4
2. The management of the affairs of the port (Settlement) shall be in the hands of
a Board presided over by the Superintendent of Customs. The Board shall consist of C four Departments, namely :-
(a.) The Public Works Department.
(b.) The Police Department.
(c.) The Judicial Department.
(d.) The Treasury (Rates and Taxes) Department.
These Departments shall be kept separate and distinct from each other, and shall be managed by an official specially appointed to each.
3. Chinese and foreign merchants who rent land in the Settlement, and establish themselves there for purposes of trade, shall pay such rent and taxes as shall be fixed by the Board of Management, and shall abide by the Settlement Regulations,
4. Merchants who are the subjects of any foreign Power shall, when residing in the Settlement, be protected by the officials according to Treaty, and in the event of disputes arising between the said merchants and Chinese subjects the matter shall be inquired into, and settled justly and fairly by the Board and the Consul concerned, in accordance with the practice obtaining at self-opened ports in China.
Section 2.--Arrangement of the Port (Settlement),
1. The Settlement is situated in proximity to the Hsia K'uo Street, outside the city of Nanning. The boundaries are :-
West. The centre of the river,
East.--The foundations of the old city wall.
South. The old city tower and the Ssu Hsiang Kung temple.
North. The 1 Chin Fang main thoroughfare.
The foregoing boundaries, which are indicated by boundary-stones erected for the purpose, constitute the limits of the area opened to international trade, and everything outside them is subject as heretofore to the laws which govern "nei ti,” or interior land.
2. The Settlement has been purchased out of the public funds, and it shall be the duty of the Public Works Department of the Board to lay out roads, construct embankments and bunding, and mark out a site for the Customs and the Board and its various Departments. The rest of the land having been duly classified and measured, it shall be opened to Chinese and foreign merchants of standing and repute to rent-land, and erect warehouses and residences, all building construction to be subject to the Rules set out in section 3.
3. The Settlement offices for the Customs and the Board and its Department shall be constructed, together with a public garden and a vegetable market, and the river bank shall be firmly and securely bunded. Also, a main road shall be made along the fore- shore, and three wharves built to facilitate the shipment and discharge of cargo.
If at a future date, owing to the flourishing condition of the trade of the port, these wharves should prove insufficient for trade requirements, the Board shall take steps to add to their number. Moreover, merchants shall be permitted, in accordance with the Regula- tions for the renting of land, to construct private wharves, or to lease water frontages for
purpose of mooring pontoons (" p'ais").
the
4. The water frontage of the port (Settlement) constitutes an anchorage for Chinese and foreign ships alike; should a merchant desire to moor a pontoon ("p'ai "), or erect a warehouse thereon, he can only do so with the sanction of the Board, obtained after the exact position had been indicated, any obstruction to the anchorage being thus avoided.
5. The establishment of river and shore police stations, and a Court-house being necessary for the purposes of the general protection of, and the preservation of order in, the port (Settlement), the head of the Board, acting in conjunction with the Superintendent of Customs shall select and depute officials to draw up special and effective Regulations.
6. Postal and telegraph arrangements being under the control of the Chinese Government, the latter shall, to be consistent, also establish the post and telegraph offices in the Settlement, and no foreigner of any description shall be permitted to do 50. The installation of telephones and electric lighting, and the construction of water-
5
works shall either be undertaken by the Chinese Government itself, or contracts for the same entered into with native merchants, foreigners having no right to interfere.
7. The land adjoining the port (Settlement), suchas, for example, the village of Ling Tieh, has been valued, and the price placed on record, any private sale of such land being prohibited. If, subsequently to the opening of the port, owing to an increase in trade, the Settlement should prove insufficient in area, the Board shall, as occasion requires, examine into the circumstances and purchase whatever land is necessary for purposes of expansion.
Section 3-Uniform Regulations for Leasing and Building.
1. In the plan which has been made of the Settlement, the land has been divided into three classes, classified under the respective headings, “ Fu,” “ Lu," and "Shou."
The annual rent per mou of "Fu" land is 60 dollars.
39
وو
"Lu"
5
1 Shon
50 40
""
31
31
71
Water frontages pay rent on the same scale as "Fu land, but are exempt from
taxation,
2. Chinese and foreign merchants who rent land must attend at the Public Works Department of the Board, and indicate on the plan of the Settlement the exact position of the land, stating the class and area of the same. These particulars having been furnished, the transaction will be registered on an undertaking being given to pay taxes, and a deposit made of one-tenth of the price. The land will then be surveyed on a fixed day by the Public Works Department, and, on being notified by them, the Superintendent of Customs will issue a sealed deed of lease. In the case of a foreign merchant, however, the Superintendent, before issuing the deed, will require to be notified by the Consul concerned.
3. When the lease has been settled, the amount of the deposit shall be deducted from the total rent to be paid.
4. Every individual renter shall be required to rent at least 1 mou, but shall not be permitted to hold more than 6 mou. In the case, however, of a Company, or of someone whose business requires, from its nature, considerable space, all the circum- stances must first be clearly stated in an application to the Board, who will examine into the matter conjointly with the Superintendent of Customs, and decide as appears fit.
5. In the measurement of land, the Board of Works foot (12.25 inches) shall always be employed, a mou consisting of 6,000 square feet. If the renting of a certain piece of land is in dispute between several persons, the preference shall be given to him whose application was first registered. In the event of a simultaneous registry, priority shall be given to the applicant who first pays a year's rent in advance.
6. Although, for purposes of rent, land is divided into three classes-" Fa," "Lu," Shou" in the assessment of taxes, no such distinction is observed, but a uniform tax of 2 dollars per mou per annum is imposed on all land alike.
7. Merchants to whom leases have been granted shall first pay one year's rent and taxes reckoned from the date of the lease, for which the Superintendent of Customs, on being notified by the Board, will grant a sealed receipt. All subsequent payments of rent and taxes shall be made in the first month of each Chinese year.
Should any portion of such payments be six months in arrear; the lease will be cancelled, and, if no buildings have been erected, the land will be notified as being to let.
If there are any buildings on the land, these will be sold by auction, and any surplus there may be, after deducting the amount due for rent and taxes, will be returned to the (former) lessee. Where the latter is a foreigner, the Superintendent of Customs, in accordance with the usual practice, shall notify the Consul concerned.
8. The Superintendent of Customs shall issue scaled deeds of lease for all land the lease of which has actually been granted. The deed shall be transmitted to the lessee by the Treasury (rent and taxes) Department of the Board, the Superintendent, in the case of a foreigner, also notifying the Consul concerned, in order that the matter may be placed on record.
9. Leases shall be granted for a term of thirty years, and shall be delivered up on the expiry of that period. They may, however, be renewed for a further period of thirty years, it being understood that the rent may be raised, if, at the time of the
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