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well, it seems, have been ruled by largely Chinese civil servants. It would have been helpful if Mr. Endacott had discussed the question more fully.
However, the book is useful as a concise account of the history of the exercise of power in Hong Kong. Mr. Endacott writes clearly about the early governors and their administrative problems. But Hong Kong is today so different a place that such background sheds little light on today's problems. Hong Kong has, of course, inherited its constitution from those early days, but this was in any case of the normal colonial type devised by Britain in the nineteenth century. On the post-war history of the Colony, a little more information might have been desirable. Why, for instance, was the opinion of the Legislative Council, as voiced by the Hon. D. F. Landale, so inexorably set against the Young Plan, and why was it that the Government spent two years working out a detailed scheme for its establishment only for it to be thrown suddenly overboard at the last moment? What are these "wider powers" which he mentions in his reference to the police? And, while he makes the point that in fact the government does work in most cases harmoniously with the people, could he not have analysed a little more fully than he does the causes of the 1956 riots?
There are people who think that a chance has been missed by not making Hong Kong into a show window for Western democracy. Mr. Endacott's book makes clear just how difficult such an ideal would be to achieve and how little real opportunity there has been for it. Apathy, factionalism and an appreciation of international realities today virtually rule it out. But a modest progress towards constitutional development is surely to be desired. If the institution of democracy is of any value, it is worth some effort to promote.