Rapid Deterioriation Under Shantung Militarists: Suggested Petition to Tokyo to Take the Line Back and Run It Again Freight Traffic Badly Neglected Tsingtao, Mar. 7.
The report has reached here from Japan that the Japanese Foreign Office is about to take some more effective steps than hitherto with respect to the Kiao-Tsi Railway in view of its rapid deterioration under the control of the Shantung militarists.
Simultaneously there is a movement on foot among local Japanese residents to petition the Tokyo Gov. ernment to arrange to take ba the railway and once: more run it It is believed that such a solution of the difficulty would find favour with practically all the shipping and travelling public, The Japanese Residents' Association will shortly select representatives to lay the matter before the Tokyo Government, Other suggestions heard here are the operation of the line by the South Manchuria Railway, another that railway be asked to lease freight and passenger cars to the Shantung Railway, and a third that the merchants raise a fund to purchase new ears, which, being private property, would not be permitted to fall into the hands of the militarists.
The Chinese tration of the Kino-Tsi Rai at the outset was! passably good, Many trained and experienced railway men were brought here to head and staff the various departments, Naturally there has always been military me terference, but at least. the line officials had a semblance of control over the railway up until some four, or five months ago. Since then the railway's utility has been gradually lowered, more and more ears have been commandeered by the militarists and the normal freight traffic, upon which the line depends for' ita vital support, has been sadly neglected, 'The shippers, even when they are able, to obtain cars, are compelled: to submit to extortion, which runs from $100 to $160 per car, This is the militarists' "squeeze." addition there are special taxes on shipments that help further bring the cost of transportation to prohibitive figures, Meanwhile the prices of foodstuffs are soaring higher.
If Tsingtao were not the centre of a fairly good agricultural district it is likely famine conditions would here among the poorer As it is the pinch of is felt in certain quarters.—Reuters Pacific Service,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.