No. 144.
Mr. Avery
to Mr. Fish.
Pelting, February 19, 1875. (Received May 1.)
Sir: In my No. 12, of December 10, attention was called to the fact that Li Hung Chang, governor-general of the province of Chihli, had sent abroad an agent to procure the machinery for working coal-mines. It is now in my power to give more detailed information on the subject. Regret is sometimes expressed that the Chinese authorities are much more inclined to expend money on the warlike inventions of foreigners than on the arts and appliances of peace, which tend to build up instead of destroying; and it is doubtless true that an equal readiness to introduce our improved machinery in their manufactures, mining, and [Page 266] transportation would be more beneficial to the people and the government. But it is worth observing that such experience of the value of foreign arts and appliances as they gain in establishing arsenals, powder-works, and founderies, and in adopting our war-steamers, cannon, and small-arms, is also teaching them the superiority of the same arts and appliances in the ordinary industry and traffic of the empire. Thus Li Hung Chang was doubtless led by his arsenal-works to appreciate the necessity of obtaining large supplies of coal by more economical methods than manual labor and mule or camel transportation. Indeed, as early as 1868, Tsang-kwoh-fan, who was at that time the highest in rank of the provincial governors-general, had nearly induced the central government to allow him to make the experiment of working the coal-mines near Nanking, or Chin-kiang, with foreign machinery. Dr. Williams wrote of this to the Department, saying:
If once this experiment is tried, I think its success in developing a vast industry will prove a strong inducement to try other mines, as, for instance, those near Peking and north of Canton, and this source of wealth being once opened prosperously, a rail or tram road, to carry the coal to the boats or a market, would follow under more promising inducements than can now be expected. It is worth mentioning in this connection that the great stimulus to Stephenson in opening his railroad was to get coal to market.
These remarks have a special relevancy to the experiment now actually undertaken by Li Hung Chang, concerning which Mr. E. T. Sheppard, our consul at Tien-tsin, has procured for me the following facts, given in nearly his own language. The coal-fields at Tzin Chow, which Li Hung Chang proposes to operate with foreign machinery, are situated in the v eastern slope of the range of hills which runs northeast and southwest, along and across the western border of this province, (Chili,) at a point near its southwestern extremity, and near the border of Shantung and Honan. They may be marked on the map as lying in latitude 36° 15′ north, and longitude 114° 45′ east. These mines are very rich in coal of a soft bituminous variety, though anthracite is also present, and have been worked since and during the Ming dynasty with greater or less success. Iron-ore and limestone exist in great abundance in the adjacent hills. The distance from Tien-tsin, by ordinary course of travel, is about 250 miles, and from Peking a little farther. These mines were selected for working by Li Hung Chang, as he says, according to Mr. Sheppard, because of their remoteness from Peking, which place now gets its coal-supplies from mines only two days’ journey distant by camel or mule. The governor-general observes that, should he attempt to put foreign machinery in the mines at Men-ton-kow or Chien Tang, he would be met by serious opposition from the capital. Remote from Peking, he is nearly independent.
In October last, Li Hung Chang engaged Mr. James Henderson, of Tien-tsin, to go to Great Britain and secure experts and machinery for opening the mines selected, a steam-engine being included in the order. Mr. Henderson left Tien-tsin for England about the 10th of October, and expects to return by July next. For the purpose of conveying the coal rapidly and cheaply from Tzii Chow to Tien-tsin, the governor-general proposes to construct a tram-way, either for horse or steam power, from Tzii Chow to the nearest accessible point of connection with the river Chang Ho, which flows into the Grand Canal, and which passes Tzii Chow about thirty miles to the eastward, thus making a continuous line of communication between the mines and Tien-tsin, at which latter place, or near it, are the Chinese arsenal and steamships, to say nothing of numerous foreign steamers. Mr. Sheppard thinks this mode of transportation, although a great improvement on the present, will prove [Page 267] inadequate, and that, to insure economical and profitable working, Li Hung Chang will find himself obliged to make his tram-road a railroad, and extend it to Tien-tsin. He gives me the following facts in illustration of this idea:
Coal at the mines named can now he bought in any reasonable quantity at 90 cents to $1.25 per ton. So great is the cost of transportation, and so limited are the means, that the coal doubles for each ten miles it is carried, so that by the time it reaches Tientsin it cannot be sold for less than about $14 per ton. Indeed, it is found that Australian and Cardiff coals, notwithstanding the great cost of shipping them hither, compete favorably with the native coal, which is found in such great abundance in this province. With railroad communication between here and the mines, native coal would be laid down in such quantities, and at such a low figure, as to drive all foreign coals at once and forever from the market. This fact will soon suggest itself to the Chinese, for it is capable of mathematical demonstration. I have said that the viceroy (governor-general) is mistaken in supposing that he can transport coal from the mines to Tien-tsin with a tram-way and in boats via the Grand Canal in paying quantities. My reason for thinking so is this: The Chang Ho, which connects with the Grand Canal, is a shallow stream at best, and on an average, I am informed, it is not navigable, even for small passenger-boats, more than about six months of each year. During that time, therefore, no coal can be transported. The result will be just what is true at present, viz, that coal will be abundant and dirt-cheap at the mines, but the facilities for carrying it to market will be so inadequate as to render the working of the mines a practical failure. The viceroy will, however, get just taste-enough of the mineral wealth to make him greedy for more. He will see the rich treasures of coal and iron here in his own province, and he has sagacity enough to see also how those treasures can be made available. Railroads are the logic of the whole business.
Whatever may be the issue of the mining experiment, Li Hung Chang is not a man likely to abandon it, and as he gains rather than loses influence with the central government, he may rely with the more confidence on being left free to carry out his project by whatever means may be necessary to insure its success. He has lately been advanced to the head position in the grand secretariat, which is a special mark of imperial favor, there being only four members of this body, and the usage being for the Manchus and Chinese composing it to alternate in a way that gave the former precedence.
I have, &c.,