PART I
The Improvement of Canton as a World Port
Canton's position as a seaport has been taken away by Hongkong since its cession to England after the Opium War. But as a commercial center of South China, Canton still holds its own, despite the advantages of deep-water harbor, the artificial improvements of Hongkong, and the political dominance of England. The loss of its position as a seaport is entirely due to the ignorance of the Chinese people who never made. any combined effort to improve the welfare of the country, and also to the corrupt government and officials of the Manchu dynasty. Since the establishment of the Republic, the people have begun to awake very rapidly and many schemes have been suggested to make Canton a seaport. This awakening of the millions of Chinese has caused much apprehension to the Hongkong Government. The authorities of that colony have been doing their utmost to hinder every move to restore Canton as a seaport and try to nip every scheme in the bud. Of course, if Canton is improved and made into a world port, then all the services that Hongkong performs for her as a shipping stage would be dispensed with altogether. But a developed Canton and a prosperous China will recompense Hongkong in various ways a hundred times more than its present position as the monopolized ocean port of a backward and poor China. Just look at the port of Victoria in British Co-
