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framing the policy of the country where he lives? What is that which has made us such a great colonizing Power as we are? Is it not chiefly that great love of liberty and that power of self-government which every Englishman takes with him wherever he goes? The unofficial members have taken the course of reaiguing, but that is not enough. They must be supported by the Colony. It is only, if this support be given to them, that this matter can be brought to a successful issue. Their action has been taken with the approval of the Straits Association at home and here; and I can assure you that the members of the Straits Association will not turn back from this work until they have successfully achieved it. (Great applause.)
DR. LIM BOON KENG.
Dr. Lim Boon Keng (a medical practitioner at Singapore with high British degrees) said:—Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I second this motion which has been proposed by Mr. Napier. By your presence here in such large numbers and on such a day, you show fully how strongly you feel on this subject. The Europeans are taking up this matter chiefly on the principle, as Mr. Napier bas just mentioned, that every Englishmau will take with him wherever he goes that principle of liberty for which the people of England have fought so long. It seems to me that the Governors of the Colonies of the British Empire have not always boen long-sighted men. Our case to-day is exactly the case of North America years ago. Then there were remonstrances, public meetings, congresses, and all sorts of protests; and yet the Government of Lord North, his predecessors and successors, turned a deaf ear to the protests against the demands of the Imperial Government. The English Parliament paid no heed to the earnest solicitations of the Colonials. We have not that form of power which those Colonials had (a fact of which the Straits Times has been good enough to remind us); but not having that power, physical force, we still have the moral force to show the British public how unjustly we have been treated. (Applause) The Straits Times also mentions the slight delay, in the case of the resignations, caused by the hesitation of certain of the Chinese members in connection with the resignation scheme. But i think that the Chinese have very good reason for delaying. Most of these Chinese were born in China; they are not all Straits-born, It is only right, being aliens here, and being privileged in advising the Government, that they should consider very carefully any such scheme, its practicability and its advisability, before giving it their unanimous support, (Hear, hear.) I think that it would be a great mistake and a most unwarrantable assumption to make, that the resignation of the Chinese carries with it no moral significance. They have not resigned simply because the Europeans concerned have resigned. They have it in their minds clearly established from the great books of China, which tell us that, if the Ministers and advisers represent to the Sovereign that the practices of the Sovereign are contrary to the usages of the Constitution, and if, after repeated protests, there comes no relief, the only course left to Ministers and advisers is to resign. My Chinese friends have had this statement clearly before them, because all Chinese must have read the works of Mencius, who, as a classic authority, is next to Confucius. They have only hesitated to take the lead in a matter which first concerns Englishmen. In the books of Mencius there is a passage which says that men must decide what they Will not do before taking action with vigour in what they will do. I think action taken by the unofficial members of the Legislative Council, the Justices of the Peace, and members of the Chinese Advisory Board is to show that they will have no share in taking money away from this Colony in the manner which will ruin us in time. Wė have used overy argument we can use, and I think it is a pity, after so many meetings, so many protests, that we are still in exactly the same position as we were years ago. (Voices: "Worse.") I am sure all of you will heartily support the action which these gentlemen have taken in taking a step which will bring them into disfavour with the high and mighty officials of Downing Street. (Long continued applause.)
The motion carried.
The Chairman then put the resolution to the meeting and asked those in favour of it to put up each one hand. The response to this was one wave of arms in the air, and when the Chairman asked if there were any against, a pin night have been heard to drop in the stillness. Not a hand was raised. The Chairman, amidst the most enthusiastic cheering, declared the resolution carried.
MR. SHELFORD.
Mr. T. Shelford, C.M.G.. (a partner of Messrs. Paterson, Simons, & Co.), then rose, and was greeted with cheering again and again renewed. He said-
Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I beg very sincerely to thank you on behalf of my ex-colleagues, absent and present, as well as on my own account, for the very hearty and cordial manner in which you have acceptd and passed the resolution. It proves to is that the course we have been compelled to take meets with your approbation, and I am sure the others will appreciate as heartily as I do the value of your support and the manner in which you have exhibited it.
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The Resignation Policy,
Now, gentlenen, do not let anyone go away with the idea that this has been a hasty step; a mere ebullition of temper or of anger. On the contrary, we have exercised every patience in waiting for the solution of the question which, from time to time, it was inferred would be in the interests of the financial relief of the Colony. But the despatch of the Secretary of State has entirely dissipated any such hopes, and as no consideration has been paid to our remonstrances, to our protests, or to our suggestions, there remains for us but one final protest; and that is to withdraw from a Council, which, apparently, in the future more than even in the past, is to be made the vehicle of enforcing exorbitant demands on the Colony in utter disregard of those interests which we were placed in the Council to protect. (Cheers.) Our resignation then has been a deliberate one, and it is much to be regretted that it has not been unanimous (Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, I have no right, and I have no desire, to assume that the Penang members were actuated by any other motives than those which have guided us; but when I received a letter from the senior unofficial member -who, I understand is about shortly to celebrate his jubilee in the Province-in which he agreed that, if our claims were ignored and the Government still insisted upon squeezing us, simply meant ruin to the Colony, and when he told us that he agreed with us that the only course left open was to resign in a body, I confess that I have found some little difficulty in understanding why, a few days later, he was not prepared to back up his brave words. (Ironical laughter.) This is a question which vitally affects the whole Colony. Therefore, before taking any steps at all, a letter was addressed to our colleagues in the Northern Settlement, suggesting to them the course which we proposed to follow, and asking whether they were prepared to join us. We assured them that no step would be taken until after consultation with them. We had the advantage of an interview with Dr. Brown when he passed through Singapore. For some reason or other that meeting of the unofficial members is to be regarded as strictly privato, and, therefore, I can only say that the objections which Dr. Brown there urged did not appear to me to be sufficiently weighty to divert us from our course. It may be~~ I cannot say that if he had been earlier associated with this question, able to study all these dangers and realize all the machinations and specious excuses and half promises employed by the Secretary of State, and with which we have been put off for years, be would have been prepared to join his colleagues in their expression of opinion and assist in carrying it out to a logical conclusion. We hope that even yet circumstances may arise which will enable him to do so. (Hear, hear.) One word more.
That despatch
of the Secretary of State arrived at a most inopportune time. It was laid on the table of the Legislative Council the day before the Governor left for Penang. There was no opportunity, therefore, of discussing it, and indeed it would in the haste of the moment have been very undesirable to do so. Mr. Donaldson was on the imminent point of departure, and we were unable, therefore, longer to postpone our action. Our course of action is not in any measure due to that want, of courtesy to the Governor which it has suited some people to attribute to us. I would venture to say that the men who have resigned are as incapable of discourtesy to the Governor as are those who are apparently seeking to make capital out of that suggestion. (Cheers.) There comes a time like the present when men act, and must act, at the risk of hurting official dignity. (Hear, hear.) I do not believe that the Governor would take our action as a slight; I believe that he is a high-spirited, fair-minded man, and I do not think that he will take any other view than that which we have adopted. We have, at any rate, the satisfaction of knowing that Mr. Bogaardt refused to accept re-nomination to the Council on account of this despatch. (Hear, hear.) We carry with us the support of the public bodies of the Colony, and our action has also met with the approval of people at It has been said that I was home. (Cheers.) One more point, if you will allow me. trying to make mock heroics out of this matter, and that I resign because I am on the point of leaving. That is not so. If it had not been for this despatch I would on this occasion, as previously, have sought leave of absence from the Council during the few months that I am likely to be absent from the Colony. (Cheers.)
A Misleading Telegram.
When a telegram was received in October there was no suggestion or hint that the relief to be offered to the Colony was only temporary, and that the amount would be recovered from us during the later period of the five years. The telegram was misleading; it conveyed only half the truth. (Hear, hear.) But, gentlemen, it served the purpose of enabling the Estimates to be passed, thus adding 150,000 dollars [exchange compensation?] to our burdens. (Cheers.)
The Despatch
Gentlemen, it is the despatch and not the telegram which must be taken as the final answer of Her Majesty's Government for an equitable adjustment of this burning and burdensome question. For years, in reply to telegrams, to despatches, and to deputations, and every effort made to elicit the contemplated policy of Her Majesty's Government, the reply has been made that "the matter is under the careful consideration
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