23
193
Exercised by
of freely-elected
Municipal Councils. These Councils
manage entirely at their own discretion, subject only to their responsibility to the ratepayers,
annual meetings of
the local revenue, police, Fire Brigades,
kind. At
and public works of every kind. In Shanghai, the Municipal Council governs also a Chinese population of over four hundred and fifty thousand (450,000) souls, equal to the Chinese population of Hong Kong. There can be no doubt of remarkable success in real self-government by English settlers in China under
the
the principle
of
the
the general supervision of Foreign Office. What are the views
and
feelings on this subject of English settlers in Hong Kong, who live under the strictly paternal
the Colonial Office, has been
already Explained in the concluding paragraphs of my dispatch No. 134
thus
as to the Voice
of the 10th November, 1883.
I have the honour to be,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient humble Servant,
B. Bowen