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April 23, 1896.]
take some action. He fully agreed with the statement that it was desirable that diplomatic representatives should meet their nationals frequently, and so far as he was concerned he should make an effort to do so, though it was difficult for him at present to say how and when this could be done.
Mr. MACE WEN, in thanking Sir Claude Mac- Donald for his kind reception of the Com- mittee of the Chamber, said-It only remains for me to assure your Excellency that you will receive from the Shanghai Chamber of Com- merce all the support and assistance we may have in our power to render you, and that our warmest wishes are extended to you, for every success in the onerous and responsible position you have been called upon to fill.
THE HON. T. H. WHITEHEAD AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE
SANITARY BOARD.
The Hon. T. H. Whitehead forwards to us the following correspondence with a request for its publication "for the information of the members of the Chamber of Commerce and the commu. nity generally" :---
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY TO THE HON. T. H. WHITEHEAD.
Colonial Secretary's Office,
10th April, 1896. Sir, I am directed by the Governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 1st instant, requesting to be furnished with a copy of a letter which you understand was ad- dressed by His Excellency the Governor to the Senior Unofficial Member and which you pre- sume gave the lines on which the Sanitary Board should be reconstructed, and expressing a hope that the Government will not fail to publish all the papers on the subject of the re- construction of the Sanitary Board.
In reply
am to state that, though search has been made, no such communication as that to which you refer can be found among the archives of this office, and, as regards the publication of papers respecting the reconstruc- tion of the Sanitary Board, I am to refer you to the answer given to the question on this subject asked by you in the Legislative Council. -I have the honour to be, sir, your most obe- dient servant,
(8d.) J. H. STEWART LOCKHART,
Colonial Secretary. The Hon. T. H. Whitehead, &c., &c., &c.
HON. T. H. WHITEHEAD TO COLONIAL
SECRETARY
Hongkong, 13th April 1896. Dear Sir, I have received your letter of 10th instant, in reply to mine of 1st idem, and note that though search has been made for the letter addressed by His Excellency the Governor to the Senior Unofficial Member giving the lines on which the Sanitary Board should be reconstructed, no such communication can be found among the archives of your office. Before asking the Government, I appealed to the Senior Unofficial Member for a copy of the communication in question, but Mr. Chater informs me that he is unable to lay his hands upon it.
Your letter further informs me that the Government will not publish the further papers I have asked for on the subject of the recon- struction of the Sanitary Board. If any Colonial Office rule or regulation stands in the way of the Council getting the benefit of the publication of the documents asked for, I would suggest that His Excellency the Governor might telegraph to the Secretary of State for the necessary sanction.-I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
T. H. WHITEHEAD. To the Hon. J. H. Stewart Lockhart, &c., &c.,
COLONIAL SECRETARY TO CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE.
Colonial Secretary's Office,
10th April, 1896. Sir, I am directed by the Governor to request the Chamber of Commerce to be good enough to state whether the opinion of the Chamber on the subject of the Sanitary Board remains the same as that expressed in the letters of the Chairman, Mr. Keswick, dated 19th
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
337
October and 12th November, 1894, and by Mr. | of Commerce and the community.-I am, McConachie when he was representing the gentlemen, yours very truly.
T. H. WHITEHEAD. Chamber in the Legislative Council in his minute attached to Mr.. Keswick's letter of the To the Committee of the 12th November, 1894, or whether the opinion of Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber has changed and is now the
Hongkong. entirely divergent view expressed by Mr. Whitehead, who at present represents the Cham- ber in the Legislative Council.
His Excellency understands that the purely British members of the Chamber amount to about fifty, and he will be glad to know whether Mr. Whitehead has received any mandate from those members as a body to oppose the views expressed by the Retrenchment Committee, the unofficial members of which were Mr. Keswick, Mr. Chater, and Mr. Jackson, all members of the Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. McCon- achie, when representing the Chamber in the | Legislative Council.
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If a change has taken place in the views formerly held by the Chamber, His Ex- cellency will be obliged if you will be good enough to state for his information the reasons which have led to the change. I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
(Sd.) J. H. STEWART LOCKHART,
Colonial Secretary. The Secretary, Chamber of Commerce.
HỌN. T. H. WHITEHEAD TO CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE.
Hongkong, 16th April, 1896. Gentlemen,-I beg to hand you copy of a letter of this date, addressed by me to His Excellency the Governor in part reply to a communication dated 10th instant from the Colonial Secretary to the Secretary of the Chamber.
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HON. T. H. WHITEHEAD TO THE GOVERNOR.
Hongkong, 16th April, 1896. Sir,-As a member of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, I have seen the Colonial Secretary's letter of the 10th instant addressed to the Secretary of the Chamber, in which, bý your Excellency's direction, the Committee of the Chamber is requested to state whether its opinion on the subject of the Sanitary Board remains the same as that expressed in certain letters of Mr. Keswick's dated the 19th October and 12th November, 1894, and bý Mr. McConachie in a minute attached to one of Mr. Keswick's letters, or whether the opinion of the Chamber is now in accordance with the views expressed by me, who, in the words of the Colonial Secretary's letter,
represent at pre- sent the Chamber in the Legislative Council." The Committee of the Chamber, in the same letter, is further requested to state whether I have any mandate from the purely British members of the Chamber as a body to oppose the views expressed by the Retrenchment Committee (the Unofficial Members of which were Mr. Keswick, Mr. Chater, and Mr. Jackson, all members of the Chamber) and by Mr. McConachie
the when representing Chamber, and to state their reasons for any change of opinion, if there has been any change.
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have no doubt that your Excellency will receive from the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, in due course, a reply to your request for information as to the present attitude of the Chamber with reference to the Sanitary Board and its reconstitution, although there may be some delay, as the Committee will, doubtless, feel bound now to call a general meeting to consider the matter, a precaution which Mr. Keswick and Mr. MeConachie do not seem to have taken before addressing the Government in October and November, 1894.
You will observe that I have ventured to question the assumption contained in the Colonial Secretary's letter that in political matters I am the representative of the Chamber in the sense in which the word “ represent" is used in the Colonial Secretary's letter. In all matters affecting trade and commerce I have always consulted the Committee and the members of the Chamber of Commerce, and striven to represent their views, and I shall As to your Excellency's request for informa- always do so. On matters outside the scope and tion as to whether I have any mandate from objects of the Chamber of Commerce, as is the the purely British members of the Chamber to question of the constitution of the Sanitary oppose the views expressed as to the Sanitary Board, I submit that I represent the com- Board by the Retrenchment Committee, and munity at large, and I endeavour to the best of Mr. Keswick, Mr. Chater, Mr. Jackson, and Mr. McConachie, I think it better, after very my ability to ascertain the opinions of the bulk of the residents, and to put them forward, full and careful consideration, to reply to you reserving, however, my own complete freedom myself direct, as I am afraid that the cont stitution of the Chamber does not afford any of opinion. I deny the existence of any date as un-British and unconstitutional.
facilities for obtaining the opinion of a section I much regret that the Chamber's late Chair- of its members, and on a purely municipal, and not a commercial question, and as, moreover, man, Mr. Keswick, should have pledged the Chamber to any expression of opinion on a your request seems to be based on certain purely Municipal question without first sub-assumptions to which I cannot at all give my mitting the matter to the members of the Cham- assent and on which I may have to ask your ber for their deliberation and consideration, and Excellency to obtain the opinion of the Right first obtaining their views. At the same time Honourable the Secretary of State for the his course is defensible, as the Chamber might Colonies. fairly claim a right to call the attention of the Government to the grave injury that had been done the colony and its trade by defects in Sanitary Legislation and Administration gener- ally. The question has, however, ceased to be a general one, and the Bill now before the Legislative Council is simply one for the reor- ganisation of the Sanitary Board and as to the number and class of members by whom it is to be composed.
I humbly submit for your consideration that the course for the Committee to adopt will be to reply to the Government that in the present form in which the question of the Sanitary Board is now before the Council the Committee has no opinion, and it is not, as a purely com- mercial and cosmopolitan body, qualified to express any opinion on a question of purely Municipal concern.
As to the suggestion that you should report on the opinions and actions of the British mem. bers of the Chamber, that of course is impossible, as you can only speak for the Association as a whole, foreigners and British alike. If the Government desires to obtain the opinion of the British subjects in the colony, it can very easily convene a public meeting.
Please note that I will send a copy of this correspondence to the local Press, for the in- formation of the members of the Chamber
Permit me to point out that I do not, in the sense in which the expression is used in the letter now under reply, "represent" the Chamber of Commerce in the Legislative Council. It is a convenient way of designating me, in compli- ance with the Parliamentary rule that forbids the use of names in debate, to speak of me as the Representative of the Chamber of Com merce, and although I am elseted and nominated by the Chamber of Commerce, I am appointed by the Queen, and I represent on the Council, together with my colleagues, the general in- terests of the community and not of any parti- cular section of it. I am no more the repre- sentative of the Chamber on the Council than Messrs. Bell-Irving and Belilios are the repre- sentatives of the Government on the Council, because they are selected and nominated for the honour by your Excellency.
Neither has the. Government, at any time, recognised the Member of Council nominated by the Chamber, as representing it, or entitled to speak on its behalf. When the Government has desired, for any purpose, to ascertain the opinion or obtain the advice of the Chamber it has invariably addressed itself by letter to the Chairman or to the Committee of the Chamber. As to your Excellency's reference to a "mandate," and your request to be informed if mandate" from the British members I have a