REGULATIONS for the Foreign Settlements at Kunsan, Masampo, and Songchin, Corea.-Seoul, June 2, 1899. UNDER and in pursuance of the provisions of "The China and Japan Order in Council, 1881,"* and of "The China, Japan, and Corea Order in Council, 1884,"+ Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the Regulations for the foreign Settlements at Kunsan, Masampo, and Songchin, of which a copy is annexed hereto. Foreign Office, August 1, 1899. SALISBURY, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Regulations. 1. THE situation, limits, and measurements of the ground Kunsan marked off for the foreign Settlement at Masampo are shown in the Songchin annexed plan. which the characters The boundary-line on land is marked by boundary-stones on 奉山各國租界 (Kunsan foreign (Masampo foreign 城津各國租界 (Songchin foreign Settlement) Settlement) have been cut, and of which one is placed at high-water Settlement) mark at either end, and others at the points between where the line makes an angle. A sea-wall and jetty will, when and where the requirements of the port call for them, be constructed by, and maintained in repair at the expense of, the Corean Government. Such sea-wall and jetty and portion of uninclosed ground attached to the latter for landing and working cargo on, shall be under the control of the Corean Government for customs purposes only, and be free from taxation of any kind, but shall be lighted and policed by the Municipal Council. 2. The Settlement consists of three classes of lots, namely:A. Village rice-field, or low-lying lots not requiring further filling in to raise them above high-water mark. B. Hill lots. C. Foreshore lots requiring further filling in. * Vol. LXXII, page 1108. + Vol. LXXV, page 600. 3. The Corean Government will, in conjunction with the Municipal Council, lay down the boundary-line between the A and B lots, and mark out the boundaries of the lots by erecting stones or otherwise, and will also remeasure the area of the lots before they are disposed of to intending purchasers. The maximum and minimum size of lots shall be as follows:- Not less than 500 square metres. B lots not more than 5,000 square metres; Not less than 1,000 square metres. 4. Except as hereinafter provided, lots in the foreign Settlement shall be disposed of at public auction to the highest bidder. Such auction shall be conducted and held by an official authorized thereto by the Corean Government. Such official (hereinafter called the "Corean official") shall, after the receipt of an application from an intending purchaser give at least thirty days' notice of the sale, in writing, to the foreign Representatives, local Consuls, and the Municipal Council, as well as by a Notice posted in some public and conspicuous place within the Settlement. Immediately after the auction of a lot, the purchaser shall pay to the Corean official who held the auction one-fifth of the selling price as earnest money. Within ten days thereafter the balance of the purchase-money shall be paid to the said official, who shall thereupon, free of charge, cause to be executed and delivered, on behalf of the Corean Government, a title-deed in triplicate of the lot sold, in the form hereto annexed. If such balance be not paid to the said official within ten days from the date of sale, the earnest money shall be forfeited to the Corean Government and the sale shall be null and void. 5. The upset price of A lots shall be 6 silver dollars per 100 square metres, of B lots 3 silver dollars per 100 square metres, and of C lots 5 silver dollars per 100 square metres. The Municipal Council shall have the power to decide at the first annual meeting what silver coin shall be taken as the standard for the current year. The whole of the upset price shall belong to the Corean Government, which shall defray the cost of the auction, and the balance of the sum realized by the sale shall be held to the credit of the Municipal Council to which, when formed, it shall be at once paid over. 6. A rental at the rate of 6 dollars per 100 square metres per annum on A and C lots, and of 2 dollars per 100 square metres per annum on B lots, shall be paid by the lot-holders to the Municipal Council, who for the purpose of collecting and receiving such rents are empowered to act as the Agents of the Corean Government, and whose receipt for any rent shall be a valid acquittance. Rent shall be payable from the date of sale; and the first payment pro ratâ for the remainder of the year shall be made before the delivery of the title-deeds, and all subsequent payments shall be made on or before the 10th day of January in each year, in advance for such year. 7. Until the rent due on any lot for any year shall have been paid, the lot-holder concerned shall not be entitled to vote at any election for Municipal Councillor held in that year, or to be a candidate for the office of Municipal Councillor, or to exercise any of the other rights conferred upon him by these Regulations. If the rent, as aforesaid, is not paid before the 1st day of February in any year, interest at the rate of 12 per cent. per annum will be levied as from the 1st January preceding. If the rent and interest are not both paid by the following 31st day of December, the Municipal Council is hereby empowered to and shall bring suit against the defaulter before his competent authorities, and in default of payment within the time prescribed by the Court, the Municipal Council shall move the said competent authorities to declare the land forfeit, and when judgment to that effect has been pronounced the Corean official shall within two months from the date of such judgment, by giving thirty days' notice in the manner described in Article 4 of these Regulations, dispose of the same by public auction. After deducting the amount of rent and interest due to date, the costs of the auction, and all fines or other sums owing from the late lot-holder to the Municipal Council, the Corean official shall hand over the balance, if any, to the said late lot-holder or to those legally authorized to receive the same on his behalf or on behalf of his estate. 8. The Municipal Council shall, within one week after the receipt of the rent due on any lot or lots, pay over to the Corean authority appointed to receive the same a sum equivalent to 30 dollar cents per 100 square metres of the area rented, the remainder of the rent to be retained by the Council and to form part of the Municipal Fund. In the case of overdue rent, the proportional share of the interest recovered shall be paid over to the Corean authority at the same time with the Government rent. 9. The Corean Government shall permit no more Corean houses to be erected within the limits of the foreign Settlement, or Corean interments to take place therein. Within one month after the sale of any lot, or after notice given by the Municipal Council of its intention to construct any road, the Corean Government shall cause all Corean houses and graves to be removed from such lot or such line of road. But all Corean huts and graves shall be removed from inside the limits of the foreign Settlement within two years from the date of these Regulations. From and after the date of these Regulations no trees shall be felled on any unsold lot or line of road without the consent of the Municipal Council. 10. The Corean Government may reserve ground within the Settlement limits on which to erect Customs offices and go-downs, and residences for foreigners employed in the custom-house; but such ground shall be subject to the same obligations, as regards payment of rent, taxes, and the like, as other ground of the same class. Subject to these Regulations, the Corean Government Steam-ship Companies may acquire and hold lots within the Settlement limits on which to erect offices and go-downs. The Government of any Treaty Power may acquire a suitable lot or lots for a Consulate on paying the upset price only; but such lot or lots shall not exceed in the aggregate 15,000 square metres in area, and shall be subject to the same obligations as regards payment of rent, taxes, and the like, as are other lots of the same class. 11. None but the Government, subjects, citizens, or protégés of the States whose Representatives have signified their acceptance of these Regulations shall be allowed to purchase or hold land in the foreign Settlement or be granted title-deeds for lots within the said limits. 12. Title-deeds, in form as hereinafter set out, shall be issued in triplicate by the Corean official acting on behalf of the Corean Government, and the purchaser shall sign on the triplicate title-deed the declaration hereinafter mentioned. One of the triplicate deeds shall be retained by the Corean Government, another shall be delivered to the purchaser through his Consular authority, and the third shall be archived and registered in the office of the Municipal Council. If a lot-holder desires to sell or transfer his lot, he shall surrender the old title-deed to the Corean official to be cancelled, whereupon a new title-deed in the prescribed form and in triplicate shall be executed and issued, and the buyer or transferee shall sign and accept the new title-deed on the same conditions that applied to the original deed; but no new title-deeds shall be issued for any lot or part of a lot for which rent is at the time due. The new titledeeds in triplicate shall be distributed and archived as in the case of the original deed. A fee of 5 dollars for the new deeds shall be paid by the transferee to the Corean official. Any lot-holder desiring to divide his lot into two or more parts for the purposes of sale or otherwise, shall be at liberty to do so, and on surrendering his title-deed for the whole lot shall receive in exchange new and separate title-deeds for each subdivision as desired provided always that no subdivided part shall be less in area than the minimum laid down in Article 3 above; except that a lot-holder may sell to an adjacent lot-holder a portion of his lot, however small, with the understanding that if the part retained by him is less than 500 square metres he will not be entitled to vote for a member of the Municipal Council; and provided also that all titledeeds for subdivided lots shall be executed and delivered, signed, and accepted, subject to the same conditions that apply to the title-deeds for whole and original lots. A fee of 5 dollars shall be paid to the Corean official for each new title-deed in triplicate issued for parts of lots. All the parts of a subdivided lot shall retain the number of the original lot as plotted on the official plan, but the parts shall be distinguished by letters: thus, the parts of lot X shall be numbered X, X, X, &c. The holder of a title-deed for a subdivided part of a lot shall be registered as a lot-holder, and shall have and enjoy the same rights and privileges as the registered holder of any undivided lot. 13. Within the space of two years from the date of the titledeeds of any whole or subdivided lot, the purchaser must have erected buildings or made other improvements on the said lot to the value of not less than 250 dollars, and all buildings so erected must be covered with tiled, iron, felt, or other non-inflammable roofs. No thatched, wooden, or otherwise inflammable roof will be permitted. In case no building shall have been erected or improvement made within the term specified and of the value stipulated above, the Municipal Council may proceed against the defaulter as provided in Article 7: Provided always that lots reserved by the Corean Government or acquired by the Government of any Treaty Power shall not be subject to the present stipulation. 14. The Municipal Council shall consist: (1.) Of the Kamni or a Corean local official of suitable rank; (2.) Of the local Consuls; (3.) Of not more than three members elected by the registered lot-holders. No two of the elective members shall be of the same nationality. Only registered lot-holders shall be eligible for election; but no lotholder whose rents, rates, and taxes are not fully paid can be put in nomination. The election shall be held in the month of December in each year, according to rules to be agreed upon by the foreign Representatives. Each lot-holder, whatever may be the number of lots held by him, shall have one vote only. Proxy voting shall not be allowed, and where a lot is held in the name of the Government, Corporation, or firm, the authorized Representative of such Government, Corporation, or firm, shall, for all purposes of this Article, be considered as the registered" the void lot. |