Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 3, 1877

No. 74.
Mr. Seward to Mr. Evarts.

United States Legation,
Peking, May 19, 1877. (Received July 27.)

No. 252.]

Sir: Recurring to ray dispatch No. 240, as I have learned that Mr. Henderson has not furnished the Department with the proposed municipal rules for the port of Amoy, I have the honor to hand to you a copy of them herewith.

I have the honor, &c.,

GEORGE F. SEWARD.

[Inclosure.]

proposed municipal regulations.

1st. That the limits wherein these regulations are binding bb the island of Kulangsoo.

2d. In order that due provision should be made for the making of roads, building public jetties and works, and keeping them in repair, and for cleansing, lighting, watering, and draining the settlement generally, establishing a watch of police force therein, establishing sanitary regulations, paying the persons necessarily employed in any municipal office or capacity, and for raising money by way of loan for any of the purposes aforesaid, the senior consul shall in the first week of December of each year, or on the requisition duly made as hereinafter mentioned, convene a meeting of all persons entitled to vote as hereinafter provided, to devise ways and means of raising the requisite funds for these purposes; and at such meeting it shall be competent for the said persons, or a majority Of those present, to declare an assessment in the form of a rate to be made on the land or buildings within the said limits; and it shall also be competent for the said persons, or a majority of them as aforesaid, to impose other rates and taxes for the purposes aforesaid in the shape of wharfage-dues, license-fees, &c.

3d. It is farther provided that the said land-renters, and others as aforesaid, snail appoint, in the mode hereinafter described, an executive committee or council to consist of not more than five persons, for the purpose of levying the rates, dues, and taxes hereinbefore mentioned, and applying the funds realized from the same for the purposes aforesaid, and for carrying out the regulations now made; and such committee, when appointed, shall have full power and authority to levy and apply sttch rates, dues, and taxes, and recover the same from all defaulters in the court under whose jurisdiction such defaulter may be.

4th. When in pursuance of these regulations the above-mentioned committee of council shall be duly elected, all the power, authority, and control conferred by the by-laws now sanctioned and annexed to these regulations, and all the rights and property, which, by such by-laws are declared to belong to any committee or council as aforesaid, shall vest in, and absolutely belong to, such committee or council, and to their successors in office; and such committee shall have power and authority, from time to time, to make other by-laws for the better enabling them to carry out the object of these regulations, and to repeal, alter, or amend any such by-laws, provided such other by-laws be not repugnant to the provisions of these regulations, and be duly confirmed and published, and provided also that no by-law or amendment by the committee under the authority of these regulations, except such as relate solely to their council, or their officers or servants, should come into operation until passed and approved by the consular body, in consultation with the Chinese authorities and the rate-payers in special meeting assembled, of which meeting, and the object of it, ten days’ notice shall be given.

5th. And whereas it is also expedient that due provisions should be made for the auditing of the accounts of the said committee or council, and for the obtaining the approval and sanction of them by the rate-payers in public meeting duly assembled, it is provided that the said audit and the said sanction and approval shall be made at the annual public meeting convened as hereinbefore mentioned.

6th. It is further provided that any penalty or forfeiture, or fees, or licenses provided for in the by-laws framed under the authority of these regulations, and imposed in pursuance of such by-laws, may be recovered by summary proceedings before the proper authority; and it shall be lawful for such authority, upon conviction, to adjudge the offender to pay the penalty or incur the forfeiture, as well as such costs attending the conviction as such authority may think fit. All fines and penalties levied under these regulations, and the by-laws framed and to be framed under them, shall be carried to the credit of the committee or council.

It is further provided that it shall be competent for the senior consul at any time when it may appear to him needful, or upon requisition of ten of the rate-payers, to call a public meeting, giving ten days’ notice of the same, setting forth the business fur the consideration of which it is convened; all resolutions passed by a majority of two-thirds of the qualified voters present at any such public meeting, on all such matters aforesaid, shall be valid and binding on the whole of the rate-payers. At such meeting the senior consul present shall take the chair, and in the absence of a consul then such rate-payer as the majority of voters present may nominate, who shall report to the consular body the resolutions passed at each meeting, for their concurrence and approval, and unless such approval be officially given such resolution shall not be valid and binding; provided, always, that a term of ten days shall elapse between the date of the resolution and the signification of approval by the consular body in consultation with the Chinese and local authorities. In all cases in which rate-payers in public meeting assembled as herein provided decide upon any matter of a municipal nature, not already enumerated, affecting the general interests, or impose any new or extraordinary tax, any person considering himself prejudiced in property or interest by the resolution may, within the period of ten days aforesaid, represent his case to the consular body in consultation with the Chinese local authorities, for their consideration. After the expiration of the term of ten days the consular approval, if signified, shall be binding.

8th. It is provided that members of the municipal council shall be elected by ballot at a place appointed by the senior consul fourteen days previous to the annual meeting, and that at all meetings the following persons shall alone be entitled to vote, viz: Land-renters, recognized agents acting for firms who are land-renters, and persons holding formal authority to act as proxies for absent land-renters, and all tax-payers of five dollars and upward per annum.

9th. It is provided that on or before the 15th November in each year, it shall be competent for every person entitled to vote for the election of the council, to send in writing to the senior consul the names of five duly qualified persons, accompanied by their agreement to serve if elected, attaching his signature to the memorandum. The names of all persons proposed will then be circulated and exhibited in the consulate offices. On the day appointed for the election, should the members proposed exceed the required number, a ballot will take place as set forth in the foregoing regulation.

10th. All rate-payers of six months’ residence in the settlement, having paid all taxes due, and whose annual payment shall amount to the sum of twenty dollars and upward, shall be qualified to be members of the municipal council.

11th. In case of vacancy or vacancies occurring in the committee or council during the municipal year, the council shall be authorized to fill up such vacancy or vacancies as they occur.

12th. The council shall enter upon their office immediately after the annual meeting, and at their first meeting the new council shall elect a chairman, secretary, and treasurer. In the temporary absence of the chairman, the members present at any meeting of the council shall elect their chairman for such meeting.

13th. The council may from time to time appoint such officers and servants as they think necessary for carrying out these regulations, and fix the salaries and allowances of such officers and servants, and may pay the same out of the municipal funds, and make by-laws for the government of such officers and servants, and may discontinue or remove any of them, from time to time, as they shall think fit.

14th. The council shall administer the municipal funds for the public use and benefit at their discretion, in accordance with the object and view expressed at the general meeting, and within the limits of the budget passed thereat; and a statement shall be drawn up by them at the end of each year for which the council has been elected, showing the nature and amount of the receipts and disbursements of the municipal council fund for that year; and the said statement shall be circulated for general information at least ten days before the general meeting is convened.

15th. No matter or thing done or contract entered into by the council, nor any matter or thing done by any member thereof or person whomsoever, acting under the direction of the council, shall, if the matter or thing were done or the contract entered into bonâ fide for the purpose of executing these regulations, subject them or any of them personally to any action, liability, claim, or demand whatsoever; and any expense properly and with due authority incurred by the council, member thereof, or person acting as last aforesaid, shall be borne and repaid out of rates levied under the authority of these regulations.

16th. It is provided that all disputes between rate-payers and others and the council, in which the former conceive themselves aggrieved, shall be submitted to a special court,, consisting of three persons annually elected by the consular body, in consultation with the local authorities, whose decisions shall be binding.

by-laws.

1. The entire control and management of the roads, jetties, public buildings, sewers, and drains within the limits of these regulations, and all sewers and drains in and under the roads, and all the works and materials thereunto belonging, whether made at the time of the passing of these regulations or at any time thereafter, and whether made at the cost of the council or otherwise, shall vest in and belong to the council.

2. The council, and none other, shall be surveyor of all highways within the limits of the aforesaid regulations, and within those limits shall have all such powers and authorities as such surveyors of highways are ordinarily invested with.

3. The management of the roads, streets, bunding, and jetties, and the laying out and repairing thereof, shall be vested in the council, and all material, implements, and other things provided for laying out and repairing said roads, streets, bunding, and jetties shall belong to the council.

4. The council may stop up any road or street, and prevent all persons from passing along and using the same during the construction, alteration, repair, or demolition of any sewer or drain in or under such road or street, but must allow access to houses.

5. Every person who willfully displaces, takes up, or makes any alteration in the pavement flags or other materials of any streets, bunding, and jetties under the management of the council, without their consent in writing, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty-five dollars, together with the cost of replacing the same.

6. When any building-materials or other things are laid, or any hole made in any of the roads, whether the same be done by the council or not, the person or persons causing such hole to be made shall, at his own expense, cause a sufficient light to be fixed in a proper place on or near the same, and continue such light every night from sun-setting to sunrising, while such material or hole remain; and such person shall, at his own expense, cause such materials or other things and such hole to be sufficiently fenced and inclosed until such materials or other things are removed, or the hole filled up or otherwise made secure; and every such person who fails so to light, fence, or inclose the same, shall for every such offense be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

7. If any building, wall, or hole, or other place near any street be, for want of sufficient repair, protection, or inclosure, dangerous to the passengers along such street, the owner shall repair the same, or, in default, the council shall cause the necessary repairs to be made, and the expenses of the same shall be recoverable as damages from the owner.

8. The council may give notice to the owner or occupant of any house or other building to remove or alter any porch, shed, projecting window, step, or any other obstruction or projection erected or placed against or in front of any house or building within the limits of these regulations, and which is an obstruction to the safe and convenient passage along any road or street, and such owner and occupant shall, within fourteen days after the service of such notice upon him, remove such obstruction or alter the same in such manner as shall have been directed by the council, and in default thereof shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten dollars, and the council in such case may remove such obstruction, or projection, and the expense of such removal shall be paid by the owner or occupant so making default, and shall be recoverable as damages.

10. In the case of any stagnant pool of water, pig-sty, cow-house, stable, privy, or any other building, constructions, or thing being proved a nuisance to the occupiers of adjacent lots, or to the public, the secretary of the council shall forthwith give notice to the owner, or reputed owner, agent, or occupant, that such nuisance must be removed; and if the same be not removed within a time considered reasonable by the council, the council may abate such nuisance at the expense of the owners of such property, the same being recoverable as damages.

11. No spirit-shop or house of entertainment of any kind shall be opened within the limits of the settlement, without a license first obtained from the council, countersigned by the consul of the applicant’s nationality, under a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars, recoverable from the person committing such offense.

12. All persons causelessly creating a noise or disturbance, and all persons guilty of furious and improper riding or driving, or leading horses upon the roads to the endangerment of passers-by, or obstructing the fair-way to or from the landing steps, or who shall commit any act which may legitimately come within the meaning of the term nuisance, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten dollars.

13. No cattle or horses shall be allowed to go loose at any time, or to be tethered in the roads of the settlement, under a penalty not exceeding five dollars.

14. It shall be lawful for any officer or agent of the council, and persons called by him to his assistance, to seize and detain any person who shall have committed any offense against the provisions of these by-laws, and hand him over to the proper authority; provided, also, that no person shall be arrested or detained in custody further than may be necessary to prevent disturbance or to secure the identification of the offender, or to prevent his escape.

15. Every penalty or forfeiture imposed by these by-laws, made in pursuance thereof, the recovery of which is not otherwise provided for, may be recovered by summary proceeding before the authority concerned; and, upon conviction, the offender shall pay the penalty or forfeiture incurred, as well as such costs attending the conviction as such consul shall see fit.

16. The discharge of fire-arms beyond the limits of persons’ own premises is prohibited under penalty not exceeding ten dollars for each offense, unless specially sanctioned by the council.