EXTRATERRITORIALITY  187
the  same  offence.  The  Municipal  Council  governing  such  a
community  is  subject  to  no  legally  constituted  tribunal,
since  none  such  exists  of  competent  jurisdiction  ,  and,
being  after  all  only  a  body  of  private  gentlemen  of  many
nationalities  with  no  official  status,  can  only  communicate
with  the  Chinese  officials,  with  whom  they  have  constant
and  important  dealings,  through  “  their  own  ”  Consuls.  To
meet  these  varying  needs  of  the  regularly  constituted
governing  body  of  these  little  republics,  the  Consuls  take
united  action,  holding  deliberative  meetings  for  that  purpose,
and  act  by  the  voice  and  pen  of  the  “  Senior  Consul  ”—the
Consul  longest  in  residence  ;  and  they  appoint  certain  of
their  number  to  constitute  a  Consular  Court,  a  tribunal
before  which  the  Municipal  Council  may  be  sued.*  This
gives  the  Consul  an  important  part  in  the  municipal  control
not  only  of  his  own  nationals,  but  of  all  foreigners  in  the
community.
The  Merchant
The  position  of  the  merchant  in  the  days  of  the  old  trade
has  been  indicated  in  this  chapter,  and  is  further  described
in  Chapter  IX.  ;  and  in  giving  some  details  of  his  exceptional ­
  position  under  extraterritoriality,  it  is  necessary
from  point  to  point  to  contrast  it  with  what  would  be  his
normal  condition.
On  the  entry  of  a  ship  in  the  ante-treaty  days  she  became
a  chattel  in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese  authorities  and  of
monopolists  licensed  by  them,  and  was  the  subject  of  “  milking ­
  "  limited  in  amount  only  by  what  the  trade  could  stand.
The  sums  extracted  were  not  all  capable  of  being  put  into
a  detailed  statement,  but  one  authentic  official  account
(given  in  Chapter  IX.)  shows  that  to  the  constituted  authorities ­
  one  ship,  which  for  the  same  charges  would  to-day  pay
£25,  paid  what  was  then  equivalent  to  £900.  To-day  a
ship’s  papers  are  deposited  with  her  Consul,  and  the  Chinese
*  Jurisdiction  over  the  municipality  of  a"  Concession  "  is  in
the  hands  of  the  Consul  of  the  controlling  power,  as  explained  in
Chapter  VIII.