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The Colonization of Mongolia and Sinkiang is a complement of the Railway scheme. Each is dependent upon the other for its prosperity. The colonization scheme, besides benefiting the railway, is in itself a greatly profitable undertaking. The results of the United States, Canada, Australia, and Argentina are ample proofs of this. In the case of our project, it is simply a matter of applying waste Chinese labor and foreign machinery to a fertile land for production for which its remuneration is sure. The present Colonization of Manchuria, notwithstanding its topsy turvy way which caused great waste of land and human energy, has been wonderfully prosperous. If we would adopt scientific methods in our colonization project we could certainly obtain better results than all the others. Therefore, I propose that the whole movement be directed in a systematic way by state organization with the help of foreign experts and war organizers, for the good of the colonists particularly and the nation generally.
The land should be bought up by the state in order to prevent the speculators from creating the dog-in-the-manger system, to the detriment of the public. The land should be prepared and divided into farmsteads, then leased to colonists on perpetual term. The initial capital, seeds, implements and houses should be furnished by the state at cost price on cash or on the instalment plan. For these services, big organizations should be formed and war work measures should be adopted in order to transport, to feed, to clothe and to house every colonist on credit in his first year.
As soon as a sufficient number of colonists is settled in a district, franchise should be given for self-government and the colonists should be trained to manage their own local affairs with perfect democratic spirit.
If within ten years we can transport, let us say, ten millions of the people, from the congested provinces of China, to the Northwestern territory to develop its natural resources, the benefit to the commercial world at large will be enormous. No matter how big a capital that shall have been invested in the project it could be repaid within a very short time. So in regard to its bearing to "the principle of remuneration" there is no question about it.
Regarded from "the principle of the need of the Nation" colonization is the most urgent need of the first magnitude. At present China has more than a million soldiers to be disbanded. Besides, the dense population will need elbow room to move in. This Colonization project is the best thing for both purposes. The soldiers have to be disbanded at great expense and hundreds of millions of dollars may be needed for disbandment alone, in paying them off with a few months' pay. If nothing more could be done for these soldiers' welfare, they will either be left to starve or to rob for a living. Then the consequences will be unimaginable. This calamity must be prevented and prevented effectively. The best way for this is the colonization scheme. I hope that the friendly foreign financiers, who have the welfare of China at heart, when requested to float a reorganization loan for the Chinese Government in the future, will persist on the point—that the money furnished must first be used to carry out the colonization scheme for the disbanded soldiers. Otherwise, their money will only work disasters to China.