Present:—Mossrs, J. G. Purdon (Ohi man), @ J. W. Cowie, J. Hart, F.
Heyden, W. Kidner, A. A. Krauss, W. Lemarchand, R.' Mackenzie, S.
Webb, and the Secretary.
The Minutes of the Last meeting were read, confirmed, and-signed by the Eh man' and Secretary, and the seal of the Municipality affixed thereto.
The Cash State was laid on the table and examined. portion of Lot 208, required for of the Boosiow Road.
8 of Mr. S, Reynell, on expiry of ug agreement.
Wheelbarrows.—The following letter from the French Council was rend. aulthe French text is among the preceding (Translation.
I have communicated the contents of letter of 25th June to the Conse who regret, to see the question of division of Wheelb: Fees brought back to the starting point. point of facty-as at the outset, you claim two-thirds of the reosipts, arguing on the greater extent of your roads; and this Council still claims an equal division, maintaining that the French Concession is an intervening point, over which the circulation of wheelbarrows is ter, in consequence of the traffic to and ire which is caused by the daily intercourse of the natives in the quarters North of the Yangking-pang with those in the Chinese city.
the present difficulty would appear, then, as if it must not be settled by a common understanding, since each Council persists in its own respective line of argument and demand and as the Municipal Council refuses al to countenance an agreement which express stated the terms to be equal division of the receipts collected by the two Municipalities.
Thus, they, the Conseil, with great regret finds itself compelled, in order to put an end to this too far prolonged difficulty, to act is fow over, less pro-occupied 1 result of the question than ing a revenue from of which damages at the rate of
by the French Municipality.
the right of plying'on the roads kept she right of plying isonet
Thave the honour to inform you that the Conseil intends to give effect to this dec on lat September, and wil ai fows which have been agreed upon by the lations concerning the circulation of
two Municipalities, and which are not opposed to the spirit of the decision which I have just made known to you.
Nevertheless, in the event of the Municipal Council finding out that the number of licences for barrows actualy registered by the two Municipalities is about 4,000, and.can be taken as the basis of the arrangement proposed in your letters of 7th and 14th June, the Conseil will be happy to have recourse in this matter to common, course of action, and to accept the other terms of your proposal.
(Ina way quite incidental), duty foremark, rela the Conseil has arrived at to put a price of 100 on its own licenses, that if your Council made it as much on their side, this will be the better means—without increasing in any Ww: the charges to the wheelbarrow men, of arriving after a certain period, by numbo fatable than arguments, at a defi ledge of the amount of com ion that each Municipality, should receive for the use made of its roads by the wheelbarrows. A whee barrow-man pays to-day 200 cash to ply on the two Settlements; under the new arrangement, if you adopt it, he will pay 100 cash to each Municipality, oF 200 cash in all; or 100 cash aly, if it was to his interest to ply in one Settlement only.
As to what directly concerns the Munici-polities, each of them would have then established in an indisputable mauner, by the number of licenses paid by each, the amount of taxes which it ought to as an equitafor the maintenance of which it pays, by ble return for the damage done to the roads, Wheelbarrows registered in its office.
And the reply agreed to as under 5th July, 1875.
Board.
The Council can only regret that the proposition they made, fulfilling as it did your juirementa, as expressed in your letter of 10th June, of allowing you the opportunity of receiving half the fees from wheel-barrows, should after all be declined by you.
The Council must protest against your remark that they "refuse to maintain convention which specified the equal division of receipts from wheel-barrows." They know of no such convention, but on the contrary, as already pointed out, they from the first (see their letter of 3rd November, 1870,) said that no partition could be properly fixed upon until after a trial, which they agreed to for six months, and, finding the proposed plan not equitable, have ever since objected to it.
However, the time has now arrived for making an entirely new arrangement, and as your Council give us notice that you intend to act independently, this Council will do the same; and after the ist September next will issue its own licenses at its own terms, and under its own regulations—which licenses will entitle the wheel-barrows to ply only over the roads of this Settlement, as yours will be only good for your Settlement, "This leaves it to the wheelbarrow-men themselves to take out licences for both Settlements should their needs require it, This proposition would at any time have happy to have it now so agreed. been acceptable to this Connell, and they are (Signed) J. G. Purnoy, Chairman, Bridges.—Yang-king-pang.—The following letter from the French Council was rea'
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.