NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry HKK 1/19 No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
LETTER
DRAFT
Type 1 +
To:- HE SW 1. Bachehose KEMF, MBE
The Governor
Hong Kong
FROM
E. 0. LAIRD
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
In Confidence
Scato
M
Legislative
FEO tel No
informed you reat days aar approved your proposal. ffroval.
Was
has not, as
J
a matte
law, bom smbodial i
tor constitutio
You wrote to me on 19 May asking if the
Department could consider the future of the
Chamber of Commerce and JP seats on the Legisla tive
Council. You wrote again on 19th and 23 May
forwarding letters from My P. G. Williams, Chairman
of the Chamber, on this subject.
2.
h As requited, the
did
↑
Research Department have done a good deal
the history of the practic
of work on this elrendy/a
and you will be gled te
hear that the weight of the evidence, with one
Lee park of below)
exception definitely supports the opinion of
the practic
Denys Roberts that there is no foundation in low.
for the practice of calling for nominations to the
Legislative Council from the JPS and the Chamber of
Commerce,
1
3. The intention of the Governor, Sir George
Bowen,
in 1883-4 in putting this sytem into effect
was, as you so rightly surmised, to give Hong Kong
a semblance of "popular election" without the
disadvantages which were usually held to accompany
it; in doing this he was following the earlier
precedents of Ceylon and Mauritius.
Chamber of Commerce on 11 May 1883: "I have
He told the
satisfied myself that the present consitution of
the Legislative Council of this Colony is wholly
(16413) Dd.244353 100m 6/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863