The annual meeting of the Shanghai Branch of the China Association was held at the Shanghai Club on Monday evening. Mr. R. M. Campbell presided, and there was a good attendance.
The Chairman in roving the adoption of the report and accounts sai This is the fourth consecutive year in which I have had the honour of addressing you from the chair of this Association to inform you, so far as I have been able, of what has been done by your Committee during the preceding twelve months. It has hitherto been our custom tu isle to you a very full report of our proceedings, With copies of letters that hive passed during the previous year. On this occasion, as we bad found that the London Committee, in issuing their general report, have also included the mass of this correspondence, we thought it would be a saving of your time and needless repetition if we confined ourselves to issuing only a summary of what we have done, and that is contained in the report which has been in your hands for some time, and, which, I presume, as is customary, you will' take as read. In April, 1895, the Committee wrote to the London Committee and advocated that they should suggest to the Foreign Office the appointment here of a special Commissioner whose work should be that he should be charged with the protection and promotion of British commercial interests in this part of the world. That appointment was in no way intended as a reflection upon our Minister, or Consul-General, or Consul, but simply as an appointment, which' would perhaps assist them in the work, which that particular department might be supposed to look after, and we have found since we made that suggestion that there were two precedents for such an appointment and such an officer being attached to the staff of Legations, namely, Paris and Constantinople; and though rule weigh heavily upon Governments, so far our suggestion has no further advanced than being under consideration. But, in the meanwhile, you will remember, Mr. Byron Brenan was appointed to go to China to report on the commercial situation yenerally, with p: r regard to obstacles in the way of British trade. Mr. Brenan came here in due course, and the Committee had two very long interviews with him, when they took the opportunity to explain to him the views we held and enlarged upon them as far as we could, and gave him all the information we were possessed' of. We hope that the result of those interviews and the further letter which we the further knowledge that he gained by his visits to the other places, will have put him in the possession of facts, which will result beneficially to commercial interests in this part of the world. I am reminded by Mr. Dudgeon that his ropoitt is almost due and I understand it is" long one, and have no doubt that it will deal in a' very careful way with all the matters brought to his attention. Whilst we drew Mr. Brenan's attention to some matters of general and far-reaching interest as far as relates to China and Great Britain, there were two subjects which we thought: specially necessary to bring under his notice, namely, the amalgamation of the posts of Consul-General and Chief-Justice, and the obstructions and delays which exist in the Chinese Land Registry Office in the transfer of foreign-owned land in Shang! the posts of Justice were ai made a protest very courteously informed by the Foreign Office that if in the course of practical working we found there were objec difficulties to the ami n ut the posts and we pointed them out, they would be considered. Well, it is very lard fo layman to point out any specific eas we are of opinion that cases have arisen in which the amalgamation has proved to be not desirable. You can quite well undorstand that it is not easy to find an off ts who does not try. ly try well, to carry out the duties of the two posts in a distinct manner, or at any rate it, is difficult to find one who is likely to admit that he cannot contend with such difticulties as are likely to arise, and in this particular case although, I' believe, deep that admis-ion to us. Sa that it is ditticult for us to make any' specific chanze, but I feel sure that there is one difficulty which they must admit and that is that British interests being so considerable here, the work of Consul-General b the work of the Chief-Just extremely important and gre: believe that they must kx no man capable of really satisfactorily tinding time to carry out the duties of both posts. That I think is an objection which is a very strong one, and with which, I am sure, those officials who have had charge of the two posts will agree. In the meantime all we can do is to congratulate ourselves that the post has been filled so satisfactorily hitherto by two such able officials as Sir Nicholas Hannen and Mr. George Jamieson have proved. themselves. to, be. (Applause.)
egatding the vagaries that take place in the Chinese Land Registry Office, I. think there is no doubt whatever that it is time some change should be made and, in fact, it ought to have been made long ago. T do not know that there is any particular reason why we should be obliged to go through the form that we do at present when land is transferred from one foreigner to another in Shanghai, to submit to the delays and obstruction that occur from the Chinese Land Registry Office, and I know—and probably some of you in the room know, and I am quite sure our officials know—that in many cases British subjects have removed land from the register of the British Consulate to the registry of other consulates, and they have registered land in other consulates because they find it more. easy to deal with the native officials through other consulates than the British Consulate. That is a reflection that I make in no we against the British Land Office, where are served as well as we can be under the existing circumstances, but I maintain that the circumstances are entirely wrong and inadequate and that they call for immediate redress, and I hope that that redress will speedily be granted to us. (Hear, hear.) Early in January, about the time when Li Hung-chang was' in London, important communications passed between the Shanghai Committee and the London Committee regarding the Tariff Question generally. Yow will seo in the report that those communications are referred to as bein, rather of confidential nature, and may say that the Committee even still so regard them, and I am not able to say anything to you about them, except in a very general way. We have, as you will see, hae to an increase in the Tari provided the increase is not a prohibi one, and as the matter is one which concerns all of you interested in the trade of Shanghai, I hope that you will endorse the action of your Committee so far as in saying that you also do not object to an increase in the Tariff, provided the increase is not prohibitive, and provided, in return for that increase, we get from the Chinese Government sucha very reasonable quid pro quo as the Committee think we are entitled to ask for. There are many returns that we might expect to get, an which I have every reason to hope we may get, and that is the reason of our having said that we did not mind an increas Regarding the question of the Tariff, thi Committee had a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce and with others interested in Shanghai who were represented, and a report of this has been issued to the met bers of this Association, marked private and confidential." The result of that meeting was that Mr. Dudgeon, who happens also to be your Vice-Chairman, undertook journey to Peking as you know, and, as you may not know, but I know, at great personal inconvenience to himself. The result of that visit to Peking, and the result of Mr. Dudgeon's interviews with many high officials is, we hope, calculated to bear wood fruit in the future. So for reply has been received from the Doyen of the Ministerial body in Peking which is regarded as most hopeful. The mere fact of having a reply at all is sufficient to show they are interested in the matter. I need not tell you that Mr. Dudgeon isa man who knows the whole subject from A to Z and is the very best man you could have sent to Peking in your interest. I know that as far as he could, he-has done his very best and is still engaged in a very important work in his endeavour to master this intricate subject, and I think you may be sure that all that can be done will be done by Mr. Dudgeon, (Applause.) The only other matter in the report that I think calls for any remark is the reference to the question of the foreshore at Chefoo, and I need say no mora than that the matter has been settled in a manner which, I presume, is satisfactory to those who are interested. There was also 8 proposed. Ordinance before the Govern:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.