469
popular and not altogether impolitic.
I can well realise that the addition of a gentleman of high standing and great local experience would be a gain to the Executive Council, and I shall be prepared to sanction the proposal if you still recommend it after further considering the following points.
A
In none of the three Eastern colonies at the time present is there any unofficial element in the Executive Council, and I am not clear that the step would in all cases be actively beneficial, whereas I am quite clear that the existing system has on the whole worked well, and that therefore there is no strong reason for disturbing it. In the next place I note that Mr Keswick proposes that the unofficial member should be of English birth, and you suggest in your despatch the names of suitable Englishmen "in the absence of any Chinaman fitted "for the post." It must, however, be taken into consideration that it would be invidious and inequitable to lay down that a Chinese subject of the Queen shall be debarred from appointment to the Executive Council, and therefore the possibility of the appointment being hereafter filled by a Chinese gentleman must be reckoned with.
In the third place, you state that practically unofficial assistance in the Executive Council "could always be obtained, if the status quo were "maintained" and you add that you "invariably consult the unofficial members before bringing into Council