Tax inoredse of the number of unofficial members of the Hongkong Legislative Council which the Governor intends to propose to the Secretary of State will be generally approved by the public, And as it-has at least some semblance of popular representation we. should say that the Imperial Government will adopt it, Six in place of three or four morabiers chosen from the Hongkong community should affordabetter chance, at all events, of publio questions being more'fully discussed. Even if those ménibers who will nob be appointed by the' Governor are chosen from the same class"as those who will be nominated on the old system, there ought to result greater diversity of view. The proposal, or suggestion, of the Governor that two members of the Council might be chosen by the Chamber of Commerce will have considerable attractions to a mercantile community. Yot the result is pretty sure to be that the members selected by the Chamber will be those who are personally most popular, and what may be called the prescriptive rights of the partners in certain houses to sit in the Legislative Council is not likely to be lost sight of by the members of the Chamber of Commerce. Few will object to those claims or rights continuing to have weight, notwithstanding the changes in the position of several firms which the last twenty years or s0 have brought about. Bat if our surmise regarding the men whom the Chamber of Commerce are likely to Propose prove correct, they will nob import any novelty into the constitu. tion of the Legistive Council unless those members who will be nominated by the Government are taken from another class of the community, Theo, again, if the Justices of the Peace are given the right of nominating for the consideration of the Governor another member of the enlarged Council they will most probably select a merobaut of good position. Most if not all the members. of the Obamber of Com. merce are Justices of the Peace and merchants, and, naturally, they will endeavour to strengthen that clement in the Legislative Council with which their personal interests ate most con-corned. That they are likely. to do so is of course no argument against the proposed measures of Sir George Bowen. Indeed it is highly desirable that in such a community as that of Hongkong, which exists solely by trading, the mercantile body should be very numerously represented at the Legislative Council Board. Bat the fact that the Obamber of Commerce and the Bench of Justices are to all intents and Purposes composed of the same men, who will naturally and properly select merchants as their representatives, will be almost fatal to the idea of procuring representation for the various interests in the Colony which we should say the Governor hopes to obtain, Sir George has no fancy for the unofficial members of the Legislative Council being chosen by popular election, and most people in the Colony will sympathise with his objections to the introduction of an electoral franchise, even euch as we have here, But would it not be possible to create a choice electoral body in Hongkong composed of merchants, bankers, professional men of all kinds, and those who, having no classified business or occupation, are yet interested as investers, or it may be as jobbers and speculators, in the unmerons colonial undertakings? If the Hongkong community bears much resemblance to our own, as it probably does, the Inst-named class will be found numerous and influential, Such an electoral body would be a fair reflex of the best, most independent, and intelligent section of the Hongkong community. Each class would have its full weight; and none would be able to increase its own inflaence at the Gouncil: Board at the expense of the others. And it seems to us that a body of Legislative Councillors thus chosen would carry; greater weight than the same number of men nominated in the manner which Sir George Bowen intends to propose, It would, of course, be a somewhat troublesome and perhaps even an i vidians business to frame such an electoral-.body, but the Government need not shrink from that. And it also appears to us that the community of Hongkong, and especially the purely mercantile portion of it, should, endea-your to got some such scheme substituted for the one sketched by the Governor, Mon chosen by a restricted franchise of the nature of the one we have suggested would have more weight in the estimation of the.geno-. ral public, than the same men nominated by semi-private bodies such. as the Chamber of Commerce. And. the one thing that it is most desirable to bring about in the constitution of the Legislative Council is that the fluence of the unofficial members all be increased, They cannot compel the withdrawal of any measure proposed by the Government to which they may. be opposed; nor is Sir Gorge Bowen about to suggest that so much real power should be conferred on them. The majority of the Council may throw out an Ordinance at any reading,.but the Governor can make it Inw, pretty much by his own will, This has been, done over and over again. The unofficial members can speak at the meetings of the Council, and if their opinions and wishes are over-ridden they may protest. The larger the constituency, which the members of the Council represented, the greater respect would be paid to their advice and: the greater force would be given to their protests.
The selection of a Chinese representa. tive, which Sir Pope Hennessy made, created something of prejudice against the principle of granting a share in the deliberations of the Legislative Council tothe Chinese, Bat that feeling, which has never been very strong, will wear away if the next Chinese Legisl Councillor is a man in whose position towards foreigners, as well as to, his countrymen, general confidence oan be placed, When, as: in Hongkong, the interests of one nationality are as great as those of the Chinese are in. the Colony, there are very fow who would seek to exclude them from even the small share in the management of public affairs whioh is allowed to the Legislative Council, Besides, bringing a politically unregenerate people like our native neighbours within the pale of those institutions on which we pride ourselves 80 much, is certain to recommend itself to the average English. man. Weare going to try, as soon as: we have discovered a process by which political bricks may be made without straw, to bestow the blessings of repre. sentative government on Hgypt;, why,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.