PART IV.—STATEMENTS RECEIVED ON POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTIONS, AND COMMENTS THEREON. CHAPTER I.—STATEMENTS EROM CHINESE ORGANISATIONS. 1.—In addition to the statement received from the Com- mission for the Reorganisation of Shanghai Merchants' Associa- tions, which is included in the Chapter dealing with statements from Chambers of Commerce,* I received from certain Chinese organisations statements of a more detailed character which were prepared at the instance of the Chinese Ratepayers' Association of the Foreign Settlement. 2.—The Chinese Ratepayers' Association is a body organised to represent the Chinese ratepayers in the Settlement. Its con- stitution is explained in detail in documents which are contained in an Appendix. | As appears from these documents, the qualifica- tions for membership.of the Association are based on the qualifica- tions for voters as laid down in the Land Regulations in respect to foreigners ; that is, a Chinese is qualified to be a member of the Association if he owns or occupies property in the Settlement which would, if he were a foreigner, qualify him for a vote under the Reg- ulations. The qualification is, therefore, derived either from owner- ship or occupation of land or houses: in the case of ownership, the property must not be less than Tls. 500 in value : in the case of occupation the rental value must not be less than Tls. 500 per an- num.} In order to be qualified for membership of the Association's committee, or for membership of the Council or its Committees, members of the Association must have a higher qualification, by virtue of ownership or payment of rates, similar to the qualifica- tions prescribed in the Land Regulations for foreign candidates for membership of the Council of the Settlement: that is to say, they must either pay land tax to the amount of Tls. 50 per annum, or pay rates on an annual rental of not less than Tls. 1,200 per annum, and there is the further requirement that they must also have been resident in the Settlement for not less than five years. * Part in, Chap. Ill, par. 30 t v. Appendix XXI. } The strictness of this rule as to qualifications for membership appears, how- ever, to have been relaxed to the extent of accepting any one as eligible for member- ship who pays Tls. 10 annually to the Council of the Settlement in the form either of land tax, or of rates, or of both. Further, payment of rates on a house situate on an extra-Settlement Road appears to be accepted as a qualification. V. Appendix