921.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 509147, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-502-6 China- general situation 7-1-1927 - 3-3-1927", "page_number": 72, "title": "CO129-502-6 China- general situation 7-1-1927 - 3-3-1927", "content_text": "## 84\n\n3 \n\nand the Canton Governments, but this was rejected on examination as being tantamount to recognition of both Governments and ultimately it was decided that I should hand copies to no one. Dr. Koo, who had of course seen the questions asked in Parliament on the subject, himself raised the question of my credentials at my first interview with him and I explained to him my instructions. At one time I thought that he intended to make difficulties over the question, but when returning my call he made no further allusion to it and he has probably decided to leave the matter in abeyance, at any rate for the present. It is probable, however, that as soon as he has formed his new Cabinet, which I understand he has been asked by Chang Tso-lin to do, he will raise the question of credentials again.\n\n5. Interest in the north has centred on the plans and intentions of Chang Tso-lin, who arrived in Tien-tsin from Mukden in the first half of November. It was generally expected that Marshal Chang, having waited for the collapse of Wu Pei-fu's Administration, would proceed forthwith to Peking, to reorganise the Government with his nominees, and even place himself at its head as Provisional President or Chief Executive. Indecision and delay, due perhaps to divided counsels amongst his advisers and supporters, have, however, so far characterised Marshal Chang's actions since he left Mukden, and it was not until a month and a half later that he arrived in Peking towards the end of December; and it still remains to be seen whether he really has any constructive plans for the re-establishment of a Government.\n\n6. In the meantime events were moving rapidly on the Yang-tsze, where, as reported in paragraph 4 of Sir Ronald Macleay's despatch above referred to, hostilities had opened at the end of September between Sun Chuan-fang and the Cantonese. Sun poured troops from Kiangsu, Chekiang and Anhui into Kiangsi under the supreme command of his most trusted general, Lu Hsiang-t'ing, and despatched other forces up the river towards Hankow, himself proceeding to Kiukiang to superintend the operations of his armies. At first the better-equipped army of Sun dealt three successive blows to Chiang Kai-shek's army, costing the latter some 20,000 casualties and driving them back from Nanchang towards their communications in Hunan. If these victories had been followed up a general collapse of the Kuo Min-tang armies would probably have resulted from the threat to their base at Changsha; but, as usual in China, a policy of inaction allowed the initiative to pass from the hands of Sun into those of Chiang, who, by propaganda and by infiltration of small parties into the battle zone, was soon in a position to turn the tables on his adversary. Before the middle of November Sun discovered the Nanchang Kiukiang Railway to be cut and the Kuo Min-tang forces at the gates of Kiukiang. In a panic, he himself headed the flight, leaving his forces to find their way back to Kiangsu and Chekiang, thus totally evacuating the Province of Kiangsi, which passed under the control of the Cantonese.\n\n7. Sun Ch'uan-fang, who had been originally a subordinate officer in Wu Pei-fu's armies, had hitherto consistently professed at least a nominal adherence to Marshal Wu, and had sent a representative to join the Cabinet set up by Wu in Peking in the summer. Moreover, a year before, in the late autumn of 1925, Sun had declared war on the Fengtien leaders, then in occupation of Nanking and the Shanghai region, and had expelled them from Kiangsu by force, a state of armed peace having since prevailed between him and his Northern neighbour, Chang Tsung-ch'ang, the Fengtien Governor of Shantung. It was, therefore, a matter of some surprise and speculation when Sun in the latter half of November paid a sudden and unexpected visit to Chang Tso-lin at Tien-tsin, accompanied only by a few bodyguards. What exactly passed during his stay in Tien-tsin is not known, but his visit was generally interpreted by Chinese opinion as involving his abdication from his independent position in Central China, and his acceptance of the overlordship of the Manchurian Generalissimo. As the result of the conferences of Northern leaders, mostly of the Fengtien party, which now took place at Tientsin, it was shortly afterwards announced that a definite agreement had now been reached for a combined offensive against the armies of the Kuo Min-tang, while it was later reported that the details of the arrangements come to provided that Sun Ch'uan-fang should surrender to Chang Tsung-chang the whole of Northern Kiangsu, and confine himself to the control and defence of Chekiang and the Shanghai area. Sun thereupon returned to Nanking, and Chang Tsung-chang's troops immediately began to move south along the Tien-tsin-Pukow Railway. Their further advance into Kiangsu was soon after halted for a time, outwardly on account, it was said, of objections raised by Wu Pei-fu; but also, it seems, on account of opposition manifested by local public bodies in Kiangsu, who were rumoured to have given it to be understood that they would sooner see their province overrun by the Nationalist armies than given over to the depredations of Chang Tsung-chang's notorious soldiery from Shantung. Eventually, however, Chang Tsung-chang himself, accompanied by strong bodyguards, arrived in Nanking in the third week in December, while his troops moved down into North Kiangsu to replace the forces of Sun Ch'uan-fang.\n\n8. The next move by the Northern leaders was the announcement early in December of the creation of the An-Kuo-Chün (army for the pacification of the country irreverently known by some of my more flippant colleagues as the Salvation Army) under Chang Tso-lin as generalissimo and Chang Tsung-chang, Sun Chuan-fang, Yen Hsi-shan (the Governor of Shansi) and other Northern leaders as vice-commanders, accompanied by the usual advertisement in the press of their military plans for the annihilation of the Reds. It was significant, however, that there was no mention in these arrangements of the name of Wu Pei-fu, who, while he now professes to regard Chang Tso-lin as an ally, could not be expected to subordinate himself to the latter's leadership.\n\n9. Marshal Wu has indeed proved a considerable thorn in the side of the An-Kuo-Chun, in view of his occupation of Northern Honan and his stubborn refusal so far to yield place to Chang Tso-lin's forces, which have advanced down the Peking-Hankow Railway to the borders of Honan, or accept their co-operation on the terms they desire. A glance at the map will show the strategic importance to the Fengtien high command of Chengchow (Wu's headquarters), situated at the junction of the East to West Lunghai Railway with the Peking-Hankow line, and the vital necessity to them of occupying it before engaging their forces seriously on the middle Yang-tsze. The difficulty of the situation from the Fengtien point of view is increased by the fact that Wu's forces, though still nominally 80,000 to 100,000 strong, are of small military value and are notoriously unreliable, while his subordinate generals, and notably Chin Yün-ao, are known to have small sympathy with their former enemies in the Fengtien armies and to have made overtures to the South. Wu Pei-fu's apparently intransigent and obstructive attitude towards his Fengtien allies, while typical of his character and past record, may in this case have been at least partly due to these considerations. It is now, at the end of the year, reported that the situation has been cleared up by the dismissal of Chin Yün-ao from his command, but it remains to be seen whether this has been really effected. It is expected that eventually the main attack of Chang Tso-lin's forces will be directed on Hupei down the Kin-Han line; but whether Wu Pei-fu will be relegated to West Honan to deal with the Kuo Min-chun, or whether his armies will take part in the main attack, remains to be settled between the leaders.\n\n10. Developments in the South during the three months under review will be reported on more fully by His Majesty's consuls in Central and Southern China, but the most notable event has been the transfer of the seat of the Kuo Min-tang Government from Canton to Wuchang, which took place in December. At the same time, the Kuo Min-tang, after their successful occupation of Kiangsi, have extended their control over the greater part of Fukien, where the Northern forces occupying that province in the interests of Marshal Sun Chuan-fang dissolved before the Southern advance with little or no fighting. Chekiang, now surrounded on two sides by Kuo Min-tang influence, has also been penetrated to some extent and appears likely to fall also in the near future into their hands.\n\n11. The general political and military position at the close of the year may be summed up as follows. Chang Tso-lin is in Peking and is credited with the intention of re-establishing a Central Government in the Northern capital, which remains, however, for the time being to all intents and purposes without any Government at all. Chang himself controls Manchuria and the metropolitan Province of Chihli and the adjacent territories of Inner Mongolia, and indirectly, through his former subordinate, Chang Tsung-ch'ang, the Province of Shantung. His allies, Sun Chuan-fang and Yen Hsi-shan, the former still controlling the Lower Yang-tsze region and the latter the Province of Shansi, have nominally accepted his leadership, but both are understood to be quite prepared to come to terms with the Kuo Min-tang if they can do so. Wu Pei-fu, who retains control of Northern Honan, also professes to be in alliance with Marshal Chang, but insists on retaining complete liberty of action, and impedes rather than assists the latter's plans. In opposition to this loosely welded block of individual Northern leaders, bound together by momentary ties of self-interest, stands the Kuo Min-tang Government, now established at Wuchang, and professing to control the Provinces of Kuangtung, Kuangsi, Hunan, Kiangsi, Fukien, Hupei, parts of Chekiang, and, ... \n\n## 8:", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-502-6 China- general situation 7-1-1927 - 3-3-1927.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 512773, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-507-3 China- anti-piracy precautions 31-10-1927 - 25-10-1928", "page_number": 118, "title": "CO129-507-3 China- anti-piracy precautions 31-10-1927 - 25-10-1928", "content_text": "120\n\n6\n\nthe Hungarian Premier in which he said that, having heard of the reported intention to sell the arms under dispute he was of opinion that \"it would be prudent\" to delay such action, as the matter would shortly come before the Council for examination. To this a reply was received that the arms in question had already been broken up and sold, but that, purely as an act of courtesy, the purchasers would be asked not to remove \"the objects, for the present,\" a reply which evoked a certain discreet hilarity. On 7th March, the subject was discussed at the session of the Council, and the Hungarian representative, General Tanczos, was asked to make a statement. He remarked that the relations between Hungary and certain of her neighbours were not very good, and had not been improved by the steps that the latter had recently taken. The Hungarian authorities had from the beginning declared that the wagons seized contained machine-gun parts, and that the official report gave a faithful picture of what had taken place. He then produced the waybills which he had taken the precaution to bring with him in order to prove that the material was consigned from Italy to an address in Poland, and stated that as the trucks contained war material, and were unaccompanied by a permit for transit through Hungary, they were seized as contraband by the Customs authorities and were destroyed in accordance with the Berne Convention, and the regulations of the Hungarian Government. A heated passage occurred when M. Titulescu angrily cried that he hoped the General's reference to Hungary's neighbours was merely an imprudence, and said that it makes it still worse when the latter replied that, on the contrary, it was the outcome of ripe reflection. Matters were smoothed over by reference of the affair to a Committee, and it is reported that the general opinion is that no investigation will be ordered.\n\nNo progress has been made in the settlement of the Optants dispute with Rumania, and the question is again before the Council this Session.\n\nItaly and Yugoslavia. There continue to occur incidents which display no particular indication of any trend towards improvement in mutual relations. A Yugoslav newspaper has got hold of, and published, a document containing secret instructions to the Italian Consul-General at Ljubljana, directing him to take all measures to collect as much information as possible regarding the composition, development and results of the Yugoslav military manoeuvres confidentially reported to be about to take place in the Italo-Yugoslav frontier zone. The paper declares that there is no doubt whatever that this Italian official is engaged in activities tantamount to espionage. The circulation of a book published by an official of the Italian Legation at Belgrade has been prohibited by the authorities owing to its anti-Yugoslav tone. In reply to a contribution to an Italian review under the title of \"How the Italian Navy saved the Serbian Army,\" a Belgrade newspaper has published an article in which it certainly does not mince matters. The rôle of saviour alleged to have been played by Italy amounted, it is stated, to the cession, after energetic intervention of the Tsar and the French Government, of a few merchant ships for the transport of troops and refugees. The article continues: the author declares that in the course of the war, the Italian Navy executed 584 missions in which it suffered losses, but he would be unable to name any battles between the Italian fleet and the enemy, for it is well known that all the Italian losses were inflicted by their own mines on their warships which cruised in cowardly fashion off their own coast. He declares that the Italian fleet took part in the battle of 29th December, 1915, when Italian ships sank two Austrian destroyers. It is true that the Italian fleet was to have taken part in this battle, but it took to flight. At the battle was present only one Italian ship concealed behind the French torpedo-boats. Overcome by this cowardice the French Commander-in-Chief in the Adriatic declared the following day to the Italian Admiral that the Italian Fleet had better remain in harbour altogether, as up to the present this fictitious collaboration had only hindered the joint operations of the French and British. Such was one of the numerous \"Italian victories,\" which took place exclusively in the imagination of the Italians. This same people now wish to intimidate us with their war-like prowess. They fail, however, to see that everyone laughs at this war-like prowess and their harlequin Cæsar.\n\n! 7\n\nCHINA.\n\nNo important change has occurred in the civil war situation owing to the prevailing winter conditions. Elaborate preparations continue to be made by the Nationalists, who are concentrating at Hsuchowfu, the junction of the Lunghai and Tientsin-Pukow railways, to launch their offensive towards the end of March.\n\nBandits have lately been very active on the Middle Yangtze. Seven junks were held up and robbed by pirates on 10th February, 17 miles below Chenglin. One man and two girls who were captured by the pirates were subsequently released.\n\nThe River Inspector's launch was attacked by pirates on 4th February, above Chenglin, and the coxswain killed. The Chinese river supervisor and mark boats between Chenglin and Ichang have had to be withdrawn: the pirates are now removing the mark buoys and beacons to facilitate ships grounding.\n\nEarly in February, Chiang Kai-Shek visited Hsuchowfu, where it is understood negotiations took place between him, Feng Yu-hsiang and Yen Hsi-shan for a combined attack on Peking.\n\nFeng, who is dependent on outside assistance, having been dropped by the Soviet, is endeavouring to get money and\n\n(C11851)\n\nB 4\n\n721", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-507-3 China- anti-piracy precautions 31-10-1927 - 25-10-1928.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 521177, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930", "page_number": 78, "title": "CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930", "content_text": "248\n\nTHE CHINA CRITIC\n\nMarch 13, 1930\n\nMarch 13, 1930\n\nTHE CHINA CRITIC\n\n83\n\n249\n\nserted in the rectangular or square or oblique spaces left over by the advertisements. As we probably have not yet finished with International Cables, we can go right on with them. If the page happens to begin again in the middle of a sentence with no repeated head, the reader can go back to page eight of Sheet No. Two and pick up his cue. After half a column or so of this unfinished international matter, comes the \"Important News\" section, the definition of which is, contrary to the general simplicity of the editorial scheme, somewhat hard to find. Classified under these \"Important News,\" I find, for example, the resolutions of the Third Plenary Session (although the man with the new-fangled idea might regard this as front-page stuff), but one's sense of confusion begins gradually to increase, when one finds the following items regarded as important, viz., the increase of customs duties in Amoy, the burning of a railway station along the Nanshin Railway, the official Inauguration speech of a Hupeh provincial committee member, etc., etc.\n\nIf we proceed, in this cautious and guarded manner, we shall soon come to the murders, suicides, elopements, rape, seductions, abductions, hold-ups, snatching of hand-bags, capture of bandits, divorces, fires, and shipwrecks. Here the \"Dog-gone-it\" editorial policy is seen to the greatest advantage, for, though the case of some shop apprentice running away with the master's daughter may be written up large, the various items are generally left to stand in their pell-mell order. The editor has thus resisted, from a matter of habit and sheer inertia, the temptation to play up crime and disasters, which is the common weakness of western journalists.\n\nBy this time, my frayed nerves were already feeling the strain, and I became possessed with a crushing sense of the futility of my hunt for educational, inspirational, and informational reading matter. Perhaps it is not fair to expect the \"things of truth and of beauty\" in a modern newspaper, no matter in what language, but one is not exactly prepared for the \"PLEASE GIVE ME CASH\" of Tang To, or for the cry of \"Those Who Believe In Me Come Quick-Quick!\" of Yao Tso-tun, not to mention the numerous insertions about massage by \"young Parisian Girls,\" \"young European girls,\" \"young western girls\" which appear every day in the Want Ad. Columns.\n\nGenerally speaking, this way of editing a newspaper must be conceded to be by far the most pleasurable way yet found in any country. One feels no obligation to say anything important or offensive in the leaders. The political news is generally a wholesale, indiscriminate and unedited reproduction of the official communiques of the government organs. There need be no classification of news bearing on the same topic or movement, no worrying about writing leading paragraphs, no selection and co-ordination of news material, and above all no sub-heads, which implies that the editor has no obligation to go through the copy at all. There is more desire on the part of the different editors to accommodate each other with unused space, and the general fellow-feeling and moral tone in the editorial staff is greatly heightened. The demands for consideration of the average newspaper reader have not inconvenienced the editors to any appreciable extent, and the editors, on their part, promise also not to interfere with the reader's business, so that peace and amiability may prevail and everybody may go his own way. So long live the Shanghai Big Press and long live the Land of the Free!\n\nRailway Problems Of 1930\n\nBy Thomas Ming-heng Chao\n\nIn a lengthy memorandum submitted to the Third Plenary Session of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang which opened in Nanking on March 1, the Ministry of Railways made four important proposals.\n\n1. The National Government be ordered to issue stringent orders which would forbid the interfering with railway administration by military officials. Those who did not obey such orders would be immediately punished as counter-revolutionists.\n\n2. The practice of local military officials' taking part of the railway revenues for the payment of their military expenses, and all irregular transportation dues collected by the various local military authorities be abolished.\n\n3. The National Government be ordered to promulgate in the immediate future laws governing the reorganization of China's debts and the rehabilitation of public credit, so that the railway debts can be reorganized and refunded accordingly.\n\n4. The Ministry of Finance be ordered to hand over to the Ministry of Railways two-thirds of the Sino-Russian and Sino-Italian Boxer Indemnity Funds for the completion of part of the Ministry's railway construction program.\n\nIn order to have effective control and efficient management of the various railways, the power of appointment as well as dismissal of the personnel of the railway administrations must be in the hands of the Ministry. It is an open secret that the various local authorities are constantly interfering with the railway administration. Tao-Tsing Railway, (Honan Province), Mr. Shih Yi Hsuan managing-director of the railway left Honan for Nanking in October, 1929, on an official mission. During his absence, however, General Han Fu-chu, Chairman of Honan Provincial Government, appointed Mr. Li Wu-chen to become the railway director. When Mr. Shih returned to Honan, Mr. Li refused to hand over the railway to him.\n\nThere are numerous similar cases. The Ministry of Railways appointed in April, 1929, Mr. Wang Cheng, former Vice-Minister of Railways, as managing director of the Peiping-Suiyuan Railway. In spite of repeated negotiations, Mr. Pan Ting-hsien, the former director of the railway and a nominee of General Yen Hsi-shan, continued to run the line. Mr. Liu Wei-tse was appointed in May, 1929, to become the managing director of the Peiping-Hankow Railway. General Yen Hsi-shan ignored the Ministry's appointment and sent Mr. Hsieh Chung-chow to take over the railway, and Mr. Hsieh actually took over the line by armed force. In December, 1929, the Ministry of Railways appointed Mr. Ko Kuang-ting as managing-director of the Lunghai Railway, but before Mr. Ko could assume post, General Tang Sheng-chi, who later rebelled against the Central Government, appointed someone else. As usual, General Tang's nominee stayed. The Ministry sends also from time to time instructions to the railways in Manchuria and asks the latter lines to submit regular reports to the Ministry regarding their business conditions. These communications, however, are completely ignored by these lines. As far as these particular railways are concerned, the Ministry of Railways does not exist.\n\nAs a result of constant military disturbances along the railways, most of the rolling-stock are not on their own lines. When the Manchurian forces retreated towards the Three Eastern Provinces in 1927, they took away with them rolling-stock from Peiping-Hankow, Tientsin-Pukow, Lunghai, Peiping-Suiyuan and other railways. After several months' negotiations between the representatives of the National Government and the Manchurian authorities, part of the detained rolling-stock were returned. Since May, 1929, rolling-stock on the Lunghai Railway have been detained by military authorities controlling the western section of the line. Almost all the engines, coaches and freight cars on most of the railways have been commandeered for military transportation.\n\nIt is needless to say that regular passenger and freight transportation services on the various railways are seriously crippled. The Ministry of Railways has submitted reports to the Disbandment Committee and the Ministry of War regarding the number of rolling-stock and places where they are being detained, but the instructions from the two administrations to the various local authorities have produced no result. Trains and locomotives are frequently commandeered by soldiers without paying any attention to the safety of lives and the operation schedule. If the orders of these soldiers are not carried out promptly, the railway officials are often subjected to insult and ill treatment.\n\nThe Ministry of Railways has drafted regulations governing military transportation on the various railways. These regulations have been submitted to the Ministry of War for approval. The Ministry of War, however, insists that salt, coal and other similar items must be included under military supplies. It is the opinion of the Ministry of Railways that salt and coal are ordinary commercial products and cannot be, therefore, classified as military supplies and exempted from regular transportation dues. The two ministries cannot reach an agreement regarding this issue and the official promulgation of the military transportation regulations is thus indefinitely held up.\n\nSoldiers refusing to pay their fares and open smuggling of commercial goods by military authorities on the railways are common occurrences. Take Tao-Tsing Railway alone, a railway less than 100 miles long and principally a coal-carrying line, this railway within a period of six months in 1929 had an item of $107,000 for unpaid military transportation charges. The loss thus suffered by the various railways of the country must be tremendous.\n\nThe improvement of labor conditions is one of the proposals supported by the Kuomintang. The labor organizations, moreover, are usually workers' weapons against the capitalists. But in recent years the workers on the various Government railways are organizing on the basis as if the Government is the capitalist.\n\nThe organization of the workmen's unions on the railways is varied. Frequently these unions are controlled by undesirable elements. Protection is often given by such unions to workmen who are inefficient and irresponsible, and dismissal or punishment of such workers is opposed by the unions. It is natural that the efficiency of the workmen is greatly decreased. There are alarming evidences that unless prompt and drastic measures are taken by the Government, these unions will soon attempt to interfere with the administration of the Government's railways.\n\nIn spite of the decision of the Second Plenary Session of the Central Executive Committee which was held in Nanking in June, 1929, which forbade the military authorities from taking away railway revenues for the payment of their military expenses, the local military authorities continue to take whatever there is on the different railways. The Third Group Army Corps, under General Yen Hsi-shan, collects each month $350,000 from the Peiping-Hankow Railway, and $200,000 from the Peiping-Suiyuan Railway. As a result, these lines have no funds left for rehabilitation purposes. The Ministry of Railways presented a strong protest to the Administrative Yuan of the National Government and the Disbandment Committee. The Ministry of Railways was later instructed, however, to continue to appropriate such funds to the military authorities on the ground that disbandment program had not yet been completed.\n\nExcessive freight rates on the railways will bring about a decrease in the volume of goods transported. This is a very simple problem. The various provincial authorities collect irregular taxes on goods transported on the railways, and these taxes are so numerous and high that the freight rates on the railways are well near prohibitive. So long as these irregular taxes are abolished, the development of the country's industries ...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 521178, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930", "page_number": 79, "title": "CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930", "content_text": "250\n\nTHE CHINA\n\nCRITIC\n\nMarch 13, 1930\n\nMarch 13, 1930\n\nTHE CHINA CRITIC\n\n251\n\nand commerce will be seriously handicapped, and the livelihood of the people will be affected.\n\nIt is estimated that the Ministry of War now owes the Ministry of Railways about $12,930,000 for subsidies paid to various army groups and $3,250,000 for military transportation charges within a period of slightly over a year. The Ministry of Railways has sent a bill to the War Department, but the bill remains unpaid.\n\nIt will be recalled that at the Second Plenary Session of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, it was decided to appropriate two-thirds of the entire Boxer-Indemnity Funds for railway construction in China. Sometime ago, a petition was presented to the Administrative Yuan of the National Government suggesting that two-thirds of the Sino-British, Sino-Russian, and Sino-Italian Boxer Indemnity Funds be first appropriated to the Ministry of Railways for the completion of Canton-Hankow, Lunghai, and other lines. If negotiations with the British and Italian Governments had not been completed, it was further suggested that two-thirds of the Sino-Russian Indemnity Funds be handed over to the Railway Ministry. It has been discovered that the Peiping Universities continue to get $350,000 each month from the Sino-Russian Boxer-Indemnity Funds. As it has been decided by the National Government that the Sino-Russian Indemnity Funds shall be used for the completion of the Lunghai Railway, there will be no funds left for the railway construction, unless the Peiping Universities get their funds from some other source.\n\nAs the preliminary part of the Ministry's railway construction program, a number of men have been sent out to do surveying work in different provinces. The men assigned on the proposed Nanking-Canton line have been unable to do any work in Kwangtung and Fukien Provinces on account of bandit activities. Military operations in Kwangsi, Kweichow, and Yunnan provinces have also interfered with the work of the Ministry's staff. Mr. Chao Ya-chen, an expert of the Ministry, was killed last December by bandits at Ta Kuang, in Kweichow Province.\n\nThe debts of the railways run up to a stupendous total of $559,000,000. The loan agreements with various parties differ, and unless steps are taken to reorganize the railway debts, the actual financial condition of the country's railways cannot be ascertained. The creditors repeatedly go to the Ministry of Railways and ask for information regarding the payment of these debts. As the prestige of any government is largely determined by its ability or otherwise to meet its obligations, it is of great importance that the National Government should devise some means for the reorganization of the country's debts.\n\nThe Kiao-Tsi Railway, popularly known as Shantung Railway, has to pay $40,000,000 (Yen) to the Japanese Government within a period of 15 years, beginning from January 1, 1923. For seven years, the railway has paid up regularly the annual interest of $2,400,000 (Yen), but the principal remains unpaid. Before 1938, China must pay up that amount, and so far, nothing has been done towards meeting this obligation. The only thing the Kiao-Tsi Railway can do will be that of cutting down its expenses and of setting aside every year a certain amount of money for that purpose.\n\nTransportation undoubtedly has a lot to do with the development of a country's industries and commerce. While the railways want to increase their revenues, they must in the meantime take into consideration the business condition along the lines. Steps ought to be taken to facilitate the distribution of foodstuffs throughout the country and to encourage the development of native industries, so that severe famines in certain parts of the country can be prevented and the native commercial interests may compete on even terms with foreign business concerns.\n\nMeasures have been adopted for the taking over by the government of the Canton-Hankow Railway. This line was formerly financed by private interests with a capital of approximately $20,000,000. The Ministry of Railways recently submitted a proposal to the National Government suggesting that $20,000,000 worth of bonds be floated using the revenues of Canton-Shaokwan and Canton-Samshui sections of the Canton-Hankow Railway as securities. The proposal was approved by the National Government. The regulations governing the issuance of these bonds were promulgated by the Ministry of Railways on January 1, 1930. Beginning from April 1, 1930, the proposed bonds will be issued by the Ministry.\n\nIn spite of the unsettled conditions throughout the country, the following reports regarding the revenues for 1929-30 of various railways may prove interesting:\n\n \n \n Revenues\n Increase over 1928-9\n \n \n Tientsin-Pukow Railway\n $10,315,000\n $6,143,000\n \n \n Nanking-Shanghai Railway\n $12,328,000\n $1,811,000\n \n \n S.H.N. Railway\n $5,959,000\n $1,959,000\n \n \n Chengtai Railway\n $5,134,000\n $535,000\n \n \n Kiao-Tsi Railway\n $2,153,000\n $1,213,000\n \n \n Lunghai Railway\n $447,000\n $211,000\n \n \n Hunan-Hupeh Railway\n $1,075,000\n $705,000\n \n \n Canton-Kowloon Railway\n $12,569,000\n $610,000\n \n\nThe Pei-Ning Railway, formerly known as the Peking-Mukden Railway, has been instructed to conclude a contract with the Netherlands Harbor Works Company of Amsterdam, Holland, for the development of the Port of Hulutao. Actual engineering work is to start this year as soon as weather permits.\n\nMukden is situated like the hub of a wheel, where a great deal of traffic must pass through. The distance from Mukden to Hulutao is 186 miles, and the distance from Mukden to Dairen is 246 miles. After careful study by experts, Hulutao has been regarded as a natural outlet to the sea for Manchuria and Inner-Mongolia. A proper port development at this place and a consistent rail development of the Three Eastern Provinces must create an enormous traffic for shipment through Hulutao.\n\nRailway development, unlike the activities of most of the other departments of the Government, is a profit-making proposition. Not only it brings larger revenues to the Government treasury, it represents one of the most important factors in the improvement of the economic condition of any country, and in the promotion of general welfare. The later the Government carries out its railway construction program, the greater difficulty it will have in its attempt to bring prosperity to the undeveloped regions in far-off provinces.\n\nThe existing railways can never be run on a business basis if the local military authorities are permitted to interfere with the administration of these lines. Drastic measures must be taken by the Central Government for the suppression of such irregular activities. The road is difficult but it is not impossible.\n\nAttitudes Toward China\n\nBy Hugh McL. Gilmore\n\nThe new and more orderly regime in China is regarded by most foreigners with disfavour. The reason is simple. Great changes have taken place abroad; younger countries have acted energetically and with vision to expedite economic and other \"progress.\" Chinese efforts to effect rehabilitation of her scattered fortunes seem, they think, in comparison, futile and ill-directed.\n\nTo a certain extent, this attitude is excusable. Foreign critics of an Eastern country, who belong to a totally different order of civilisation from those whose weakness they would appraise, cannot keep their minds free from purely national bias of the unreasoning sort; they naturally search for such attributes as are prized among themselves and feel disgusted if these are not in evidence. The result is they see specific faults too plainly while overlooking the very qualities on which greatness is mainly based. China, therefore, has suffered extremely from the stupidity, misstatement, and misrepresentation, from the lack of sympathy and generosity, and principally from the pure ignorance of her critics.\n\nIn the West, Might connotes Right. Western revenues, accordingly, are spent on war, past and to come, and only the residue on useful objects. The people are, have been, and always will be loaded with taxation for the construction of guns, battleships, poisonous gases, and aeroplanes for the purpose of killing each other wholesale.\n\nUntil comparatively recently, China had none of these things. Ergo, China is uncivilised, unworthy of consideration. The West, enforced by those selfsame armaments and gases, calls for \"law and order\" in a country whose efforts to enforce \"law and order\" are hindered by Western pugnacity.\n\nChina, unfortunately, is unable to offset the insinuations of these more pugnacious nations in the only way which they understand and appreciate. She believes in a progress of her own definition. Her belief is fortified by daily illustration of how the West protects \"progress\" with battleships and bluff and frames its ideals, not according to the measure of its altruism, but according to the measure of its ambitions. Hence, China has adopted, mistakenly it is true, a conversational attitude, thinking that constant iteration of her requirements would find a receptive ear.\n\nBut iteration, like friction, is likely to generate heat rather than progress. This has happened in China. Unfamiliar with the intrigue which for centuries has supported Occidental diplomacy, her statesmen have more or less relied upon the \"honourable obligations\" of the West; they have spoken when they should have acted, reposed confidence where confidence is adjudged an indication of weakness. \"Honourable obligations,\" unknown to them, have long been buried under a pall of hypocrisy. Iteration of such \"obligations\" has engendered naivete and helped to cloud the issue where a little judicious action would have induced favourable consideration of inherent rights.\n\nIt does not logically follow that China, to attain her rights, should similarly put bloodshed and blood lust before civilisation. The world, happily, is awakening to a realisation of the futility of war and warlike methods and is in a fit state now, after centuries of morbid hate, to recognise that seeds of death planted in a loam of artificial hate have thrust their black heads above the earth all too often. Aggression is receding before world reason. China, accordingly, should so plan her future so that the surfeit of speech which hitherto has hampered her striving after autonomy should be abandoned in favour of pre-conceived and practical action. Speech, as a famous diplomat tells us, is after all but a form of innocuous gas. This innocuity, in China at least, has served to \"Make men lose the good they oft might win by fearing to attempt.\"\n\nIt is strange that no effort has been made to put the proper interpretation on the chief Western argument against Chinese autonomy, the lack of \"law and order.\" It is stranger still that no native statesman has expressed its true meaning. While banditry and disorder exist in every country in the world, China has been singled out for obloquy on that very count. It is natural that disorder in a country of 400,000,000 souls, hampered by foreign jurisdiction, should be greater than in a country of 40,000,000 free from alien restrictions.\n\n85", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 521182, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930", "page_number": 83, "title": "CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930", "content_text": "258\n\nTHE CHINA\n\nCRITIC\n\n+\n\nMarch 13, 1930\n\nMarch 13, 1930\n\nTHE CHINA CRITIC\n\n259\n\n93\n\nRACE\n\nBOOK REVIEW Edited by Quentin Pan\n\nAND POPULATION PROB-LEMS. By H. G. Duncan.\n\nXV and 424 pp. New York: Longmans, Green and Co. 1929.\n\nquantitative\n\nThis book forms one of the Long-mans' Social Science Series under the general editorship of Professor Ernest R. Groves. It is designed as a general introduction to population problems, both in their qualitative and quantitative aspects. As a textbook it differs from others in that it contains a great many quotations and citations from various authorities in the field, as the author has tried to make it serve at the same time as a book of readings. We see here the last stage of the process of the simplification of supplementary reading materials, for which the average American college student cannot but feel thankful. Knowledge is nowadays obtainable in increasingly handy and digestible doses. Let us hope there is no appreciable loss of flavor and piquancy which goes with original and deliberate search.\n\nThe text is in two books, the first having to do with the problem of races, and the second with the problem of numbers. While on the whole the author presents a quite balanced panoramic view of the whole field of population problems, the second book appears to be much better written. One of the reasons for this is that the qualitative problem has been approached in recent years from many more angles than the quantitative, and there is much less agreement as to some of its major issues. As one of the weaknesses we may mention our author's failure to distinguish between race as \"stirps\" which involves valuation and race as a taxonomical term which is merely descriptive. The failure is quite common; it is also found in Professor Hankin's Racial Basis of Civilization, but is quite serious as it tends strongly to becloud the issues involved. The racialist eugenist owes the untenability of his position almost entirely to his inability to make this distinction. A better outline of the volume would be Book I, The Problem of Races, Book II. The Problem of Quality, and Book III, The Problem of Numbers.\n\nAnother weakness appears to be our author's inability to be really impartial between any two rival schools of thought. This weakness is of course well-nigh universal. While the author \"has striven to refrain from injecting his own conclusions,\" his inclination towards some particular viewpoint or school of thought is often quite obvious from the way he sifts his reference materials and the varying emphasis which he puts upon them, usually through the use of italics. Our author starts one of the chapters saying, \"We have no intention of minimizing the importance of the social environment, but it is well to remember.........\" But he concludes the same chapter with a passage from Jennings, the very last sentence of which he has taken pains to italicise: \"And the way they (the hereditary units called genes) interact and what they produce depends on the conditions.\" So our author appears to be at heart an environmentalist. Similarly, he appears to be a racial egalitarian, and tends to minimize racial differences. While he speaks disdainfully of the racialists, he himself has not hesitated to refer to the Mexican as \"a more slothful and less progressive group\" than the Americans, the Chinese as \"non-assuming,\" and the Japanese as \"efficient,\" nor has he been slow in adopting Professor Smith's Tentative Scheme of the Relationships of the Different Genera, Species, and Races of the Human Family, which makes the Nordic Race the latest development of the trunk and all other races earlier developed branches from the trunk.\n\nThat in the discussion of monogenism versus polygenism and of the production of genius, Crookshank and Redfield should have occupied as respectable places as most other authorities, and this in an introductory textbook, is a big surprise to us. We also wonder why in the discussion of mental differences between races, Professor Porteus' contributions which are based upon quantitative measurements and upon a method of testing which obviated the use of language, are not even alluded to.\n\nAs minor mistakes, we may mention that the three teeth of the Java Man were not all discovered by Dubois in 1891-2. One of the three came to light a few years later as a result of the expedition sent out by Madame Selenka. Polydactylism, brachydactylism and the \"sex-linked disease, color-blindness\" are by this time fairly well established to be Mendelian traits, and not \"thought by a few\" to be such. Students in heredity usually do not call such traits as color-blindness \"diseases.\" And in calling such traits \"sex-linked,\" the author has himself implied something more than what is strictly Mendelian.\n\nThe volume has more typographical errors than one would normally expect from American publishers. One error is perhaps serious, as it appears more than once; we refer to Professor H. F. Osborn being misspelt \"Osborne\" on page 143.\n\nIn spite of all this, we do not hesitate to recommend this volume as a good textbook for a term course in Race and Population Problems, provided of course the teacher knows how to make good some of the drawbacks we have mentioned. For Chinese colleges and universities which are not equipped with good reference libraries, the volume will prove particularly useful, as it is in part a book of readings, containing as many as \"some 650 quotations and citations\" which \"present the major as well as some of the minor contributions to the field.\"\n\nQ. P.\n\nOFFICIAL DOCUMENTS\n\nTHE RAILWAY ENTERPRISE UNDER THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT\n\nA Brief History of the Ministry of Railways\n\nDr. Sun Yat-sen said \"Transportation is the key to Industries and Railway the key to Transportation.\" Verily the Railway is the fundamental instrument of transportation and therefore the foundation of industrial development. That is why Dr. Sun Yat-sen advocated, at the very beginning of the Republic, the construction of a 100,000-mile railway network. His advocacy has taught us that without executing the Railway policy, material construction in China will be impossible.\n\nThe National Government, acting on Dr. Sun's instruction, established on November 1st, 1928, under the Executive Yuan the Ministry of Railways to take charge of the Railways in the Country and to consummate Dr. Sun's plan. Mr. Sun Fo was appointed Minister; Messrs. Lien Sing-hai and Wang Cheng were appointed Political and Administrative Vice-Ministers respectively. On the day of the Ministry's inauguration, it consisted, as provided in the Organic Law promulgated by the National Government, four departments, namely, the Department of General Affairs, the Department of Railways Administration, the Finance Department and the Department of Planning and Construction with Messrs. Chen Yen Chun, J. K. Choy, Wang Cheng and Y. S. Chun as Directors of the respective departments. Messrs. C. S. Liu, T. C. Yen, Kuan Keng Lin and J. Usang Ly were appointed Counsellors.\n\nHaving taken over from the Ministry of Communications all duties pertaining to Railways, the Chiaotung University in Shanghai, the Civil Engineering College in Tangshan, the College of Railway Administration in Peking and a chain of Railway Middle and Primary Schools established in the various Railway Centers for the education of the children of Railway employees; the Ministry set to work. Minister Sun Fo introduced in the Central Political Council of the Kuomintang two Administrative Policies; i.e., the Centralization of Railway Administration and the Independence of Railway Accounting System. Having passed these resolutions, the Central Political Council ordered the Ministries of War and Railways to execute these policies in full. The Railway enterprise in China began a new life.\n\nOn account of the lack of Railway experts in China, Dr. J. A. L. Waddell was retained as Consulting Engineer, Mr. J. J. Mantell as Adviser on Railway Management, Mr. R. S. Norman as Legal Adviser and Mr. Wm. B. Poland as financial Adviser to the Ministry.\n\nFor the sake of facilitating business transaction, an office of the Ministry was established at Shanghai with Mr. Tieh-sun Chen as Director.\n\nSo much for organization; let us now come to the administration of the various Railways.\n\nSince Nanking became the National Capital, the political and economic importance of the Nanking-Shanghai and the Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo Railways has gradually grown. Mr. J. K. Choy was appointed to concurrently take charge of these administrations.\n\nThe Peiping-Mukden and Peiping-Suiyuan Railways, being trunk lines of the North-East, have suffered great damages from internal strife of late. They urgently need rehabilitation. Mr. Wang Cheng was appointed to currently take charge of them.\n\nThe Lunghai and the Tatung-Chengtu Railways were formerly administered by Directorates-General. Upon the recommendation of the Ministry, the Executive Yuan abolished the above-mentioned offices so that the administration of these Railways would be under one head instead of two.\n\nThe settlement of the Tsinan Incident called for reorganization of the Kiao-Tsi Railway. Consequently, the Kiao-Tsi Railway Managing Commission was established with Dr. T. C. Yen as Chairman of the Commission.\n\nLater, with its head office removed to Peiping, the Hankow-Peiping Railway was renamed as Peiping-Hankow Railway. Mr. W. T. Liu was appointed Managing Director.\n\nMessrs. Pan Ting-hsien, Sun Ho-kao and Faung Ta-chih were appointed Managing Directors of the Peiping-Suiyuan, the Tientsin-Pukow Railways and the Hunan-Hupei Section of the Canton-Hankow Railway respectively.\n\nThen three Railways in Kwangtung came under the actual control of the Ministry. The Canton-Samsui Railway was amalgamated into the Canton-Hankow Railway with Mr. Chen Yin Wen as Managing Director, while Mr. Liu Chiu-ko was made Managing Director of the Canton-Kowloon Railway.\n\nUpon the request of the Kiangsi Provincial Government, the Ministry took over the administration of the Nanchang-Kiukiang Railway. Mr. Kung Hsueh Shui was appointed Managing Director.\n\nAfter the inauguration of the Ministry, the Ministry of Communications, acting on the order of the State Council, transferred to the Ministry of Railways all duties pertaining to National Highways. A National Highway Planning Commission was organized with three Commissioners appointed by the Ministry and one representative from each of the Provincial Construction Departments and Mr. Y. S. Chun as Chairman. It completed its task of planning in three months.\n\nThe Ministry of Communications also handed over its European office at Paris which served as an organ to arrange for international through traffic. Upon taking charge of this office, the Ministry appointed Mr. K. Y. Woo as Director and concurrently as Delegate to the International Railway Union representing the Peiping-Liaoning, the Peiping-Hankow and the Tientsin-Pukow Railways.\n\nFor the classification of goods and the determination of tariffs, the Advisory Committee on Fares, Rates and Classification of Goods was appointed with the Director of the Department of Railway Administration as Chairman of the Committee.\n\nIn order to unify the accounting and statistical systems of the various Railways, the Advisory Committee on the Unification of Railway Accounts and Statistics was appointed with the Director of the Finance Department as Chairman.\n\nAn Editorial Committee on Railway Rules and Regulations was also appointed. Vice-Minister Lien Sing-hai serves as Chairman.\n\nTo eliminate corruption in the purchasing of Railway materials, a Purchasing Commission, a Commission on Selection of Tenders and a Commission on Inspection of Purchased Materials were organized. Later, the three Commissions were amalgamated into the Purchasing Commission with Messrs. Hu Chi-hsien, Tieh-san Chen and Chen Chiu An as members of the Standing Committee. Three Sub-committees were appointed to Peiping, Hankow and Canton.\n\nFor the training of qualified personnel for Railway Service, the improvement of the existing Railway Schools and the education of the low-grade staff and laborers now in active service, the Committee on Railway Education was organized with at first Mr. Y. S. Chun and later Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Chairman.\n\nMore than fifty years have elapsed since China first adopted modern means of communication, but no complete and reliable record of the History of Communications is available. Since the organization of a Committee to compile a history of communications under the auspices of the Bureau of Compilation and Translation in the defunct Peking Government in 1922, the history has not been completed although several changes had already taken place. The Ministry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications, organized the Committee for Compiling the History of Communications with Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Chairman and Mr. Chang Hsin Cheng, a division chief of the Ministry of Communications, as Editor-in-Chief.\n\nIn last September, Vice-Minister Wang Cheng resigned on account of poor health. Mr. J. Usang Ly was appointed to succeed him. Meanwhile, Mr. Hu Chi-hsien was appointed Director of the Finance Department, Dr. T. C. Yen was transferred to be Chief Technical Expert. Messrs. Liang Han Chau, F. K. Sah and Dr. King Cheng-yang were appointed Counsellors.\n\nNot long after, Mr. J. K. Choy was sent to Europe to study Railway conditions and problems. Mr. F. K. Sah was made acting Director of the Department of Railway Administration and Mr. Hu Chi-hsien was appointed to concurrently take charge of the Administration of the Nanking-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo Railways.\n\nThe Peiping-Mukden Railways was renamed as Peiping-Liaoning Railway with Mr. Kao Chi Yi appointed Managing Director. The unification of administration in the Peiping-Liaoning Railway was effected.\n\nFor one year after the establishment of the Ministry, no serious change in organization took place. But being newly established, the division of duties inside the Ministry worked more or less on a trial basis. As the Ministry goes on, experience calls for reorganization. Therefore, on the 18th of last November, the National Government promulgated the revised Organic Law of the Ministry. In the new organization, the Ministry is composed of the following departments and bureaus:\n\n1. The Counsellors' Office.\n\n2. The Secretariat.\n\n3. The Department of General Affairs, with Mr. Chen Yen Chun as Director.\n\n4. The Department of Traffic and Operation with Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Acting Director.\n\n5. The Finance Department with Mr. Hu Chi-hsien as Director.\n\n6. The Engineering Department with Mr. F. K. Sah as Director.\n\n7. The Railway Through Traffic Administration with Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Acting Director.\n\n8. The Bureau of Statistics with Mr. F. K. Mok as Director.\n\n9. The Railway Health Service with Dr. S. M. Woo as Director.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 521183, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930", "page_number": 84, "title": "CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930", "content_text": "Page 260\n\nTHE CHINA CRITIC\n\nMarch 13, 1930\n\nMarch 13, 1930\n\nTHE CHINA CRITIC\n\n261\n\nA resolution passed by the Second Plenary Session of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee last Spring appropriated two-thirds of the Boxer Indemnity Funds for railway construction and decided that the Canton-Hankow Railway should be completed by the end of 1932. Therefore, a Commission on the Completion of the Canton-Hankow Railway was established with Mr. Y. S. Chun as Chief Commissioner and Mr. H. S. Chuck as Director of Construction of the Chuchow-Shaochow Section. The same resolution further decided that the Lunghai Railway should be completed by the end of 1934. Therefore, a Commission on the Completion of the Lunghai Railway was established with Mr. Kuan Keng Lin as Chief Commissioner, Mr. Ling Hun Huan as Director of Construction of the Lunghai Railway, and Mr. Ko Kuang Ting as Managing Director.\n\nAs compensation to the shareholders of the Canton-Shaochow Section of the Canton-Hankow Railway, the Ministry has been authorized by the Government to issue $20,000,000 bonds to redeem the shares outstanding. A Board of Trustees for the Yueh-Han Railway Redemption Bonds was organized.\n\nOther organizations, such as the Advisory Committee on Railway Terminology and the Advisory Committee on Railway Loan Agreements, have come into existence as work demands.\n\nII. Analysis of Principal Duties\n\nTHE ADVISORS' OFFICE\nProposing, investigating, examining, and inspecting the plans, construction, and management of Railways and National Highways.\n\nTHE COUNSELLORS' OFFICE\nDrafting, examining, deliberating on, editing, and compiling rules, regulations, and ministerial orders.\n\nTHE SECRETARIAT\nDrafting, deliberating on, and safekeeping confidential correspondence, editing and translating administrative reports and documents in foreign languages, keeping records of ministerial conferences, taking care of the Library and the Museum.\n\nTHE DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL AFFAIRS\nAttending to the general affairs of the Ministry and its subordinate offices and affairs not specially assigned to other offices, departments, and bureaus.\n\nTHE DEPARTMENTS OF TRAFFIC AND OPERATION\nAttending to the traffic and operation of Railways and National Highways under the Ministry.\n\nTHE FINANCE DEPARTMENT\nAttending to the financial affairs of the Railways and National Highways under the Ministry.\n\nTHE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT\nAttending to the engineering work of the Railways and Highways under the Ministry.\n\nTHE BUREAU OF RAILWAY STATISTICS\nAttending to the statistics of the Ministry and its subordinate offices.\n\nTHE RAILWAY HEALTH SERVICE\nAttending to the sanitary and medical affairs of the various Railways.\n\nTHE THROUGH TRAFFIC ADMINISTRATION\nAttending to domestic and international through traffic arrangements and the clearing of Railway accounts.\n\nRAILWAY PLANNING COMMISSION\nPlanning Railway lines of the whole country.\n\nNATIONAL HIGHWAY PLANNING COMMISSION\nPlanning the Construction of National Highways.\n\nECONOMIC COMMITTEE\nMaking economic plans for operating and projected lines.\n\nEDITORIAL COMMITTEE ON RAILWAY RULES AND REGULATIONS\nDrafting, deliberating on, and compiling rules and regulations.\n\nPUBLICITY COMMITTEE\nCentralizing publicity and editing official publications and statements.\n\nTECHNICAL COMMITTEE\nStudying and solving technical problems in Railway Engineering.\n\nCOMMITTEE ON STANDARDIZATION OF RAILWAY TECHNIQUE\nDetermining the standard of and working out improvements on Railway technique.\n\nPURCHASING COMMISSION\nPurchasing materials for the railways.\n\nADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE UNIFICATION OF RAILWAY ACCOUNTS AND STATISTICS\nRevising the Accounting Rules and Classifications, working out accounting methods, working out Statistical forms and Regulations, and summarizing other accounts.\n\nADVISORY COMMITTEE ON READJUSTMENT OF RAILWAY OBLIGATIONS\nReadjusting the various Railways' obligations arising out of domestic and foreign indebtedness.\n\nCOMMITTEE ON RAILWAY PERSONNEL\nInvestigating the qualification of railway employees.\n\nCOMMITTEE ON RAILWAY EDUCATION\nReforming and improving Railway education.\n\nCOMMITTEE ON RAILWAY SCHOLARSHIP ABROAD\nDetermining the number of scholarships and investigating the qualification, examining the standard and experience of scholarship holders and applicants.\n\nCOMMISSION ON SUPPRESSION OF OPIUM SMOKING\nInvestigating, examining, and suppressing Opium Smoking that may be addicted by Ministerial and Railway staff.\n\nCOMMISSION ON THE COMPLETION OF THE LUNGHAI RAILWAY\nTaking charge of the planning, surveying, financing, and construction of the unfinished sections of the Lunghai Railway.\n\nCOMMISSION ON THE COMPLETION OF THE CANTON-HANKOW RAILWAY\nTaking charge of the planning, surveying, financing, and construction of the unfinished section of the Canton-Hankow Railway.\n\nCOMMITTEE FOR COMPILING THE HISTORY OF COMMUNICATIONS\nCompiling the History of Communications.\n\nII. The organization of and Distribution of Work in the Ministry\n\nThe Ministry of Railways plans, constructs, and manages all the state railways and national highways. It supervises all the province-owned and private railways.\n\nThe Ministry of Railways is composed of:\n\nThe Counsellors' Office.\n\nThe Secretariat.\n\nThe Department of General Affairs, The Dept. of Traffic and Operation.\n\nThe Finance Department.\n\nThe Engineering Department.\n\nThe Through Traffic Administration.\n\nThe Bureau of Railway Statistics.\n\nThe Railway Health Service.\n\nThe Commissions and Committees.\n\nThe Counsellors' Office is composed of two Sections, the Legislative Section and the Compilation Section. This office attends to the drafting, deliberation, examination, compilation, editing, and registry of rules, regulations, and Ministerial Orders.\n\nThe Secretariat is composed of three offices, the Secretarial Office, the Editorial and Translation Office, and the Library. The Secretaries attend to the drafting and custody of confidential correspondence, the deliberation of official documents, the editing and translation of official publications, statements, and documents, and the records of the Ministerial Conferences.\n\nThe Department of General Affairs is composed of the Business Division, the Division of Documents and archives, the Division of Education, and the Personnel Division. This Department attends to:\n\n1. The receiving, despatching, distribution, drafting, and safekeeping of documents.\n\n2. The issuance of Ministerial Orders.\n\n3. The custody of the Ministerial Seals.\n\n4. The appointment, dismissal, reward, and punishment of the staff of the Ministry and the staff of the officers under the Ministry.\n\n5. The compilation of administrative reports.\n\n6. The training and education of executive and technical personnel for the Railway service.\n\n7. The education of Railway employees and the administration of Railway schools.\n\n8. The Ministerial estimates, budgets, accounting, and miscellaneous affairs.\n\n9. The affairs not especially assigned to other offices, departments, bureaus, committees, or commissions.\n\nThe Department of Traffic and Operation is composed of the Traffic Division, the Operation Division, and the Labor Division. This Department attends to:\n\n1. The supervision, management, improvement, and development of the traffic business of the Railways.\n\n2. The management and control of Railway operation and the rolling stocks.\n\n3. The determination of fares and rates.\n\n4. The domestic and international through traffic arrangements.\n\n5. The approval of traffic equipments.\n\n6. The working condition and protection of Railway employees.\n\n7. The training and control of Railway police.\n\n8. The adoption of plague-preventive and other sanitary methods in the Railways.\n\n9. The supervision of the province-owned and private Railways.\n\n10. International Railway problems.\n\n11. The operation and traffic of national highways.\n\nThe Finance Department is composed of the Division of Financial affairs, the Division of Audits and accounts, the Division of Railway Obligations, and the Division of Investigation. This Department attends to:\n\n1. The drawing up and checking of railway estimates and budgets.\n\n2. The control and safekeeping of Railway funds.\n\n3. Raising funds for rehabilitation and construction of Railways.\n\n4. The readjustment and repayment of Railway loans and obligations.\n\n5. The auditing of Railway accounts and bills.\n\n6. Railway accounting system and statistics.\n\n7. The management of Railway properties.\n\n8. The purchase and management of Railway land.\n\n9. The economic planning and investigation of Railways.\n\n10. The supervision of the finance of the province-owned and private Railways.\n\n11. Other financial affairs of the Railways.\n\n12. The financial affairs of national highways.\n\nThe Engineering Department is composed of the Division of Civil Engineering, the Division of Mechanical Engineering, and the Planning Division. This Department attends to:\n\n1. The supervision, management, and rehabilitation of engineering affairs in the Railways.\n\n2. The Location of Railway lines and the planning of Railway engineering.\n\n3. The supervision and management of the engineering work in Railway construction.\n\n4. The construction of Railway terminus and municipal construction in the Railway zones.\n\n5. The examination of materials for civil and mechanical engineering in the construction of Railways.\n\n6. The construction and management of Railway shops and stores.\n\n7. The supervision of the engineering work in the province-owned and private Railways.\n\n8. Other engineering work in the Railways.\n\n9. Engineering work in the national highways.\n\nIn the Ministry of Railways, there shall be one Minister, one Political Vice-Minister, one Administrative Vice-Minister, two to four Counsellors, four to eight Secretaries, four Department Directors, twelve Division Chiefs, one hundred twenty to one hundred sixty clerks, one Chief Technical Expert, sixteen to twenty Technical Experts, twenty to thirty Junior Technical Experts, and twenty to twenty-four Technical Assistants.\n\nFor the planning of the National Railway Network, the national highway system, the unification of Railway accounting system, the compilation of Railway rules and regulations, the purchasing of Railway materials, and the standardization of Railway technique, the Ministry of Railways organizes a number of committees and commissions.\n\nIn the Ministry of Railways, the Through Traffic Administration takes care of domestic and international through traffic and Railway clearing, the Bureau of Railway Statistics takes care of Railway statistics, and the Railway Health Service takes care of the medical and sanitary affairs of the various Railways.\n\nPage 262 is not available, but the next available page is:\n\n95\n\n...\n\n電\n話\n電價舘\n目址\n脚上\n六各六境\n月每月\n洋\n月\n洋月\n電報簡碼 三〇四六\n歐美各國每月潭二元五角 三個月:七元\n六個月举十二元五角 全年廿四元\n40 $2\n一七四六八\n四一六\n-\n上海山東路二二歳\n中國境內每月一元 三個月洋三元\n六個月洋五元 全年洋九元\n1 民國日報\n1", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-520-6 Railway development- Canton-Kowloon Railway 5-11-1929 - 5-11-1930.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 555254, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-563-17 Sino-Japanese War- attacks on shipping. For extracted photographs see CN 3-12 27-9-1937 - 17-1-1938", "page_number": 104, "title": "CO129-563-17 Sino-Japanese War- attacks on shipping. For extracted photographs see CN 3-12 27-9-1937 - 17-1-1938", "content_text": "# THE HONG KONG WEEKLY PRESS & \n## October 29, 1937\n### AMAZING PROGRESS IN SIX YEARS\n#### What Sino-Japanese War Has Meant To China\n\nSomething of China's amazing progress during the past few years was discussed by Mr. Walter Han-ming Chen, the well-known Chinese journalist and publicist when he spoke to Hong Kong students at the Hong Kong University on Oct. 19 on \"Present-day China.\"\n\nAs you know, China, since the overthrow of the Manchus 26 years ago, was for more than two decades divided and nobody was able to bring about unification in our country. Military leaders and political chieftains were jealous of each other; they fought for power and self-aggrandizement. Communists battled against the central government.\n\nBanditry was rife. Then came the Japanese, who forcibly occupied our Three Eastern Provinces, where they set up a puppet state which they called Manchukuo. Then they pushed further southward into north China and there, aided by traitors, they established a so-called autonomous regime, which permitted widespread smuggling and the poisoning of our unfortunate people, through the sale of opium, morphine, and other dangerous drugs.\n\nAfter that, they occupied Peiping, Tientsin, and other places in north China, and started warfare in Shanghai and other places along the Peiping-Hankow and the Tientsin-Pukow Railways, where at present our brave soldiers and airmen are putting up a glorious battle for the honour and existence of our country. Such a state of affairs, everybody will agree, could not be tolerated.\n\nChina had to have a leader who was capable of uniting the country and resisting invasion. We had to find a leader, who was a real and sincere patriot, who would command the people's confidence. Heaven gave us General Chiang Kai-shek, the only man who is able to save China and lead our national army in defence of our country. With his New Life Movement, the Generalissimo has succeeded, where others had failed, in uniting our ancestral land and is, as you know, personally directing the resistance against those who are trying to dominate and conquer our country.\n\n### REAL UNITY\n\nMany people have questioned me as to whether our unity is real. I can assure you that, beyond a shadow of doubt, it is. China is now more united than she has been for years past. Never before, indeed, have we Chinese been so united and never before have the people and their leaders shown such spirit of co-operation.\n\nIt has constantly been claimed that China is weak and not united and that it is unsafe and dangerous to live in our country, but we have shown, during the past few months, that we are far from being weak and that we are a really unified country. As to the allegation that China is a dangerous place to live in, you may be interested to know that nowadays, with the exception of the territories occupied by the Japanese, people may come and go about and live in China in perfect safety.\n\nIn former days, one would never have dared to make such a statement, but to-day things are different and we seldom read in the press of civil warfare, communist activities, banditry, or kidnappings - depredations which have been nearly wiped out - such as we used to read about almost every day in the past.\n\n### AMAZING PROGRESS\n\nThe really startling thing about China to-day is the amazing progress which has been taking place throughout the country. The era of civil war and banditry, as I have already said, is ended. Both the will of the people and the policy of the National Government are united in harmonising and composing all differences through peaceful means.\n\nEverywhere, there is a widespread recognition of the fact that, with the solution of the economic problem, the political problem would automatically be solved. For this reason, our government has been bending all its energies towards giving the people an efficient, honest, and progressive administration.\n\nWe do claim to have made considerable progress in this direction. We must give the Chinese Government time to wipe the slate clean. We must be patient and not expect too much at once. We must be fair and just to her friends.\n\n### NEW LIFE MOVEMENT\n\nThe New Life Movement is deeply concerned with the character that goes to make a nation and with developing that character. Without men and women of character, there can be no unified state. When men allow personal ambition, greed, selfishness, and vanity to dominate their political theories and acts, we are immediately plunged into civil war. The New Life Movement has done a considerable amount of work and it would take hours to tell of the progress which it has already made, and the reforms which it has brought about in China.\n\nIn addition to character building, the New Life Movement stresses the responsibilities of citizenship. Ambitious men may intrigue to invade neighbouring provinces but, as citizens more and more are voicing their opinions and insisting upon unification, this breaking of national unity has become exceedingly difficult. He is a foolhardy man indeed who to-day disregards this growing and formidable public opinion. There is national unity in China because the people demand it. National reforms are being brought about because the people demand them.\n\n### AFTER THE WAR\n\nNow that unity has been restored, the Nanking authorities will, when the present Sino-Japanese hostilities are ended, and eventual victory is won by China, turn their eyes to education and communications, after which I understand, steps will be taken towards raising the standard of living of the people.\n\nThe growth of the modern school system throughout China has been phenomenal. Everywhere in the interior, we see children and adults with their books coming and going. The fact is that the vast majority of the people are not informed on many matters that concern their everyday life, and ignorance and superstition still influence them to an alarming extent.\n\nNow, I am happy to say, education has come to China and it has come to stay. It is growing rapidly and thousands of cheap and efficient schools are being opened, or have been opened in the different provinces. Madame Chiang Kai-shek has opened a number of schools, and is mothering several hundred students in schools for the children of the revolution and recommends this form of social service to her friends.\n\n### EDUCATION FORGING AHEAD\n\nI have mentioned a cheap and efficient system of education. Between 600 and 1,000 of the most used characters in the Chinese written language have been chosen and those who know these have a useful everyday grasp of their use. Cheap books have been printed and supplied to the different schools, free of cost. Paper and ink are distributed gratis to the students.\n\nTeachers who have finished their middle and normal school education are selected and given a small salary, just enough to live on. In many places, temples and other buildings are borrowed and used as school buildings.\n\nIn many cases, there are blackboards but no desks or stools. Sometimes students are to be seen sitting on the ground, using their knees as their desks, and writing as best they can on them. Nevertheless, in spite of their difficulties, they learn and, at the end of their day's work, they are told to go home and teach their parents and elders, which they generally do, and this has amazing results.\n\nApart from the classes for the children, there are classes for adults, which are generally held in the early mornings or at dusk or after, so as to permit these people to attend their fields and other duties during the day.\n\n### COMPULSORY CLASSES\n\nIn the cities, we have a system of compulsory education for servants, shop assistants, and others who have not attended school. These are conducted along the mass education system and already thousands have been educated in this way. Agents of the government are sent regularly to the different shops and homes and they register all those who are uneducated. Notices are sent and tell the uneducated to attend classes at selected places, generally early in the morning or in the evening. Should they fail to attend classes, both they and their employers are fined.\n\n### MILITARY TRAINING\n\nNow we come to the compulsory citizens' military training. Every citizen over the age of 18 and under the age of 45 is expected to serve a term with the colours. There are many who do not like to serve and who try to evade military service, but the government has, nevertheless, ordered that they should undergo a period of training ranging from three to six months, failing which they are punished.\n\nI have seen classes in which business magnates have stood shoulder to shoulder with shop assistants or other employees. All these undergo strict and rigorous training and are subjected to military law. Even girls are called upon to serve and those unable to carry rifles are put through courses of first aid and nursing.\n\nAt the time I left Shanghai, before the outbreak of hostilities on August 13, one of the girls undergoing military training was my daughter and another was the daughter of Mr. O. K. Yui, Mayor of Shanghai, who is prominently in the news nowadays and who has refused to use his influence to enable his daughter to escape her national responsibilities. As a result, thousands have been turned into efficient citizens with military training.\n\n### EXAMINATION FOR OFFICIALS\n\nIn the political sphere, the financial administration has been centralised, our national budget has been balanced, and the tax system has been reformed, so that, since the advent of the National Government, some local taxes have been abolished. Some of these former taxes, levied by warlords, had been collected 89 years in advance!\n\nOfficials high and low are being subjected to severe civil examination and those found unqualified are being removed from office, irrespective of the influence of friends.\n\nThousands of miles of fine new highways have been built since 1927 when the National Government came into power. These are to be found in every province, and it is now possible for one to travel from the leading coastal cities to formerly inaccessible places, by motor car.\n\nMany miles of new railways also have been constructed and the Canton-Hankow Railway has been completed while the Lunghai Line has been extended.\n\nA network of telephone wires permits persons in Shanghai, Nanking, and Canton, for instance, to converse with others in places thousands of miles away.\n\n### AERIAL SERVICES\n\nThen, of course, there are the efficient airway services, the planes of which carry passengers to such inland places as Kuming (Yunnan), Sian, and Chengtu in a few hours, whereas it used to take weeks and months to make the trips in former times. Unfortunately, these services have temporarily been suspended as a result of the Sino-Japanese war.\n\n## BANKING CORPORATION\n\n| | |\n| --- | --- |\n| **AUTHORISED CAPITAL** | $50,000,000 |\n| **ISSUED AND FULLY PAID-UP** | $20,000,000 |\n| **RESERVE FUNDS** | |\n|   STERLING | £6,500,000 |\n|   HONG KONG CURRENCY RESERVE | $10,000,000 |\n| **RESERVE LIABILITY OF PROPRIETORS** | $20,000,000 |\n\n**HEAD OFFICE:** HONG KONG\n\n**BOARD OF DIRECTORS:**\n- G. Miskin, Esq., Chairman\n- Hon. Mr. M.T. Johnson, Deputy Chairman\n- J.K. Bousfield, Esq.\n- K.S. Morrison, Esq.\n- Hon. Mr. J. J. Paterson\n- Ali Compton, Esq.\n- S. H. Dodwell, Esq.\n- T. E. Pearce, Esq.\n- J. E. Vasson, Esq.\n- A. Shields, Esq.\n- Sir Vandeleur M. Grayburn, Chief Manager\n\n**BRANCHES:**\n- Amoy\n- Bangkok\n- Batavia\n- Bombay\n- Canton\n- Chotoo\n- Colombo\n- Dairen\n- Foochow\n- Haiphong\n- Hamburg\n- Hankow\n- Hong Kong\n- Iloilo\n- Ipoh\n- Jobore\n- Kobe\n- Kowloon\n- Kuala Lumpur\n- Lyons\n- Malacca\n- Manila\n- Mukden\n- New York\n- Peiping\n- Penang\n- Rangoon\n- Saigon\n- San Francisco\n- Shanghai\n- Singapore\n- Surabaya\n- Swatow\n- Tientsin\n- Tokyo\n- Tsingtao\n- Wuhu\n\n**CURRENT ACCOUNTS** opened in Local CURRENCY and Fixed Deposits received for one year or shorter periods in Local CURRENCY and STERLING on terms which will be quoted on application.\n\n**ALSO** up to date SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES in various sizes To LET\n\nHong Kong, 12th May, 1937.\n\n## ANNOUNCEMENT\n\nAn engagement is announced between Robert, younger son of Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Hooper of Madras, and Sybil, older daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Crawford of \"Craigieburn,\" Brookmans Park, Herts., late of Hong Kong.\n\nThe marriage will take place in Madras in January.\n\nIn General Chiang Kai-shek we Chinese have a sincere and capable patriot as our leader. We are at one in giving him our full support and co-operation and will follow him unswervingly to the end in spite of the threat of our enemy to oust him and to exterminate the Nanking regime.\n\nLet us all place our confidence in the Generalissimo and give him a free hand. Do not try to rush him along for he knows what he is doing. He is a military man and we are civilians who are not familiar with the art of warfare.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-563-17 Sino-Japanese War- attacks on shipping. For extracted photographs see CN 3-12 27-9-1937 - 17-1-1938.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 555999, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-564-11 Road communications with Canton. Includes 1 photograph depicting- Bridge over Shum Chun River- China. Dated... 20-8-1937 - 18-1-1938", "page_number": 40, "title": "CO129-564-11 Road communications with Canton. Includes 1 photograph depicting- Bridge over Shum Chun River- China. Dated... 20-8-1937 - 18-1-1938", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government, and should be returned to the Foreign Office if not required for official use.]\n\n40\n\nFrom CHINA.\n\nDecypher.\n\nMr. Howe (Hanking).\n\n7th October, 1937.\n\nD.\n\nR.\n\n(Via M/T.) 7th October, 1937.\n\n5.45 p.m.\n\n7th October, 1937.\n\nNo. 559.\n\nTokyo telegram No. 457, last paragraph, and Tokyo telegram No. 439.\n\nThe immediate Japanese military objective in North China seems to be to clear the five provinces (Hopei, Chahar, Suiyuan, Shansi and Shantung) of Central Government troops so as to open the way for the special autonomous régime they envisage. They have made considerable progress having met with little resistance in Hopei and Shansi and are now only about sixty miles from the Yellow River on Tsinpu front.\n\nThere is no doubt they have been hoping to win over Han Fu-chu and so get Shantung without fighting for it. This presumably seems doomed to failure since Han Fu-chu is no longer completely master of the province but is surrounded by troops from other provinces.\n\nOn reaching the Yellow River Japanese will have to decide whether (a) to remain on that line and consolidate their gains or (b) to go on as far as line of Lunghai railway and then consolidate or (c) push beyond railway towards Hanking.\n\nIt is probable that (a) would leave them with only half the province of Shantung without Tsinanfu, Tsintao and Kiaochao railway. Therefore, it is probable that they will decide to force the Yellow River and continue down to Lunghai railway where they will come up against Chinese main defence line.\n\nIn fact there\n\n20\n\nPage 40\n\nPage 41", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-564-11 Road communications with Canton. Includes 1 photograph depicting- Bridge over Shum Chun River- China. Dated... 20-8-1937 - 18-1-1938.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 } ]