experienced mining engineers that the Koreans make excellent rock workers, and they appear to make good grade and track workers. No attempt was made to gather wage data, except as affecting the railway situation.

RAILWAY SITUATION.

With the exception that the gauge of the trunk line and principal branch railways is all 4 feet 8 inches instead of 3 feet 6 inches, the railway situation in Korea is similar to that in Japan. The railways can be classified as Government railways, including all the trunk lines and important branches, and the privately owned light railways and tramways. These latter might be subdivided into (1) commercial and (2) industrial light railways and tramways, there being a considerable and growing mileage of the industrial class.

On March 31, 1916, there were 1,006.5 miles of Korean Government railways in service and 81.1 miles under actual construction, with a very considerable mileage projected. There were 111.8 miles of light railways and tramways in service and 165.4 miles under construction, and in this case also a good deal of additional mileage was projected. In addition, there are two short-line railways in northeastern Chosen under the supervision of the Japanese military authorities. One of these runs from the port of Seikoshin to Kanko, where it will connect with the Kankyo fine when the latter is completed. The other line is from the port of Seishin, the northern terminus of the proposed Kankyo line, to Kwainei on the Tumen River; this line will become part of the Seishin-Kirin line when that is completed (see p. 179).

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II. KOREAN GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS.

INTRODUCTION.

On July 31, 1917, the administration of the Korean Government Railways was consolidated with that of the South Manchuria Railway Co., and this point will be referred to later in connection with the latter company. One of the reasons for this consolidation undoubtedly was to give the Korean railways the benefit of operation with the South Manchuria Railway under a company organization and to obtain the advantages of a company profit-and-loss account, in addition to the general benefits to be derived from consolidating the railways under one centralized efficient manage

ment.

As the available data are entirely for the periods previous to this consolidation, the following discussion will refer only to the Korean Government Railways.

EXTENT OF LINES.

The main line runs from Fusan to Seoul (Keijyo) to Antung, a total of 585.6 miles, forming what might be called the Korean part of the Trans-Siberian route to Japan. In addition, there are the following important branches: The Konan line running in a southwesterly direction from Taiden to Moppo, 161.3 miles; the Kei-Gen line running northeast from Seoul to Gensan and Bunsen, 138.4 miles; the Hei-Nan branch from Pingyang (Heijyo) to the port of Chinnampo, 34.3 miles; the Masan branch from Sanroshin to the important naval base of Masan, 24.8 miles; and the Kei-Jin branch from Seoul to the important commercial port of Chemulpo (Jinsen), where, because of the fact that the tides rise about 32 feet, there is now being constructed a locked basin for the handling of vessels taken into the basin near high tide. There are a number of other unimportant short branches.

HISTORICAL SURVEY.

Following is a brief history, largely taken from the historical sketches given in the annual report for the year ended March 31, 1916, by the railway bureau of the Governor General of Chosen. The railway lines had their origin in a concession to build and maintain a railway between Seoul and Chemulpo granted to James R. Morse, an American citizen, by the Korean Government in 1896. While the construction was still in progress a syndicate headed by Baron Y. Shibusawa bought the concession and the rights connected with it in May, 1897, and continued the work. In May, 1899, the syndicate was transformed into the Seoul-Chemulpo Railway Co. and the line between Chemulpo (Jinsen) and Roryoshin, 20 miles in length, was opened for traffic in September of that year. The remaining part, about 5 miles, was completed and opened in July, 1900; this is now known as the Kei-Jin branch.

The construction of the line between Seoul and Fusan was taken up in August, 1901, by the Seoul-Fusan Railway Co. under the

terms of a treaty signed between Japan and Korea in August, 1894, as well as a contract entered into between the Korean Government and the above-named company in September, 1898. This line of about 267 miles was finished and opened for traffic in January, 1905, and the same company purchased the Kei-Jin line in October, 1903. The construction of the line from Seoul to Shingishu, known as the Kei-Gi section, was taken up by the temporary railway department of the Japanese Army in February, 1904, but commercial traffic was not handled until April, 1908.

When the nationalization of the railways in Japan was decided upon in 1906, the Imperial Government of Japan first purchased all of the Kei-Fu and Kei-Jin lines, totaling 296.6 miles; the railway bureau of the Residency General of Chosen was established at the same time. In September of the same year the Kei-Gi line of 332.9 miles and the Masan branch of 25 miles were transferred to the railway bureau. In December, 1909, the jurisdiction of the Korean railways was taken over by the Imperial Government Railways of Japan, but in October, 1910, they were transferred back to the railway bureau of the Government General of Korea, this arrangement being continued until July 31, 1917, when they were consolidated with the South Manchuria Railway.

The construction of the railways in Chosen, particularly the section between Seoul and Shingishu, was carried out very hurriedly, the object at the time being to connect the extreme south of the country and the extreme north as quickly as possible, and to connect a few of the important seaports with the trunk lines by means of branches. Within a few years of completion, however, the reconstruction of the line was taken up and finished in due course of time. With the completion of the railway bridge over the Yalu River and the reconstruction of the Antung-Mukden branch of the South Manchuria Railway, the Korean railways became a link in the line of communication between Europe and Japan by way of the South Manchuria and Trans-Siberian lines.

The Masan branch was built by the military authorities in 1904 and 1905. Since 1906 the Kei-Gen branch, from Seoul to Gensan and Bunsen, and the Konan and Hei-Nan branches, totaling about 350 miles, have been completed and opened for traffic for the development of the country.

There is one very pertinent fact to be borne in mind, namely, that in the building of railways in Siberia, Manchuria, and Chosen by the Japanese and Russians strategic and political factors were given first consideration and commercial utility was considered later. In most cases, in this territory, strategic and commercial utility seem

almost to coincide.

In addition to their strategic purpose, the investigator perceives that the Korean Railway and the Antung branch of the South. Manchuria Railway possess a function of equal or possibly greater importance in tapping a granary for Japan, to which country these lines provide a direct route through Chosen and across the Fusan Straits to Shimonoseki.

EXTENSION UNDER WAY.

The principal extension contemplated (work on some part of which is now actually under way) is the completion of the Kankyo line from Gensan to the port of Seishin, a distance of about 360 miles,

of which 12 miles were completed in 1915 and something over 20 miles in 1916. This line will connect near Seishin with the SeishinKwainei line, which it is planned to link up with a line to Kirin, Manchuria (see p. 208), where connections in turn will be made with the Kirin-Changchun line; at Changchun connections will be made with the present northern terminus of the South Manchuria Railway and the southern end of the Harbin-Changchun branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway.

CONSTRUCTION COST-CAPITALIZATION-PERFORMANCE STATISTICS.

The table below shows the performance statistics of the Korean Government Railways for the years ended March 31, 1907, 1914, and 1916. The statistics obtainable do not afford sufficient data to determine the construction costs, but the annual report for 1915" shows the valuation of the Kei-Fu Railway Co., amount defrayed from military funds, and cost of construction and improvements as totaling $66,264,368, equaling $65,835 per mile of line, which is probably a rather close approximation of the actual cost of construction.

The total capital invested is shown as $69,301,761, bringing the item up to $68,854 per mile of line. This total includes $349,950 stores fund.

The performance statistics follow:

a The annual reports of the Korean Railways end the fiscal year Mar. 31, and hereafter the previous year will be referred to in this instance as 1915.

b In 1914-15 the mixed train mileage run was 1,661,282, the passenger train mileage was 1,276,142, and the goods train mileage was 524,292, making a total of 3,461,716.

ORGANIZATION AND OPERATING METHODS.

The organization is of the typical branch or bureau type, being very similar to that of the Shantung Railway (see p. 130); but since the Korean railways are now a section of the South Manchuria Railway this situation will be referred to later in connection with the latter system.

The method of train operation is the typical station-master working, with very little signaling and interlocking, all of which conforms, in general, to the practice on the Japanese railways.

TRAFFIC AND RATES.

For the year 1907 the passenger earnings were practically double the freight earnings. During the interval since that time freight earnings have been growing at a faster rate, until in the year 1915 the freight earnings were practically equal to the passenger earnings. It is the general rule, with all railways in this part of the world, for the passenger earnings to exceed the freight business at first but for the freight business to grow faster and finally exceed the passenger business. This rule, however, does not apply to the South Manchuria Railway, where the freight earnings have always been largely in excess of the passenger earnings.

For the year 1907, with 641.5 miles of line, 2,625,772 passengers were carried. This number was not equaled again until the year 1912, when there was an increase to 4,399,022, with 837 miles of line. On local passenger trains second and third class passengers are handled, and on express trains first-class passengers are handled in addition. The available data do not show the details of the amount of travel or the earnings of these several classes. The average distance traveled per passenger has been a little less than 40 miles since 1906. The average passenger earnings per passenger mile for 1915 were 0.095 cent, which is just slightly less than the average for 1906. In 1907 the earnings increased to 1.22 cents per passenger mile; since then they have gradually fallen and were 0.097 cent in 1914 and as given above in 1915. The goods earnings increased about 210 per cent, with less than 50 per cent increase of mileage, between the years 1907 and 1915, inclusive. The tonnage per train had increased to 102.6, or more than 200 per cent, during this interval, but it still is very low considering the light grades (seldom exceeding 1 per cent) and the heavy motive power and freight equipment on these lines.

Coal constitutes the largest item of tonnage, amounting to about 335,000 tons, or approximately 20 per cent of the total freight handled, for the year 1915. A considerable portion of this comes from the South Manchuria Railway. Rice forms the next largest item and has increased from 63,000 tons in 1907 to 296,000 tons in 1915, or about 400 per cent. Lumber amounting to about 107,500 tons in 1915 is the next largest item, showing an increase of more than 150 per cent from 1907. Beans were the fourth largest item in 1907; the tonnage handled was about 31,500 tons, and in 1915 it was about 88,500 tons-an increase of nearly 190 per cent, 50 per cent of which, however, occurred in 1915. The other freight handled is all of a very miscellaneous character. The mineral traffic, except