PART IV

The Improvement of the Existing Waterways and Canals

The existing waterways and canals in connection with the Yangtze may be enumerated as follows:

a. The Grand Canal. b. The Hweiho. c. The Kiangnan Waterway System. d. The Poyang Waterway System. e. The Han River. f. The Tungting System. g. The Upper Yangtze.

a. The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal connects with the Yangtze at a point opposite Chinkiang and runs northward right up to Tientsin, a distance of over 600 miles. We understand that a detailed survey of the Kiangpeh part of the canal has begun and the work of improving it will commence soon. In our project, I propose to substitute the Kiangpeh portion of the Grand Canal by the Yangtze outlet of the Hweiho.

b. The Hweiho

The Hweiho rises in the northwest corner of Honan and runs southeast and east to the north of Anhwei and Kiangsu. Its outlets have been sealed up in recent years so its water has accumulated in the Hungtse Lake and it depends upon evaporation as its only means of disposing the water. Thus in the heavy rainy season, it floods a vast extent of the country surrounding the lake and causes great misery to millions of people. So the conservancy of the Hweiho is a very urgent question of China to-day. Recently many investigations have been made and many plans proposed. Mr. Jameson, chief engineer for the American Red Cross Society, has proposed two outlets for the Hweiho: one following the old course of the Yellow River to the sea and another through Paoying and Kao-yu Lakes to the Yangtze. In this project I propose to follow Mr. Jameson's plan for the sea outlet only as far as the old Yellow River and for the Yangtze outlet only as far as Yangchow. When the sea outlet or north branch reaches the old Yellow River I will lead it across into the Yenho and follow the Yenho to its northern turn. From there, we cut across the narrow strip of land into the Kuanho which enters the sea at the nearest deep water line. This saves a great deal of work of excavating the old course of the Hoangho. When the southern branch reaches Yangchow, I propose to make the canal pass east of that city instead of west as Mr. Jameson proposed, so that its current will join the Yangtze in the same direction at the new curve below Chinkiang city.

Both of these outlets or branches of the Hweiho should be made at least twenty feet deep right along, so that coastal vessels from the north to the Yangtze could use them as passage instead of going round the Yangtze estuary, thus shortening the distance by about 300 miles. And with twenty feet depth for both outlets, the Hweiho and the Hungtse Lake would be well drained and the present bottom of the lake, which is sixteen feet above sea level would be converted into agricultural land at once. Thus 6,000,000 mow of land could be reclaimed according to the estimate of Mr. Jameson, from the Hungtse and the neighboring lakes. If twenty dollars a mow be taken for its value, a sum of $120,000,000 could be netted. Besides this direct profit to the Government, there is an area of some 17,000 square miles of occasionally flooded land which would be made flood-proof so that normally we shall have two crops a year instead of two only in five years. That is to say, the 17,000 square miles or 10,880,000 acres will be made to produce five times more than at present. For instance, if the value of the gross production be estimated at fifty dollars an acre, then the total value would be $544,000,000 Mex. and five times this sum would amount to $2,720,000,000 Mex. What an enormous profit to the country!