CO129-511-5 Constitution of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong 25-4-1928 - 4-12-1928 — Page 27

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Instructions, dated 14th February, 1917, which

formed the second enclosure to Mr. Long's despatch

Miscellaneous of 28th February, 1917. The Council,

as you are aware, has consisted since 1896 of eight

official members including the Governor and of six

unofficial members one of whom is nominated by the

Chamber of Commerce and one by Justices of the

Peace. The other four unofficials, two of whom

are Chinese, are appointed by the Governor.

3.

There have on various occasions been

agitations and petitions to amend the constitution

of the Councils and in these Sir Henry Pollock

(then Mr. Pollock) took a leading part. I invite

attention in particular to his petition of 9th March,

1916, forwarded direct to the Secretary of State

for the Colonies, to which reference is made in

Sir Henry May's despatch No.209 of 26th May, 1916,

and to the petition from the Constitutional Reform

Association of Hong Kong referred to in my

predecessor's confidential despatch of 14th March,

1923.

Both of these petitions prayed for the grant

of an unofficial majority in the Legislative

Council and the substitution of election for

nomination in the case of appointments of non-

Chinese members.

4. Time and experience have modified these

demands and I find myself in sympathy with the

object of Sir H. Pollock's present proposal.

Kowloon has developed greatly in recent years

and at a faster rate than the island of Hong Kong

itself, and it is likely that the future will see the

preponderance