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SHANGHAI.
As at all the open ports, foreigners are in judicial matters subject to the immediate control of their Consuls, British subjects coming under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, which was opened in September, 1865. Subjects of Her Britannic Majesty Iave to pay a poll tax of five dollars for gentlemen and one dollar for "artizans and labourers," for which they have the privilege of being registered at the Consulate, and of being heard as plaintiffs before the Court. Although there is enforced registration at several of the other Consulates it is free of charge. Chinese residents in the Foreign Settlements are amenable to the Mixed Court, which was established at the instigation of Sir Harry Parkes in 1864 and is pre- sided over by an official of a rank a little above that of wei yuen, and foreign assessors from the different Consulate, the first Britis' assessor calling himself a co-judge. For the French Concession there is a separate Mixed Court, which sits at the French Consulate.
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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 1854, but have since underg ne various amendments. In 1854 the first general Land Regulations-the city charter, as they may be called— were sanctioned by the Foreign Ministers and Pking Authorities, by which persons of all 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, afterwards became 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. A separate Council for the French Concession was appointed in 1862, which now works under the "Réglement d'Organisation Muni- cipal de la Concession Francaise," passed in 1868, and consists of four French and four foreign members, elected for two years, half of whom retir anually. They 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 francs. This, it will be noticed, approaches much more nearly to "universal suf- frage" than the franchise of the other Settlements, which, as the hong system still exists to a considerable extent and five and six roomed houses are now to be gɔt for a rental under the required five hundred taels, is considered by many as excluding too large a proportion of responsible residents. The qualification for councillors North of the Yang-king-pang is the payment of rates to the amount of fifty tals annually, or being a householder paying rates on an assessed rental of twelve hun- dred taels. For the French Concession the requirement is a monetary one of about the same extent. Several efforts have been made to amalgamate the French with the other Settlements, but hitherto without success. The Council divides itself into Defence, Finance, Watch, and Works Committees. This cosmopolitan system of Government has for many years worked so well and so cheaply, that Shanghai has fairly earned for its If the name of "The Model Settlement."
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The Revenue of the "Anglo-American" Settlement for 1877 amounted to Tls. 247,465.88 and was derived as follows:-
Land Tax, three-tenths of 1 per cent. ... Foreign House Tax, 6 per cent.
Native House Tax, 8 per cent. Wharfage Duos
Licences
Miscellaneous
...
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U
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D
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Tls. 20, 51.4
2+77.15
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51,606.22
90.95 .08
39,289,82 18,353.19
Tls, 247,465.88