174
When in July 1891, the appointment of a Chinese consul was made public, the expatriate community was angered at the manner in which it had been sprung on them. Without prior notice, the Governor had laid the notice of the appointment before a meeting of the Legislative Council.
The writer of the newspaper column "Fragrant Waters Murmur” described the despatch announcing the appointment as "made in the truest Imperial style, regardless of colonial feeling or opinion."
He further claimed, “that this, the Imperial will, was flashed upon the amazed residents without the slightest previous hint being given from any official source."
He expressed strong objections to an Imperial policy of this kind, particularly in view of the financial demands the Home Government made on the Colony. According to "Brownie,” the author of the column, local opinion felt that, “if Hongkong is called to pay £40,000 a year as a contribution to the defence of the Empire, it is entitled to be consulted in matters which immediately concern its interests.
Today if Britain takes unilateral action on certain matters affecting Hongkong, such as agreements regarding landing rights for airlines at Kai Tak, there are local murmurs about unfair treatment.
In order to air the question and to have a basis for formulating a position in response to the announcements, the merchants wished to have made public the correspondence on the matter.
Consequently, at the next meeting of the Legislative Council, Mr. Whitehead, an unofficial member, after due notice asked: "Will the Government lay upon the table copies of all recent correspondence on the subject of a Chinese consul to Hongkong and also copies of the correspondence on the same subject in the years 1868 to 1876?”
The Officer Administering the Colony, who was presiding, was
174
When in July 1891, the appointment of a Chinese consul was made public, the expatriate community was angered at the man- ner in which it had been sprung on them. Without prior notice, the Governor had laid the notice of the appointment before a meeting of the Legislative Council.
The writer of the newspaper column "Fragrant Waters Murmur” described the despatch announcing the appointment as "made in the truest Imperial style, regardless of colonial feeling or opinion."
He further claimed, “that this, the Imperial will, was flashed upon the amazed residents without the slightest previous hint being given from any official source."
He expressed strong objections to an Imperial policy of this kind, particularly in view of the financial demands the Home Government made on the Colony. According to "Brownie,” the author of the column, local opinion felt that, “if Hongkong is called to pay £40,000 a year as a contribution to the defence of the Empire, it is entitled to be consulted in matters which immediate- ly concern its interests.
Today if Britain takes unilateral action on certain matters af- fecting Hongkong, such as agreements regarding landing rights for airlines at Kai Tak, there are local murmurs about unfair treat- ment.
In order to air the question and to have a basis for formulating a position in response to the announcements, the merchants wished to have made public the correspondence on the matter.
Consequently, at the next meeting of the Legislative Council, Mr. Whitehead, an unofficial member, after due notice asked: "Will the Government lay upon the table copies of all recent corre- spondence on the subject of a Chinese consul to Hongkong and also copies of the correspondence on the same subject in the years 1868 to 1876?”
The Officer Administering the Colony, who was presiding, was
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