CO537-2188 — Page 153

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)