VENTOUJ
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308
SHANGHAI,
of the Supreme Court, which was opened in September, 1865. Subjects of Her Britannic Majesty have 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 S ttlements 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 the rank of Tung-chi, and foreign assessors from the different Consulates, the first British assessor calling himself a co-judge." For the French Concession there is a separate Mixed Court, which sits at the French Con- sulate.
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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 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 nationalities were allowed to r nt land within the defined limits, and în 1863 the so-called "American Settlement" was amalgamated with the Bitish into one Municipality. The "Committee of Roads and Jet ies," or ginally consist ng of "three upright British Merchauts," appoint d by the British Consul, afterwards became the "Municipal Council," elected by the renters of land, and when the revisel Land Regulations came into force in 1870, the "Council for te 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 separat Cou cil for the French Concession was appointed in 1862, and now works under the " Réglement d'Organisation Muni- cipale de la Concession Française," passed in 1868, and consists of four French and four foreign memb. rs, elected for two years, half of whom retire annually. They are elected by all owners of land on the Concession or occupants pay ng 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 u ore nearly to "universal suf- frage than the franchise of the other Settlements, which, as the hog system still exists to a considerable extent and five and six roomed houses are now to be got for a rental under the required five hundre ta 1-, 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 rats to the amount of fifty taels annually, or being a householder paying rates on an assessed rental of twelve hun- dred taels. For the French Concession the requirement is a mon tary one of about the same amount. Several efforts have been made to amalgamate the French with the other Settlements, but hitherto without success. The Council divi. es itself into Defence, Finance, Watch, and Works Committee. This cosmopolitan system of Government has for many years worked so w 11 and so cheaply, that Shanghai has fairly earned for itself the name of "The Model Settlement."
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The R venue of the Anglo-American" Tls. 275,867.34 and was derived as follows:-
Land Tax, three-tenths of 1 per cent. Foreign House Tax, 6 per cent.
Native House Tax, & per cent. Wharfage Dues
Licences
Miscellaneous Debenture Loan Surplus from 1877
Settlement for 1878 amounted to
Tls. 20,475.50
26.363.36
50,851.52
83,450.78
38,859.28
20,054.83
2,000.00
11,8 2.07
Tls. 275,867.34
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