DEVELOPMENT IN THE EIGHTIES

Early in the "eighties," progress was made in regard to the introduction of two great public utilities, water and electricity.

Waterworks 1883

For many years the principal source of , water supply had been the Whangpoo River or the Soochow Creek. The water from wells was brackish and unfit for drinking purposes, and the water carried from river or creek in buckets to the various houses was muddy and subject to contamination from sewers or refuse. It was poured into large kongs or jars and settled by the use of alum. Then it was boiled, but even so there was considerable danger connected with using it for drinking purposes.

Probably it was the cause, in many cases, of typhoid fever and cholera.

The first proposal for the introduction of a system of waterworks was brought forward at an early date by Dr. M. T. Yates, but largely owing to financial reasons it received no support. The subject was repeatedly discussed but nothing definite was done about it until 1880. The Shanghai Municipal Council then entered into terms with a company, known as Drysdale, Ringer and Company, and the work of laying pipes was begun. A water tower was erected in Kiangse Road and the pumping of water began in April, 1883. The Viceroy, Li Hung-chang, who happened to be on a visit to Shanghai, accepted an invitation to take part in the ceremony of turning on the water.

A year later the system was extended so as to meet the needs of the Chinese. The object was not philanthropic but based on the ground that disease among the Chinese might spread to the foreign community, and that better native health meant greater safety for the whole population.

At first there was no great eagerness on the part of the Chinese to avail themselves of this new source of supply. Their reluctance was due not only to there being a small tax on those who used the water, but to prejudice founded on ignorance. There were rumours that the water was poisonous, or spoiled by lightning, or that people had been drowned in the water tower, and the Mixed Court Magistrate was obliged to issue a reassuring proclamation.

In the beginning there were complaints that the company overcharged for its supply, and this caused dissatisfaction. Although in 1888 it was proposed that the Council should buy out the company, and take the matter of water supply into its own hands, as is generally the case in other cities of the size of Shanghai, it was found to be too expensive a project.

The waterworks have remained a private company known as the Shanghai Waterworks Company up to the present day, although negotiations have recently been completed for bringing the company under the control of the Municipality.

The waterworks were of great value not only for the health of the community but also in increasing the facilities for extinguishing fires, the firemen previously being dependent entirely on the fire wells sunk in various localities.

Street Lighting

The lighting of the streets by gas had never given complete satisfaction, and in 1882 proposals were made for the introduction of electricity. Mr. R. W. Little secured permission to use the Council's poles, and to erect others for a trial of the Brush system, promising that it would prove cheaper than gas. In June a sample light was exhibited on the Band Stand in the Public Gardens, and was greatly admired.

The company formed by Mr. Little was allowed to put up wires for some Chinese houses, and the Shanghai Club, and for some residences in the French Concession.

Electric lighting, like all other modern improvements, met with serious obstacles. In the first place, the Taotai objected on the ground that it was not safe, inasmuch as the current could kill a man, burn up a house or destroy a whole city. In his letter to the Council he stated, "This electric disaster will happen, - if you do not put an end to electricity."

In the second place, the Gas Company opposed its introduction, fearing it would supplant the use of gas for street and residential lighting.

The struggle between the two companies began in 1882 and was long drawn out. In the end electricity triumphed, but the Gas Company was able to survive by providing gas for other purposes than lighting.

At first electric light did not prove as satisfactory as anticipated. It was more expensive than gas and less dependable, and the machinery frequently broke down. The company entered into a contract with the Council in 1883 for the lighting of The Bund, Nanking Road and Broadway.

In 1884 the company asked the Council to buy up its plant, but to this proposal the Ratepayers would not listen. Matters began to improve in 1888 when a new company was formed and important changes were introduced.

A new era began in 1893 when the company's entire plant and business was taken over by the Council at a cost of TIs. 66,100, and the present efficient service began to be developed. At the present day Shanghai has one of the largest electric plants in the world, supplying power and heat as well as light. A very large amount of capital has been invested in the enterprise, and it has proved a source of revenue to the Municipality.

Revision of Land Regulations

Towards the close of 1879 a committee was appointed by the Shanghai Municipal Council to revise the existing Land Regulations, and at the Ratepayers' meeting held in 1880 a report was presented. One of the objects in view was to enlarge the body of voters, and to increase the number of those eligible to serve as Councillors. At that time only 112 residents were eligible as Councillors under the existing qualifications. Another object was to extend the power of the Council so as to give it the right to impose new taxation, and to compel the surrender of property for roads.

The authority of the police was to be arbitrary, including the right to enter a private domicile without a warrant. "In the event of a riot or a grave disturbance, the Council having notified the Senior Consul at once, was at liberty to adopt such measures as it might deem necessary for public safety. A volunteer corps was to be organized under the command of the Council's Chairman; and in case of serious danger to the Settlement, the Council was empowered to place all residents under such laws as circumstances might require, subject to the consent of the Consuls or a majority among them."

Such a constitution would have gone a long way towards making the Municipality a free city, a proposal which had been rejected by the Diplomatic Body in 1862. The new Land Regulations were approved by the Ratepayers in March, 1881, and forwarded in 1883 for ratification to the Foreign Ministers in Peking. For a long time they were pigeon-holed, and sanction was not given until 15 years later, in 1898, and then in a much modified form.

Some of the objects desired were secured, especially the extension of the franchise, and the increase in the number of those eligible as Councillors, but the Council's status was limited to being an executive body, all measures adopted at the Ratepayers' meeting being subject to the approval of the Consular Body in Shanghai and the Diplomatic Corps at Peking.

This was the last revision of the constitution of the International Settlement, a constitution which, with all its limitations, has proved fairly workable.

Clause XXVIII restricted the Council to the policy advocated by Sir Frederick Bruce and Mr. Anson Burlingame in 1864, and provided that "Hereafter should any corrections be requisite in these Regulations, or should it be necessary to determine on further rules, or should doubts arise as to the construction thereof, or powers conferred thereby, the same must be consulted upon and settled by the Foreign Consuls and local Chinese authorities, subject to confirmation by Foreign representatives and the Supreme Chinese Government at Peking."

The Government of the International Settlement Having followed the development of the Land Regulations, we may now give a brief summary of the way the Shanghai Municipality has been governed.

A Council of not more than nine or less than five is elected annually by foreign land-renters and ratepayers.

The electorate is limited to foreigners who own land of not less than 500 taels in value and who are householders paying an assessed rental of not less than 500 taels per annum and upwards.

The ratepayers have their annual parliament or meeting once a year, when a report of the work of the Council for the past year and the estimates for the next year are presented for consideration.

Special meetings may be called when it is desired to deal with any matter which cannot or should not be left over for decision by the annual parliament.

The powers of the Council are restricted, and the approval of all the Consuls and of the Chinese authorities and of the Diplomatic Body is required for the amendment of the Land Regulations.

The channel of communication between the Council and the Chinese authorities is the Consular Body.

Judicial powers over foreigners are, under the grant of extraterritoriality, vested in the Consular Courts of the foreigners concerned, or, in the case of unrepresented foreigners or Chinese, in the Mixed Court.

The Council has a right to sue in these courts, and may in turn be sued in a court elected from the Consuls of the Treaty Powers, known as the Court of Consuls. The Municipal police force provides the executive for all these courts. No arrests, as a general rule, can be made except on a warrant of the proper court, and in the case of the Mixed Court, it must be countersigned by the Senior Consul.

>From 1911 until the rendition of the Mixed Court in 1927 the execution of Mixed Court summons and warrants was entrusted to the Municipal police.

The election of the Council takes place during the month of February, and the ratepayers' annual meeting is held in April.

At its first meeting the new Council elects its Chairman and Vice-Chairman and then divides itself into three Committees, the Finance, Works and Watch Committees, which have oversight of the various departments and sub-committees.

The Secretariat acts as the Chief Executive of the Council, and as a clearing house for all departments.

Although in some ways the government is cumbersome, and many difficulties arise from the limited powers of the Council, yet on the whole it has proved satisfactory. Its success has been due in no small measure to the time and labour given by the members of the Council, who render their services freely.

Critics have called the Council a Taipan oligarchy, but it would be more fitting to refer to it as a good example of the efficiency of Commission government.

Political events in recent years have made it exceedingly difficult to get all the Treaty Powers to agree with any unanimity to any proposals put before them in regard to the amendment of the Land Regulations.

Development of The Bund

For a long time it looked as though utilitarian considerations would gain the day, and the foreshore would be used for mooring ships If that had happened, its appearance would have been similar to that of the present French Bund, and it would not have become, as it is now, a beautiful esplanade.

It was made unsightly by the erection of sheds, used as workshops for builders, with annexes for kitchens and latrines. The sewers, which did not reach to low water mark, deposited considerable garbage and refuse on the mud banks.

At last the work of filling in and bunding was taken in hand, but it was not until May, 1886, that the grass plots, extending from the Public Gardens to the Customs shed, were thrown open to the public. All respectable and decently clad Chinese were admitted to them, but when it was found that coolies used the benches for siestas, notices were posted on the benches restricting their use to. foreigners.

It was not until some years later that the whole foreshore was filled in up to the line approved by the authorities.

War between France and China

During this period China engaged in another foreign war. The French were desirous of opening up a trade route from Cochin-China into Yunnan by way of the Red River which flows through Tongking, one of the provinces of Annam. China claimed that Annam was a vassal state, and supported her in resisting this demand. This led to a state of hostility between the two countries from 1881 to 1885.

Shanghai being far from the actual seat of warfare, was not directly concerned. There was, however, great trepidation among the Chinese in the Settlements, and attempts were made on the part of the Canton merchants in Hongkew to raise a volunteer corps to help in the defence of Shanghai.

In order to secure the safety of the China Merchants fleet, the steamers were temporarily sold for a nominal sum to Russell and Company and were put under the American flag.

The Chinese authorities threatened to close up the channel at Woosung by sinking junks laden with stones across the bar. If this had taken place, it would have resulted in a serious injury to trade, but fortunately, although preparations were made, the project was never actually carried out.

In August, 1884, the day the French fleet bombarded Foochow, the French Consul-General issued a proclamation declaring the neutrality of the French Concession, and later the French Envoy, M. Patenotre, gave assurances that as long as Shanghai and Woosung maintained the atatus quo, they would not he attacked.

The dangerous position of the Settlements, in case of a war between China and a foreign Power, became apparent, and led to endeavours on the part of the Diplomatic Body to have the Settlements regarded as a neutral zone during war periods.

Statue to Sir Harry Parkes

Shanghai has not been very generous in the way of erecting statues in memory of those who have played an important part in its development.

There is, however, one outstanding exception. Sir Harry Parkes, G.C.M.G., who as a diplomat did so much for opening up of commercial relations between Great Britain and China, has been remembered, and a monument has been erected to his memory on The Bund, at the entrance to Nanking Road. It bears the inscription "erected in 1890 by the foreign merchants in China in memory of his great services." It was unveiled by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught who paid a visit to Shanghai in that year.