Excerpt from Conservancy Work in China: A Series of Documents Relating to Conservancy in Kiangpei

Today it is clearly recognized that no study of a country can be complete that does not enquire into the well being of the people at large. We consider that country well governed in which not only does the machinery of Government work smoothly and effectively, but it so works as to conduce to the happiness and prosperity of the people For this reason it is necessary to deal with such matters as the Hwai Conservancy. In the southeastern half of China there are many matters that require the immediate attention of the authorities, and amongst them one of the most urgent is the subject that has given rise to the various papers herein collected During the past twenty years famine has been reported eight or nine times in the Hwai region, and though millions of taels have been spent in giving Government relief and in the palliative efforts of the charitable, yet the large population in this district is still faced with a continuous serious struggle for a bare existence. Before attempting to afford a decent means of livelihood for these people something should be done to relieve them from the menace of death from preventable calamity. This being so, the conservancy of the Hwai River cannot possibly be longer delayed.

Being myself a native of the affected regions in the Province of Kiangsu I have had ample opportunity of a first hand acquaintance with the conditions that obtain there. As a young man I made it my business, whenever travelling, to study as carefully as possible the conditions, and to ascertain as far as was possible the relations between the Yellow River. And the Hwai. As the result of my observations papeis were prepared outlining the measures, both temperary and permanent, that were necessary to insure the removal of the causes that led to recurring distress. The publication of these studies led to strong appeals to the Government, but in vain.

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