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once a frontier Fortress and a Naval Depôt, the head quarters of Her Majesty's Fleet, and the base for Naval and Military operations in these Far Eastern waters: and they are not so unpractical as to expect that unrestricted power should be given to any local Legislature, or that the QUEEN'S Government could ever give up the paramount control of this important Dependency. All your Petitioners claim is the common right of Englishmen to manage their local affairs, and control the Expenditure of the Colony, where Imperial considerations are not involved.

11. At present your petitioners are subject to Legislation issuing from the Imperial Parliament, and all local legislation must be subsidiary to it. Her Majesty the QUEEN in Council has full and complete power and authority to make laws for the Island, and local laws must be approved and assented to by the Governor in the name of the QUEEN, and are subject to disallowance by Her Majesty on the recommendation of Her Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.

12. Your Petitioners recognise the necessity and propriety of the existence of these checks and safeguards against the abuse of any power and authority exer- cised by any local Legislature, and cheerfully acquiesce in their continuance and effective exercise, but respectfully submit that, subject to these checks and safe- guards, they ought to be allowed the free election of Representatives of British Nationality in the Legislative Council of the Colony; a majority in the Council of such elected Representatives; perfect freedom of debate for the Official Members, with

power to vote according to their conscientious convictions without being called to account or endangered in their positions by their votes; complete control in the Council over local expenditure; the management of local affairs; and a consultative voice in questions of an Imperial character.

Your Petitioners therefore most humbly pray your Honourable House to move Her Most Gracious Majesty the QUEEN to amend by Order in Council the constitution of this Crown Colony, and to grant to your Petitioners, and to the inhabitants of Hong- kong in all time to come the rights and privileges herein before mentioned.

(Here follow 363 signatures.)

Enclosure 2.

Memorandum by the Acting Colonial Secretary (The Honourable

J. H. Stewart Lockhart.)

YOUR EXCELLENCY,

In accordance with your instructions I beg to make the following remarks on the petition to the House of Commons praying for an amendment of the constitu- tion of the Crown Colony of Hongkong.

The document professes to be the humble petition of merchants, bankers, professional men, traders, artisans, and other ratepayers, inhabitants of Hongkong.

The signatories amount to 363; of these 284 are British, 10 Anglo-Chinese, 3 Americans, 4 Portuguese, and 47 British Indians.

The petition is so loosely worded and in certain respects so contradictory that it is not altogether an easy matter to ascertain definitely what the wishes of the petitioners are or who are to be included in the alleged benefits for which the peti- tioners pray.