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The 1866-1869 Land Regulations
The first two sets of Land Regulations had been drafted by the Chinese and/or local foreign authorities; this was not the case with the third Constitution, the one of 1866-1869,
In the years between 1854 and 1866 a great number of problems had arisen, partially caused by the influx of Taiping rebellion refugees. Moreover, civic discipline among foreigners was waning (taxes were not being paid, nuisances were being caused in the form of building materials left lying around, the authority of the Municipal Council to levy taxes was being questioned, the members of the Municipal Council had been held personally responsible for any deficits and debts of the municipality, etc.). All this contributed to the opinion that something had to be done to increase the authority of the Municipal Council, and on April 15, 1865, a Public Meeting of landrenters appointed a Commission to draft new Land Regulations. This Commission consisted of Henry Dent (member of the Municipal Council 1863-64 and 1864-65), R. F. Gould (former municipal secretary), Thomas Hanbury, James Hogg, and William Keswick (all members of the Municipal Council 1865-66), J. P. Lynill, and G. Tyson. The new proposed Regulations were published on January 22, 186610, and discussed in Public Meetings on March 9, 12, 13, and 1711. After a delay of three years, they were eventually approved by the foreign powers in 1869.
There were a number of differences between the draft and the final version, but space does not permit me to detail these12. The new Constitution consisted of 29 articles, in which the position of the Municipal Council was strengthened as compared to the former Land Regulations. These Land Regulations were subsequently slightly amended, some articles being added in 1898. In this form, they remained in force until 1943, when the Settlement was returned to China.
In the course of these years, only a few byelaws were altered or introduced; and thus, during the greater part of its existence, the Settlement had as its constitutional foundation a set of Land Regulations devised essentially by the landrenters themselves in 1866.