Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/70

38 a foreign assessor. Out of a dispute between the municipality and the Chinese magistrates of the "Mixed Court" as to the custody of certain prisoners, there arose in December 1905 a riot known to history as the "Mixed Court" riot. Perhaps increasing sensitiveness on the part of the Chinese at the glaring success of the foreigner at his gates was to some degree responsible for this upheaval, which necessitated the landing of blue-jackets and marines. If that be so, the most interesting outcome of the trouble is to be found in yet one more anomaly, in strict keeping with the anomaly provided by the existence of Shanghai itself—namely, the creation of a Chinese volunteer corps upon European pattern, which has, at its own request, sought to be embodied in the foreign corps. Thus does China and non-China combine and interact under foreign governance upon Chinese soil.

The importance of Shanghai as a commercial port is sufficiently demonstrated by a glance at its trade returns. In 1906 its shipping (inward and outward) aggregated 17¼ million tons, while the gross value of its trade was