Tue troubles of the Woosung Railway seem to be interminable. Hardly has the official opposition been allayed, when certain villagers endeavour to wreck a train because they disapprove the apportionment of the work, and a lunatic endeavours to test the force of impact of a training motion. And now, apparently, the terms of sale to the Chinese are to be made the subject of misrepresentation. The Sinpao publishes a paragraph implying that the Taotai has been coerced into agreeing to a far larger price for the railway than it was worth; that he has since had it surveyed by a qualified engineer, who estimates it at about half the agreed value; and that he has in consequence refused to pay the first instalment of the purchase money. There is one grain of trath in these statements; namely, that the Taotai has bad the line surveyed by a German gentleman from Japan; and it is possible that the latter may have estimated the value at Ts. 140,000 as the Sinipao states. OF this we have no knowledge; but we can affirm that that estimate is very erroneous, that there was no pressure whatever exercised in fixing the amount of purchase money, and that, so far from showing any intention to retreat from the agreement, the Taotai has promised to pay the first instalment in a few days, and the second ata definite period after. wards. The agreement made by Mr. Mayers with the Viceroy provided that the amount to be paid "for the land, permanent way, rollingstock, machinery, stations, and all other claims whatso. ever, should be ascertained by an inves tigation of accounts in detail; for which purpose Her Britannic Majesty's Consul and the Taotai of Shanghai should each nominate two merchants of proper standing and responsibility." And though the formal Committee of arbitrament was not appointed, because both sides elected to leave the terms of settlement very much in the bands of Mr. Mayers—delegates from the Taotai had full access to the books and accounts before the agreement was concluded. After the sum of Tls, 285,000 had been fixed by Mr. Mayers and the two officials who were sent from Peking to assist in the negociations, the Taotai further deputed a foreign Actuary of high standing, and two Chinese officials assisted by native interpreters from the O.M.S.N, Co.'s office, to examine the books and verify the statement of accounts on which the agreement was based. The Chinese were perfectly satisfied at the time, and the Foreigner wrote to H.B.M.'s Consul strongly affirming the fairness of the settlement. It is well that these facts should be made public to the Chinese, in contradiction of the unfair statement of the Sinpao.- The railway has enough to encounter in the way of Chinese prejudice, without: being weighted with sins of which it is wholly innocent. It is of course, as we said before, possible that the Taotai's surveyor may have estimated the value of the line at the sum named; but in that case his estimate falls short, by nearly half, of the actual cost. Tt is possible the cost of the land, for which alone the Railway Company paid Ts. 50,000, may be left out of his valuation; bub even then his estimate would be very far short of the actual cost of the permanent way and rolling stock, As a matter of fact, the price agreed on leaves only sufficient margin to pay various outstanding charges, and interest at the rate of about 5 per cent, on the capital employed—in perfect accordance with the understanding that was come to at Nanking. To Foreigners, the sum of Tls. 285,000 which is agreed upon as the purchase money, will not seem "excessive" as it does to the Sinpao.. The ordinary cost of single lines of railway in England is, we believe, about £9,000 per mile, which, at an exchange of 6s., would give about Tls. 270,000 as the cost of a nine-mile line; but then the superintending staff and the plant have not
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.