"At present the railway possesses excellent premises for living quarters of employees and workmen, clubs, hospitals, schools.

"For the religious requirements, the railway has caused the construction of Russian orthodox churches and Chinese temples.

"The following figures will bear out the above state

ment:

"Hospitals: total number, 34; permanent cots, 530; medical staff, 155. Schools: total number of schools of I and II category, 54; number of middle schools, 2; number of teachers, 342; number of pupils, 11,517."

The complete change of the policy of the railway was emphasized in the publication in these words: "In 1921 the higher officials of the railway's management were changed and the railroad in a decisive way turned to purely commercial work and broke off all relations with political parties of every color."

The recent understanding between the Soviet agent at Peking and the Power at Mukden over the Chinese Eastern Railway seems to have brought about another change of the policy of the railway, but it is entirely too early at the time of present writing to say which way the new régime is tending.

The Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun line is the first section of the proposed Ssupingkai-Taonan line. It was built by China with a loan of 7,600,000 yen from the Yokohama Specie Bank-a Chinese government railway, therefore. The actual construction began in April, 1917, and the line opened to traffic in August, 1918. When the line is completed out to Taonan, 141 miles beyond Chengchiatun, it will play a very important part in the opening up of the resources of Eastern Inner Mongolia. The Liao, which is the only outlet for this section of the country, as we have seen, is tightly frozen from November to April, the very months in which the grains

and pulse of this part of the Liao valley should find their way out to markets.

The Changchun-Kirin line was also built by China. It cost 11,800,000 yen, of which 6,500,000 yen were borrowed from the South Manchuria Railway. This line, like the Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun line, is but the first section of a longer one. Eventually it is meant to be extended to Kainei on the Chosen border and there connect with the North Chosen line. When the connection is completed the great central plains of Manchuria will find an outlet on the Sea of Japan, as has been pointed out in another chapter.

There are four proposed lines still unbuilt: The Kaiyuan-Kirin line via Hailun, to have a length of 233 miles; the Kirin-Kainei line of about 270 miles, which we have just mentioned; the Taonan-Jehol line of about 470 miles; and another to start from a point on the Taonan-Jehol line and terminate at a port unnamed. With the completion of these lines, or even of some of them, Manchuria will enter a new era of industrial expansion.

CHAPTER XIII

TRADE AND TRADE TENDENCIES

IN the course of 1922 Manchuria bought 180,160,070 Haikwan taels' worth of foreign and Chinese goods. In the same year she sold to China and to foreign countries goods valued at 274,426,631 Hk. taels. As the average exchange value of a Haikwan tael in 1922 ruled at 83 cents of American money, she did business worth a little more than $377,406,960 in American money, taking both her net imports and exports together.

Of this amount, 162,671,858 Hk. taels' worth of her imports went through the three ports of South Manchuria-through Dairen, Yingkou, and Antung. Of her exports, 195,320,511 Hk. taels' worth went out through the same three ports. Therefore out of the total of 454,586,701 Hk. taels of imports and exports, no less than 357,892,369 Hk. taels' worth of business passed through the Big Three of her ports; that is to say, very nearly three-fourths of the entire exporting and importing trade of Manchuria passed the three ports in the south in 1922. And the year was not an exceptional one in this respect. This has been the case ever since Russian Far East has been suffering from the effects of the economic chaos following the Bolshevik revolution.

CHARACTER OF THE MANCHURIAN TRADE

There are eight articles on the lists of goods she imported through the three ports in 1922 which stand out head and shoulder above the rest, not in volume neces