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I suggest, invite the Governor to reconsider.
4. First, while the equal division of the thirty seats on the Council between Chinese and non- Chinse should, I suggest, be acceptable at the beginning, the Secretary of State might ask that when present apathy and apprehensions have been over- come and the electorate has shown itself sensible in its responsibilities, the possibility of shifting the balance of seats to reflect the Chinese predominance in the community should be reviewed from time to time.
5. Secondly, the differentiation between non- British Chinese, on the one hand, and, on the other, the non-British European and the American communities in the matter of residential qualification for member ship or vote cannot, I feel, be justified. It would certainly be attacked by the Chinese as racial discrimination and would be contrary to general principles in that regard laid down by International Labour Conferences. A distinction between British
subjects and non-British subjects is, of course, fully defensible, but all non-British subjects must be treated similarly in this matter of qualification and if the Governor feels that by thus extending the period of residence required of Americans and non- British Europeans he will exclude persons who might be valuable members of the Council, his remedy is to consider meeting this by adding to the number of nominated members at the expense of the non-Chinese elected members.
6. Thirdly, I should press the Governor to reconsider the proposals that no one under thirty I should be a Councillor and no one under twenty-five
should vote. In Singapore we shall almost certainly ask for the minimum to be twenty-one years and I see no really convincing reason why Hong Kong also should not adopt that lower limit, especially as the right to vote is dependent also upon some property or jury service qualification. The retention of the age of thirty as the minimum for membership might deprive trade unions, for example, of the right to nominate their best representative.
7. Fourthly, while I suggest that we should accept the property and other qualifications proposed for the franchise, the Secretary of State should ask that the possibility of reducing those qualifications as education spreads and illiteracy is reduced should be kept constantly under review and should in any event be reconsidered before the second elections to the Council in about 1950.
8. Fifthly, I assume from the bottom of page 15 of No.69 that the property qualification is limited to the franchise and is not a condition of eligibility for membership, but this is so important (particularly from the point of view of trade union membership) that we should state this assumption and ask the Governor, if it is inaccurate, to consider the matter further.
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Sixthly, I must confess to some dislike for the proposal (see the top of page 14 of No.69) whereby, in order to secure representation for the Portuguese and Indians, the one candidate (or even the two candidates)coming last of the elected ten for the non-Chinesé constituency may lose the place to which
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