TNAG-0327-FCO40-363-History-of-constitution-of-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1972 — Page 10

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

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Legislative Council of a colony of this kind (ie

a Crown Colony) individuals recommended or nominated

by some such official body was not usual. But

what vested the individual so selected with his

status was the Governor's (and ultimately the Crown's)

appointment, and not the sélection by the public

body.

The

On 7 August 1883, Lord Derby informed Sir

George Bowen that he would agree to the number of

unofficials being increased to 5, one of them

Chinese; with this smaller increase, the Chamber

of Commerce was to nominate only one member.

JPs would also nominate one member. On 2 November

1883 the Governor proposed this change to the

Legislative Council, stating that "as a general rule"

2 of the 5 unofficials would be nominated by the

Chamber of Commerce and the JPs. merc

At the beginning

of the following year, the practice went into effect;

there is the problem in this connection, namely

that it appears (from the letter of the Colonial

Secretary to the Senior Police Magistrate, 20

December 1883, enclosed in your letter to me of

2 June) that there was an Order in Council for the

reconstitution of the Legislative Council, but Research

Debt have been unable to find any trace of one. They have

located only Additional Instructions of 8 December

ated

1883, which authorised the appointment of 5 unofficials,

and it is possible that these Instructions were in

fact the "Order" referred to by the Colonial

Secretary.

They make no mention of nomination

by JPS or the Chamber of Commerce.

The have

Departament

/looked

3.

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