Directory_and_Chronicle_1892 — Page 534

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SHANGHAI

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 foreign 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, became in 1855 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 tales 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 committee of residents was appointed in November, 1879, to revise the present regulations, and their work was considered and passed by the ratepayers in May, 1881. Many important improvements have been proposed, but they have yet to receive the sanction of the various governments. The "co-operative policy," under which a voice is given to small powers having practically no interests in China equal to that given to Great Britain, has caused a delay of ten years. The Ministers at Peking have suggested some radical alterations, but these are so opposed to the necessities of the city that the residents for their own preservation are bound to offer a strenuous resistance, and from that cause and owing to the changes which have taken place since 1881 it is probable that the Regulations will have to be again revised and will not come into force for some time. At the time of the Taiping rebellion it was proposed by the Defence Committee, with the almost unanimous consent of the landrenters and residents, to make the Settlements and City with the district around a free city, under the pro- tection of the Treaty Powers. Had this proposal, which was thoroughly justifiable owing to the Imperial Government having lost all power in the provinces, been carried out, Shanghai would have become the chief city in China, and it is safe to say would have acted as a leaven, to the ultimate immense benefit of the whole Empire. A separate Council for the French Concession was appointed in 1862, and now works under the Réglement d'Organisation Municipale de la Concession Française," passed in 1868. It consists of four French and four foreign members, elected for two years, half of whom retire annually. Their resolutions are inoperative until sanctioned by the Consul- General. 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 suffrage" than the franchise of the other Settlements, which, however, will be considerably reduced should the new Regulations ever become law. The qualification for councillors north of the Yang-king-pang is the payment of rates to the amount of fifty taels annually, or being a householder paying rates on an assessed rental of twelve hundred taels. For the French Concession the requirement is a monetary one of about the same amount. Several efforts have been made to amalgamate the French with the other Settlements, but hitherto without success. A revision of the Réglements for the French Concession has for some time been under consideration. Meetings of ratepayers are held in February of each year, at which the budgets are voted and the new Councils instructed as to the policy they are to pursue. No important measure is undertaken without being referred to a special meeting of ratepayers. The Council divides itself into Defence, Finance, Watch, and Works Committee. This cosmopolitan system of government has for many years worked so well and so cheaply that Shanghai has fairly earned for itself the name of “The Model Settlement.'

The Revenue of the "Anglo-American" Settlement for 1890 amounted to Tls. 442,844.41, and was derived as follows:—

Land Tax, four-tenths of 1 per cent.... General Municipal Rates, Foreign Houses, 8 per cent. General Municipal Rates, Native Houses, 10 per cent. Wharfage Dues, including Contribution from Taotai Licences, principally opium shops and jinrickshas Local Post Office Tls. 7,477.92; Sale of Stores Tls. 6,179.03 Night Soil, Tls. 2,980.78, Miscellaneous, Tls. 2,139.86 Sinking Fund and Interest

...

...

Outstanding 1888 & 1889 Tls. 6,606.78, Surplus from 1889, Tls. 6,703.52

Lean

Tls. 54,644.92

44,476.78 104,739.73

64,321.78

109,557.68

13,656.95

5,120.64

13,015.63 13,310.30 20,000.00

Tls. 442,844.41