C
C O. 1705
RCCD
REC 20 P 81
67
Unofficial Members of the
Legislative Council.
Extract from the Governor's speech in the "Legislative Council of Hongkong
3rd June, 1881.
I am bound to say, that during the four years of my Government of the Colony, whenever this Council has met I have been only too anxious to receive from my honourable friends any suggestions either with respect to prudent retrenchment or to any necessary outlay. And during these four years, there has not occurred one single division in Council. Now, my two honourable friends on my right (the Acting Chief Justice and the Attorney General) have had experience in other Crown Colonies—in Singapore and Jamaica—and I think they will learn with some surprise and gratification the fact that for four years we have never had a division in this Council.
Perhaps there is some misunderstanding with respect to the functions of this Council. It has been asserted that an unofficial member of the Legislative Council has not the power of initiating anything, and that his position is a peculiar and somewhat discouraging one on that account. But, as a matter of fact, an unofficial member of the Legislative Council has, in that respect, exactly the same powers and privileges as a member of the House of Commons; a member of the Legislative Council can, in fact, initiate any vote or motion he pleases, with the one proviso that he cannot propose the expenditure of money. The same rule applies precisely in the House of Commons; there is no difference whatever; any motion may be made by members of Council in the form prescribed by the rules and regulations, all of which are really based on the orders and procedure of Parliament in England.
Our Legislative Council, as constituted at this moment, represents the community. We have now, and have had for some time past, a Chinese member sitting in this Council Chamber. No one, I am sure, will deny that I was justified in recommending the Queen to appoint a Chinese member on the Legislative Council in a Colony where so much of the commercial life is conducted by the Chinese—where the wealthiest merchants are Chinese—where the Chinese possess so much property—where they are the permanent inhabitants, and where nine-tenths of the Government revenues are contributed by them. We have, I am happy to say, a representative here of the old house of TURNER & Co., and a representative of the great house of JARDINE, Matheson & Co., and the official members of the Council, they also represent something more than the Government; so that, as far as this body is concerned, it has, I think, every requisite a legislative body should possess for the proper conduct of public business.