the course of his exhaustive Note regarding the revision of the Treaty of tientsin, Mr. Wade makes some comments on the question of Municipal Fave especial interest in Shanghai, ovornmentin foreignsottlements, whicl
They are, indeed, based chiefly on the civoumstances of Sbanghni; but we must say, at the outset, that they show an imperfect knowledge of those circamstances, and point to conclusions which we should deplore to see pus in practice, The Note, it must be remembered, is dated three years ago, when the Anglo-American Council had not "yet freed itself from the load of debt incurred during the extravagant epoch of our history. Mach, too, has since been done for the improvement of our road drains, and jetties; so that our manicipal arrangements would, probably, uow command something more than the qualified approbation which Mr. Wade accords. Our debt has, since then, been nearly' paid off; our drains have been relaid; our roads, within the settlement, have been perfected, and without, have been raised, extended, and planted with trees; excellent pontoon jetties Lave been made along the river bank, and the hideous mud flat that used to reek in front of the British Consulate lins been changed into a pleasant garden; our police force has been grudgally improved in discipline and in detective intelligence; and the whole settlement has reached a point of clean-Tines and good order which will.compare favourably with average European towns, That much remains to be done, "Gri the' way of draining and cleansing the Chinese quarters, we admit; bat yatich has been done even here, and more money and, care are being yearly devoted to improvements "which are both necessary and convenient. The whole of these improvements have advanced together—police, roads, and jetties s! all have been under one manage-melt, and we contend that that management has been successful.
fow Jet us turn- to Mr. oahe memorandum. The Police, he thinks, polo be paid for by the Chinese, and should "refer itself primarily to the Consuls or the Chinese officials, instead of toa Committee of Land-Renters, or to any other non-official or quasi-muni~' cipal body." Towards the making or maintaining of "foreign roads, foreign drainage, lighting or other requirements of foreign civilisation," he does not think the Chinese Government should "contribute, or be called on to oblige its subjects to contribute." Wharves and jetties, he thinks, the Chinese Government is bound to main-"but the quasi-municipal ex-"penses' of the community—the expenses proper, that is to a European "town or city, should no more be held "to form ground ofa claim for assis-"tance from the Chinese Government "than the consumption by the same "community of its wine and tobacco, "Ab Shanghai, especially, the quasi-"municipal expenses are swollen by "the great extent of land held by the foreign community; land acquired not merely to famish building sites for the "residences or warehouses of the for-"eigner, but for the erection of build-"ings to be let to Chinese. The specu lation has in many instances proved an-profitable, hence the quasi-municipal taxation of the Chinesesub-tenantry!"" And again, " the local Government of, "Shanghai at present contributes a "considerable sum to the conservancy of both settlements; and I would have "it proposed through Peking that, on "our ground at least, its own money "should be diverted to the purpose, "and applied in the' manner here in-"dicated."
Now, asa matter of fact, the local Government of Shanghai contributes nothing at all toward the conservancy of Foreign Settlements, beyond a sum of Tls. 10,000, which is really not a contribution from the local Government, but a commutation of a Wharfage Duos tax, leviable under our Municipal regula-ons from Ohinese as well as foreign residents; but whic it is found more convenient to collect through the Taotai than directly fom iudividaal merchants, and which would not be collected at all in the absence of a For eign Municipal Government, If Mr. Wade means that the bouse-tax levied on Chinese ' sub-tenants" is also a local Governmentcontribution—as bein; wu from the Government cof offers a fair point on which to raise the whole question of Municipal administration; and we join issue with him.
As we understand Mr. Wade, he would make it incumbent on the Chinese to police the foreign settlement he would make it incumbent on them to maintain wharves and jetties; and would leave to foreigners the making of roads, drains, and the maintenance of gas-lights; foreigners to collect no taxes from Chinese, nor Chinese from foreigners. Now, the question arises at the outset, how far this double government would be practicable; and on what possible understanding it could be carried on. Mr. Wade has been in Shanghai, and knows the conditions of the place. Even he will probably accept the residence of Chinese in the foreign settlement as an accomplished fact; and will not claim that they should be expelled and their houses removed. Where, then, are the Municipal duties respectively of Chinese and foreigners to begin and end? Are the latter to light and drain and clean only their own portions of the settlement, leaving the native quarters dark, undrained, and filthy—convenient for possible crime and hotbeds of disease—like, in fact, to the streets of a purely Chinese town? For this is what they would, of course, become under Chinese control. This would hardly be tolerable or convenient; and if so, what can be more just, either to foreign re~ sidents or to the Chinese "sub-tenants," than that thehonse-tax which they would pay to their own officials for municipal objects that would not be accomplished, should be paid to foreign officers for better purposes which are accomplished? The alternative would be, either to expel the Chinese, or for us to light, drain and cleanse their quarter out of our own pockets, while the Taotai pocketed the taxes now available for the purpose.
The Chinese, again, Mr. Wade holds, should be bound to maintain wharves; and the sum which is now contributed by the Taotai under the bead of Wharfage Dues should, of course, be surrendered to them for that purpose! Does Mr. Wade think that, in this case, we should have the fine bund which now fronts the English and French settlements, and the admirable system of pontoons which serve as landing stages? Hardly, we imagine. The old stone jetties would be the utmost we should possess, and the repairs necessary to those would bea constant source of quarrel and annoyance between merchants, consuls, and taotais, Would the police, under the control: even of foreign Consuls, bat paid by Chinese, be nearly 80 efficient or so smoothly worked as they are now would not Chinese intrigue, and the different ideas of different national officials, cause free ib trouble? In fact, is it not far-better, ab initia, that the whole Municipal ad-. ministration should be conducted under one head; and would the forei; settlement have been anything like settlement it is, under Mr. Wade's theory Is not, in fine, the whole essay an instance of theorising, in face of practical considerations? and a of that extreme tenderness for Chinese theoretical rights which, introduced into politics, produces occasionally the same muddle the settlement would present, managed on Mr. Wade's principle
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.