20. Lieut-Colonel Sir FREDERICK HALLasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, in connection with the Hankow Agreement the provision that three members of the municipal bureau shall be British would be complied with by the appointment of three 2048 Chinese or other Orientals not of British parentage; whether a director of the bureau has yet been appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government; if so, who has been appointed; what powers will be vested in the director independent of control by the newly constituted municipal authority?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONFor the first year the Regulations provide that the British members shall be nominated by His Majesty's Consul-General, who has accordingly nominated Mr. Charle-ton (of the Asiatic Petroleum Company, Limited), Mr. Dixon (of Messrs. Mackenzie and Company, Limited), and Mr. Dupree (of Messrs. Jardine, Mathison and Company, Limited). Thereafter the three British members of the Council are not to be appointed but to be elected from among the persons entitled to vote, who must be lot-holders or householders in the district and paying to the Bureau sundry taxes (land and house taxes) to the amount of not less than taels 25 (about £4) per annum. There is no reason to suppose that under this provision persons of other than British race would be elected as British members of the Council. The Mayor of Wuchang has been appointed Director of the Bureau. The Regulations provide that the Director shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the district and that the Chief of Police shall be under his control. They also provide, however, that the Council shall have authority to discuss and decide all questions connected with the management and administration of the district, and that resolutions passed by the Council shall be carried out by the Bureau.
Mr. BECKETTDoes the hon. Gentleman think it proper, in the circumstances in China, that members representing firms which employ Chinese child labour should be put on this Commission?