Directory_and_Chronicle_1904 — Page 848

SHANGHAI

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and most of the records completely lost. In May, 1874, a riot occurred in the French Settlement, owing to the intention of the Municipal Council to make a road through an old graveyard belonging to the Ningpo Guild. One or two Europeans were severely injured, and eight natives lost their lives. A considerable amount of foreign-owned property was destroyed. Another riot took place on 16th and 17th July 1898, owing to the Authorities of the French Settlement having decided to remove the "Ningpo Joss House." The French Volunteers were called out and a force landed from men-of-war, which measures speedily suppressed the riot, fifteen natives being re- ported killed and wounded. An extensive fire in the French Concession in August, 1879, destroyed 221 houses; the loss was estimated at Tls. 1,500,000. In 1894 a fire outside the native city along the river bank having cleared away a great and noisome collec- tion of huts and hovels, advantage was taken of this clearing by the native Authorities to make a broad Bund on the model of the Foreign Settlement roads. This Bund extends from the south corner of the French Bund, along the river some three and a half miles, to the Arsenal at Kao Chang Miao. It was formally declared open by the Taotai in October, 1897. A Council has been formed to supervise this Bund and attend to other native municipal matters; its offices are situated in the Bureau for Foreign Affairs on the Bubbling Well Road. It controls a special force of police composed of Sikhs and Chinese. A riot occurred on 5th and 6th April, 1897, in consequence of an increase in the wheelbarrow tax. It was suppressed by the Volunteers and sailors from the men-of-war in port, without loss of life. The Consuls and Municipal Council having submitted to the dictation of the Wheelbarrow Guild, an indignation public meeting was held on the 7th April, the largest meeting ever held in the Settlements. At this meeting the action of the Authorities was so strongly condemned that the Council resigned. A new Council was elected and the tax enforced, the French Municipal Council increasing their tax in like proportion. The foreign Settlements celebrated their Jubilee on 17th and 18th November, 1893, when, it is estimated, 500,000 strangers visited Shanghai. A medal was struck as a memorial of the occasion. In 1900, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Japan landed troops at Shanghai for the protection of the Settlements, the presence of the troops being deemed necessary owing to the threatening aspect of the natives at the time operations were being conducted in the north. They remained as a garrison until December, 1902, when they were withdrawn. GOVERNMENT

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 His Britannic Majesty have to pay an annual 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 in- stigation 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 or sub-prefect. The cases are watched by foreign assessors from the principal 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 foreign residents govern themselves and the natives within the Settlements by means of the Municipal Councils, under the authority of the "Land Regulations." These were originally drawn up for the British Settlement 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