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and would only serve if they were elected to it. This means that they wish to maintain the fiction that because a few thousand people have voted for them, they have somehow acquired the divine right to speak "for the people" as a whole, that they (and they alone) know "what the people want". This would only be justified if they usually received the overwhelming support of the electorate. But this they have not got. If a candidate gets 3,000 votes out of 20,000, this means that 85% of the electorate was not sufficiently in favour of his policies to vote for him, and the most he can claim to represent is a very small minority.
It must be made clear that we are not going to get constitutional reform merely because the elected members want it. Such changes would only be justified if a very large proportion of the population wanted it, and there is no proof whatever that any more than a handful of people are in favour of them.
We are therefore faced with deadlock, with able people, willing to devote their time to the public good, who refuse to accept appointment to the higher councils except on their own doubtful terms and fictitious claims.
The only way to break this deadlock is for Mr. BERNACCHI and his friends to withdraw from this position, and announce that they are willing to accept nomination to the Legislative Council, if asked. I see no real, valid, objection to this, for their ability to serve the public would be no less, they would retain their opinions, their knowledge of "what the public needs", whether they were appointed or elected.
If this were adopted, paradoxically the principle of elected representation would receive a very strong stimulus. No longer would the Urban Council appear to the elected members as a dead-end street, many more candidates would be attracted, and the elections would really mean something once again. Once on the Council, both elected and appointed members would be equally eligible for appointment to the Legislative Council, depending entirely on the ability and quality of each person. I believe that much of the feeling of frustration which elected members now feel would disappear. With the added interest and dignity of the Urban Council as the proving ground for the higher councils, Government might well give it wider powers until it eventually becomes a full Municipal Council.
If this suggestion is not accepted, if elected members continue to refuse to serve unless some form of "election" is involved, I am afraid the present unhappy position will continue, and they will remain in the wilderness for many years to come. The choice is theirs.
With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I am happy to support the motion.
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MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Under Standing Order 10(12), may I avail myself of this opportunity to explain to Mr. WATSON that the full text of the Joint Memorandum was not released at the specific request of the Colonial Office, and the Coalition did not release it being two responsible political organizations in this Colony. If Mr. WATSON wishes to have a copy, he can write direct to the Government or to the Colonial Office.
MR. BERNACCHI-On a point of order, Mr. Chairman. Not "divine right" but "temporal right.”
THE VICE-CHAIRMAN moved that the debate be adjourned until the next meeting.
THE SECRETARY FOR CHINESE AFFAIRS seconded.
The question was put.
The motion was carried.
ADJOURNMENT.
CHAIRMAN:-That concludes the business of this meeting. Council stands adjourned until Tuesday, 2nd May.
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