Note on representations by the
90
Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (see No.74)
نه
3.
Appointment before the Municipal Council is formed of a preliminary Commission to make recommendations regarding the necessary preparatory steps.
Sir Mark Young recommended (para. 33 of his despatch) that a
Commission should be appointed to report on the measures
necessary to effect the delegation of powers to the Municipal
Council, but as he regarded it as of the utmost importance that
members of the Municipal Council should serve on the Commission
he advised that the Commissioners should not be nominated until
the Council had been constituted and Councillors had been elected
and appointed. Preparatory work is meanwhile being carried out by
the services which will be affected by the changes.
Para. 3(h) of our despatch agreed with this recommendation.
Election of Chinese Councillors should be by electoral college rather than ballot box.
This alternative was considered locally, but it was thought
less likely to result in elections truly representative of the
Chinese than the ballot box system. Both methods contain
undeniable dangers, but the conclusion reached was that more
safeguards were available with the ballot box. (See telegram
from Hong Kong at No. 53).
Both alternatives were fully discussed in the Colonial
Office with Mr. Hazlerigg (see Mr. Mayle's minute of
29th May
7,
and we again concluded that the ballot box was the system that
would enable us to approach more nearly to truly democratic
elections.
For Councillors and electors there should be no residential
qualification for British subjects, and a five year residential qualification for other nationalities.
The decision eventually reached is that the period of
residential qualification should be:-
/(a)