MEMORANDUM ON RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION IN MANCHURIA

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Institute of Pacific Relations

Memorandum on Railway Construction in ManchuriaSource: Memorandum (Institute of Pacific Relations, American Council), Vol. 2, No. 15 (Aug. 3,1933), pp. 1-3Published by: Institute of Pacific RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3024783 .

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AMERICAN COUNCIL

INSTITUTE

OF

PACIFIC

RELATIONS

129 EAST

52D STREET,

NEW

YORK

QITY

Issued fortnightly

Annual

subscription

-

$

2.00

Vol.

II - 15

August

3,

1933

ORANDUM

N RAILWAYONSTRUCTION

N

MANCHURIA

For

over thirty years,

the history

of Manchuria

has

been

closely

linked to the development f its railways. The original construction

of

the

main trunk

ine

by

Russians

was followed,

after the Treaty

of

Portsmouth,

y

a

period

of

Japanese

administration

over

its

most im-

portant

section

and of construction

by

Japanese

of subsidiary

and

feed-

er

lines.

The third period

coincided

with

the rise

to

power

n

Manchur-

ia

of

Chang

Tso-lin,

and

produced

a

flanking

network

f

lines

to

the

west,

built

and controlled

largely

by

Chinese

enterprise,

although

occasionally

with Japanese capital.

The

potential

tbreat

to

Japanese

railway

control

presented

by

these

new ines

was one

of the

threads

in

the situation

whichproduced

the

recent

conflict

in

this region and

which

appear

to have

ushered

in

yet a

fourthphase.

Whatever he final outcomeof the negotiations betweenthe Soviet

Union

and

"Manchukuo"

over the

Chinese

Eastern

Railway,

the

character

of the new

development

s

already

fairly

clear.

One

of

the

principal

factors

in

these

negotiations

concerns

the

degree

to whichthe

commercial

and the strategic

value

of

the

Chinese

Eastern

has

been

undermined

y

the construction

of

new ines9

Plans

have

recently

been

announced

for

the

extention

of this construction.

Withthe apparent

termination

of

anti-

bandit activities

and with

the

at

least

temporary

ubsidence

of

local

Chinese

military

opposition,

the

new

state

has turned

its

energies

to

the

exploitation

of its industrial

and commercialpossibilities.

In this

pro-

cess,

the

building

of railroad

lines is

playing

a

dominantpart.

Tunhua-Tumentsiangailroad - By all meansthe most important ink in

new

onsTrueion

s1 line

linking

Tunkua

with Tumentsiang.

This

line has

played

a

large part

in

Japanese

plans

for some

years,

but

it

was

only

after

the establishment

of

the new

state of

"Manchukuo'

that

con-

struction

could

begin.

Linking

Kirin

and

other

large

cities

to Korea

and

to

Japan

itself,

the line

has an

enormous

potential

importance,

both

commercial

and

strategic.

The

length

of construction

required

was small,

being

only

187

kilometres, running

from the town

of Tunhua on the

already

constructed

Tbnhua-Kirin

line

to Kaiakudo,

Korea,

which

lies on the

actual

border of Korea

and "Manchukuo".

At this

point

it connects

with the

rail-

road which

runs long

the whole

eastern

coast

of

Korea.

The

construction

work

required

was completed

on

June8,

and the line

was expected

to

be

run-

ning on full schedule, it has been announwced,y August1.



The

importance

of this line

can be estimated

only

in

connection

with

the

Japanese

construction

of

a

new

port

at

Rashin,

on

the

Korean

coast.

For this construction,

40,000,000

yen

have

already

been

assign-

ed,

with

a further

20,000,000

yen

to

be

expended

at a later

period.

The port will serve as a newoutlet to the Pacific for all of

the cen-

tral and northeastern sections of "Manchukuo". It is estimated that it

will be

able to

handle,

when

ompleted,

9,000,000

tons

of

cargo

annually.

Some

of

this

traffic

will undoubtedly

be at

the

expense

of the South

Manchurian

Railway

and

Dairen,

but

the

new

competition

will be most

severe-

ly

felt by the

eastern

branch of

the Chinese

Eastern

and the

port

of

Vladivostok,

hitherto

the

principal

outlet

to

the

world for north

Man-

churian products.

With

the construction

of

supplementary

ailroad

lines,

the port

will

provide

the nearest

outlet

to the

sea not only

for

Kirin,

but

also

for the Harbin

district

and nearly

the whole

of

Heilungkiang

Province.

The sea

route

from

Rashin

to

Japan

of

486

miles compares

with

the

distance

to Japan

from

Dairen

of 586

miles.

A

regular

steamsh-ip

service

has already been

announced;

it will

be possible

for

travellers

to journey fromChangchunHsinching), the capital of "Manchukuo"o

Tokyo

n about

50

hours.

Lafa-Harbin

Railroad

-

Second

in

importance

only

to

the

line

linking

Korea

with

Kirin

is a

project

to

link this line

itself with

Harbin

and

the fertile

northern

sections

of

the new

state.

The

line is

planned

at

present

to run

from he station

of Laha

on the Kirin-Tunhua

ine,

through

either

Yushu

or

Wuchang,

o

Harbint

With

the

construction

of

a

bridge

across

the Sungari

at Harbin,

this line will

establish

a direct trunk

line

from

Hailun in

the far

north

of

Manchuria

to

Rashin

and

the

Korean

coast.

Construction of this line, which s to be 220 kilometres long, is

expected

to be

completed

before

the end

of the

year.

A contract

for

the

construction

of a

bridge

across

the

Sungari

has

already

been given

to a

Japanese

concern.

A Russian

railway

expert,

writing

in

the Manchurian

Monitor, a Russian

monthly

ublished

in Harbin,

has

explained

the

im-

portance

of

this new

ine.

"Great

excitment

has

been

aroused

on

the

question

of

accomplishment

f the

project

of

construction

of the

railway

line

from

he

station

Lafa

on

the

Kirin-Tunhua

ine

to

Harbin,

and

this

is

easily

understood

as the

significance

of this

line is exceedingly

great.

In

connection

with

the

accomplishment

f

the

linking

up

of

the

Hu-Ha

and

Taitsihar railway

lines

and the construction

of

the

Lafa-Harbin

line,

the

direction

of the

Kirin-Korea

main

line

has been

sharply

altered.

Upto the present it was considered that the object of the Kirin-Korea

main

line

was

to

get

in touch with

the

Mongolian

frontier

and the

whole

of the

railway

line was

calculated

to

carry

out

the

colonization

of

the

enormous

rea

bordering

on

Mongolia.

The

present

construction

is

direct-

ing the

mainline

to

densely

populated

districts

of

developed agriculture,

forming larger

base for

goods

traffic.

Of

course,

this

does not mean

that the

project

for

extending

the

Kirin-Korea

main

line

to

the

west,

in

the

direotion

of

Mongolia,

is

to

be

given

up,

but

the

railway

which will

link

up the

Kirin-KZorea

main

line

withHarbin

must

be very

significant

for the

Chinese Eastern

Railway,

as it will

be

a new

comDpetitor

aking

away north

Manchurian

oods

to north

Korea."



Tsitsihar-Koshan

and Harbin-Hailun Railroads

- The third

important

project

at

present

under

way

is

the

construction

of

a

connecting

link

between the

railroad

lines

from Tsitsihar

to Koshan and

from Harbin to

Hailun.

Both of these lines

were built

and financed

by

Chinese

between

1928

and

1931 as

a

part

of the

plan

for an

independent

network

to

feed

the projected port of Hulutao. Even before the establishment of the new

state,

their competition

had

begun

to be felt

by

the Chinese

Eastern

Railway.

With the

construction

of

a

line joining

these

two

roads,

this

competition

should

be made

considerably

more

severe.

It will then

be

possible

to

transport grain

and beans from

all of

the

northern

districts

of Manchuria

either

to

Rashin

in Korea

or to

Mukden

and

Dairen

in South

Manchuria entirely independently

of

the Chinese Eastern

Railway.

It

will

be

immediately possible

to route

traffic

to the

south, through

Taonanfu,

and

with

the

completion of the Lafa-Harbin line

above referred

to,

connections

will be

completed

from Tsitsihar

to

Korea.

The completed

construction

of this

series of roads has

particular

importance to any understanding of the present position of the Chinese

Eastern

Railroad. Referred

to

now

in

Japan

and

'Manchukuo" as

the

"North

Manchurian

Railroad"

this latter line faces

a

serious

impairment

of

its

earning power

and

of its tactical

importance

to its

owners.

How

large

a consideration

this

may prove

to

be in the

readiness

of

the

Soviet

Union

to

complete

the sale

negotiations,

it is difficult

to

say.

With

settled conditions,

however,

and

any

revival

of world

demand for

Manchur-

ian

products, particularly

soya beans,

the

new

network

of

railroad

lines

are expected

to

offer

every

serious

competition

to

the

C.E.R.

Repairs

to

Western

Lines

- At the

same

time

as

new construction

is

being

ipuhed

te

vernmentot "Manchukuo" has announced

a

program of repairs

and reorganization for the existing lines which formthe principal arteries

of

transport

for

the

rnew tate.

These

lines

include,

besides the South

Manchuria

Railway,

the

Supingkai-Taonan,

the

Taonan-Angangchi,

the Tsitsihar-

Koshan,

and the

Hulan-Hailun

lines.

The actual

work is

being

carried

on

by

the

South

Manchuria

Railway Company,

on behalf of

the

government

of

"ManchukJuo',

Most

of

these

lines were

constructed

recently, largely

by Chinese.

They

have

been

controlled

for

almost

two

years by Japanese

officials, and

plans

for their reorganization are said

to have

been prepared

in detail.

All

bridges

are

to

be

replaced by

steel

structures

on

the

principal lines,

and

heavier

rails are

to

be

installed. Bids have

already been received

for a bridge spanning the Hulan River on the Hulan-Hailun line and for a

bridge

over

the

Nen

River on the

Taonan-Angangchi

line.

The

Nen bridge

is estimated

to

cost

1,300,000 yen

and to

be

completed by

September,1934,

and

the Hulan bridge,

to

cost

600,000

yen,

is

to

be finished before the

end

of

1933.

The

outlet

for

these

lines,

when

they

were

first

constructed, was to

be

a

new

port

at

Hulatao,

which was

being built for the

Chinese by

a

Netherlands

construction

fi4m. The present status

of this contract

is8

not



clear, but

it has

grown

ncreasingly

doubtful

if the new

government

will

continue

with the

project.

The

construction of

Rashin

on

the

Korean coast, together

with

the careful

linking

of all

existing

lines

in such

a

manner

that their traffic

may easily

and

cheaply

be

diverted

either

to

Rashin

or to Dairen

appears

to indicate that

the

development

of Hulutao will not be continuedo Without it, "Manchukuo"will still

have

a

fully-integrated

railroad

system

in

its own

control,

and

even

without

possession

of the

Chinese

Eastern

Railway

will

be

able

to

trans-

port its produce

to

ocean

ports

from

by

far

the greater part of its

commercially productive

territbry.

The

next

phase

of

construction,

rather than

Hulutao,

would

appear

to be the

building

of

railroad lines

to the

west.

Both

in

order to

open large

districts

for

colonization

and

to

provide

the

basis

for

commercial

development

of

Mongolia and es-

pecially Inner

Mongolia,

these

plans may

be

expected

to

take shape as

one

of

the

major

sections

of the

program

of

the

new

state, when

the

pre-

sent

construction

is

completed.

Sources:

This memorandum

s

based

on information

published in Russian

in

Harbin

and

on

news

dispatches

from

"Manchukuo"

to

the

Japan Chron-

icle and the

Japan Advertiser,

both

published

in

Japan.



From:

American

Council,

Institute

of

Pacific

Relations,

129

East

52nd Street,

New

York

City.

Plaza

3_4700,

Ext.

415.

U. B.

IMPORTANT

(This

release

is sent

for

the

information

of

all subscribers

to

the

I.P.R.

Memoranda.

It is

not to

be released

to

the press

until

August

7.)

FOR RELEASE

MONDAY,

UGUST

.

With

the opening

of

preliminary

meetings

at

Banff

this

morning,

the

fifth

biennial

conference

of

the

Institute

of

Pacific

Relations

will

get under

way.

The

conference

itself

will

begin

next

week, on August 14, with discussion of economic conflict and control

in the

Pacific

area

slated

to

be the

principal

subject

of the

round

tables.

Meanwhile,

the

Pacific

Council,

the

governing

body

of

the

Institute,

and

its

International

Research and

Programme

Committees

will begin

their

sessions

today.

The

Philippine independence

question,

the

United

States

Exclusion

Act

against

Orientals,

and

naval

preparedness

in

the

Pacific

are

some of the questions

which will

be

considered

when the

sessions

open

next

week.

Principal

emphasis, however,

is

to

be

placed

in the

round-table

agenda

on

questions

of

tariffs

and

trade

restrictions,

international

commodity

greements,

shipping

subsidies

and other problems of economic conflict, Although the conference

itself

is

not

open to

the

public,

and

although

its

meetings

have

no

direct political

significance,

the sessions

which

begin

next

week

will

be concerned

with

immediate

problems

of

economic

conflict

in

the Pacific

area.

The

conference

is an unofficial

international

gathering,

attended

by selected

leaders

from

all

the

countries

of

the Pacific,

and

is

expected

to provide

the

setting

for

a frank

exchange of

views between

representatives

of different

nations.

The

rise

of economic

nationalism

and the tendency

towards

national

or regional

self-sufficiency

will be

studied

in

the

round

tables. At

the

same

tine,

an

attempt

will be

made to

appraise

the

value of existing machinery for the settlement of international eco-

nomic

conflict,

and

to

suggest

possible

devices

for its

improvement.

The

discussions

will

be

based

on dociumentation

submitted by

each

of

the

countries

represented

and on

the

international

research

work

of

the

Institute

itself.

The Honorable

Newton

D. Baker,

Chairman

of the American

Council

of the

Institute, wvill

lead at

Banff

an American

group

of

representatives

who

have been

chosen

as specialists

on

diff'erent

aspects

of these

problems.

Aerican

business contacts

w7ith

the

Far East

and with

the Pacific

in

g;eneral

will be represented

by

Mr. Wallace

Alexander,

vrice-president

of

the

MOatson

avigation

Company;Mr. J. D. Mooney.,Chairman of the Board of General Motors

Export

Corporation;

Mr. Frank

C. .Atherton,

president

of Castle

and

Cooke

Ltd.,

Honolulu;

and Mr.

Alfred

I. Esberg,

a prominent businless

manl

f San Francisco.

Mr.

Lewig

L. Strauss,

of

ZCuhn, ,oeb

and

CQ.,



2

-

and

Mr.

Maurice

Wertheim,

of

Wertheim

nd Co.,

will

brirg

to

the

discussions a

background in international

finance.

In the

field

of

international

law,

bosides

Mr. Baker

himself,

the

American

group

includes

Professors J,

P.

ChatAberlain

and

Philip

C.

Jessup

of

Columbia

University,

Professor

Quincy

Wright

of the

University

of

Chicago, andProfessor Jerome D. Greene, Wilson Professor of

International

Politics

at

University

College,

Wales.

Professor

C.

K.

Leith, president

of

the

Geological

Society of

America,

will

bring

to

the

conference

expert

knowledge

of

world

mineral

resources,

while

in

Dr.

Robert A.

IMillikan

the

American

group

has

a

physicist

of

world

reputation,

winner

of

the

Nobel

Prize

in

1923.

Mr.

Henry

R.

Luce,

editor

of Time

and

Fortune,

and

Mr.

Walter

Millis, of the

editorial

staff

of

the

New

York

Herald

Tribune

and

author of

The

Martial

Spirit,

will

represent

journalism.

Dr.

Harold

G.

Moulton,

director of the

Brookings

Institution,

and

Dr.

Lewis

L.

Lorwin

of the

Institute of

Economics

are

the

economists

of

the

group,

while

food

problems

will be

specially

served

by

Dr.

Carl

L.

A,lsberg

of

the

Stanford

Food Research Institute, andDr. Royal N.

Chapman,

Dean

of the

Graduate

School

of

Tropical

Agri-

culture

at

the

University

of

Hawaii.

The

field

of

education will

be

represented

by

Miss

ALda

.

Comstock,

president

of

Radcliffe

College,

and

by

Mr. Frank

Midkiff,

president

of

the

Kamehameha

Schools

in

Honolulu.

Mr,

Edward

C.

Carter,

secretary

of

the

American

Council

of

the

Institute,

is

a

leader

in

adult

education

on

international

problems

in

this

country,

in

which

field

Mrs.

F.

Louis

Slade

and

Mrs.

John

Paul

Welling

are

also

active.

iLlmost

all

of

the

American

representatives

have

lived

at

some

time

in

the

Far

East,

but

few of

them

as

long as

Mr.

Owen

tattimore,

explorer Df

the

Gobi

Desert,

expert

on

Mongolia

and

author

of

Manchuria:

Cradle

of

Conflict.

From the other

countries

of

the

Pacific are

coming

groups

similarly

qualified

to

speak

with

authority

on

these

problems.

Sir

Herbert

Samuel,

leader

of the

British

group and

former

member

of the

British

cabinet,

will

be

accompanied by

Professor

T.E.

Gregory

of

the

University

of

London,

H.V.

Hodson,

econoraist

and

one

of

the

editors

of

"The

Round

Table",

the

Right

Honorable

A.V.

Alexander,

Member

of

Parliament;

Mr.

Richard

D.

Holt of

the

shipping

firm

of

Alfred

Holt

and

Co.;

Sir

Andrew

MacFadyean,

reparations

expert,

and

Sir

Christopher

Needham,

Governor

of

Manchester

University.

Mr.

Sydney P.

Mayers,

chairman

of

the

board

of

the

British

and

Chinese

Corporation

Ltd., Mr.

Archibald

Rose,

of the

British

American

Tobacco Co., Mr. G.M. Gathorne.Hardy, honorary sec:etary of the Royal

Institute

of

International

Affairs,

Sir

William

Shenton,

a

prominent

lawyer

from

Hongkong,

Mr.

W.L.

Woodward

of

All

Souls

College,

Oxford;

and

Professor

I.A.

Richards

of

Carabridge

University

will

also

be

members

of

the

British

group.

The

Chinese

group

will

be led

by

Dr.

Hu

Shih,

probably

the

most

famous

of

modern

Chinese

philosophers.

With

him

on

the

Chinese

group

will

be

Dr.

Wong

Wan-hao,

Director of the

National

Geological

Survrey;

Dr.

t .T.

Tsur,

former

president

of

Tsing

Hua University;

Professor

P.

C.

Chang

of Nankai

University;

Mr.

L.K.

Tao,

director

of

the

Institute

of

Social

Research,

Mr.

Y.S.

Djang,

executive

secretary of the China Inlterxiational Famine Relief Conimission;Mrs. Sophia

Chen

Zen,

professor

at

Peiping

National

Univrersity;



a

3 -

Mr.

K.C. Li,

president of the

Wah

Chang

Trading

Co.

of New

York;

Dr.

Shuhsi

Hsu,

adviser

to

the Chinese

Delegation

at the

League

of Nations; and Mr. Chen Han-seng, director of the National Research

Institute of

Social

Sciences

of the

Academ'ia Sinica at

Nanking.

Sir

Robert

Borden

and Sir

Robert Falconer

will,

in

leading

the

Canadian group, act as hosts

to

the

international

gathering.

Included

on

the

Canadian

list

with

them are Professor

Norman

MacKenzie,

D.13,

MacRae, C.J.

Burchell, W?.M.

irks,

Dr.

R.C.

Wallace, Professor

H.F.

Angus,

Mrs. H.P.

Plutree,

John M.

Inrie, Mme.

Charles

Fremond,

Robert

England,

Percy

Bengough,

H.R.

MacMillan, M. Lawrence

Rillam,

Honorable

F.B.

McCurdy,

George

C.

MacDonald

and

Colonel

A.C.

Gardner.

Professor

H.A. Innis,

Dr.

H.W4.

Riggs,

Professor

G.S.

Simpson,

Mr.

Justice

Clarke,

Professor

F.A.

Knox,

Professor G. de

T.

Glazebrook

and Mr. Escott Reid are also listed in the Canadian group,

Honorable

Downie

Stewart,

the colorful

leader of

New

Zealandts

delegation to

last

yearts

Ottawa

Conference,

will be at

the

head of the

New

Zealand

grouip

at

Banff.

W(ith

im

will be

Professor

W,T.

Airey,

Sir

Ja&ies Allen,

W.N.

Benson,

and Guy

Scholefield,

honorary

secretary

of

the

group.

Mr. F.W.

Eggleston, the leader of

the

Australian

group,

will be

accompanied

by Mr.

Stephen

Roberts,

M4iss

Eleanor

Rinder,

Miss Nora W.

Collinson and

other

off'iers

of the

Australian

unit

of

the

Institute.

Dr.

Mack

Eastran,

chief

of

the

section of

general

studies

of

the International Labor Office at Geneva, and Mr. G.A. Johnston of

the

League of

Nations will

be present

as

observers.

From

France,

which

is

vitally

interested in

the

Pacific

area

through its

colonies,

an

observer

is

expected.

Six

members

of

the

newly

formed

Philippine

Council

of

the

Institute of

Pacific

Relations

are to

attend the

B-anff

sessions.

Judge

Manuel

Camus,

former

judge of

the Court

of

First Instance,

will have

with him

in

the

group

Dr.

Vidal Tan

of the

University

of

the

Philippines,

Dr.

Leandro H.

Fernandez,

Dr.

Serafin

Macaraig,

and

Professor

Verne

Dyson*

Under the leadership of Dr. Inazo Nitobe, Memberof the

House of

Peers

and Chairman

of the

Japan

Council of

the

Institute.

the

group

from

Japan

includes Mr.

Yusuke

Tsurumi,

author

and

lecturer,

and

former

member f

the House

of

Representatives;

from the

Tokyo

Iraperial

University,

Professors

Shiroshi

Nasu, of the

Department

of

Agriculture,

Yasaka

Takaki,

professor

of

American

Constitution,

and

Kenzo

Takayanagi, of

the

Department of Law;

Professor Teijiro

Uyeda,

of

the

Department of

Economics at

Tokyo

University

of

Commerce;

Kaiaekichi

Takahashi,

journalist;

Sobei

Mlogi,

writer

on

Political

Science,.

Tokyro

nstitute of

Political

and Economic

Research;

Professor

Jumzpei

hinobu;

Masahara

Ainesaki;

Shinkichi

Tamra;

Major.General

Yasunosuke

nato; and

Mr. Toshi

Go,

of the

SouthM6anchuria ailway CoL1pan.y

New

York*

Documents

MEMORANDUM ON RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION IN MANCHURIA