The International Development of ChinaSun, Yat-sen
History
The International Development of China
Sun, Yat-sen
China -- Economic conditions -- 1912-1949; Railroads -- China
The modern civilization so far attained
by western nations is entirely an unconscious progress, for social
and economic sciences are but recent discoveries. But henceforth
all human progress will be more or less based upon knowledge, that
is upon scientific planning. As we can foresee now, within half a
century under our industrial development, the houses of all China
will be renewed according to modern comfort and convenience. Is it
not far better and cheaper to rebuild the houses of all China by a
preconceived scientific plan than by none? I have no doubt that if
we plan to build a thousand houses at one time it would be ten times
cheaper than to plan and build one at a time, and the more we build the
cheaper terms we would get. This is a positive economic law. The only
danger in this is over-production. That is the only obstacle for all
production on a large scale. Since the industrial revolution in Europe
and America, every financial panic before the world war was caused by
over-production. In the case of our housing industry in China, there
are four hundred million customers. At least fifty million houses will
be needed in the coming fifty years. Thus a million houses a year will
be the normal demand of the country.
Houses are a great factor in civilization. They give men more enjoyment
and happiness than food and clothes. More than half of the human
industries are contributing to household needs. The housing industry
will be the greatest undertaking of our International Development
Scheme, and also will be the most profitable part of it. My object of
the development of the housing industry is to provide cheap houses to
the masses. A ten thousand dollar house now built in the treaty port
can be produced for less than a thousand dollars and yet a high margin
of profit can be made. In order to accomplish this we have to produce
transport, and distribute the materials for construction. After the
house is finished, all household equipment must be furnished. Both of
these will be comprised in the housing industry which I shall formulate
as follows:
a. The Production and Transportation of Building Materials.
b. The Construction of Houses.
c. The Manufacturing of Furniture.
d. The Supply of Household Utilities.
a. The Production and Transportation of Building Materials
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account