HOW A CROWN COLONY IS GOVERNED.
TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION,
THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT
WHOLLY DISREGARDED
BY THE
PERMANENT OFFICIALS .
HONGKONG , April, 1896 .
Printed at the ' China Mail' Offee, Hongkong .
951.
FH 757h
PREFACE .
In 1895 the Colonists of Hongkong petitioned the Imperial Parliament for
the redress of the grievances under which they had been suffering for many years,
in being deprived of all effective participation in the Government of the Colony
and of all control over the Expenditure. Mr. WHITEHEAD, one of the members of the
Unofficial minority in the Legislative Council, who was entrusted with the Petition
during his stay in London on leave of absence from his duties in Hongkong,
laboured strenuously to bring before Parliament and before the public in England
the claims of British residents in Hongkong to be allowed some share, however
small, in the management of the ordinary and local communal affairs of the Island.
Mr. WHITEHEAD was successful in securing the sympathy and support of a con
siderable section of the members of the Imperial Parliament and in obtaining certain
promises from the Colonial Minister. On his return to Hongkong towards the
close of last year he was presented with an address thanking him for his services,
and he replied to that address at some length, giving an account of what he had
done in London in connection with the Petition and lamenting the failure of the
Secretary of State for the Colonies to fulfil the promises made, and the refusal of
the Colonial Government to publish the papers and official correspondence bearing
on the subject. The address and reply are here printed for general information.
To these are added an extract from the Petition of the Colonists to Parliament,
shewing the present form of Government in Hongkong ; a Memorandum , dated
31st March, 1896, sent in to the Government by the Unofficial minority, calling
attention to the injustice done to Hongkong as compared with Singapore in the
imposition of the military contribution exacted from the Colony ;; and certain
correspondence that has passed between Mr. WHITEHEAD and the Government and
between Mr. WHITEHEAD and the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce on the
subject of the reconstruction of the Sanitary Board.
The connecting link that binds together these apparently unconnected documents
is that they more or less forcibly illustrate the methods under which the Government
of Hongkong is carried on and the defects inseparable from such methods. The
Colonists' Petition for redress of grievances has been defeated by means of repre
sentations and reports forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies by the
Government of the Colony but not made public, representations and reports which
ALLEN
the Government persistently refuse to produce, and which, therefore, can neither be
answered nor refuted. The military contribution is imposed, “ by order " ; is levied
on an estimated gross total revenue ( including municipal rates and taxes) a con
siderable portion of which is not in any true sense of the word, revenue at all. The
Sanitary Board, the only fragment of popular Government ever conceded to the
Colony, is to be reorganised on an entirely official basis and turned into a semi
Government department by a Bill drafted in secrecy, forwarded for the approval of
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12
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the Secretary of State secretly, supported no doubt by arguments and reasons from
the Government carefully concealed from public view, and now introduced into
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the Council to be passed by the official majority in obedience to instructions
from the Colonial Office. This method of Legislation was animadverted on in the
Petition to Parliament as being necessarily fatal to any real freedom of debate, and
the present Colonial Secretary has, since he assumed his present office, engrafted on it
a further obstacle to the free and open discussion in Council of all questions on their
merits. The Unofficial Members of Council, among whom alone any debate is
possible, are consulted out of Council by means of confidential communications and
are invited to give opinions and commit themselves in writing which, when the
measure about which they are consulted comes publicly before the Council for
discussion, tends very largely to limit the freedom of debate and prevent them from
availing themselves of the benefit of public opinion on the subject. They find
themselves tied down by their former expressions of opinion , as the official members
are bound down and restrained by command.
Until the Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council refuse to commit
themselves to views otherwise than openly in their places in Council and under the
controlling and invigorating influence of public opinion and of public criticism , there
is very little hope for a satisfactory Government in Hongkong, and very little
chance of obtaining from any Secretary of State what has been granted to the
population of Mauritius, British Honduras, and others, in such liberal measure, a
popular majority in the Legislative Council.
HONGKONG, January 20th, 1896 .
Sir,
We have very much pleasure in handing you the accompanying address of
welcome from your fellow - Colonists, which sufficiently speaks for itself, without
further comment from us.
Yours faithfully,
( Sd .) Geo. B. DODWELL .
( Sd. ) GEO. W. F. PLAYFAIR.
Address of Welcome.
To the Honourable Thomas HENDERSON WHITEHEAD, Unofficial Member of the
Legislative Council, Hongkong.
Str,
We the undersigned Residents in Hongkong beg to offer you a very hearty
welcome on the occasion of your return amongst us.
We are well aware of the immense amount of time and trouble which, during
your stay in England, you devoted to furthering the interests of the Colony.
You left here on a well-earned holiday, but as your energies were given up
during almost the whole of that period to public work in our behalf, we wish, not
only to tender you our thanks, but also to convey to you how highly we appreciate
the able manner in which you dealt with the subject of extended local self-Govern
ment, and the more intricate subject of the Trade of the Far East.
We believe that your speeches and publications will bear fruit at no distant
date ; and we hope that you may continue to interest yourself in the public affairs
;
of the Colony so long as we have the privilege of counting you among our fellow
citizens.
[ Here follow 280 Signatures .]
Mr. Whitehead's Acknowledgment.
HONGKONG, March 31st, 1896.
DEAR SIRS ,
Your letter of 20th January last, handing me an address of welcome from my
fellow -residents, was duly received , but pressure of business has, I greatly regret,
unavoidably prevented my sooner acknowledging its receipt.
Messrs. G. B. DODWELL,
and
G W. F. PLAYFAIR .
( 2 )
The Community's cordial expression of thanks, and appreciation of my
efforts when in England on behalf of the Colony, and endeavours to obtain for the
people their right to have some share in the administration of their Communal
affairs, are deeply gratifying. They were specially acceptable at the time of their
receipt, as I had then been subjected to what, I am sorry to say, appeared to me
and to many others, to be a deliberately prepared , unexpected, and utterly unpro
voked attack made upon me in Council in December last, by His Excellency the
Governor and by the Colonial Secretary because I endeavoured to obtain for the
Members of Council and for the public, information on public affairs to which they
were entitled and which the Government should not withhold but should com
municate unasked .
Will you bear with me while II try to give a brief history of the Petition to the
House of Commons. It aimed at obtaining a reasonable share of local government,
so far as was consistent with "Imperial interests. Such a concession would have
given the desired control over local and municipal matters, as well as a consulta
tive voice on Imperial questions, but such rights were to be subject to the
Governor's veto, the paramount control resting with the Imperial Government.
These privileges are enjoyed by other Crown Colonies, of far less importance than
Hongkong, viz. , Malta , Cyprus, Mauritius, British Honduras, and others. If
conceded to Hongkong and subject to the Governor's veto, they could be no more
dangerous here than the rights extended to the Colonies before mentioned, or to
the much greater ones of self-government in Cape Colony, where also there is
an overwhelming preponderance of the native element.
On my departure from Hongkong for Europe in May, 1894, further
signatures were being added to the copies lying at various public places in the
Colony, and Mr. Francis, Q.C. , undertook to forward the Petition in due course.
The Bubonic Plague developed at that time, and soon thereafter attained grave
dimensions, very largely in consequence of vast accumulations of filth which
official negligence alone had permitted. The Sanitary Board could not be held to
blame under the circumstances as the Government had persistently withheld from the
Board the adequate staff and machinery to carry on the necessary work , and effect
the pressing and urgently required sanitary reforms. Mr. Francis' time and
energies were completely absorbed with the responsible and heavy duties devolving
upon him in his position as Chairman of the Permanent Committee of the Board,
and, in consequence, the forwarding of the Petition was delayed. It did not reach
England until 24th September, 1894, when Parliament was in vacation, and the
House did not resume its sittings until 5th February, 1895 .
I may here be perınitted to remark that the Community is under great obliga
tions to the Members of the Permanent Committee of the Sanitary Board and to
the self-sacrificing labours of the soldiers, sailors, and civilians who voluntarily
battled with the disease, and for their invaluable services, for it was mainly their
strenuous efforts and theirs alone which broke the neck of the plagne.
Soon after the opening of Parliament Mr. HENNIKER -HEaton asked certain
questions, and presented our Petition to the Commons on 21st March of last
year. Mr. HENNIKER-HEaton's endeavours on behalf of Hongkong were many
and unceasing, his great services were most cheerfully rendered , and he thoroughly
deserves your hearty and most grateful thanks. At the Honourable Member's
special request our memorial was read by the clerk of the House, Sir REGINALD
Palgrave, though such a course is contrary to the usual practices of the House.
( 3 )
On the same evening I addressed aa letter to the Tinies, advocating to the best
of my ability your just and reasonable claims, but owing to pressure upon its columns
it could not then spare space. Shortly afterwards, however, a brief leader
appeared in its columns in connection with our Petition, containing inaccurate
and misleading statements. I thereupon asked for a fair field, and appealed to
the Times and the traditions of that great paper for a full and patient hearing.
The Colonial Editor granted me several meetings, mentioned that they regarded
their information as reliable when their editorial was written, and that at the
Colonial Office it was understood the Home Government had decided to grant two
more Unofficial Members on our Legislative Council. I was led to believe that if a
condensed letter was sent in, the Times would endeavour to find space for it, and
this, dated 10th April last, appeared in their issue of the 16th of that month.
Lord Ripon, then Colonial Minister, granted me three interviews, and at the
first of these I understood from him that two more Unofficial Members would be
appointed to the Legislative Council. At a later meeting His Lordship seemed less
decided, but he promised that two Unofficial Members would be appointed to the
Executive Council. He then further pledged himself to most favourably reconsider
our claim for the appointment of two more Unofficial Members to the Legislature.
On the 9th of May I had the honour of addressing the Members of the Colonial
Party in one of the Committee rooms of the House of Commons on the subject of
the Petition, and it is gratifying to know that we have the earnest sympathy and
warm support in our endeavours for reform , of many Members of Parliament includ.
ing Sir John GORST, Mr. HENNIKER-Heaton, Sir George Baden Powell, General
Sir J. BEVAN EDWARDS, Mr. ARNOLD FOSTER, Mr. W. W. MCARTHUR, Junior
Lord of the Treasury in the late Government, Mr. E. R. P. Moon, Mr. J. F. HOGAN,
the Secretary of the Colonial Party in the House, and others.
Mr. SIDNEY BUXTON, M.P. , Under-Secretary for the Colonies in the last Parlia
ment, I also saw repeatedly, and before leaving Home I wrote to him as follows on
18th May last :
“ DEAR MR. BUXTON,
“ On the eve of my return to the Far East vià America and Canada, I feel it
my duty to again thank you most heartily for your unvarying kindness to me
during my stay in this country.
“ I am returning to Hongkong with the full assurance that the small conces
“ sions foreshadowed by Lord RIPon, at the interview which His Lordship honoured
" me with on Saturday, 11th instant, will be granted in a generous spirit. These
are two Unofficial Members on the Executive Council , and two more Unofficial
“Members on the Legislative Council. This is not what the people of Hongkong
" asked for, but it will strengthen the Local Colonial Government and leave the
casting vote with the Governor. This small concession has taken a weight off
my mind, &c. , & c."
The lecture which I delivered in February of last year on “ The critical posi
tion of British Trade with Oriental Countries ” under the auspices of the Royal
Colonial Institute well repaid the labour its preparation involved , inasmuch as it
proved to me a no mean education on one of the most important questions of the
day, and provoked an exhaustive and weighty discussion.
At the first meeting of Council after my return, I asked the Government for
the correspondence which had passed between the Home and Colonial Authorities
including the Colonial Secretary's exhaustive memorandum on our petition, but
( 4 )
the Governor still withholds and refuses to publish the papers. From that day to
this nothing further has been heard of your Petition and no alteration whatever
has been made in the constitution of either Council.
Permanent Officials in Downing Street dislike the growth of any influence
calculated to decrease the powers and patronage they have hitherto so long exer
cised and enjoyed, hence their determined opposition to the British residents here
being conceded any share in the administration of the ordinary and local affairs of the
Island, and the cordial support they have received from the Authorities in the Colony.
The combined action of the Home and Colonial Officials has, for the present,
undoubtedly blocked the progress of our reform movement, which had the support
of the vast majority of Hongkong's best men , including those who have a close а
acquaintance with local needs and requirements. I refer more particularly to men
of the calibre of Mr. Thomas Jackson, who was among the first to sign the
petition, and who has rendered very important service to the Colony over a long
period of years. I well remember his informing me at the time that after careful
perusal of the petition he considered it a very moderate and a very able document,
and that he did not see how any independent man could have any objection to
supporting it. That the opinions and wishes of such men--the chief mainstays
and pillars of the Colony - should have been thwarted is to be deplored, but the
seed which has been sown, though it may temporarily appear to have fallen on
stony ground, will yet bring forth fruit in season . The worst feature is that we
are unable to ascertain upon what grounds the local Government have opposed our
Petition or for what reasons the Colonial Office staff have joined forces with them .
There is an absolute refusal to produce the correspondence which disables us from
meeting the arguments against us, either by denial, by explanation or by conces
sion. In spite, however, of temporary discouragement there is reason to hope for
some success so long as the conspicuously able and enlightened Mr. CHAMBERLAIN,
a man of action and a man of thought, a real living man, fills the post of Colonial
Minister.
Hongkong was created a Crown Colony in 1841, and Captain Elliot, its first
a
Administrator, wisely and rightly recognised that Hongkong could be made to
prosper,only by keeping sacredly inviolateits character as a free port, and by govern
ing the Colonists on principles of constitutional liberty. It is to be regretted that
Captain Elliot was called away for other service, before he could give full effect
to the principles on which he established the Government, and which unfortunately
have not been continued .
There are increasing and almost daily proofs of the pressing and absolutely
urgent necessity for a form of Government which will yield the British residents
some voice in respect of their communal affairs. Had this been granted in
bygone years it is possible that the legacy of insanitation throughout the city
which the present generation has fallen heir to might have been somewhat less
onerous than it now is. The system of Government established in 1841 may
then, when the Colony was in its infancy, have been the most convenient and
the most suitable. With the totally different and altered circumstances, and
the completely changing conditions of the times and things generally, the old
system has grown inapplicable. It is also much too expensive.
Sir William Robinson, in July 1892, publicly informed the community that
he had been the financial Saviour of three Colonies —Bahama, Barbadoes, and
Trinidad ,--that he did not despair of rescuing Hongkong from its financial diffi
( 5 )
culties, and of meeting with success in his administration . His Excellency also
held out hopes of being able to shew in a few months from that time a prospective
annual saving in the cost of government of $60,000 a year. Has any such saving
or retrenchment been accomplished ? No ; the cost of government has risen from
$547,650 in 1887 to $758,139 in 1891 , and to the unprecedented amount of
$983,352.86 for 1895. Instead of diminishing taxation it has had to be
increased, to meet the ever-expanding cost of administration, and the Govern.
ment's half-hearted advocacy of the interests of the Colony in respect of the
Military Contribution has resulted in Hongkong being saddled with an inequitable
and heavy charge far heavier than it would have been had we possessed the
advantages of a Municipal Council. See the memorandum of the Unofficial
Members of Council to the Secretary of State for the Colonies of this date.
The meanest Roman citizen had the right of appealing to Cæsar against official
oppression. In the modern British Empire the “ Cæsar ” to which we appeal is
public opinion . Against that force happily injustice cannot long stand. It is
studied by statesmen as anxiously as the winds and currents by sailors, and it
controls even Parliament itself.
The desire on the part of the Hongkong people for a reasonable control over
their Municipal affairs is most natural, for the sanitary condition of the city could
not well be worse than it has been and unfortunately still is, while ingrained red
tape and official routine is too much in evidence in most departments. The general
position and outlook does not tend to create or inspire implicit confidence, and
consequently new enterprises are thereby to some extent deterred from starting.
Trade and local industries already established cannot claim to receive the due
encouragement they deserve at the hands of officialism .
The belief is slowly but steadily gaining ground throughout the Colony that
the Community will not rest satisfiel until the British residents are allowed to
enjoy the privilege of managing their Municipal and Sanitary affairs. There is
nothing new or presumptuous in the movement in favour of Communal reform .
Every Englishman, as a matter of course, looks for the privilege of being permitted
to manage his Municipal affairs, as it is his inalienable birth - right, but it is denied
him in Hongkong
Speaking at the Royal Colonial Institute last month on “ National Defence,"
Sir GEORGE CLARKE said-
“ Burke plainly foresaw what has now come to pass, when he wrote
" I was ever of opinion that every considerable part of the British
“ dominions should be governed as a free country7 ; otherwise, I knew
" that if it grew to strength and was favoured with opportunity, it
“ would soon shake off the yoke intolerable in itself to all liberal
" minds, and less to be borne from England than from any country
" in the world . "
“ Free institutions established in the Mother Country must, as BURKE
“ foretold, be reproduced and extended in her Colonies ; but this
“knowledge was purchased by the nation at a heavy cost—the loss
“ of America. It is perhaps because France and Germany, our rivals
" as colonising powers, have not yet attained to freedom as we
“ understand the word, that they have so far entirely failed to create
“ a single real Colony.”
( 6 )
Summaries of several of the numerous grievances which the Mercantile and
Chinese Community have given expression to from time to time, and on sundry
occasions, commencing as far back as in 1842, are to be found in Dr. EITEL'S
recently published and most excellent History of Hongkong. (See pages 202, 225,
260-263, 322 , 507 , and 574. )
A Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed in March, 1847,
to enquire into British commercial relations with China, &c. The evider.ce and
the report are interesting reading, and contain a serious and weighty condemnation
of the administrative policy of the Government of Hongkong of that day.
The final report of the Parliamentary Committee urged upon the Imperial
Government the following, among other recommendations :
“ That a share in the Administration of the ordinary
“and local affairs of the Island be given by some system of
“ MunicipalGovernment to the British residents.”
Dr. Ertel in his very able History of Hongkong, previously referred to, says
at page 274 : - " As to a British Municipal Council, it has to be noted, that the
66
history of this period ( 1873 ) emphatically contradicts one great objection to it,
" which Sir G. Bonham formulated by asserting that out here in the East there
" is no leisured class, and that men of standing possess neither time nor inclination
“ to devote to the interests of the public. The long continued and varied activity
“ in purely public affairs, displayed during this period hy individuals like J. Dent,
“ Ph. Ryrie , J. WuITTALL, W. Keswick, and others, and most particularly the
2
“ large share of attention and time which the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce
" devoted to questions of general policy, gives the lie to the assertion that the com
“ mercial men of this Colony are unwilling to sacrifice their time and their strength
“ to the management of communal affairs."
In addition to these the following names may be mentione:l ---Sir THOMAS
SUTHERLAND, M.P., Mr. Richard Rowett, Mr. BULKLEY Johnson, and there are
others of whom any Community has reason to specially and justly feel proud.
Hongkong owes much of its material progress and importance to the great quali
ties with which Providence has endowed the Anglo - Saxon race, to the vigorous
and continuous development of these qualities by successive generations, to the
zealous industrial enterprise and the conspicuous commercial ability of its citizens,
many of whom shew an almost unparalleled record of unabated activity.
It is to be regretted that successive Governors have not deemed it expedient
to base their policy on the Recommendations of the Parliamentary Com
mittee of 1847 , or to administer the Government on popular principles, and
to systematically sacrifice the individual views of Departments, which could
have been done with advantage to the ratepayers as was evidenced during Sir
George Bonham's governorship, without any sacrifice to the dignity of the Govern
ment. The Policy of the Government in connection with Sanitary matters
generally, the Sanitary Board, and its reconstruction is unsatisfactory and is in
every respect unworthy of an enlightened administration, completely at variance
with the spirit of the times in which we live and move, and I believe contrary to
public opinion and to the wishes of the majority of the residents , and absolutely
opposed to the Recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee of 1847.
( 7 )
Public men do well to remember and to recognise the fact that the “ Press
is now a great social, political and moral power. It reflects public opinion and it
also reflects the nation. It appeals to the sense and the judgment of the people, and
its influence and teaching inspire the world . It cannot be disregarded, even by
the Premier of England if he would comprehend the character of our United
Kingdom or the nature of the processes by which the actions of a mighty Empire
are directed. The just criticisms and the just censures of the “ Press” are invalu
able. They are the mirror through which man can acquire knowledge and can
learn how to amend his faults, to avoid errors, utilise his abilities whatever they
may be, and make them more available for doing more perfectly that which his
hand findeth to do. The Hongkong Press has unanimously condemned the
Government's retrograde policy in re the Sanitary Board.
The Governor in his opening address to the Council in November, 1894,
said :
“ That a Sanitary Board meeting once a fortnight could properly control
" and direct such aa staff ( the Sanitary staff) I do not believe, and that
“ four or five independent gentlemen could be found who have the
“ time and inclination to devote several hours daily to such a task
“ is beyond the bounds of possibility .”
I would also earnestly urge and strenuously entreat the Government to look
to Shanghai and there see a system of Municipal Administration and one econo
mically managed, which inspires implicit confidence, and which is wisely directed
on thoroughly sound business principles by practical business men, Members of
the Mercantile Community and men of common sense, without the aid of a
Governor and without the expense of an army of Officials, giving good sanitation ,
unlimited freedom to foreigner and native, unrivalled expansion and prosperity in
local industrial enterprise , profitable results in every direction , and at every turn ,
not surpassed anywhere in the wide world , and very seldom equalled. As to the
quality and capacity of Hongkong men I would refer to the Colonial Secretary's
recent speeches, and the high character he entertains regarding them .
I would beseech His Excellency to reconsider the question, publish all the
papers in connection with the Sanitary Board's original construction and recon
struction, and endeavour if possible to sympathise with the views of the rate
paying community, and with what they deem to be best for their own interests.
Your hearty and welcome words of encouragement, and of appreciation of my
work, in spite of the many drags and the many clogs on the wheels of local progress,
will but inspire me with fresh vigour and increased energy. I realise in a deep
sense your having honoured me with a renewal of your confidence. In addition
thereto, it is gratifying to possess, as I conscientiously do, the full conviction that
notwithstanding my many shortcomings and the numerous mistakes I have made,
my actions have ever been prompted by the desire to do only that which I believed to
be most conducive to the public good and for the welfare of the community. While
I have the pleasure of residing amongst you , my fellow -citizens may rest assured
that I shall avail myself of every opportunity and will use every constitutional
means to help forward the much -needed cause of Reform in our antiquated
system of government. To endeavour to contribute, in however small a degree,
to promoting the general interests of the Colony, in which I have had the good
fortune to spend many of the best years of my life, is, I feel, my bounden duty.
Such work tends to fit man for a life of some usefulness in the future, and it is
( 8 )
assuredly a refreshing stimulus and a strong incentive to intellectual life. To each
and all of the signatories I offer my heartfelt thanks for their unexpected Address
and kind words of welcome. They afford me unmingled gratification, and let me
assure you they are deeply and highly appreciated.
Believe me ,
Yours very truly,
( Sd . ) T. H. WHITEHEAD .
6
8 1896 .
Leading Article from The ' China Mail ,' April 8,
Several months ago, the Lord Rector of Edinburgh University, the Right
Hon . J. P. B. ROBERTSON , Lord Justice-General of the Court of Session, and for
many years one of the ablest speakers in the Conservative Party, delivered his
Rectorial address to the students. The greater portion of his address was devoted
to “ The public value and public duties of disciplined intellect. ' He said that in
6
proportion as the mind of a country was driven away or withdrew from interesting
itself in the State and serving the State , that country was weakened and human
progress was stunted. It was in their quality of citizens that they must seek
to influence events. In urging the duty of educated man , he spoke not alone of
active participation in politics, for more indirect and subtle agencies were at least
as potent, but what was required was that in all available ways the light of
knowledge should be turned on the path of the self-governing people of the
British Isles, and the best aid given by the best minds. Every man's life had
its patriotic side, and his responsibility was not lightened but increased by the
degree of his mental equipment. There was due to the State a tribute or excise
out of cultivated intellect, and at present he doubted if the State got its due.
The Lord Justice -General spoke thus, doubtless, because he it was who engineered
through the House of Conumons, during the period he held office as Lord Advocate,
the measure conferring County Councils upon Scotland, which has since been taken
as the model of the County Council Act in England and the Parish Councils Acts
in England and Scotland. He has always been deeply imbued with a desire for
the success of popular government, and he concluded that historical evidence
furni-hed no legitimate ground for assuming that in Great Britain in the nine
teenth and twentieth centuries the people would not be led by its best thought
provided only they got the offer of it. We do not quite agree with the Lord
Justice-General in his conclusions . To those who have studied the municipal
administrations in England and Scotland (Ireland we leave out of the question )
it must be abundantly evident that there is a marked degeneracy in their personnel,
and the County Councils are gradually going the same way. The best minds
shrink from public life because of the tendency of the enlightened electorates '
to send into the Councils men in whom personal advancement and self-seeking
advertisement are much more developed than any aspiration for the well -being
of communities.
In Hongkong, there is the same repugnance to public life. The best minds
and the most highly cultivated intellects are not always at the disposal of our
own little State. We have no desire to disparage the abilities of the gentlemen
who at present serve the public. All honour to them for their disinterested
( 9 )
labours in the public service. But numerous opportunities have arisen for
supporting the representatives of the community, and we are sorry to have to
say that too many of these opportunities have been lost. It is, therefore, with
enhanced gratification that we publish in another column the public address
presented to the Hon . T. H. WHITEHEAD thanking him for the time and trouble
devoted to the interests of the Colony while on holiday in England. There is
no necessity to recount Mr. WHITEHEAD's labours on behalf of the Colony. Thanks
to the immobility and opposition of the Permanent Official, much of Mr. White
HEAD's labour has lacked fruition , but as he himself says in reference to the
extension of the principle of self-government, the seed which has been sown,
though it may temporarily appear to have fallen on stony ground, will yet bring
forth fruit in season .' We hope he will not be disappointed , and that the Colony
will yet benefit from his gallant efforts on its behalf.
The present is, we venture to think, an opportune moment for expressing
public approval of Mr. WHITEHEAD's efforts in the public interests. He is
endeavouring to get behind the scenes and to bring to the light of day the
circumstances that led up to the unholy alliance between the Officials and
a portion of the Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council in November,
1894, whilst Mr. WHITEHEAD was absent from the Colony. When these private
meetings were held to discuss the Government proposal to turn the Sanitary
Board into aa miniature Legislative Council, we stood alone in our denunciation
of the proposal and in our condemnation of the Unofficial methods, and we said
then what we will repeat now that the holding of these private meetings ‘ in the
public interests ' was the silliest travesty we have ever heard of in the annals of
Crown Colony Legislation ; that the public representatives, in justice to the
community, ought to have repudiated any invitation to discuss Government
proposals for the extinction, for all practical purposes, of the municipal element
in the Sanitary Board ; and that aa Sanitary Board with an Official majority was
not so well calculated to accomplish the sanitary regeneration of the Colony as
a Board composed mainly of Unofficials, with a staff of officers entirely under its
own control . Mr. WHITEHEAD is a public representative in whom are well
developed those patriotic qualities desiderated by the Lord Justice-General of his
native land. He is imbued with a high sense of his public duties , and does not
shrink from the discharge of these duties from any fear of Official odium or ill-will .
He is of opinion that there should be nothing in the intercourse between Official
and Unofficial which cannot bear exposure to the light of day and to public
criticism . We admire his courageous efforts on this Sanitary Board question, and
we cannot help thinking that his Unofficial colleagues must now be convinced that
they made a faux pas during the absence of the Member for the Chamber of
Commerce. Neither Dr. Ho Kai nor Mr. BELILIOS , howerer, can find their
position so difficult as does Mr. Chater. They safeguarded themselves to some
extent by the memoranda they appended to Mr. Keswick's reply on behalf of
himself and Messrs. Chater and McConachie , and Mr. WHITEHEAD may reason
ably look for support from them (Messrs. Ho Kai and BELILIOS) in any further
action upon which he may deem it exped
expedient
ient to enter. We trust Mr. WHITEHEAD,
having once put his hand to the plough , will not allow himself to be turned back
by official badinage or unofficial lukewarmness . The public outside the Legisla
tive Council have expressed their continued confidence in him , and we look to him
( 10 )
to prove that public spirit is not dead and that there are still public citizens , loyal
to the State, who are prepared to devote a large portion of their scant leisure from
the worries and labours of business life for the advancement of true reform in the
public interest.Mr. WHITEHEAD has a high ideal of his public responsibilities,
and we trust his example will have a beneficial influence not only with his
Unofficial colleagues but amongst those residents in this Colony, who, by training
and instinct, are well fitted to take active participation in the public affairs of the
Colony. 1
Fragrant Waters ” Murmur
That this Sanitary Board reconstruction business is now likely to shape itself in a
way the Colonial Secretary did not quite anticipate.
That when the Executive, upon finding a strong apponent who was bent upon fair
and open fighting, attempted to go behind his back and appeal to his con
stituency for protection from legitimate criticism , surely the case of the
Government is a very bad one indeed.
That, in their indiscreet haste, the Governor and his astute lieutenant have made
use of double-edged tools, and these weapons may now be found not only to
cut both ways, but to cut in much deeper than was expected.
That the obvious retort to the demand for Mr. WHITEHEAD's mandate is, Where is
the mandate from any other elected Unofficial Member who has ever supported
or opposed the policy of the Government in days gone by ?
That I am afraid the Colonial Secretary has not managed this murder of the
Sanitary Board with the cleverness and success which he so earnestly desired.
That, as I have said before in this column, the Government has never forgiven the
old Sanitary Board (or rather the Permanent Committee) for having demon
strated to the community that splendid work could be done without the aid of
Governor or Colonial Secretary.
That the success of that brilliant achievement was the death -knell of the popular
element on the Board, and any one who has watched the signs of the times
must know that all the strength of the Government has been ever since
directed against the popular element of the Board.
That the recommendation of the Retrenchment Commission furnishes a peg upon
which the Government may hang an excuse for their action .
That Messrs. KESWICK AND CHATER were two of the four members of that Com
mission.
That I have heartily condemned the manner in which the Unofficial Members of
the Council (or most of them) have yielded up the best interests of this
community to the Government, without ever consulting their constituents.
That this circumstance throws a peculiarly ludicrous or lurid light upon the fact
that the Government has now appealed to the Chamber of Commerce for an
authority to kill Mr. WHITEHEAD's opposition.
That the community may never know why their representatives gave themselves
away to the Government, and sold the people's birthright, upon the vital point
of popular representation.
( 11 )
That the so-called popular champions certainly had no right to do so, without the
fullest inquiry and without obtaining as many mandates and plebiscites as
they could possibly secure.
That, in face of this melancholy defection--a thing which the entire community
regarded with contempt - what can be said of a Government which tries to
discredit the remaining advocate of popular rights by appealing to the very
right which the residents ought to have exercised long ere now ?
That such fatuous policy can only be explained, seeing from whence it comes, by
an utter failure to comprehend the signs of the times.
That if the community does not now come forward and assert its right to speak its
mind upon the question at issue, then it should for ever hold its peace.
That I remember at one time I rather fought shy of the suggestion that Hongkong
should be governed by a Military Governor.
That, given a Municipal Council to act with a Military Governor, and I utterly
fail to see that we would be or could be in a worse plight than at present.
That the letter of Mr. WHITEHEAD addressed to the Governor, published in last
night's issue, is one of the best things yet done by the Opposition Member
only he could not possibly have missed scoring . – China Mail,
-
Extract from Petition presented to the House of Commons
shewing form of Government in operation in Hongkong.
Paragraph 4. Notwithstanding that the whole interests of your Petitioners are
thus inextricably and permanently bound up in the good Administration of
the Colony, in the efficiency of its Executive, and the soundness of its Finance,
your Petitioners are allowed to take only a limited part in the Government of
the Colony, and are not permitted to have any really effective voice in the
management of its affairs, external or internal. Being purely a Crown
Colony, it is governed by a Governor appointed by Her Most Gracious
Majesty the Queen, and by an Executive and a Legislative Council. The
former is composed wholly of Officers of the Crown, nominated and appointed
by the Crown ; the latter consists of seven Official Members, selected and
appointed by the QUEEN, and five Unofficial Members, two of whom are
nominated by certain public bodies in the Colony, while the other three
are selected by the Governor, and all are appointed by Her Majesty.
Paragraph 5. The Executive Council sits and deliberates in secret. The Legislative
Council sits with open doors, and its procedure appears to admit of full
and unfettered discussion, but there is virtually no true freedom of debate.
Questions are considered, and settled, and the policy to be adopted by the
Government in connection therewith is decided in the Executive Council.
They are then brought before the Legislative Council, where the Government
--the Official Members being in a majority —can secure the passing of any
measure, in face of any opposition on the part of the Unofficial Members,
who are thus limited to objecting and protesting, and have no power to carry
any proposal which they may consider beneficial, nor have they power to
reject or even modify any measure which may in their opinion he prejudicial
to the interests of the Colony.
( 12 )
Paragraph 6. In the adjustment and disposal of the Colonial Revenue it might be
supposed that the Unofficial Representatives of the tax - payers would be
allowed a potential voice, and in form this has been conceded by the Govern
ment. But only in form, for in the Finance Committee, as well as in the
Legislative Council, the Unofficial Members are in a minority, and can
therefore be out- voted if any real difference of opinion arises.
Paragraph 7. Legislative Enactments are nearly always drafted by the Attorney
General, are frequently forwarded before publication in the Colony or to the
Council for the approval of the Secretary of State, and when sanctioned are
introduced into the Legislative Council, read a first, second, and third time,
and passed by the votes of the Official Members, acting in obedience to
instructions, irrespective of their personal views or private opinions.
The Legislation so prepared and passed emanates in some cases from persons
whose short experience of and want of actual touch with the Colony's needs, does
not qualify them to fully appreciate the measures best suited to the requirements
of the Community
MEMORANDUM on the Military Contribution by the Unofficial Members
of the Legislative Council of Hongkong, submitted for the considera
tion of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
When it was first proposed that the Colonies should contribute towards the
expenses incurred by the Imperial Government in the maintenance of aa Military
Force in the respective Colonies, the inhabitants of Hongkong cheerfully acquiesced,
and the Members of Council readily voted the sum of £ 20,000 a year — the amount
originally levied on this Colony. When the Military Contribution was raised from
£20,000 to £40,000 on the promise of a larger garrison to be stationed here the
Council voted the increase without hesitation , and there was no opposition until it
was discovered that the enhanced contribution was claimed and insisted upon
before any addition had been made to the forces in garrison or any extra expense
incurred by the Imperial Treasury on that account. Later on when the heavy fall
in exchange, while leaving the sterling amount of the contribution untouched, had
raised its equivalent in dollars to an amount wholly out of proportion to the
revenues of the Colony , —from $ 254,211.00 in 1891 to $ 384,000.00 in 1895 ,-the
Secretary of State was respectfully requested to reconsider the whole subject and
to reduce the amount of the Military Contribution to a figure which would re
establish something like a reasonable proportion between the general revenue and
the military tax. The same question was raised at the same time in the Straits
Settlements and in other Crown Colonies, and was so strongly pressed on the
attention of the Imperial Government that within the last year it was determined
to accept from the Eastern Colonies a fixed percentage of their revenues instead
of claiming from them each year a sterling amount of an invariable character,
For the Straits Settlements and for Hongkong the proportion of the Military
Contribution to the general revenue was fixed at 17., per centum , and in the adjust
ment of the amount to be paid for the current year the question at once presented
itself in both Colonies as to what constituted general revenue . In the Straits
Settlements it was conceded by the Secretary of State that the municipal revenue
( 13 )
raised in Singapore should not be included in the general revenue of the Straits
Settlements for the purpose of calculating the amount of the Military Contribution .
So far as Hongkong was concerned the Colonial Office decided that the 17 } per
cent. was to be taken out of the gross total revenue, deducting only the amounts
received as premia on the sale of Crown Lands , and that there was no deduction
to be allowed on account of items of revenue claimed to be of the same class and .
character as those exempted from taxation in Singapore as being purely municipal.
Municipal Revenue is revenue raised in a city or town for the purpose of
defraying the expenditure necessary for the proper and efficient administration of
the city or town . It is levied on the inhabitants of the city or town , and no one
>
who resides outside its limits is called upon to contribute. It differs in this from
general revenue which is chargeable on all persons within the territory alike
whether resident in or out of the town , and which is applicable for all purposes and
not confined to purely local expenditure. As a general rule municipal revenue is
collected and disbursed by a different authority from that which receives and
expends the general revenue of a colony or a territory, but this fact is immaterial.
The true criterion of a municipal tax is the limitation of the area within which it
is collected and applied .
Although the City of Victoria has no municipal government , and although all
taxes are levied and collected by the general Government of the Colony, there are
nevertheless items of Revenue which are distinctly municipal within the above
definition and not general. The assessed taxes ( Police, Lighting, Fire Brigade,
and Water Rates ) afford a perfect illustration. Every house in the Colony pays 7
per cent. on the annual valuation towards the general expenses of the Colonial
Government . Houses in the Hill District and part of Kowloon pay 102 per cent.
Houses in the City of Victoria pay 13 per cent ., which is apportioned as
follows:-Police 82 per cent. , Water 2 per cent. , Lighting 1 } per cent ., and Fire
Brigade & per cent. The extra percentages are clearly Municipal Rates, just as
much as if they were levied by and paid to separate municipalities . They are
charged upon limited classes of persons, and for limited purposes, to defray
expenditure wholly incurred within the localities named.
The revenues derived from the sale of night- soil under contracts for its
removal from the City of Victoria constitute also a distinct item of municipal
revenue. The proceeds are applied solely for the benefit of the city and of its
inhabitants in providing for the cleansing of the streets and for the removal of
rubbish and dirt having no money value to the collector of it.
The Eastern, Central , and Western Markets are within the city and are solely
for the use of the city and its inhabitants. If a municipality were established here
the markets would be handed over to it as undoubtedly municipal property. The
rents derived from the letting of stalls in these markets is therefore municipal
not general revenue.
In like manner with other items. A careful examination of the Revenue
Returns and of the Ordinances under the authority of which many items of revenue
are raised will shew that they are only leviable within the City of Victoria and in so
far are distinctly municipal and not general revenue and therefore not fuirly, or in
accordance with the principle applied in the Straits Settlements, chargeable in
respect of the Military Contribution .
The fact of Hongkong not having a Municipal Council should not militate
against the Colony being as fairly treated as we would be if we had one.
( 11 )
The Unofficial Members of Council desire further to call the attention of the
Right Honourable the Secretary of State to one or two other points in connection
with the Military Contribution which were overlooked in the discussions in Council
on the subject, in view of the much greater importance of the question of Municipal
Revenue, and which in their opinion afford just grounds for a reduction of the
amount :
1. The 174 per cent . should be calculated on the General Revenue of the
Colony, less the amount recently raised to defray the Military Contribution itself,
otherwise the Colony is paying not only on its ordinary revenue but in addition
on the amount of extra revenue specially raised to defray the Military Contribution
itself .
2. The Post Office is an Imperial Establishment in fact, if not in name, and is
also an international institution in so far as it works in connection with the Postal
Union. It has branches outside of the Colony in various ports in China. It
derives a revenue from them and defrays certain expenditure on their account. A
large portion of the Post Office revenue ( so called ) is collected on account of the
Imperial Government or of the Postal Union, and brings no profit to this Colony
whatever. Such monies forin no portion of the revenue of this Colony and ought
to be thrown out of account, it is subınitted, in the calculation of the gross revenue
taxable for the Military expenses .
3. In the Estimates for the current year ( 1896 ) there appear to be items included
on the Revenue side of the account which do not represent any real receipts by
the Treasury. Several of the Departments are charged , for the convenient keeping
of the Water Account, with annual sums for the water they consume.
Post Office ......... $ 100.00
Botanical and Afforestation .... 600.00
Education 100.00
Hospital 1,000.00
Police ..... 1,500.00
Gaol ... 800.00
Sanitary, Water for Markets .. 2,000.00
Watering Streets ... 1,000.00
These departments do not, in fact, pay any money . If they do, it is money
out of the Public Treasury. Such items are only book entries and should not be
allowed to swell the gross total of the general revenue , for the purposes of the
Military Contribution tax.
4. There are other items to the amount of about $ 46,000 classed last year
as “ Appropriationsin Aid ,” and which were deducted from the gross expenditure
in order to arrive at the amount of revenue to be raised, but which are used this
year to swell the gross revenue. These are not in any true sense revenue at all.
They are receipts which render it necessary to raise less revenue annually. Such
as the proceeds of the convict labour in the Gaol . The amounts recovered from
Diplomatic, Naval, and Military Departments, Seamen and Debtor's, towards the
Gaol Expenses. The Contribution from the Imperial Post Office. The Grant-in
aid from the Admiralty towards the Lock Hospital. The Contribution from the
Chinese Government towards Gap Rock Light. Refunds of Police Pay, and of
cost of Police Stores, &c. Sick Stoppages from the Police Force, and other items
of the same character.
5. There is another noteworthy item which ought to be deducted from the
Gross Total. The Colonial Secretary estimates that during the year 1896 the
( 15 )
Treasury will have to refund to the payers some $ 15,000 out of revenue received,
i.e. , that the revenue to be received will be some $ 15,000 less in fact than he
estimates it at. These $ 15,000 should clearly be deducted.
6. Lastly, the monies raised annually for the payment of interest on loans, and
for the purpose of maintaining sinking funds for the re- payment of these loans
ought not to be made liable to the military tas . Such loans were raised on the
security of the Colony's capital in land unsold , in its waterworks, markets, &c. , and
are part of its capital. The revenues now raised from the Water Rates, Central
Market, &c. , are charged specifically with the re - payment of the debts incurred in
respect of the Waterworks, Market, &c . , and with the interest on the loan. The
amounts so collected are not Ordinary but Extraordinary Revenue, and will cease
and determine when the specific purposes for which they were imposed have been
accomplished. The Government is bound by a distinct agreement in respect of
the Light Dues, which interfere with the complete freedom of the Port. If there
is any profit to the Colony after payment of interest and after provision of sinking
funds that is revenue and clearly liable, but otherwise not.
The Unofficial Members of Council respectfully request that the amount of
the Military Contribution for 1896 may be reconsidered and that the Secretary
of State would be pleased to give specific directions on all the points herein raiseul.
( Sd .) C. P. CHATER .
HO KAI .
T. H. WHITEHEAD .
E. R. BELILIOS.
» J. J. BELL - IRVING .
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHAMBER, HONGKONG, 31st March , 1896 .
From the China Mail of 17th April, 1896.
MR. WHITEHEAD AND THE SANITARY BOARD.
QUESTIONABLE TACTICS BY THE GOVERNMENT.
The following correspondence has been forwarded to us for publication :
( The Colonial Secretary to Mr. Whitehead . )
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
10th April , 1896 .
SIR ,
I am directed by the Governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
Ist instant, requesting to be furnished with a copy of a letter which you under
stand was addressed by His Excellency the Governor to the Senior Unofficial
Member and which you presume gave the lines on which the Sanitary Board should
be reconstructed, and expressing a hope that the Government will not fail to
publish all the papers on the subject of the reconstruction of the Sanitary Board.
In reply I am to state that, though search has been made, no such communica
tion as that to which you refer can be found among the archives of this office, and,
as regards the publication of papers respecting the reconstruction of the Sanitary
( 16 )
Board, I am to refer you to the answer given to the question on this subject asked
by you in the Legislative Council.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
( Sd . ) J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, >
Colonial Secretary.
The Hon. T. H. WHITEHEAD, &c. , &c. , &c.
(Mr. Whitehead to the Colonial Secretary.)
Hongkong, 13th April, 1896.
Dear Sir ,
I have received your letter of 10th instant, in reply to mine of 1st idem , and
note that though search has been made for the letter addressed by His Excellency
the Governor to the Senior Unofficial Member giving the lines on which the
Sanitary Board should be reconstructed, no such communication can be found
among the archives of your office. Before asking the Government, I appealed to
the Senior Unofficial Member for a copy of the communication in question, but
Mr. Chater informs me that he is unable to lay his hands upon it.
Your letter further informs me that the Government will not publish the
further papers
I have asked for on the subject of the reconstruction of the Sanitary
Board. If any Colonial Office rule or regulation stands in the way of the Council
getting the benefit of the publication of the documents asked for, I would suggest
that His Excellency the Governor might telegraph to the Secretary of State for
the necessary sanction.
have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant ,
( Sd . ) T. H. WHITEHEAD.
The Honourable J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, &c., &c . , & c.
( The Colonial Secretary to Secretary, Chamber of Commerce.)
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
10th April, 1896.
Sir ,
I am directed by the Governor to request the Chamber of Commerce to be
good enough to state whether the opinion of the Chamber on the subject of the
Sanitary Board remains the same as that expressed in the letters of the Chairman ,
Mr. KESWICK, dated 19th October, and 12th November, 1894, and by Mr. McCo
NACHIE when he was representing the Chamber in the Legislative Council in his
minute attached to Mr. KESWICK's letter of the 12th November, 1894, or whether
the opinion of the Chamber has changed and is now the entirely divergent view
expressed by Mr. WHITEHEAD, who at present represents the Chamber in the
Legislative Council .
( 17 )
His Excellency understands that the purely British Members of the Chamber
amounted to about fifty, and he will be glad to know, whether Mr. WHITEHEAD
has received any mandate from those members as a body to oppose the views
expressed by the Retrenchment Committee, the Unofficial Members of which were
Mr. KESWICK, Mr. Chater, and Mr. Jackson, all Members of the Chamber of
Commerce, and by Mr. McConachie, when representing the Chamber in the
Legislative Council.
If a change has taken place in the views formerly held by the Chamber, His
Excellency will be obliged if you will be good enough to state for his information
the reasons which have led to the change.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
J. H. STEWART LOCKHART ,
Colonial Secretary
The Secretary , CHAMBER OF COMMERCE .
( Mr. Whitehead to the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce.)
HONGKONG , 16th April, 1896.
GENTLEMEN ,
I beg to hand you copy of a letter of this date, addressed by me to His
Excellency the Governor in part reply to a communication dated 10th instant from
the Colonial Secretary to the Secretary of the Chamber.
You will observe that I have ventured to question the assumption contained
in the Colonial Secretary's letter that in political matters I am the representative
of the Chamber in the sense in which the word “ represent ” is used in the
Colonial Secretary's letter. In all matters affecting trade and commerce I have
always consulted the Committee and the Members of the Chamber of Commerce,
and striven to represent their views, and I shall always do so. On matters
outside the scope and objects of the Chamber of Commerce, as is the question
of the constitution of the Sanitary Board , I submit that I represent the community
at large, and I endeavour to the best of my ability to ascertain the opinions of the
bulk of the residents, and to put them forward, reserving, however, my own
complete freedom of opinion. I deny the existence ofany “ mandate "” as un- British
and unconstitutional.
I much regret that the Chamber's late Chairman, Mr. KESWICK, should have
pledged the Chamber to any expression of opinion on a purely Municipal question
without first submitting the matter to the Members of the Chamber for their deliberation
and consideration, and first obtaining their views. At the same time his course is
defensible, as the Chamber might fairly claim a right to call the attention of the
Government to the grave injury that had been done the Colony and its trade by
defects in Sanitary Legislation and Administration generally. The question has,
however, ceased to be a general one, and the Bill now before the Legislative
Council is simply one for the reorganisation of the Sanitary Board and as to the
number and class of members by whom it is to be composed.
I humbly submit for your consideration that the course for the Committee
to adopt will be to reply to the Government that in the present form in which the
question of the Sanitary Board is now before the Council , the Committee has no
( 18 )
opinion, and it is not, as a purely commercial and cosmopolitan body, qualified to
express any opinion on a question of purely Municipal concern .
As to the suggestion that you should report on the opinions and actions
of the British Members of the Chamber that, of course, is impossible, as you can
only speak for the Association as a whole,, foreigners and British alike. If the
Government desires to obtain the opinion of the British subjects in the Colony, it
can very easily convene a public meeting.
Please note that I will send a copy of this correspondence to the local Press,
for the information of the Members of the Chamber of Commerce and the com
munity.
I am ,
Gentlemen ,
Yours very truly,
T. H. WHITEHEAD .
To the Committee of the
HONGKONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
HONG KONG ,
( Mr. Whitehead to H. E. the Governor.)
HONGKONG, 16th April, 1896.
SIR,
As a member of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, I have seen the
Colonial Secretary's letter of the 10th instant addressed to the Secretary of the
Chamber in which, by your Excellency's direction, the Committee of the Chamber
is requested to state whether its opinion on the subject of the Sanitary Board
remains the sameas that expressed in certain letters of Mr. Keswick's dated the
19th October and 12th November, 1894, and by Mr. McCONACHIE in a minute
attached to one of Mr. KESWICK's letters, or, whether the opinion of the Chamber
is now in accordance with the views expressed by me, who, in the words of the
Colonial Secretary's letter, “ represent at present the Chamber in the Legislative
Council.” The Committee of the Chamber, in the same letter, is further requested
to state whether I have any mandate from the purely British members of the
Chamber as a body to oppose the views expressed by the Retrenchment Committee
( the Unofficial Members of which were Mr. KESWICK, Mr. Chater and Mr. JACKSON,
all members of the Chamber) and by Mr. McConachie when representing the
Chamber, and to state their reasons for any change of opinion, if there has been
any change.
I have no doubt that your Excellency will receive from the Committee of the
Chamber of Commerce, in due course, a reply to your request for information as to
the present attitude of the Chamber with reference to the Sanitary Board and its
reconstitution, although there may be some delay,, as the Committee will, doubtless,,
feel bound now to call a general meeting to consider the matter, a precaution which
Mr. KESWICK and Mr. McConacule do not seem to have taken before addressing
the Government in October and November, 1894.
As to your Excellency's request for information as to whether I have any
mandate from the purely British members of the Chamber to oppose the views
expressed as to the Sanitary Board by the Retrenchment Committee, and Mr.
( 19 )
KESWICK, Mr. CHATER, Mr. Jackson and Mr. McConachie, I think it better,
after very full and careful consideration, to reply to you myself direct as I am
afraid that the constitution of the Chamber does not afford any facilities for
obtaining the opinion of a section of its members, and on a purely municipal, and
not a commercial question, and as, moreover, your request seems to be based on
certain assumptions to which I cannot at all give my assent and on which I may
have to ask your Excellency to obtain the opinion of the Right Honourable the
Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Permit me to point out that I do not, in the sense in which the expression
is used in the letter now under reply, “ represent” the Chamber of Commerce in
the Legislative Council. It is a convenient way of designating me, in compliance
with the Parliamentary rule that forbids the use of names in debate, to speak of me
as the Representative of the Chamber of Commerce, and although I am elected
and nominated by the Chamber of Commerce, I am appointed by the Queen, and I
represent on the Council, together with my colleagues, the general interests of the
community and not of any particular section of it. I am no more the representa
tive of the Chamber on the Council than Messrs. BELL -IRVING and Belilios are
the representatives of the Government on the Council, because they are selected
and nominated for the honour by your Excellency.
Neither has the Government, at any time, recognised the Member of Council,
nominated by the Chamber, as representing it, or entitled to speak on its behalf.
When the Government has desired, for any purpose, to ascertain the opinion
or obtain the advice of the Chamber it has invariably addressed itself by letter
to the Chairman or to the Committee of the Chamber.
As to your Excellency's reference to a “ mandate ,” and your request to be
informed if I have a " mandate ” from the British members of the Chamber of
Commerce to oppose the Sanitary Board Bill, may I be permitted to remind your
Excellency that only the Chamber as a whole - British and foreigners combined
--could give me a mandate, if such a thing were possible, and that I could not be
the mandataire of a section of the Chamber. But there is no such thing as a
mandate known to English Parliamentary practice. It is a foreign invention, and
a
Members of Legislatures in Great Britain and her Colonies have always refused to
be the mandataires of their electors . They have always claimed, no matter by
whom elected , to exercise their own intelligence on all questions coming before
the Legislative Bodies of which they were members and to act according to the best
of their judgment for the interests of the entire community and not according to the
views of their immediate electors.
As to the general question, my own opinion is that if the cominunity was
fairly canvassed on the subject, a considerable majority of the British residents
would be found to be in favour of a popularly-elected Sanitary Board, with adequate
powers and an efficient staff, in preference to any Board on which there was an
official majority, and I should be very glad indeed to co -operate with your Excel-.
lency in obtaining a plebiscitum on the subject. It will be an immense step in
advance in the methods of Colonial Government, should your Excellency think
well to apply it.
As to my own opinions I have expressed none as yet in Council on the
subject except in so far as I have said , what I think the Government admit, that it
is a retrograde step to have to change back from the popularly constituted Board,
established in 1888, to the older form of Sanitary government hy a Department or
( 20 )
by a Board with an official majority unless there are very grave reasons to justify
the step. Your Excellency has expressed yourself as favourable to popular forms
of government where possible. I am open to conviction, and if the Government or
the gentlemen who advocate the views and opinions of the Government, are able to
satisfy me on reasonable evidence that the presence of an unofficial majority on the
Sanitary Board was the cause of its failure, if it did fail to perform the responsible
duties entrusted to it, I am prepared to vote for its reconstitution on the lines of
the present Bill or any other the Government may introduce, but I can find no
evidence to that effect. The statement of objects and reasons attached to the Bill
now before the Council refers to the experience of the Plague year as justifying the
proposed alteration, and as the basis of the recommendations of the Retrenchment
Committee . I was not in Hongkong during the greater portion of that year, but
from what I then read in the public journals, from my letters, and from what I have
learned since my return, I gather that the Sanitary Board rendered during that
period most efficient service, and that, if never before, it then fully justified the
highest hopes that had ever been placed on it. It grappled with the plague most
promptly, most vigorously and most effectively.
I have been seeking, ever since my return to the Colony, for the evidence on
the other side, and I can find none. Your Excellency refuses to produce the
official reports and correspondence on the subject, and even the Secretary of
State's letter approving of the draft Bill. You have only put forward in support
of the Bill the recommendation of the Retrenchment Committee, and the letters
and memoranda of Mr. KESWICK, Mr. CHATER, Mr. BELILIOS and Mr. McCONACHIE.
These are mere expressions of opinion wholly unsupported by facts. They are, to
my mind, completely countervailed by Dr. Ho Kar's very full and very able memo
randum issued with the other papers. As to the recommendation of the Retrench
ment Commission I can only say that however valuable the opinions of the
individual Members who concurred in it may be, it ought not to carry any such
weight as attaches to the opinion of a public Committee investigating a matter
properly before it. It seems tome to have been entirely outside the scope of their
commission and, what is far more important, on a matter on which they had not
taken evidence . I have had the Blue Book report most carefully searched, and I
can only find six pages of evidence with reference to the working of the Sanitary
Board , as distinguished from the expenditure under the head of Sanitation, and
the Committee had actually no evidence before it at all as to the work done by the
Sanitary Board during the plague nor as to its constitution . The only clear
expression of opinion on the subject is by Mr. Crook at page 167, and he was
decidedly in favour of the Board. Such defects as were indicated and such opinions
as were given seemed to point more to want of executive power in the Board and
to want of a sufficient staff through want of funds, than to any need for the
reconstitution of the Board . The orly reform your Excellency now proposes is
the reduction in the number of unofficial members on the Board, and I want some
evidence that the presence of an unofficial majority was the cause of its failure, if
it did fail.
As to Mr. KESWICK's letter in the name of the Chamber of Commerce I have
already pointed out that it was written without consulting the Chamber as a whole
in any way . I find that the movement was initiated by Mr. KESWICK himself,
that there was, apparently, no discussion of the matter at any meetings of the
( 21 )
Committee, and that the letter, drafted by Mr. KESWICK, was simply sent round to
members for their individual approval, was disapproved of by Mr. MacKINTOSH
for one, received but a half -hearted and lukewarm support, and hung fire for a
couple of months before it could be got away. Being a purely political and
municipal question it was not, it seems to me, within the competence of the
Chamber to discuss. The Chamber had the right to call the attention of the
Government to the grave injury done to trade by the insanitary state of the Colony,
but it is hardly within its competence as a cosmopolitan body to advise the Govern
ment as to the constitution of any of the departments of the Government, or as to
the best methods of getting the Government work done.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your Excellency's most obedient Servant,
( Sd. ) T. H. WHITEHEAD .
His Excellency
Sir William ROBINSON , K.C.M.G. ,
gc., & c ., fc .
.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
wils
Folio 951.2 H757h
How a crown colony is governed : Taxatio
3 1951 002 098 505 9
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