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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 |
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