CO129-478 - Public Offices & Others - 1922 — Page 363

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It is sometimes urged that a greater degree of success would have been achieved if those dissatisfied with the existing order of things had pressed their claims with greater frequency and vigour. That is probably true, but it has to be remembered that the absence of representative institutions tends naturally to arrest the growth of a civic spirit and to stifle initiative and in- dependence of character. While repression bas this fatal psychological effect, the exercise of responsibility acts, on the contrary, as a mental tonic. Nor can it be denied that, in addition to the opposition of the Government, natural- ly anxious to retain its power, there has been a small but very influential section composed of the Vested Interests" who have quietly but none the leas strenuously resisted any change which threatened their supremacy. As the Directors of many of the principal local commercial enterprises they alone have had the ear of the local Government and enjoyed the right of direct per- Bunal access to the Secretary of State. While it is not denied that their stake in the Colony entitles them to duc consideration, it is disputed that they have the right to sole consideration, for their interests as large property-owners and as holders of public concessions do not necessarily coincide, but rather conflict, with those of the majority of their fellow-countrymen, who are absolutely without any voice in the Legislature. So generally is this view accepted that, although they nominate many of the Justices of the Peace (who are limited in number to 120) and have a considerable voice in the Cham- ber of Commerce (which consists of nearly 200 members), they have only encceeded in returning one of their nominees--and him by a very slender majority to these bodies in the six elections which have taken place since

1915.

At the opposite end of the scale we find amongst those who stand to gain most by an amendment of the Constitution a lack of enthusiasm because the proposed reforms do not go as far as they would wish. It must be borne in mind, however, that the Constitutional Reform Association has had to sub- mit a programme calculated to command the greatest common measure of support and to stand some chance of acceptance by the conservative minds which dominate the Colonial Office. Obviously this involves compromise, but as Burke remarked: "All Government, indeed all human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter." While it is true that the scheme submitted would not involve any revolutionary change it would, nevertheless, ensure the faithful repre- sentation and more respectful consideration of the views of the British com- munity, create a healthy interest in local affairs, promote legislative efficiency, and develop a corporate sense.

Answers to Objections.

It is a poor case which cannot afford to be confronted with the arguments of the other side. Let us look, therefore, at the reasons which have been advan-

ced for withholding from Hongkong the concessions made to many other Crown Colonies. To do this we shall have to go back some 25 years to the despatch of Lord Ripon, for it is a significant fact that both Mr. Bonar Law and Mr. Winston Churchill have prudently refrained from entering into any detailed discussion of the subject, white the local Government, when asked by the Hon. Mr. H. E. Pollock to explain the reason for retaining the nominative system in the case of two of the four non-Chinese Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council. was obliged to seek refuge in the plea that the question touched the Royal Instructions and was therefore out of order. Some of the points raised by Lord Ripon need not be considered now, because they were either founded on a misapprehension of the petition referred to him, or do not occur in the later proposals. We will, therefore, proceed to tabulate those objections which are common to all the petitions and also those which have been specially directed locally against the later ones, as follows:-

The past progress of the Colony as an evidence of good Government,

Without going so far as to say that the progress of the Colony has been in spite of, rather than because of, the system of Government, we may point to the still more rapid advance of Shanghai with its representative institu- tions. In both cases favourable geographical position as an entrepot of trade has been the chief factor in development. Even good government, how- ever, may be capable of improvement, and is not necessarily a satisfactory substitute for self-government.

That no weighty examples have been cited of the over-riding of popular opinion by the arbitary exercise of the official vote.

This obviously depends upon the definition given to "weighty examples." Within the last five years the Government has refused to consider a proposal for the exclusion of Germans from the Colony for a term of years after the war a proposal submitted to it, in the first instance, by the Chamber of Commerce and subsequently endorsed by a crowded public meeting at the Theatre Royal and to concede the demand for a Commission of Inquiry into the admittedly unsatisfactory Hospital administration. As a rule, of course, the Government is discreet enough not to goad the public into open and violent protest, but it may flout or ignore public opinion on countless occasions none of which may justify a public demonstration, thought they may be very irritating and, taken collectively, constitute a substantial grievance. In addition however, to sins of commission there are sins of omission to considered-the neglect to pay due heed to the needs of vast majority of the British community who are still politically

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