No. 179.
Mr. Denby
to Mr. Bayard.
Peking, June 21, 1887. (Received August 1.)
Sir: I have the honor to report that the governor of Formosa, Lin Ming-Chuan, has made a contract with Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., for the supply by the latter of rails, rolling stock, and bridge for a narrow-gauge, light-weight railway of 80 miles in length.
The line is to be from Tamsui to Changhua, the future capital of the island. The only stream to bridge is the Taikia River. It will be spanned by a lattice girder bridge in two sections, of a joint length of 1,400 feet.
On the Taku and Tientsin line the engineers and workmen are meeting with strenuous opposition from the land owners. The Chinese first take possession and promise to pay the value of the land taken in the future. The people have little faith in official promises. They have threatened the officials and driven away the engineers and laborers at various points on the line. The Government has apparently committed the error of intrusting the supervision of railway construction to persons unacquainted with the duties to be performed. It has also intrusted incongruous duties to the chief officials. Chou Fu is the official superintendent of railways, but he is also inspector-general of fortifications, superintendent of the navy, of the coast defense, and several other things. This commingling of duties is peculiar to the Chinese. Thus Li Kung Chang is viceroy of Chihli, and he is also in the direction of the war, army, navy, finance, coast defense, and judicial and ceremonial functions.
It is likely that an Imperial edict will be issued solving the right of-way difficulty in an arbitrary manner. Such embarrassments in the construction of the experimental line are to be regretted. Under intelligent foreign guidance they would probably have not occurred.
I have, etc.,