網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

consumption is about 0.8 of a kilowatt hour per mile. The cost of power is $0.0308 Mex. per kilowatt hour. The electrical equipment and most of the materials for these seven cars were purchased in England and were erected under General Manager McColl's direction in Shanghai. This railless trolley system is the most successful installation of the kind that the writer ever investigated.

The management of this system is entirely British, and, while a good many of the requirements are purchased in Shanghai, preference is undoubtedly given to materials from British sources. A directory is given on page 268.

HONGKONG TRAMWAYS.

The Hongkong Tramways Co. (Ltd.) operates a system of well maintained and managed tramways extending from one end of the city of Victoria to the other, either on or near the water front. The city is stretched out for several miles on the island of Hongkong between the high ground and the harbor.

For the year 1917 the profits from operations, after liberal depreciation charges had been deducted, amounted to $248,915 (gold). Debenture interest totaled only $33,575, and $33,585 was paid as an interim 9 per cent dividend, leaving the handsome amount of $179,755. This was added to the previous surplus balance and made the total accumulated surplus balance $261,050, from which it was proposed to pay an additional 3 per cent dividend, making a total of 12 per cent on the share stock.

During June, 1917, General Manager and Chief Engineer J. J. S. Kennedy made a visit to Japan to investigate the procurement of immediately needed supplies, but, so far as could be learned, he made no purchases other than those to meet the present running requirements. The occasion for this arrangement was the impossibility at that time of supplying these requirements from any other source. A directory of the officials of this system is given on page 268.

PEAK TRAMWAYS.

The Peak Tramways at Hongkong are what would be called, around Pittsburgh, an "incline." The service rendered is the conveying of passengers by cable incline lift from a station near the foot of the slopes to a point a considerable distance up on the higher ground, the highest point of which is known as the Peak. The Peak is about 2,600 feet above sea level, and in this district there are many residences and a large hotel.

The management of this concern is strictly British. A directory is given on page 269.

Part 2.--JAPAN.

INTRODUCTION.

The Japanese railways are taken up in this place, instead of the Korean and the Manchurian, on account of the Japanese control of the Korean railways and also of all the Manchurian railways except the Chinese Eastern and the Tsitsihar Light Railway. This statement is intended to cover the Kirin-Changchun and the SsupingkaiChengchiatun lines, nominally Chinese Government railways but actually under Japanese control and management.

While American manufacturers have in the past furnished the Japanese railways-both in Japan proper and in Korea and South Manchuria with a very considerable amount of railway materials, equipment, and supplies, it is the writer's opinion that, in the future, while the United States will continue to supply all these lines with a very substantial share of their requirements, this will be entirely because of the elements of cheapness, maximum convenience in purchasing, and, in certain cases, superior quality. The business will be transacted very largely, however, through Japanese concerns with highly organized branches in this country. A considerable part of the profit will thus go to Japanese interests, even to the extent of the shipments going in Japanese bottoms. Not only will Japanese railways be our customers only when it is most convenient for them to so arrange their purchases, but State-aided Japanese manufacturers of railway materials and equipment, in Japan proper and South Manchuria and possibly parts of China, will be active competitors. They will be assisted in their efforts by their cheap supply of labor and cheap sources of materials.

At this point it seems proper to quote from the annual report of the Imperial Government Railways of Japan for the year ended March 31, 1915, which states as follows:

SHRINKAGE OF FOREIGN PURCHASE.

The attention of the authorities had long been directed to the importance of superseding imports by home products. Apart from the growth of domestic industry which has gradually come to meet the multifarious requirements of railways, the policy of self-sufficiency had recently begun to recommend itself with greater urgency than ever in view of the conditions surrounding Japanese finance and economy in general. The best endeavors have therefore been used in this particular direction, with the result that the amount of foreign purchase has markedly been decreased.

The table following shows foreign purchases by the Imperial Government Railways for the years ended March 31, from 1911 to 1917, inclusive.

[blocks in formation]

The principal items purchased in 1914-15 were as follows: Wheels and axles for vehicles, $273,635; finished steel girders, $138,346; electric machines and materials, $104,036; copper wire and No. 8 galvanized wires, $69,332; finished springs, $53,795; tires for vehicles and locomotives, $40,780; iron and steel, $34,373; tools and machines, $23,377. In 1915-16 the four largest items were: Steel girders, $1,049,695; iron and steel, $176,835; galvanized iron wire and copper wire, $158,075; fabrics, $55,340.

In view of the conditions indicated above, the purpose of this report will be not so much to point out the possibilities of new railway markets in Japan as to suggest steps to retain past and present markets and also, in connection with Japan and Manchuria, to point out the possibilities of the competition which, in the writer's opinion, may be expected in the future in the other markets of the Far East. In a way these points appear to interest principally the large concerns that have done most of the business in the past, some of which have now established connections with the type of Japanese firms mentioned such arrangements providing that for a portion of the business, at least, the American manufacturer gets a fixed (and probably small) profit while the Japanese concern gets a similar profit and also, at times, a much larger additional profit.

It does not seem that the situation as a whole warrants a very extensive analysis of the Japanese railways, but rather the presentation of such information as will enable anyone unfamiliar with the situation to acquire a general understanding of it. In this connection, however, it may be stated that from many standpoints the performance records of the Japanese railways are very interesting. In some respects the performances compare favorably with those of the American and German railways, which admittedly make the best showing, in their respective classes, of any railways in the world.

I. GENERAL INFORMATION.

In view of the many accounts of the Japanese situation in recent years, it seems unnecessary in this report to make extended reference other than to matters affecting transportation in general and the railways in particular.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND AREA.

Japan proper, to which this report refers (Formosa and Saghalien not being included), is an island empire consisting of four principal islands Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, these being given in the order of their areas. These and more than 500 other smaller islands constitute a total area of about 147,700 square miles, or about 8,000 square miles less than the land area of the State of California, the second largest American State, and only 700 square miles more than the total area of Montana, the third largest State. However, the total area of the four main islands on which all of the railways are located is only 129,250 square miles. These islands lie between 31° and 35.5° north latitude and between 124° and 146° east longitude.

POPULATION.

Authorities seem to agree that the present total population of Japan proper is now somewhat in excess of 55,000,000, or about 370 people per square mile, which is 11 times the density of the present population of the United States. There is, moreover, a large percentage of the land in Japan on which nobody lives, and this increases the actual density of the inhabited regions. The statistics of the Imperial Government Railways for the year ended March 31, 1917, give the population of the four islands on which all the railways are located as 55,224,500-almost 430 to a square mile, or a population of about 9,430 for each mile of railways of all classes, including tramways. When one considers that there is a population of only 345 for each mile of steam railways alone in the United States, one appreciates the small amount of railways in Japan per capita or, to state the situation more accurately, the large population per mile of railway.

CLIMATE.

The climate of Japan is mild, on the whole, as it is influenced by warm ocean currents. The entire country receives ample and very dependable rainfall, but at certain seasons very serious storms are likely to occur which at times cause much damage to crops, railways, and highways. Construction to prevent damage by storms has been among the elements entering into the high cost of building the Japanese railways.

« 上一頁繼續 »