A pons of some importance has arisen out of the recent removal of the Maloo market to which we think public opinion should be directed. It appears that the Chinese authorities have expressed some surprise, not unmixed with irritation, that they. were not requested by the Municipal Council to issue the necessary notification to the marketman; and they apparently regard the action of the Council in taking the matter into its own hands as not only discourteous but irregular. In this view, we believe, they are supported by some members of the Consular body; and it therefore devolves upon us to discover exactly how the matter stands on this particular point, We cannot help aa expression of astonishment, however, at discover ing that on such a subject there should be aug doubt or difference of opinion. One would have thought that it would Lave been one of the first points provided for in the Regulations, and provided for in euch distinct and de. finite terms as would render any quesing it impossible. Such, however, is by no means the case; and we ate consequently left to find out the truth as best we may by inference, there being apparently no proper authority to which appeal can be made.
Now it has been thought that some light can be thrown upon the substipolati Bat the Treaties are ab: ject by a reference to the Treaty
solately silent upon the subject. between Ohinese and foreigners is be found in the Second Article of the Treaty of Nanking, ratified in 1843 at Hongkong, where it is stated that one of the duties of Consular officers shall be to form a medium of communication between Chinese authorities and foreign mercbants—a provision which does not touch the point at issue at all. No one denies that to communicate with a Chinese official it is necessary to do so officially through the Consal. The question is, has a public and representa. tive foreign body the right to. issue notifications to non-official Chinese resi-dante direct, and without reference to the native local authorities Neither.in the Treaties nor in the Land Regula-tious or Bylaws is there the remotest allusion to this point. It is true that nowhere is there any distinct permission to do so formulated, but equally true that there is no prohibition. Inthe original Regulations drawn up in 1843 between Consul Balfour and the Tao-t'ai of Shanghai, however, we do find a clause bearing very curiously upon the special matter which has given rise to the dispute. It was then arranged (Art. XVI) that " with. in the boundaries of the ground North of the Yaog-king-pang, the several renters may publicly build a Market-place, so that Chinese may carry daily necessaries thither and vend them. Its position, and all rules for the management thereof, must be determined by the local authorities and Consul in communication together." Such was the regulation made in 1843 but it is now, of course, obsolete. The very next sentence in the same Article forbids merchants to "build houses for renting to, or for the use of, Chinese." Would that this wise provision had never been infringed. Moreover, in 1848 there was no Manicipal Council, 30 that there could scarcely be any stipulation made as to the dealings of such a body with the Chinese who now flood the Settlement. We are compelled, therefore, in the absence of any official utterance upon the matter, to fall back on expediency, As regards the question of right, pure and simple, there can we think be no dispute. Wo have grounds for stating, on high authority, that the Manicipal Council has a perfect right to issue notifications to the Chinese upon its own responsi lities as long as such notifications keep within the limits of their municipal powers and functions: that is, the management of the streets, closing of thoroughfares for repair, and so on, In other words, they are entitled to issue such notifications to the Chinese as they might issue to foreigners, in similar onses; and both would be equally binding. So much for their right. Considerations of expediency, however, should lead them to defer in some measure to the local native officials, The authorities, as © matter of fact, have never formally recognised the Land Regulations, and we must nob forget that it is to them we have to look for the enforcement of our Municipal laws on Ohinese subjects, and their banishment if they infringe them, A Chinese magistrate might cause trouble, were ho so inclined, by refusing to acknowledge the validity of a regulation for the infringement of whiok a native might be brought ap before him. This is not likely, but it is not impossible; and without yielding for ® moment an inch of our pertest right to issue notifications affecting residents in the. Settlement, whether foreigners or Chinese, we think that the Council would do wisely in requesting the authorities, as a matter of courtesy, aid it in the maintenance of order by undertaking the issue of such as affect the Chinese only, The slightest indication, however, of a desire on the part of the Chinese authorities to claim as @ right that which can never be
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.