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In a despatch from the Taotai to the Senior Consul, dated the 4th ultimo (copy and translation of which I have the honour to inclose), the Taotai takes exception to the alleged collection of rates outside the Settlement by the Municipal Council, and announces the intention of establishing a Chinese Commercial Settlement at Chapei for the purpose of developing trade, constructing roads, &c., for which purpose he states the Superintendent of Southern Trade has deputed Hsü Taotai to come to Shanghae and concert measures.
I requested the Municipal Council to prepare a Memorandum, stating exactly their position with regard to the alleged collection of rates, &c., outside the Settlement, and have the honour to forward herewith copy of this Memorandum, together with a map of the district in question, showing at a glance the extent of property which is foreign-owned in that neighbourhood. The Memorandum of the Council explains very clearly how the present position of affairs arose, and I submit that the charges of encroachment made by the Taotai against the Council cannot be established, and that the Taotai is simply seeking a convenient pretext to justify his attempt to block all extension of the Settlement.
There are at present 63 foreign-owned lots bordering on the North Szechuan Road, beyond the boundary of the Settlement, of which 38 are British, 24 American, and 1 German.
On the 24th ultimo I addressed a note to the Taotai asking for details as to the area of the proposed Chinese municipality, but to this note I have at present received no reply.
I have the honour to inclose copy of a despatch from the Senior Consul to the doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, dated the 29th ultimo, in which the case is briefly stated.
(Translation.) Sir,
I have, &c. (Signed)
PELHAM L. WARREN.
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Shanghae Taotai to M. Siffert.
May 4, 1906.
I HAVE the honour to inform you that, having received a report that in the neighbourhood of the boundary between the Shanghae and Paoshan districts foreigners were numbering the houses, stationing police, and collecting rates, I at once caused inquiries to be made, and am now in receipt of the following Report from Wang, District Magistrate of Shanghae, and Wang, District Magistrate of Paoshan :-
"From investigations made in accordance with your instructions we find that the place where the Municipal Council has been collecting rates is on the Szechuan Road, within the Chieh I 'ward' of Paoshan Hsien, and adjoining the Shanghae district. At present numbers have been affixed to and rates are being collected on about 500 houses."
They forward a plan, and request me to ask you to put a stop to it.
I would point out that by regulations the Municipal Council has no right to collect rates outside the Settlement, and that Chieh I is situated in Paoshan district, which is not an open port. As, however, Chieh I adjoins and intersects Shanghae district, the former Taotai obtained the sanction of his Excellency the Superintendent of Southern Trade to foreigners being permitted temporarily to rent land there. This, however, was a special favour, not a Treaty right, and the Municipal Council had still no authority to number the houses or collect rates. It is true that rates were levied for the purpose of furnishing police protection to the residents; but now the Superintendent of Southern Trade has deputed Hsu Taotai to come to Shanghae and concert measures with me for raising the necessary funds, establishing a Chinese Commercial Settlement at Chapei for the purpose of developing trade, constructing roads, and organizing a police force for the protection of the district. Arrangements will shortly be made, in co-operation with the gentry and merchants, to commence work on the scheme.
As all such matters as the construction of roads, establishment of police, &c., should of course be carried out by the Chapei Municipal Council, so that there may be no confusion of jurisdictions, I have the honour to request you to direct the Municipal Council to at once remove their numbers from the houses, and to withdraw their police, and to refrain in future from collecting rates in the district, so that the Regulations may be complied with and harmony preserved.
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
I have, &c.
Memorandum by Secretary of Shanghae Municipal Council on the approaching need for further Settlement Extension.
IT cannot be long before the question of the control of the district on the northern boundary of the Settlement becomes acute. The expansion of the foreign residential quarter is more evident on this boundary, even than that on the west of the Settlement. Terraces and groups of foreign residences are being rapidly built on the North Szechuan Road extension, on the North Honan Road extension, and on the privately owned lanes and pathways throughout the district between these two main arteries. By an arrangement with the Waterworks Company, the Council is levying a 5 per cent. municipal rate on all houses enjoying the privilege of water supply beyond limits. In return a modified form of policing, scavenging, and lighting is being provided so far as funds will permit; thus the same trend is in process as led to the extension of the Settlement eight years ago.
2. The new spirit which is actuating the Chinese in every branch of their intercourse with foreigners—headstrong and ill-digested though their projects are—is being felt antagonistically in this as in other matters.
3. It is significant that there is no indication of opposition to the work of roads being constructed by the French authorities to the west of the French Settlement, nor to the levying of rates and the general administration by the French Council of the tract of land between the French Settlement and the Siccawei Road.
These signs are also wanting in respect to the expansion of the foreign Settlement westward. The number of houses beyond the western limits is, however, small.
4. At a special meeting of the Council, held on the 28th April, 1899, Messrs. Byron Brenan, C.M.G., Her Britannic Majesty's Acting Consul-General, and John Goodnow, United States' Consul-General, attended, and the following is an extract from the Minutes of the meeting:-
"Mr. Goodnow then shows, upon a plan exhibited, a line marking the boundary of the proposed extension. He points out that the Bubbling Well neighbourhood and the region of the Point are both well inside the line, and, in regard to the Paoshan district, states that until recently he and the Consuls-General for Great Britain and Germany were not fully informed as to the nature of the difficulty which prevented the inclusion of any portion thereof in the extension, but that, as a result of Mr. Ferguson's visit to Nanking, it had been found that the objections raised are of a political nature and emanate from Peking. In return for the Council waiving all immediate claims in this district, he says the authorities will give the right to police, sanitate, and make roads, and will issue title-deeds for foreign-owned lots therein.
"Mr. Brenan, in confirming all that his colleague has said, does not wish the Council to regard this extension as by any means final, but only as an instalment. He urges its acceptance in the belief that, if it be rejected, the negotiations will be again protracted indefinitely, and states that if, after this boundary is fixed, a good case can be made out for further extension, even after a few months, he will take the matter up, and the Council's acceptance of this boundary will not prejudice the case."
It would be desirable to ascertain what authority Mr. Goodnow had for the above statement, and particularly whether there was anything in writing from the Taotai to that effect.
5. The southern continuation of the French Bund, undertaken some years ago by the Tsai Taotai, has resulted in the formation of a bureau for the control of the district known as Nautao between the Chinese city and the river. There is a movement on foot among the natives of a certain class to establish a similar "bureau" for what is termed the North Sinza Settlement. The gentry of the Paoshan district forwarded a Petition to the Taotai to this end, native plans of the district have been made, and the whole affair placed in the hands of Hsu Nai-ping, the special Delegate of the Viceroy, who is given the title of Director. The Taotai has generally expressed his approval of...
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