Paragraph 25 of No. 69. Japanese occupation.
Paragraphs 26 and 27 of 69. Electoral registers.
The practical difficulty or determining who are Chinese and who are non- Chinese in the case of those of mixed blood must
not be over- looked but
+
୮
(a) attainment of 25 years (by either sex)
(6) literacy in English or Chinese
(c) property or jury qualification
(a) period of residence qualification,
Of these qualifications that at (c) relating to the ownership or occupation of property is the most controversial. The property qualifications set out in Enclosure 6 to No. 69 are in general line with the property qualifications proposed for Singapore
Municipal Council. (See page 5 of Report inserted loosely at back of file.) It is perhaps worth noting, however, that the proposed franchise in both cases is by no means as wide as that proposed for the election of members to the Legislative Council in Singapore. In that connection it is proposed "that the right to vote should in no way be made conditional on a person's private means". In Hong Kong where there is a very large floating population (both literally and figuratively) we should, I think, accept the Governor's view that it
would be impossible to devise any form of electoral registration of the masses which would not open the door to personation on a large scale (Page 5 of Enclosure 7 to No. 69). As suggested below we shall no doubt stress to the Governor the general desirability of gradually reducing the qualifications for franchise.
14. The circumstances of absence or residence during the Japanese occupation (as it affects the residence qualification) is not the same in Hong Kong as in Singapore. In the former Colony movement between the island and the mainland was comparatively simple for non-Europeans. The Governor's suggestion on this point
seems reasonable.
15. The Governor proposes that there should be two separate registers for Chinese and non-Chinese since he regards it as impracticable to divide the non-Chinese electorate into wards as is desirable for the Chinese electorate. This question of communal representation has arroused considerable controversy in any Colony in which it has been debated. It is of interest that, in discussing the system of election for the Legislative Council in Singapore, I understand the Governor has endorsed the recommendation of the Committee which examined this question, that there should not be communal representation but a single electorate. Hong Kong, however, with a population of which 98% is Chinese, the likely effect of a single electorate would be the election of an almost entirely Chinese Council, unless there were grafted on to the system of open election some other arrangements for ensuring the due representation of other communities. I suggest, therefore, that we should agree with the proposal to have two separate registers.
In
16. The arrangement which the Governor has devised for the representation of minorities, set out in paragraph 27(a) on page 14 commends itself. It is that if a Portuguese and/or Indian is not included in the 10 non-Chinese candidates elected the Portuguese and/or Indian with the highest number of votes should replace that one/the ten who securred the lowest number of votes. The only community for the representation of
/which