437
1
48
The only question remaining is with regard to
Part III of the Ordinance which deals mainly with the question of registration and the payment of wegea. The Ordinance provides that this Part is not to come into operation until such date as may be fixed by proclamation by the Governor in Council.
6.
After very careful consideration I am convinced that the introduction of a system of registration should not be attempted at present. The Chinese have accepted with, on the whole, a very good grace the abolition
of a system which has for many generations formed an integral part of their family life, but if registration is imposed upon them I fear that they will take a very different view. Like most Asiatics, the Chinese have a deep-rooted objection to any form of interference with the privacy of their domestic life and I know that the idea of registration which they consider, probably rightly, will eventually involve some system of inspection is most repugnant to them. The enforcement of such a measure would therefore be most unpopular and at the present moment when the return of Sun Yat Sen to Canton has stirred up aga in the political ferment which had hardly subsided after the strikes of last year I am most anxious to avoid any steps which may tend to bring the feelings of the Chinese populat- -ion of Hongkong into a sharp antagonism with what is to them, after all, a foreign Government. The cry of "Hongkong for the Chinese" has obvious attractions for Young China. It is occasionally heard already but I attach no importance to it so long as the stable elements of the population are oontent with our rule. Interference with their domestic affaire may turn the scale against us and a very difficult situation would then arise.
It may, of course, prove to be essential to insist on registration in order to secure the observance of the law. In that case the consequences must be faced
but