CONSTITUTION AND LAW.
THE LOCAL LEGISLATURE.
ONGKONG was created a Crown Colony by Royal Charter bearing date April 5, 1843, and on the same day a Royal Warrant was issued appointing the Chief Superintendent of Trade in China, Sir Henry Pottinger, Bart., K.C.B., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony and its Dependencies. The Charter provided for the constitution of a Legislative Council, with whose advice the Governor was empowered to enact Ordinances "for the peace, order, and good government of the Colony," that would have the force of law, subject, of course, to the Royal veto. The constitution of the Government was subsequently amended several times by the issue of Letters Patent, but the alterations were of a minor character, extending the Governor's power of granting pardons to criminals and remitting lines, and providing for the administration of the Government in the event of the Governor's death, incapacity, or absence.
Upon the receipt of the original Charter of 1843, a Government was promptly organised, and an Executive and Legislative Council were formed, each consisting of three Official members, exclusive of the Governor. On January 11, 1844, the newly appointed Legislative Council commenced their sittings, and in the next four months passed on an average one Ordinance a week. Dissatisfaction soon arose owing to the exclusively official character of the Legislative Council, which, a local journalist declared, had no real power. "Such a Council," he added, "may suit the Pacha of Egypt, but in a British Colony it is shameful."
Various changes took place in the constitution of the Councils during the next year or two, but in spite of the continuous demands of the British community for representation, Sir John Davis refused during his Governorship (1844–48) to make any concession. The leading merchants of the Colony drew up a petition to the Home Government in January, 1849, praying for some form of popular representation on the governing body—a privilege which, it was pointed out, had not been withheld from any other British Colony. Nine months later, Sir George Bonham, who was then Governor, invited the Justices of the Peace to select two of their number for admission to the Legislative Council.
When Sir J. Bowring became Governor in 1854, the Legislative Council was presided over by the Lieut.-Governor, and consisted of six members—four officials, including the President, and two non-officials. In the following year a proposal was submitted to Mr. Labouchere, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for enlarging the basis of the Legislative Council by introducing four additional official and three non-official members, giving a total of thirteen members, exclusive of the Governor. Mr. Labouchere demurred to so great an enlargement, but sanctioned a moderate addition, and at the same time expressed his approval of the steps which had been taken in laying the estimates before the Legislative Council, and inviting their observations upon the items of public expenditure. The Colonial Treasurer and Chief Magistrate, and a third representative of the general community were accordingly introduced, the relative proportions of officials and non-officials being thus preserved—the Council consisting of six members of the Government and three representatives of the community.
Sir J. Bowring subsequently added the Surveyor-General and then the Auditor-General to the Council. This evoked a spirited protest on December 4, 1858, from the unofficial members, who pointed out that His Excellency had now arrived at the number of official members (8) proposed by him and disapproved by Mr. Labouchere, whereas the unofficial element, during the same period, had been increased by only one. The protest appears to have had no effect beyond eliciting an expression of opinion from Sir H. Robinson, who succeeded to the Governorship shortly afterwards, that for the future the official members should never bear to the unofficial members a greater proportion than two to one.
In the meantime, in consequence of the independent attitude which was adopted by so ne of the officials—notably by the Attorney-General and the Chief Magistrate—it was provided in 1858, by order of the Home Government, that henceforth they must either vote in favour of Government measures or resign their seats. The censure of the Colonial Treasurer, under this order, in 1865, for seconding the motion of an unofficial member to eliminate from the estimates the item relating to the military contribution of the Colony brought a protest from the general community, who urged that their three representatives were practically powerless when opposed to seven officials acting in concert. In deference to this representation, Sir R. MacDonnell, the Governor, on August 27, 1869, appointed another unofficial member to a seat vacated by an official, thereby reducing the disparity from 7—3 to 6—4.
Subsequently, however, the proportion fell to five officials and three unofficials, and, on February 26, 1880, the Hon. P. Ryrie asked whether the Governor would recommend an addition to the number of unofficial members on the ground that the proportion of three unofficial members to five official members, besides the Governor, was unsatisfactory. Sir J. P. Hennessy answered that he had already suggested to the Secretary of State that the number of unofficial members should be raised to four or five, and in the following year another unofficial member was added.
A small measure of popular representation was conceded by the Home Government in 1883, in deference to the advice of Sir George Bowen, the Governor, and the right of nominating one member each was accordingly given to the Chamber of Commerce and the Justices of the Peace. In opening the first meeting of the newly constituted Legislative Council, on February 28th of the following year, the Governor used these memorable words: "It will always be one of the most satisfactory reminiscences of my long public career that I have been able to procure a more adequate representation in this Council of the community at large. I am confident that the Government will derive valuable aid from the local knowledge and experience of the unofficial members, and I also believe that you will agree with me that there neither is, nor ought to be, any antagonism between the official and the unofficial element in the Legislature. All the members can have no other object but to secure the general welfare, and to advance the progress of the Colony." His Excellency went on to point out that the debate on the Governor's address at the opening of each annual session would afford the members the usual constitutional opportunity of expressing their opinion on the conduct and proposals of the Government, and he recommended the appointment of a Committee of Finance (consisting of the whole Council), a Committee of Laws, and a Committee of Public Works to examine,
