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voters, as expressed through the medium of public meetings of voters, or through the Counci an executive body consisting of their elected representatives, which is accountable to them for its exercise of powers on their behalf.
(2) Rule of Law. The Council is not an arbitrary authority exercising wide undefined powers, but a constitutional authority with limited powers. The powers of government vested in the Council are defined in a written instrument which the Council itself has no power to change, and certain conditions are prescribed with which the Council must comply in the exercise of those powers. The Council is subject in all respects to the control of Courts of law which are independent of its own authority; it must resort to the appropriate Courts for the purpose of enforcing its own claims against any individual resident property owner, and must meet, in a Court specially provided for the purpose, any claim which may be brought against it by any indi- vidual who complains of injury suffered by any action done under its authority." (Vol. I, Part II, p. 88.)
or
NOTE 1.-The written instrument referred to consists of Land Regulations, an abridged history of which is given in an appendix.
NOTE 2. The Courts referred to are briefly described in Section (4) below.
(e) Position of Chinese in the Settlement.-The figures quoted above (Section II(A)) show that Chinese residents in the International Settlement largely outnumber the nationals of foreign Powers. Chinese began to live in the Settlement in large numbers during the disorders of the Taiping rebellion, over seventy years ago. Subsequent increases show that many Chinese found conditions within the Settlement prefer- able to conditions outside; their preference was no doubt in large measure due to the economic attractions of the
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Settlement as a centre of trade and employment, but there as a close relation between economic and administrative conditions, and the continued flow of immigration into the Settlement was in itself evidence of Chinese appreciation of the benefits of the Settlement régime. There is no doubt that these benefits were, in fact, of a very substantial character." (Vol. I, Part II, p. 131.)
In 1927, out of a total sum of Tls. 9,698,350 estimated to accrue from the four main sources of the Settlement's ordinary revenue (land tax, municipal rate, licence fees and wharfage dues) Chinese residents contributed approximately 55 per cent. and foreign residents 45 per cent. "It seems probable, therefore, that the proportion of Chinese to foreign contributions to the total sum col- lected under these four heads of ordinary municipal revenue is substantially higher to-day than it was in 1927." (Vol. I, Part 11, p. 138.)
The Land Regulations, however, make no provisions for the participation of Chinese residents in the govern- ment of the municipality. It was not until 1921 that a Committee of Chinese residents in the Settlement was recognized by the Council as a consultative body in re- gard to matters affecting the Chinese population, and it was not until 1928 that Chinese members first took their seats on the Council. They did so then in the terms of a resolution adopted at the annual meeting of foreign rate- payers held on April 14th, 1926, worded as follows:-
"That in the opinion of this meeting the par- ticipation of Chinese residents in the government of the Settlement is desirable, and that the Council is hereby authorised and instructed to make forth- with representations to the Powers concerned with a view to securing the addition of three Chinese mem- bers at an early date." (Vol. I, Part II, p. 128.)
In May, 1930, the number of Chinese members of the Council was increased from three to five, so that the Council then became a body consisting of fourteen mem- bers in all, nine foreign and five Chinese.*
* The foreign members include five British, two American and two Japanese.