To sum up, the whole length of the regulating course of the river from the deep sea to Hankow is about 630 miles. The embankments will be twice this length; that is, 1,260 miles. I have estimated that the sea wall at the mouth of the river could be built at $200,000 a mile, thus for both sides $400,000 a mile will be sufficient for the 140 miles from the deep sea to Kiangyin. For, in this part we have only the two embankments to deal with, which merely requires the tumbling of stones into the water until the pile is strong enough to hold the current to a directed course. As soon as these stone ridges on both sides of the river are formed, nature will do the rest to make the channel deep. The work for this part, therefore, is simple.

But the work for certain sections of the upper part of the river is more complicated as about fifty or sixty miles of solid land of from ten to twenty feet above water level and thirty to forty feet below have to be cut in order to straighten the river's course. Of this cutting and removing work, how much will have to be done artificially and how much can be done by nature, I leave to the experts to estimate. Excepting this, the other parts of this work, I think, cannot cost much more than $400,000 a mile. So that the whole work from the sea to Hankow, a distance of 630 miles will cost about $252,000,000, or let us say, including the unknown part, $300,000,000 for the completion of the entire project for the regulating of the Yangtze River. By this regulating of the Yangtze River, we secure an approach of 600 miles inland for ocean-going vessels into the very center of a continent of two hundred millions of people of which half or one hundred million is located immediately along 600 miles of the great water highway. As regards remuneration for the work, this project will be more profitable than either the Suez or Panama Canal.

Although we could not find means whereby the works above Kiangyin may be made self-paying as those of the sections below by the reclamation of land, profit from city building along the course of the river can be realized after the regulating work is completed.

In conclusion, I must say that the figures given concerning the harbor works and the Yangtze regulation are merely rough estimates which must be in the nature of the case. As regards the costs of building the rudimental dikes at the estuary of the Yangtze as well as along the dilating parts of the river, the estimation may seem too low. But the data on which I base my estimate are as follows: First, my own observation of the private enterprise of reclamation by building dikes at the Canton delta around my native village; second, the cheap stone that can be obtained at the Chusan Archipelago; third, the estimation of Mr. Tyler, Coast Inspector of the Maritime Customs for the blocking up of the North Channel at the upper end of Tsungming Island, where the narrowest part is about three miles. He says that a million taels or more is necessary for the work. Or, let us say, in round figures, five hundred thousand dollars (Mex.) a mile. This is two and a half times my estimate. Now, let us compare the difference. The three-mile channel at the upper end of Tsungming has an average depth of twenty feet of water, while in my project the sea wall or dikes will be built in water having an average of less than two thirds of this depth. Moreover, the work of blocking up the North Channel entirely at a right angle is many times more costly than that of building a rudimental dike of the same length in a parallel line with the current. Since five hundred thousand dollars are enough to block up cross-wise a mile of river twenty feet deep, two fifths of that sum should be quite sufficient to finance the work that I have projected. While writing this, I came across an article in the Chicago Railway Review, May 17, 1919, dealing with the same subject, which states that steel skeleton is a better and cheaper substitute for stone or other materials for building dikes and jetties in a muddy river like ours. Thus, by this new method, we may be able to construct embankments, with cheaper material than I have hitherto known. So, although the estimate which I have made may be somewhat low, yet it is not so far from correct as it seems at first sight.

PART III
The Construction of River Ports

The construction of river ports along the Yangtze between Hankow and the sea will be one of the most remunerative propositions in our development scheme. For this part of the Yangtze Valley is richest in agricultural and mineral products in China and is very densely populated. With the cheap water transportation provided by the completion of the regulating work both sides of this water highway will surely become industrial beehives. And with cheap labor near by, it will not be a surprise if in the near future both banks will become two continuous cities, as it were, right along the whole extent of the river from Hankow to the sea. In the meantime a few suitable spots should be chosen for profitable city development. For this purpose I will start from the lower part of the river as follows:

a. Chinkiang and North Side