The death of a well-known lawyer, Mr. W. V. Drummond, whohad resided in Shanghai for more than forty years, occurred on March20th, at the age of seventy-three. Mr. Drummond had always takenan active interest in municipal affairs, as well as in the affairs of Chinagenerally. Under the noms de plume of “Sinophilus” and “Cosmos” hewrote several able pamphlets in regard to the political situation afterthe Chinese Revolution.
Census
Early in the year 1916, the returns of the census taken in October1915 were published, of which the following is a summary.
The total number of Chinese in the International Settlement was620,401. The total number of foreigners was 18,519, making a grandtotal of 638,920. The figures for the French Concession were Chineseresidents 146 ,595, and foreign residents 2,405. The grand total forthe two Settlements was 787 ,920. It is difficult to estimate the exactnumber of Chinese living in the adjoining districts, but if these areadded, it would make the population of the port of Shanghai at thattime approximately 1,500,000.
A census is taken about once in five years, and when we comparethe figures of 1915 with those of 1910, we find that there was anincrease of 170,433 , or a little over 34 ,000 per annum, the Chinesepopulation having increased 164 ,521, and the foreign, 5,912. Thesefigures include both the International Settlement and the FrenchConcession.
Among the foreign residents, more than thirty nations wererepresented. The figures for the largest were as follows:1. Japanese 7 ,387
2. British 5 ,521
3. American 1,448
4. German 1,425
5. Portuguese 1,352
The following facts are significant. The Japanese doubled duringfive years, increasing from 3,466 to 7,387 。 In 1890 there were only386 Japanese in the International Settlement. The British populationincreased only slightly during the five years, but this may be accountedfor by the War, some 500 having gone home to join the colours. TheAmericans gained substantially, the figures being 959 in 1910, and1,448 in 1915.
Of the Chinese population, 36 ,398 were in foreign employ inhouses, offices, mills, etc. This figure does not represent the actualnumber engaged in such a way, as a very large proportion of the millworkers live outside the settlement boundaries.
Japanese Police
In connection with the rapid increase of the Japanese residents,mostly located on North Szechuen Road Extension, forming what wasvirtually a Japanese settlement, the Municipal Council was led to agreeto the appointment of a certain number of Jalanese constables on theMunicipal Police Force, and in November, 1916, thirty Japanese policearrived in Shanghai, and, after a period of training, were appointed toservice on North Szechuen Road Extension.
New Loop Railway
The War perforce put a stop to further railway building. Onesmall piece of work, however, was carried out at that time which was ofimportance to the expansion of Shanghai. That was the completion ofa loop to connect the Shanghai-Nanking Railway with the Shanghai-
Hangchow-Ningpo Railway. A line ten and a quarter miles long wasbuilt from the Shanghai North Station of the former railway to theLunghua Junction on the latter. The inaugural ceremony of openingthe new line was held on December 9th, and the Engineer-in-chief,Mr. A. C. Clear, under whose direction the scheme had been carriedout, received congratulations on the successful accomplishment of thisimportant work.
It was thought that one of the results of the building of the linewould be the further development of Jessfield as a residential district,and a good station was built at Jessfield of neat appearance andattractive design. Owing to the inadequacy of the train service, and theinconvenient situation of the North Station, the railway has not provedof much use to residents in this district.
Two Jubilees
In 1916 there were two jubilees. One of special importance wasthat of the Fire Brigade on Saturday, June 17th. The Brigade hadbecome a modern and efficient force for fighting the fires, so frequentin the Settlement and vicinity, and it was fitting that the developmentof fifty years, with the splendid record of volunteer firemen duringthat time, should be celebrated by an inspection drill and a torchlightprocession.
Another was that of St. Luke"s Hospital in Hongkew, onNovember 25th. Started in a very small way, it had grown to be oneof the two large hospitals under foreign auspices, for the benefit of theChinese, the other being the Shantung Road Hospital (now the LesterChinese Hospital)。
Purchase of Ground for the U. S. ConsulateThe fact that for many years the United States Government didnot permit the purchase of land in a foreign country for the erectionof embassies or consulates made it necessary for its representativesto rent premises, and they often found it difficult to secure quartersthat were adequate and in keeping with the dignity of their country.
These regulations were modified in such a way as to make it possibleto purchase a site for the American Consulate in Shanghai in August,1916, and the present very fine piece of property on Whangpoo Roadwas bought from Mr. Edward Ezra for the sum of Tls. 425,000. Thebuildings contained on it were remodelled to serve as the Consulate-
General, the United States Court, and residences for the Consul-
General and staff.