"May 17, 1889.] 



SCIENCE 



375 



RAILWAYS IN CHINA. 



Ever since the opening of tlie treaty ports, the attention of for- 

 eigners in China has been attracted to the development of the 

 means of intercommunication in a country where the engineering 

 difficulties to be encountered are comparatively small. The fre- 

 quent recurrence of famine over the vast area of China, the enor- 

 mous difficulties of transport with the consequent delay and 

 uncertainty in conveying relief, and the increased price of all com- 

 modities in a ratio out of all proportion to the distance from the 

 area of production, offered such strong arguments for the introduc- 

 tion of railways, that it seemed impossible even for Chinese preju- 

 dice to withstand them, provided any feasible scheme could be 

 produced. The history of railways in China is given in the May 

 number of The Contemporary Reviezv. in an article by Mr. Charles 

 S. Addis. The most practical method appeared to be by way of 

 demonstration, and accordingly a small line was constructed be- 

 tween Shanghai and Wusung, a distance of thirteen miles. In 

 December, 1876, the line was opened for traffic under a convention 

 between the governments of Great Britain and China, and for some 

 time met with a fair measure of success. From December to Oc- 

 tober, 175,995 tickets were issued, and the sum of $38,258.78 was 

 realized by their sale. Happily no casualty of any kind happened 

 to passengers, and the promoters of the railway had reason to con- 

 gratulate themselves on the complete success of their undertaking. 

 But they had underestimated the intense conservatism of the Chi- 

 nese character, the dislike which such an innovation was sure to 

 arouse among a nation profoundly affected by an ancient system of 

 geomancy, and imbued with a traditional reverence for the places of 

 the dead, and, above all, the opposition to be encountered from the 

 host of carriers by road and canal, already jealous of the slightest 

 interference with their means of livelihood. With such potent in- 

 fluences arrayed against it, the railway bantling could hardly be 

 long-lived. It lasted barely a year. On Oct. 20, 1877, the Chinese 

 authorities purchased the line. The rails were torn up, the per- 

 :manent way was destroyed, and the remains of the first railway in 

 China are now lying rusting on the Formosan beach. 



Meanwhile events had been moving rapidly. China had formally 

 entered the comity of nations. Her political relations with foreign 

 powers were becoming closer and more involved. Emigrants were 

 annually departing from her shores in increasing numbers to Aus- 

 tralasia, the Straits Settlements, the United States, and Peru, and 

 their care formed an additional and growing ta.x upon the resources 

 of Chinese diplomacy. The national cohesion could not long with- 

 stand the disintegrating processes at work, and the barriers of an- 

 cient exclusiveness were crumbling away as surely and more rap- 

 idly than the Great Wall itself. It became necessary to appoint 

 ambassadors and consuls at foreign courts and at those places 

 where large numbers of Chinese subjects had settled. It was soon 

 found that Celestial diplomacy could hold its own against that of 

 the West, but it was felt to be intolerable that all the advantages 

 of a rapid means of communication should be on the side of the 

 barbarian. The telegraph-wire, at any rate, soared above the gods 

 of the earth and the spirits of ancestors at rest within the tomb. 

 It interfered vifith no man's property, and not even the most super- 

 stitious of the censors had a valid objection to offer. In fact, all 

 that was required was a fair start ; and, that once obtained, the 

 wires " forged ahead " until in 1884 there were 3,089 miles of line 

 open, and the imperial authorities at Peking found themselves in 

 direct communication with the Marquis Tseng, who was then their 

 representative in Great Britain. 



This was a great step in advance, and quite in keeping with the 

 Chinese method of reversing the procedure of other countries. For 

 once, the telegraph had given a lead to the railway, and other in- 

 fluences were at work to hasten its lagging steps. The veteran 

 warrior and statesman, Tso Tsung-t'ang, lay sick at Foochow. He 

 had seen the masterly subjugation of the rebels in Kashgaria dur- 

 ing the long years between 1871 and 1877, where also his own vic- 

 tories had won for him a place in Chinese history beside the most 

 famous generals of old. The Taiping rebellion had received its 

 ■death-blow at Gordon's hand, but the constant fear of Russian en- 

 croachments on the Mongolian frontier, the extreme delicacy and 

 •even dariger of China's relations with Japan, the restlessness of 



Corea under the itnperial suzerainty, and the impending difficulties 

 with France, filled his patriotic soul with trouble. It may be 

 that with the prescience begotten by approaching death he 

 foresaw -the parlous times in store for his country, when France 

 should reach her frontier on the south, when Great Britain 

 should touch her borders on the west, and Russia should ap- 

 proach as near on the north. He was passing away, and on 

 whom was his mantle to fall ? His own difficulties in grappling 

 with an internal war had been heavy enough, but who could save 

 China in the future, when her enemies hemmed her in on every side .'' 

 In a most touching memorial to the throne, penned shortly before 

 his death, he reviewed the situation, and, with all the weight of his 

 tried patriotism and experience, urged the construction of railways 

 as a first means of safety for his country. The appeal could not 

 pass unheeded by either his countrymen or the government. The 

 effect on public opinion of such an utterance from one of China's 

 noblest and most trusted sons, with all the weight lent by his sub- 

 sequent decease, was indeed enormous. It soon became known 

 that the Viceroy of Chihli, and his protege the Viceroy of Formosa, 

 were in favor of the project. In 1887 the Marquis Tseng returned 

 from his duties abroad to take up an important position in the 

 capital, and to throw all his additional knowledge and experience 

 on the side of reform. The same year an historical event happened 

 which had an important bearing on the case. For the first time a 

 prince of the royal blood visited a foreign settlement. Prince Ch'un, 

 who is the father of the present emperor, and a man of liberal 

 views, journeyed as far south as Chefoo to inspect the Chinese 

 fleet. For the first time in his life he came in contact with for- 

 eigners, and was able to see for himself the value of modern inven- 

 tions. On his return to Peking, he laid the results of his journey be- 

 fore the dowager empress, and it soon became known that this wise 

 and astute lady was also on the side of progress. The body of cen- 

 sors, who there perform the functions of a parliamentary opposition 

 with England, were ominously silent, — a sure sign of their conscious- 

 ness that any protests of theirs would be ill received at court. In a 

 word, the times seemed ripe, and, after one or two preliminary 

 memorials, the imperial rescript was issued in March of last year, 

 and the die was cast. For the first time official sanction was ob- 

 tained for the novel undertaking, and nothing remained but to put 

 it into execution. The matter was happily intrusted to Li Hung- 

 chang, by far the most enlightened and able statesman in China, 

 and in his hands it was felt that success was assured. 



But he had set himself a difficult task. To allay the hostility 

 and smooth the susceptibilities of a conservative and superstitious 

 people demanded all the care and tact at his command. The 

 slightest mistake might mean failure, and to insure success the 

 greatest caution was necessary. His first step was to familiarize 

 the people gradually with the new means of locomotion. The year 

 before the rescript was granted, a small railway on the Decauville 

 system was laid at Tientsin, and for a few cents the public were 

 whirled round a circle of two or three miles. The snorting little 

 engine was found, on acquaintance, to be not such a very dreadful 

 object, after all, and for several months curious and delighted 

 crowds thronged the carriages. Meanwhile, Liu Ming-ch'uan had 

 not been idle in Formosa, and a line of strategic railway was being 

 constructed in the very country where a few years before the old 

 Wusung rails had been thrown down in contempt. The third and 

 most important step, however, was made in Li Hung-chang's own 

 province of Chihli. Tong King-sing, a man of great ability and 

 with a taste for Western inventions, had opened at Tongshan the 

 first colliery in China worked on foreign principles. The engineer- 

 in-chief was Mr. C. W. Kinder, a man thoroughly honest, able, 

 and reliable. Under his management, a railway had been con- 

 structed to convey the coal from the mine to the port of shipment, 

 some twenty miles distant, and at this the authorities had been 

 content to wink. Here, then, was a man ready to hand, and to 

 him accordingly Li Hung-chang applied. The China Railway Com- 

 pany was formed, with Chinese directors indeed, but with European 

 engineers, and work was at once commenced. " T'ieh hi lai la " 

 (" The railways are coming "), said Prince Kung once to Dr. Wells 

 Williams at Peking. A decade and more has passed since then, 

 and at last the prince sees his prophecy fulfilled. 



The Tongshan line has now been extended until a distance of Si 



