CO537-6046 — Page 84

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6.

7

8.

and that if this is to be done "what is to prevent the same process being

adopted in respect of the Legislative Council". The meeting did not agree

with this argument. It was considered that from the information available

here the franchise of the Urban Council could be extended very rapidly. It

would appear to be only a matter of adding names to existing lists. Any

draft legislation for this purpose could be prepared while the drafting of

the new constitution was being done as this itself would take time.

preparation of electoral rolls for a full British subject franchise for the

Legislative Council would be a very long process. The physical delineation

of wards and the preparation of registers would take several months if

experience in other Colonies was any guide, and in any case, this work could

not begin until the new constitution had been framed.

The

It was agreed, therefore, that this matter should be referred back to

Mr. Nicoll on the ground that we do not see why there should be any consider-

able delay in extending the franchise of the Urban Council.

Paragraph 7 was at considered. It was agreed that the proposals should

not be presented as no more than an interim measure. No constitutional

reform was final but it would be quite wrong to suggest that the present

proposals were only of an interim nature. It was also agreed that if at

some future date, direct election to the Legislative Council was introduced

we must revert to the principle that only British subjects would be granted

the franchise. The proposals now under consideration refer only to indirect

election and direct election is an entirely separate issue.

In conclusion Sir A. Grantham said that it should be made clear that

the elected members from the Urban Council should come from the unofficial

members of the Urban Council. His original suggestion had been that both

official and unofficial members of the Urban Council should be eligible,

but on further consideration he had come to the conclusion that only

unofficial members should be elected to the Legislative Council.

It was agreed that a further letter should be sent to Mr. Nicoll, and

Sir A. Grantham said he was prepared to accept any delay which this may cause

in sending out the open despatch. It did not matter if this arrived after

his return instead of just before as originally planned.

21st September, 1950