THE  PROVINCES  AND  THE  TREATY  PORTS  241
of  sale  is  not  issued,  but  it  is  held  under  "  perpetual  lease,"
sealed  and  issued  by  the  Chinese  territorial  authority;
and  this  title-deed  may  be  registered  at  any  Consulate,
ordinarily  that  of  the  land-renter,  and  not  compulsorily  at
that  of  the  titular  controlling  power.  The  Settlement  has
complete  self-governing  power,  including  the  power  of
taxation  and  police  ;  but  the  systems  on  the  two  sides  o
the  Yangkingpang  differ.  They  are  alike  only  in  not
granting  the  franchise  to  Chinese,  who  are  considered  to
be  residents  of  the  Foreign  Settlements  by  sufferance,  a
sufferance  dating  from  the  time  when  they  came  by  thousands ­
  as  refugees  from  the  Taipings,  and  found  under  the
foreign  flags  the  safety  they  could  not  find  under  their
own.
The  first  Land  Regulations  for  the  British  Settlement
were  drawn  up  in  1845»  with  a  “  Committee  of  Roads  and
Jetties  "  nominated  by  the  Consul.  These,  as  amended  in
in  1854  and  approved  by  the  Chinese  authorities,  extended
the  privilege  of  acquiring  land  within  the  Settlement  to
all  foreigners  ;  and  when  in  1863  the  British  and  American
Settlements  were  united,  the  Municipal  Council,  first
elected  in  1855,  became  the  Municipal  Council  of  the  Settlement ­
  with  the  long  name  mentioned  before.  The  Land
Regulations  were  last  amended  in  1898,  and,  having  received ­
  the  assent  of  the  foreign  Ministers  at  Peking,  are
now  the  governing  charter  of  the  community.  The  electorate ­
  consists  of  all  householders  who  pay  rates  on  an
assessed  rental  of  Tls.500  a  year,  and  owners  of  land  valued
at  Tls.500.  The  French  Municipality  was  organised  in
1862  ;  the  electorate  consists  of  all  owners  of  land,  occupants ­
  paying  a  rental  of  1,000  francs  a  year,  and  residents
having  an  income  of  4,000  francs  a  year  ;  and  the  Municipal
Council  is  under  the  presidency  of  the  French  Consul-General,
whose  assent  is  necessary  for  the  validity  of  its  decisions.
Under  these  forms  of  government  the  place  has  grown  in
wealth,  the  International  Settlement,  built  up  by  British,
American,  and  German  enterprise,  naturally  more  rapidly
than  the  French.  In  the  International  Settlement  in  1905
16