CHINA MAIL, PAGE 68
1841
HỒNG KONG CONTENARY NUMBER.
Constitutional Reform
THE completion of one hundred
years of Hong Kong history, one hundred years during which democratic institutions have spread rapidly throughout the world, and at the end of which the British Empire finds itself fighting heroically to preserve de- mocratic liberties and freedoms for the world at large, would seem to be an appropriate moment for a study of Hong Kong's constitu- tion, to enquire why the govern- ment of this British Colony re- mains a picturesque survival of a bygone age-the age of pri- vilege and patronage.
The community to whose enter- prise and commercial ability this
and Colony owes its foundation prosperity is still for some cryptic reason excluded from any effer- tive participation in the manage- ment of its own affairs.
before it of being
Unofficial
On both the Executive and Le- gislative Councils there is. it is true, an Unofficial element, but as this is in a permanent minority it can only express the views of the limited class it represents on the measures that are put without any prospect able to enforce them.
The position of an Member of the Legislative Coun- cil in these circumstances drawn attention to as far back as 1883, by the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, the Hon. Mr. F. P. Johnson, who was
at that time the local head <f Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Co. He said: "I need not tell you that the Unofficial Members of the Le- gislative Council are not represen- tatives in any sense. We are no- minated by the Government,
was
we
have no real power and cannot ex- ercise any effective control over expenditure, and there is left to us only a very modifled power of protest."
Nomination
stubborn reluctance to withdraw a bureaucratic-or, rather, autocra- tic-form of Government from people who have béen nurtured in the lap of democracy.
The incongruity of the present state of affairs becomes more striking in contrast with the changes that have taken place elsewhere, including the CrownTM Colonies. Unofficial majorities have been granted to the Legisla- tive bodies of some of the West Indian Islands, to Cyprus, British Guiana, British Honduras, Malta and Ceylon. A representative character has been given to the Government of the East Africa Protectorate;
while the Straits Settlements possess municipalities to perform certain functions which in Hong Kong are monopolised by the Government. Yet for up- wards of 70 years no increase has been made in the representation of the British community in Hong Kong on the Legislative Council, which remains at four, the same as in the year 1869.
Whitehall Delusion
This is the fault of successive Secretaries of State, who have la- boured under the delusion that political sagacity exhausted itself when the present constitution of the Colony was drawn up. That opinion has never been held lo- cally. Indeed, dissatisfaction with the unrepresentative character of the Legislature was expressed as early as 1845, when, as Dr. Eitel informs us, "In spite of the con- tinuous demands of the British community for adequate represen-- tation on the Legislative Council. at least through nomination by the Crown of an equal number of Of- ficial and Unofficial Members, this temporar- burning question was ily decided by Sir John Davis re- fusing all popular representation."
Four years later, as a result of a petition to the House of Com- mons, the public were granted two nominated representatives on the Legislative Council. It is worthy of remark that at that time the Official Members
were free vote as they chose, and continued to exercise this freedom until 1858, when it was withdrawn.
(4) Management of local affairs. (5) A consultative voice in all questions of an Imperial character.
The only result of this was the addition of another Chinese mem- ber to the Legislative Council in return for an
the increase of Official element by the inclusion of the General Officer Command- ing the Troops, and the introduc- tion of two nominated Unofficial Members into the Executive Council-a questionable benefit from a popular point of view in- asmuch as the Council meets in private and its members are sworn to secrecy so that they cannot be called upon to render any account of their stewardship.
The subject was revived in January, 1916, and a petition, pre- pared by the Hon. Sir Henry, then Mr. H. E. Pollock, K.C., and bear- ing upwards of 500 signatures, was submitted to the Secretary of State in favour of:-
(1) An increase of the Unofficial
Members of the Executive Council from two to four, and the substitution of the prin- ciple of election for nominu- tion, the electoral bodies to be Chamber of Commerce the and the Unofficial Justices of the Peace.
(2) An Unofficial majority on the Legislative Council by in- creasing the number of Un- official Members from six to ten, all of them, .except the Chinese, to be elected by the Chamber of Commerce and the Unofficial Justices of the Peace.
No Innovation
The
The electorates suggested, though obviously open to criticism, were put forward because, being already in existence, they involved no innovation and were therefore, it was hoped, less likely to meet with official opposition. Governor, however, ready to seize upon any argument that would serve his purpose by staving off his the evil day, pointed out in to
despatch to the Secretary of State that the Chamber of Commerce consisted of only 150 members and the Unofficial Justices of the Peace of only 120. This objection was anticipated by Mn Pollock in a covering letter, proposing an alternative franchise composed of Jurors and those eligible for jury service but exempt by reason of their occupations. Mr. Bonar Law, who was then Secretary of State, replied laconically, under date August 10, 1916, that he saw no adequate reason for de- parting from the decision reached by Lord Ripon twenty years
Even more important than this numerical inferiority is the
fact that of the Unofficial element only two, even in the Legislative Coun- cll, can be regarded in any sense as representative of the commun- ity, for only two members are subject to election-those repre-
Eventually, as a result of pro- senting respectively the Chamber
tests made from time to time- of Commerce and the Unofficial Justices of the Peace. The others
notably in 1865, 1869 and 1880-the number of Unofficial Members -three of whom are
Chinese-
four are nominated by the
was permanently raised to Govern-
while the number of Official Mem- mont.
bers was fixed at six, giving Official majority of two, which majority has been retained throughout all changes since. The numbers were increased respec- tively to five and seven in 1884, the one seat being accorded to Chinese. That this change did not
In these days, when every little village in England has its elected Parish Council and the humblest in the land has been admitted to the Parliamentary franchise, the system which obtains in this Co- leny is an anachronism.
What, it may fairly be asked, ary the conditions peculiar to Hong Kong which require that as soon as he sets foot in this Colony a man from Home shall be denied all those elementary rights of ci- tizenship which he is entitled to exercise in the United Kingdom? He does not cease to bear the bur- dens of citizenship; he provides by his industry funds for carrying on the public services, he discharges his duty as a juror, ánd, as we have seen since the war, he
is called upon to take part in the defence of the Colony and the Em- pire. Nor is he less enterprising, less Intelligent, or less loyal than those who stay at home and are considered competent hot merely to manage their own domestic af- fairs but also to control Imperial policy. Surely, it is a curious anomaly that the Imperial Gov- ernment, while showing the most tender solicitude for native cus- toms, should be so indifferent to British traditions, and that readiness to introduce our demo- cratic institutions as fast as cir- cumstances permit to people pre- viously subject to despotic rule. should exist side by side with a'
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Association Formed
earlier. meet local, aspirations was shown by the speech delivered at the first meeting of the enlarged Council by the Hon. Mr. F. P. Johnson, who expressed the opinion that there should be six Official and six Unofficial Mem- bers, and added: "What we really want is that the Council should adequately represent the intelli- gent public opinion of the Colony.” That want remains unsatisfied to this day.
This led to the formation of the Constitutional Reform Association In May of the following year in order that the task of pressing for reform might be placed in the hands of a permanent body instead of being left to one or two in- dividuals. Out of a commendable desire not to do anything that might embarrass theI mperial Gov- 1891 Demand
ernment during the war, nothing in furtherance of the chief object The next demand for reform
of this organisation was attempted was made ten years later, in 1891, until the great struggle was over, when a petition was addressed to
but on January 8, 1919, at a the House of Commons by resid-largely attended public meeting in ents of the Colony asking for:-. the Theatre Royal, the following (1) The majority of the Legisla- resolutions were passed unani- ̈·
tive Council to be composed mously for submission to
the of elected representatives of Secretary of State: British nationality,
(1) That the Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council be increased from six to nine, thus giving an Unofficial ma- jority of one.
(2) Perfect freedom of debate" for the Official Members, with power to vote according their conscientious convic tions.
to
(3) Complete control y the
Council. over local expendi~. ture.
(2) That of the nine Unofficial Members seven, whó must be British subjects, be elected as follows:
One by the Hong Kong Cham-
ber of Commerce.
One by the Non-Official Jus-
tices of the Peace. One by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce or some other representative Chinese Body. Four (one of Portuguese race and three of British race) by British subjects on the Jurors' List and those eligi- ble for but exempted from Jury service,
Modest Scheme
This, it will be noticed, was the most modest of the three schemes. It neither asked that the Officiul Members of the Legislative Coun- cil should be free to speak and vote as their consciences dictate; nor that there should be any in- terference with the existing con- stitution of the Executive Council, which exercises no legislative functions other than those dele- gated to it by the Legislative Council, such as framing regula- tions under Ordinances; and though it repeated the demand for an Unofficial majority in the Le- gislature limited that majority to one. Again, while retaining the representative of each of the two bodies originally selected by the Imperial authorities for elec- toral purposes, it submitted a new and more popular franchise for the remaining European Unofficial Members of the Council, Finally, it recognised the claim of British subjects, other than those of Bri- tish ruce, in the Colony to con- sideration.
a
No reply to this last demand was received for two years, but in the interval the Committee of the Constitutional Reform Asso- clation were informed that Lord Milner, who was the Secretary of State for the Colonies, would await report from the newly appointed Governor, Sir R. E. Stubbs, after he had had time to acquaint himself with local con- ditions. The Committee walted upon His Excellency early in 1920, some six months after his arrival, in order to explain their views to him, and it was generally under- stood that he was in sympathy with at least a part of their pro- gramme-the demand, for exam- ple, that election should be sub- stituted for nomination in the case of Unofficial European Members of the Council. It was surprising, therefore, to learn in February, 1920, as a result of a question ad- dressed by LL-Col. John Ward, M.P., in the House of Commons to Mr. Winston Churchill, who had succeeded Lord Milner at the Co- lonial Office, that it had been decided, not to make any change in the number or mode of selec tion of the members of the Legis- lative Council.
No less surprising was it..to discover, a little later, that a third Unofficial Member had been added to the Executive Council, despite the fact that upon reflection the public had abandoned their earlier demand in this direction because it would not give them any greater measure of control
Settled Conviction
:
A few years ago, the number of Unofficial Members of Legislative Council was further increased;
eight, composed of four Brit to
three Chinese and one Portuguese, but as the number of Officials was simultaneously increased" "to "ten, the Official mujority of two went undisturbed.t
The persistency of the demand for some approach" to représenta- tive Government → a demand- which, as shown, dates from 1891 is conclusive evidence of a set- tled conviction on the part of the community throughout .... several, generations, and is a complete re- (Continued On Page 70)
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