Directory_and_Chronicle_1896 — Page 526

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SHANGHAI

Court, which was opened in September, 1865. Subjects of Her Britannic Majesty have to pay a poll tax of two dollars, for which they have the privilege of being registered at the Consulate, and heard as plaintiffs before the Court. There is enforced registration at several of the other Consulates, but it is free of charge. Chinese residents in the Foreign Settlements are amenable to their own laws, administered by a so-called Mixed Court, which was established at the instigation of Sir Harry Parkes in 1864, and originally sat at the British Consulate. It is presided over by an official of the rank of Tung-chi. The cases are watched by foreign assessors from the different Consulates. The working of the Court, especially in regard to civil suits, is far from satisfactory, as the judge has not sufficient power to enforce his decisions. The matter has for some years been supposed to be engaging the attention of the authorities at Peking. For the French Concession there is a separate Mixed Court, which sits at the French Consulate. There is a Court of Consuls which was established in 1870, the judges of which are elected by the Consuls annually, its purpose being to enable the Municipal Council to be sued.

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 1845, 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 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 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 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 fifteen 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

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