THIRTY THOUSAND MILES IN CHINA 1*J 



Kail ways in China. 



Kailroads and other ways of transportation of commod- 

 ities are related to the life of a nation in pretty much the 

 same fashion as the circulatory or blood system of the human 

 body is re ated to the life of the individual; and similarly the 

 lines ot electric transmission of intelligence and the postal 

 lines correspond pretty closely to the nervous system whose 

 functioning is so intimately a part of our bodily life Each 

 of these systems, the circulatory and the nervous has a 

 dominating centre which has a relationship of mutual de- 

 pendence with all parts of the body and all functions of its 

 life. No part can live alone. So the development of a 

 national life in China depends necessarily largely upon the 

 development of these two systems within her borders, the 

 one for the easy, cheap and rapid distribution of commodities, 

 so that the people of one region may readily relieve the 

 hunger or want in another region, and the other for the quick 

 and effective transmission of intelligence which will cause the 

 thrill of the new national life to be felt in the remotest parts 

 and by every individual. 



In a study of the present development of railways in 

 China several features at once impress themselves upon us. 

 First, most of the lines already in operation serve the north- 

 eastern quarter of China; the great trunk lines that will 

 connect the far west with the seaboard and the north with 

 the south have yet to be completed. Second, very little has 

 been accomplished or is even projected under purely native 

 auspices ; and third in arranging for the financing and con- 

 struction of these arteries of trade on the basis of concessions 

 to foreign capitalists China has become involved in a com- 

 plicated five-fold international web which is without parallel 

 elsewhere in the world. In this allotment (present and 

 future) of so-called "spheres," or more correctly "strips" of 

 influence, the associated French, Eussian and Belgian in- 

 terests have a predominating share, followed by Japanese and 

 by British in close rivalry, while German interests are small. 

 American were almost nil until increased by concessions to 

 the American International Corporation through the Siems- 

 Carev Company to some of which considerable opposition has 

 been' offered from other quarters. The lines to be built with 

 American capital and by American engineers are widely se- 

 parated and total about 1,600 miles supplemented by con- 

 cessions as to priority in certain other regions for which the 

 lines are, however, not yet defined. 



For China's sake it is to be hoped that this co-operation 

 in railway building will be properly fostered. 



