Wills brought capital into China and invested in infrastructure that benefited Chinese and foreigner alike. He invested $12,000 dollars in the 450-foot span (complete with drawbridge), and naturally charged a crossing fee. According to Henriot, "The investment made was to be repaid by a fee charged on all vehicles and passers-by at a rate of 5 taels per year for a horse-cart and one tael for a pedestrian". "The bridge was open to anyone who could pay the small toll, a 'thing hateful to the Shanghai public.'" Both Chinese and foreigners paid this toll, but as with many goods and services in Shanghai, foreigners paid on credit – thus the impression on the part of many Chinese that foreigners passed free." In 1863, when the British and American Settlements merged, the rate was doubled, causing serious protests by the Chinese population. The local population regarded Wills' toll policy as yet another of many restrictions for Chinese people by foreign powers. They responded with protest and boycotted the bridge, and Cantonese merchants opened new ferry services across Soochow Creek." Zhan Re, from Guangdong, established a free ferry near today's Shanxi Road intersection. One letter to the editor of the "Shenbao" newspaper in 1872, expressed outrage that the Chinese had to pay a toll to cross Wills' bridge while foreigners were exempted. Another suggests that the owner of the bridge is certainly "one conversant with profit". According to Barbara Mittler, "This turned out to be untrue, however: the Municipal Council was paying a yearly fee to Wills for foreign users." According to Pott, "The company made a great profit from the tolls collected from those using the bridge, and claimed it had received a charter from the "Taotai" (Chinese:道台 pinyin: daotai) giving it a right to this monopoly for 25 years. The public, however, protested, and denied the authority of the "Taotai" to grant any such charter." Wills soon became a wealthy person, but died on 9 September 1857 at sea on board the P&O steamer "Bengal".