126
Some
SHANGHAI
In local affairs the residents govern themselves by means of Municipal Councils, under the authority of the "Land Regulations." These were originally drawn up by H.B.M. Consul in 1845, but have since undergone various amendments. In 1854 the first general Land Regulations-the city charter, as they may be called-were arranged between the British Consul, Captain Balfour, and the local authorities, by which persons of all foreign nationalities were allowed to rent land within the defined limits, and in 1863 the so-called "American Settlement" was amalgamated with the British into one Municipality. The "Committee of Roads and Jetties," originally consisting of "three upright British Merchants" appointed by the British Consul, became in 1855 the “Municipal Council,” elected by the renters of land, and when the revised Land Regulations came into force in 1870, the "Council for the Foreign Community of Shanghai North of the Yang-king-pang," elected in January of each year by all householders who pay rates on an assessed rental of five hundred taels, and owners of land valued at five hundred taels and over. The Council now consists of nine members of various nationalities, who elect their own chairman and vice- chairman, and who give their services free. The great increase of municipal business, however, is proving so much a tax on the time of the councillors, the chairman especially, that some new arrangement is necessary. The Secretariat WAS last year strengthened and its efficiency increased, but no move in the direction of a change in the Council's constitution has yet been made. A committee of residents was ap- pointed in November, 1879, to revise the present regulations, and their work was considered and passed by the ratepayers in May, 1881. Many important improve- ments were proposed, but they have yet to receive the sanction of the various governments." The "co-operative policy," under which a voice is given to small powers having practically no interests in China, equal to that given to Great Britain, has caused a delay of sixteen years. The Ministers at Peking have suggested radical alterations, but these are so opposed to the necessities of the city that the residents for their own preservation are bound to offer a strenuous resistance. For that reason it has been decided by the Council that the Regulations must be again revised, and in November, 1897, a new Committee was appointed to adapt them to the changed. conditions and to the looked for extension of the Settlement area. The Ministers of the chief Powers in Peking are favorable to these later enterprises, and it is confidently hoped that such new Regulations will be approved by them and by the Chinese Government. At the time of the Taiping rebellion it was proposed by the Defence Committee, with the almost unanimous consent of the landrenters and residents, to make the Settlements and City with the district around a free city, under the protection of the Treaty Powers. Had this proposal, which was thoroughly justifiable owing to the Imperial Govern ment having lost all power in the provinces, been carried out, Shanghai would have become the chief city in China, and it is safe to say would have acted as a leaven, to the ultimate immense benefit of the whole Empire. A separate Council for the French Concession was appointed in 1862, and now works under the **Ré- glement d'Organisation Municipale de la Concession Française," passed in 1868. It consists of four French and four foreign members, elected for two years, half of whom retire annually. Their resolutions are inoperative until sanctioned by the Consul-General. The members are elected by all owners of land on the Concession, or occupants paying a rental of a thousand francs per annum, or residents with an annual income of four thousand franes. This, it will be noticed, approaches much more nearly to “universal suffrage" than the franchise of the other Settlements, which, however, it is understood to be the intention to considerably reduce under the proposed new Regulations. The qualification for councillors north of the Yang-king-pang is the payment of rates to the amount of fifty taels annually, or being a householder paying rates on an assessed rental of twelve hundred taels. For the French Concession the requirement is a monetary one of about the same amount. Several efforts have been made to amalgamate the French with the other Settlements, but hitherto without success. A revision of the Régle ments for the French Concession has for some time been under consideration. Meetings of ratepayers are held in February of each year, at which the bud- gets are voted and the new Councils instructed as to the policy they are to pursue. No important measure is undertaken without being referred to a special meeting of ratepayers. The Council divides itself into Defence, Finance, Watch, and Works Committee. This cosmopolitan system of government has for many years worked so well and so cheaply that Shanghai has fairly earned for itself the name of "The Model Settlement.
""
Digitized by Google