The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1909. CHINA'S FORWARD MOVEMENT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 461, 20 March 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1909. CHINA'S FORWARD MOVEMENT.

+ ' Recent cable messages indicate that the British contractors concerned in the building of the Anglo-German railway line from Tientsin to Yangtsze are being obstructed by the Chinese Government officials, and that, generally speaking, nearly every railway in China in which British capital is interested is suffering in the same way. It was reported yesterday that as a result of representations from the British authorities China is taking active steps to end this state of affairs. The grievances of the British contractors arc by no means evidence of the legendary objection of China to modern developments. On the contrary, China is become extremely energetic in getting into line with modern ideas, and it is in respect of railway development that the new spirit is manifesting itself most clearly. Only thirty years have elapsed since the first railroad was constructed on Chinese soil. It was purchased by the Chineso Government, and torn up and dumped into the sea, in order that the anger of the offended Earth God might be averted ! Now there exists at Hangyang an iron and steel manufactory which Bupplied most of the material for the 750 miles of railroad conI

necting Peking with Hankow. There are to-day, according to an authoritative writer in the American Review of Reviews, 4000 miles of railroad in the Empire, and 1000 miles under construction. Kansu is the only province in the Empire in which railroads are not already running or projected. Peking is the terminus of no fewer than five roads. China is not yet able to dispense with the foreigners, who still build most of the lines, but one line, that which runs to Kalgan, was financed and constructed, and is now run, by Chinese without the assistance or advice of foreigners at all. It is not without its significance that this line pierces the Great Wall that has for so long embodied the exclusiveness and conservatism of a stagnant China. The Yu-chuan-pu, or Ministry of Communications, has drawn up a scheme for the eonstructiori of two great trunk lines, running through Hankow as a centre from north to south and east to west, from which branch lines will gradually link up the whole Empire. "All concessions," says the authority quoted, "now provide for the Government's taking possession of the lines after twenty-five years' traffic, and in October, 1908, a censor called upon the Government to acquire them sooner, that they might fulfil their mission of 'building up trade and consolidating the Empire.' " The full extent of China's adoption of the railroad can best be understood from the interesting fact that the Government has actually suggested the construction of a line to Lhasa! Her railroad development will assist China to power more effectively than anything else. The effect of a fullydeveloped China upon the commerce of the world is incalculable; all that can be said is that the result will be a commercial revolution of enormous importance.