The Southern herald., 1910-06-03

.
over S35,OO0 a mile to build. Probably
$4,000 a mile would not be a bad es-
innate of the total amount apprOpri-
| a.ed for the construction of this par
ticular line, from the loan Of 200,O00,-
! 600 francs asked for in 1898 by the
colonial council in connection with
the program for a network Of railways
in and about French lndO-China. The
line is a magnificent tribute to the
French engineers who have battled
with all known difficulties and a few
more besides 1t pushes out through
the paddy fields about Hanoi, filings
itself cheerfully into the difIicuit Coun-
try beyond Vietre, demands the assist
ance of no fewer than 175 bridges to
defy the challenge of the broken land
to Laokai-a bridge almost every
mile. Thence it shoots north, now
following the rivers course, now
across unhealthy marsh, now lodging
6,00O-foot mountain, and losing It.
self in the deep gorge beyond, up and
up, until it is 5000 feet above sca
level SO, over dozens more gorges, to
Eunnan.fu. John Chinaman up in the
Yunnan heights will now be able to
laugh at his pack mules and at the
slow moving junks which so down
to the sea. His exports and imports
will increase by reason of the new
facilities, and should he desire one
day to rub shoulders with civilization
down on the coast he will be able to
travel with ease and comfort from
end to end of the foreign devils line
for less than five dollars On some
parts of the lndo-Chinese railways
he can travel nearly $50 miles for the
equivalent of so centsJ
The completion of this railway real
ICES in part the ambition of a cele-
brated Frenchman, who, once a
printer, it is said, in Paris, dropped
into the political flower bed, and
blossomed forth in due course as gov
ernor general of lndo-China. When
Paul DOumer, for he It was, went
east in 1897, he felt 1t his mission to
put France, politically and CONNER
cially, on as good a footing as any of
her rivals, notably Great Britain. 1t
did not take him long to see that the
best missionaries in his cause would
be the railways. A line to penetrate
China up to Yunnan, with the posi-
bility of an extension to Szechuan,
would probably hit hard the West
River traffic to Hongkong The only
other market contending for CONNER
cial honors in southwest China was
RangoOn, but fears of enterprise from
this quarter were minimized when the
opposition of Lord Curzon, then vice
roy of India to any scheme involving
the spending of money on railways
from Burma to Yunnan became
known. Since then the balance of
world power has changed; we are not
so jealous as formerly of French en-
terprise, and even If we are to lose
somewhat when the new railway
reaps its fruits, we shall not hesitate
to congratulate the French engineers
on their magnificent work nor fail to
wish our neighbors Joy and profit of
their enterprise Profit will possibly
be long time coming, and there are
some who doubt whether the CONNER.
cial possibilities of Yunnan justified
this huge expenditure on railway con-
struction. Authorities differ on this
question; but the weight of opinion
seems to be in favor of the ultimate
financial success of the enterprise.
There are many markets in Yunnan
crying not to be quickly fed with Eu-
ropean goods; while the mineral and
other resources of the province will be
developed by the arrival of the rail.
road-Pall Mall Gazette.