Directory_and_Chronicle_1922 — Page 710

644

TIENTSIN

10 feet deep in places. A commencement was made by employing hundreds of native chain pumps and paddle-wheels; but these inadequate methods were soon supplement- ed with steam pumps lent by the South Manchurian Railway Company and worked by a detacliment of army engineers from Manchuria. It is estimated that over 15,000 square miles of the most populous part of the Chihli province between Paotingfu and Tientsin were flooded, and it has been calculated that erops to the value of $100,000,000 were utterly lost, and that 80,000 groups of dwellings, ranging from hamlets to large villages, were destroyed. The question of conserving the waterways of the Chihli province, with a veiw to preventing a recurrence of such disasters and safeguarding the trade and shipping interests of Tientsin, has occupied attention for some years past, and various conservancy engineers have individually issued reports on the subject; but no co-ordinat- ed scheme on broad lines and acceptable to all interests has so far been adopted. A proposal was brought forward in the autumn of 1917 by the Commissioner of Customs in connection with the appointment of a "joint-eommission" composed of representatives of the Chinese Government and of the Hailio Conservancy Board, etc., to study the general question and submit recommendations for the considera- tion and acceptance of the Government. The following extract from the Board's Annual Report for 1917 outlines the nature of the action thus taken, whieh, it is hoped. will prove effective:-"In view of the conflict of opinion between the Board's technical advisers and the National Conservancy Bureau on the general question of the prevention of floods in the Chihli province, the conservation of the waterways of the hinterland, and more especially the measures which should be adopted in regard to the Peiyünho and the Yungtingho (better known as the Hunho), Mr. Maze urged the necessity of appointing, without further delay, a joint Commission composed of three representatives of the Chinese Government and three persons nominated by the Board-viz., Mr. T. Pincione, Mr. H. von Heidenstam (Engineer in Chief, Whangpoo Conservancy Board), and Mr. W. F. Tyler (Coast Inspector) - to study the important and far-reaching questions involved, which are of vital importance to the vast and growing trade of North China, the shipping interests of Tientsin, and the welfare and prosperity of the agricultural communities in the plains, and, ultimately, to submit recommendations for the information and acceptance of the Chinese Government. The Board, at a meeting on the 14th September, agreed to this proposal. The senior Consul, therefore, was addressed accordingly and requested to make representations on the subject to the Diplomatic Body with a view to obtaining the acquiescence of the Chinese Government. Early in October the Board realised that it was essential in the general interests of trade, Chinese and foreign, to cause strong representations to be made to the Chinese Government forthwith regarding the restoration of the Peiyünho, etc., and it was decided, therefore, as a preliminary measure and before the appointment of the joint Commission referred to above, to invite Mr. von Heidenstam and Mr. van der Veen, Adviser to the National Conservancy Bureau, to come to Tientsin and confer with Mr. Pincione on the subject. A report was issued by them, which was subsequently laid before the Chinese authorities concerned in Peking by the doyen of the Diplomatic Body, who supported the views and advice eontained therein. The Chinese Government have definitely consented to the Board's original proposal as regards the appointment of a joint Commission, but various other matters in connection therewith- notably the constitution of the survey party and the Niumutun Cutting, etc. are still under discussion and have not yet been decided. The Board have reason to believe, however, that all the recom- mendations outlined in the Engineer's report dated 12th October, 1917, will ultimately receive the concurrence of the Chinese authorities and will be acted upon.' The new Board, or Committee of Engineers, thus established has since been styled the "Commission for the Improvement of the River System of Chihli" (£*** (順直水利委 員會). A). His Excellency Hsiung Hsi-ling (1) was appointed President of the Commission by the Government, and the following gentlemen have been nominated to serve :-Adiniral Woo Yu-ling(), Mr. Yang Pao-ling (†), Mr. H. van der Veen, Mr. T. Pincione, Mr. H. von Heidenstam, and Captain W. F. Tyler. The inaugural meeting took place here on the 20th March, 1918, and con- gratulatory telegrams were received from President Feng Kuo chang, the Dean of the Diplomatic Body, and the Inspector-General of Customs. The preliminary functions of the Commission comprise a comprehensive survey of the province, and the execution of the Niumutun Cutting, etc. When the first of these is completed there will be sufficient data at hand to enable the Grand Scheme to be formulated.

"}