HC Deb 21 March 1927 vol 204 cc29-30
62. Mr. RENNIE SMITH

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he can say what are the numbers of ratepayers of Chinese, British and other nationalities in the International Settlement at Shanghai; and what proportion of the total municipal rates is paid by each of the above nationalities?

Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSON

I would refer the hon. Member to the answer returned to the hon. Member for Aber-tillery (Mr. Barker) on 28th April last. The latest available detailed list of foreign ratepayers in the International Settlement, dated March, 1925, shows the following distribution among nationalities:

British 1,157
Japanese 552
American 328
German 184
Russian 112
French 98
Portuguese 80
Italian 35
Danish 28
Dutch 26
Swiss 24
Austrian 22
Spanish 22
Belgian 10
Greek 9
Norwegian 9
Swedish 7
Polish 6
Czechoslovak 6
Brazilian 3
Turkish 2
Latvian 2
Unclassified 20
2,742
No statistics are available showing the proportion of municipal rates paid by each nationality.

Sir H. CROFT

Is it not a fact that a large proportion of British subjects in Shanghai are black-coated workers, and would probably be ratepayers, and will the hon. Gentleman take that into consideration?

Mr. H. WILLIAMS

Could the hon. Gentleman tell us roughly what proportion of the total number of ratepayers are British?

Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSON

I should think about half the foreign ratepayers.