Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/100

92 real object of the promoters being nothing more nor less than the introduction of railways into China. The idea of giving the blessings of railway communication to the empire was not new. As far back as July, 1863, an application had been made to the Chinese authorities for permission to construct a line between Shanghai and Soochow, but the reception given to the proposal was such as to indicate that the Government were not likely to readily sanction the innovation. When, therefore, the idea was taken up again it was decided not to approach the Chinese governing power, but to seek to reach the goal indirectly. The company's object was stated to be the improvement of road communication, and to give effect to their aims they purchased a strip of land about fifteen yards wide extending from Shanghai to Woosung, a distance of about nine and a quarter miles. Almost simultaneously, at their instigation, the district magistrate, under the direction of the Taoutai, issued a proclamation, giving notice that they had acquired possession of the land, and that they had a right to build bridges, cut ditches, erect fences, and construct roads suitable for the running of cars.

The scheme having now assumed a practical shape, a new company was formed and registered July 28, 1874, under the Limited Liability Act, as a company having its head office in Canton, with a capital of £100,000. This new company took over the lands and rights of the old company, bought a considerable amount of extra land, and formed an embankment along the entire length of the route, the whole of the area being about the level of high water spring tides, and under the level of exceptionally high tides. The agents of the company in China were Messrs. Jardine, Matheson &amp; Co., with whom Mr. J. Dixon of London entered into a contract to construct a light railway on the embankment referred to, and work was commenced in January, 1876. Some difficulties hereupon ensued with the Chinese authorities, but on the company's making certain concessions as to the deviation of the line at some points, the work was allowed to proceed, and half the line, viz., that portion from Shanghai to Kangwan, was opened for public traffic, the inaugural trip being run on June 30, 1876. Subsequently the Chinese authorities, who had been much displeased at the laying down of a railway without their previous permission, made an arrangement with Her Majesty's Minister, through the medium of his Chinese secretary, Mr. Mayers, to the effect that they should buy the railway, and certain articles of agreement for carrying out this arrangement were drawn up at Nanking. These articles were afterwards agreed to by the company, subject to certain conditions, and the payment of 285,000 Shanghai taels was arranged between the two parties as the price of the property. It was further settled that this sum should be paid in instalments, extending over one year, during which time the company were to retain possession of the line and work it to their own profit. The running of trains, which had been stopped for a time, recommenced on December 1, 1876. During July and August the traffic amounted to a total of 16,894 passengers. During December the number of passengers was 17,527, of which number 15,873 were third class. When the Chinese entered into occupation of the railways they discontinued the running of trains and proceeded to tear up the rails. Subsequently the entire plant was despatched to Takow, in the island of Formosa.

Thus ended the pioneer effort to introduce railways into China. The project was a bold one, and its results during the brief period during which the railway was working showed that commercially the prospects were good. But the scheme was born out of time. China at that juncture was not ready for railways. Moreover, foreign action was deeply distrusted, owing to the events of the previous decade, and Chinese statesmen realised that they must at all costs keep the control of matters in their own hands. As evidence of the spirit which was in the ascendant we may quote a few passages from a memorial sent to the Throne by Tseng-Kwo-fan, sometime Viceroy of the Two Kiang, who was described by a British official writer of note in 1877 as "the greatest statesman China has produced during the present century." "If," observed Tseng, "small steamers be allowed on inland waters, native craft of every size, sailors, and pilots will suffer; if foreigners are allowed to construct telegraphs and railways, owners of carts, mules, chairs, and inns will suffer, and the means of living be taken away from the coolies. The same may be said of all demands of foreigners, except the working of coal mines; it would enrich China to borrow foreign appliances for the extracting coal, and it would appear to deserve a trial. If foreigners are allowed to introduce small steamers, railroads, &amp;c., they will monopolize the whole profits of the country; if our people are allowed to join with them in introducing them, the rich will benefit at the expense of the poor—neither plan is practicable. With respect to the points which are not highly obnoxious we should grant them if asked; it is only as to railroads, steamers, salt, and residence in the interior for trade, as destructive to our people's interest, that a strenuous fight should be made." Here we have the guiding spirit of the most enlightened Chinese policy at this period. The foreigner was to be tolerated where it was thought he would do no mischief, but he was to be kept at arm's length where the means of communication and residence in the interior were concerned. It may seem to our view an essentially narrow way of looking at things; but recalling the later history of railway concessions in China, who shall say that "Tseng's opinions were not from his patriotic standpoint absolutely sound?

There was no doubt in the years following the conclusion of the Treaty of Peking a ferment in the Chinese mind which led to developments calculated to cause anxiety in the ranks of the Peking autocracy. An example of these tendencies is the drift to the foreign settlements and notably to Shanghai, of well-to-do Chinese subjects. Referring to this movement the British Consul at Shanghai, in his report for 1876, says; "From a vague apprehension of future calamities many men of substance have removed here with their families from the interior and in several instances have even taken foreign houses in preference to Chinese hongs. The shopkeepers have also improved in their style of buildings, and as the old rickety tenements are from time to time swept away by fires they are invariably replaced by buildings superior to the ordinary run of Chinese houses. The natives are likewise learning the value of brick walls and adopt them in the capacity of fire walls." Meanwhile the foreign residents were showing more and more a disposition to leave their houses in the heart of the settlement and establish themselves in the country. The Consul speaks in his report for 1874 of villa residences springing up like mushrooms in various directions beyond municipal limits, and he reverts to the tendency towards a substitution of Chinese tenements for foreign houses in the heart of the settlement, and the consequent depreciation in value of the larger houses.

Another sign of the times upon which stress is laid in the communications of the British officials of the period is the growth of the purely native press. In referring to the opening of the Chinese Polytechnic Institution in 1875 the Consul at Shanghai mentions that at the period there were no fewer than five Chinese daily papers, and that in addition there were a number of weekly and monthly organs—most of them very popular and