MACKENZIE, Consul de France to amendment to the land-regulations. The foregoing land-regulations having been referred for the sanction of the Japanese and foreign, September 1, 1860

Land-regulations.

I.—Mode of acquiring land.

Any person desiring to lease land within the location fixed upon for foreign renters must first apply to the consul or consular agent of his nation officially and in writing, or, if there be none appointed, to the consul of any friendly power, specifying, as nearly as can be ascertained, the locality and boundaries of the said land; and the said consul or consular agent will thereupon inquire of the land-officer and the other foreign consuls whether any impediment exists to its settlement by reason of previous negotiation or application by third parties, or otherwise, provided always that if such impediments do exist, then and in such case a reasonable time shall be allowed the first claimant to settle for the said land, and the failing to do so within such reasonable time shall be considered and held a virtual surrender of such prior right of settlement, and the same shall revert to the foreigner next applying on notice to that effect being given to his consul, and no good cause shown why it should not revert as aforesaid.

II.—Allotments of land

Will be made only to bona-fide residents; and renters of land will be required, under penalty of forfeiture of title-deed, to erect, within six months after date of title-deed, and in accordance with these regulations, buildings of a value of not less than—

• On water lots, $150 for each 100 tzuboo measurement.
• On rearage lots, $50 for each 100 tzuboo measurement.

III.—Final settlement and title-deeds.

The priority of the individual claimant having been determined as aforesaid, a note under the hand and seal of the consul will be furnished him for delivery to the land-officer, who will, without delay, proceed with him to measure the land in question. The measurement having been ascertained, the money for one year’s rental will be immediately paid to the chief land-officer, who will give a receipt in triplicate, with translation, for the same, stating also the measurement and boundaries of the said land. Two copies of the said receipt will be handed by the renter to his consul, who will transmit one copy to the governor. The governor will forthwith issue a title-deed in triplicate in the form agreed upon and hereunto annexed, one copy to be archived by the governor, one copy by the consul, and one copy to be delivered to the renter. The governor will also notify the other consuls of the issue of such title-deed specifying the measurement and boundaries of the land.

IV.—Boundary-stones to be placed.

When land is rented, a time shall be appointed, and stones, having the number of the lot distinctly cut thereon, to define the boundaries, will be fixed in the presence of an officer deputed by the consul, of the land-officer or his deputy, and of the renter, in such manner that they may not interfere with the lines of roads, or other boundaries, or in any other way give cause for litigation or dispute hereafter.

V.—Streets, roads, sewers, and jetties.

It is clearly understood and agreed to that land devoted to public use, as streets, roads, &c., is not included in the measurement of the rented lots, and is not to be infringed upon in any way.

In the acquirement of near lots of land, provision shall be made of the requisite extension or creation of streets, roads, and jetties.

The proprietorship of the soil being in the Japanese government, the streets, roads, and jetties will at all times be kept in thorough order, and sewers or drains will be made, when necessary, by the Japanese government, and no tax will be levied on renters in the foreign quarter for this purpose.

VI.—Rent when payable.

The annual rent payable to the Japanese government on all land rented within the foreign quarter will be payable in advance, on the tenth day of the twelfth Japanese month in each year.

The governor will address the several consuls ten days previous to the said date, stating when, where, and to whom the said rent must be paid, and the said consul will give notice to the renters. The officer appointed to receive the rent will give a receipt in triplicate, with translation, for the same, one copy of which shall be archived by the governor, one copy by the consuls, and one be delivered to the renter.

Should the renter neglect to pay the rent on the day fixed, the governor will acquaint the consul under whose jurisdiction the defaulter is, who will enforce immediate payment.

VII.—Transfer of lots.

The interest in a lot shall always be held in law and equity to reside in that person in whose name the title of record appears, and no title shall pass unless the deed is lodged for record within three days from the date of conveyance, but no lot can be transferred within one year after date of title-deed.

Within the said foreign quarter no Japanese shall erect new houses or sheds so near to the residence or place of business of foreigners as to endanger them in case of fire, and if he does, the governor will abate the nuisance.

No Japanese shall open a place of public entertainment within the said location without the unanimous consent of the consular authorities, under the penalties hereinafter provided against maintaining a nuisance.

VIII.—Extent of lot, and usage to which applied.

Straw sheds, bamboo or wooden houses, or buildings of inflammable kinds, shall not be erected in the settlement, nor shall any trade or profession be carried on within its limits dangerous to the safety of life or property, or obnoxious to the general health, under a penalty of $25 for every twenty-four hours such nuisance shall remain unabated. Nor shall contraband goods or merchandise likely to endanger life or property, such as gunpowder, saltpeter, sulphur, large quantities of spirit, and such like, be stored in the premises of any individual, under a penalty of $25, and $25 for each twenty-four hours the nuisance shall remain. The place where such trades or professions may be carried on, or where such merchandise may be stored, must be sufficiently distant from other dwellings or warehouses to prevent all risk of damage or inconvenience, and be fixed upon by the authorities after consultation together.

The public roads must not be encroached upon or obstructed, as by scaffolding, for the purpose of building, or by building materials of any kind, beyond the time essential for the completion of the work, or in any such manner as shall at any time block up or materially interfere with the thoroughfares, or by projecting eaves of houses, or fences, or gates, or door-steps, or entrances, by the heaping up of goods for any length of time, and such like, under a penalty of $10 for each twenty-four hours they remain after a notification by the Japanese or consular authorities to remove them. The public or individuals must not be inconvenienced by the accumulation of filth in gutters or upon the roads, firing of guns, carelessly creating noise or disturbance, furious riding or driving or leading horses up and down the chief thoroughfares for exercise, or by any act coming legitimately within the meaning of the term nuisance, under a penalty of $10 on commission of either of said offenses.

All fines shall be recovered before the consul of the nation to which the Offending party belongs, or if there be none in the port, then they may be recovered before the Japanese authorities, and shall be paid over to the committee appointed under clause 9 of these regulations, to be used for the purpose therein stated, and for which said committee is appointed.

IX.—Street lamps and police.

It being expedient and necessary that some provision should be made for the lighting and cleansing of streets, and for a watch or police force, the foreign consuls, as aforesaid, shall, at the beginning of each year, convene a meeting of the renters, of land within the foreign quarter, to devise means of raising the requisite funds for these purposes; and at such meeting it shall be competent to the said renters to declare an assessment in the form of a rate to be made on the said land or buildings, and in the form of wharfage-dues on all goods landed at any place within the said quarter; and to appoint a committee of three or more persons to levy the said rates and dues, and apply the funds so realized to the purposes aforesaid, or in such manner as may be agreed and determined upon at the said meeting, and to that end the said committee shall be empowered to sue all defaulters in the consular courts under whose jurisdiction these may be, (and in case the said defaulters have no consular representative at this port, then the governor of Nagasaki shall, upon application of the committee, through the foreign consuls, recover from such dafaulters the amounts due from them for land-assessment or wharfage-dues, and pay the same to the said committee.) Moreover, at each yearly meeting the accounts of the committee for the past year shall be laid before the assembled renters for their approval and sanction.

It shall also be competent for the foreign consuls, collectively or singly, when it may appear to them needful, or at the requisition of the renters of land, to call a public meeting at any time, giving ten days’ notice of the same, setting forth the business upon which it is convened, for the consideration of any matter or thing connected with the land, provided always such requisition shall be signed by not less than five of the said renters, and that it set forth satisfactory ground for such request.

The resolutions passed by a majority at any such public meetings on all such matters aforesaid shall be valid and binding upon the whole of the renters of land within the said limits, if not less than one-third of them are present. The senior consul present at such meetings shall take the chair, and in the absence of a consul then such renter as the majority of voters present may nominate. If renters of land in public meetings assembled, as herein provided, decide upon any matter of a municipal nature not already enumerated, and affecting the general interest, such decision shall first be reported by the chairman to the consuls for their joint concurrence and approval, without which approval, officially given, such resolution cannot become valid and binding upon the renters as a body.

X.—Sale of spirits or liquors, opening of public houses, &c.

No foreigner or Japanese shall sell spirits or liquors, or open a house of entertainment within the foreign quarters, without a license to do so from the said consuls, or the majority of them, and, if a Japanese, also from the governor, and upon good and sufficient security given for the maintenance of order in their establishments.

XI. Breach of regulations.

Should one of the consuls at any time discover a breach of the regulations, or should information thereof be lodged with him, or should the local authorities address him thereon, he shall, in every case within his jurisdiction, summon the offender before him, and, if convicted, punish him summarily.

Should any foreigner who has no consular authority at this port commit a breach of the regulations, then and in such case the Japanese chief authority may be appealed to by any one or more of the consuls, to uphold the regulations in their integrity and punish the party so infringing them.

XII.—Provisional clause.

Hereafter, should any correction be requisite in these regulations, or should it be necessary to determine on further regulations, or should doubt arise as to the construction of, or powers conferred thereby, the same must be consulted upon and settled by the consuls and governor, in communication together, who shall equitably decide thereon, the consuls submitting the same for confirmation to the representatives of their respective countries in Japan.

XIII.—Supplementary clause.

Portions of Articles VIII, IX, and XI, foregoing, requiring the exercise of jurisdiction by the governor over the subjects of other nations, appearing to his excellency to comprise not only a local question but one of an international nature, which it is beyond his authority to accept: It is agreed that such jurisdiction on the part of the governor shall be held in abeyance for a period of sixty days from the date of signature, that the subject may be submitted for the instructions of the respective authorities at Yeddo, and in the event of such instructions, under the signatures of the Japanese and foreign ministers, being received, to the effect that the said portions of Articles VIII, IX, and XI are to be expunged, then and in such case the foregoing laud-regulations shall be held complete without them, and a note shall be subjoined to the effect that they have been so annulled.

The consuls referred to in these regulations are consuls (or persons duly acting as such) of powers having treaties with Japan.