(F 5527/376/10)
IMMEDIATE CONFIDENTIAL.
FOREIGN OFFICE, S.W.1.
28th April, 1947.
32 *
Dear Mayle,
Thank you for letting me have an opportunity of commenting on your draft savingram to the Governor of Hong Kong, enclosed in your letter No.54145/4/47 of the 22nd April, on the subject of the proposed 'constitutional changes.
As regards paragraph 2, I agree that the differentiation in residential qualification would invite outside criticism, and could not be justified on the ground that Americans and non-British Europeans are birds of passage, since it could be pointed out that the transient businessman has no stake or interest in the Colony comparable to that of the Chinese resident of several years' standing.
They
As regards paragraph 3, I have no experience of the trade union movement in Hong Kong, but if China is any criterion it would be difficult to claim that the trade unions, or any councillors nominated by them, are truly representative of the working classes. are more usually bodies formed to promote political aims, and in China they have come under the strict control of the Kuomintang which thus secures a hold over labour in the interests of the Party bosses. In Hong Kong, the best way of securing better representation for the working classes (who I assume form the majority of the Chinese population) would seem to be to widen the franchise, which at present favours the wealthy and
N.L. Mayle, Esq.,
ffice.
Colonial Office.
/the
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