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The Hong Kong Sanitary Board plebiscite of 1896 took place in June 1896 to decide whether the constitution of the Sanitary Board should have an official or unofficial majority. It was the only plebiscite conducted by the Hong Kong Government on record. The other ''de facto'' referendum launched by the pro-democracy camp through the by-election in 2010 was not officially recognised. The result of the plebiscite was overwhelmingly for unofficial majority, however no constitutional changes were made for Sanitary Board, though the constitutions of the Executive and Legislative Council were changed as unofficial members were added as a result. The 1896 plebiscite could be seen as part of the first major debate on the constitutional reform in the crown colony during the 1890s. It was much earlier than the Governor Mark Aitchison Young's Young Plan in the 1940s and 50s and the rise of the modern pro-democracy camp in the 1980s. ==Background== The Sanitary Board was established in 1883 in responsible of improving the sanitary conditions in the city as the result of Osbert Chadwick's report in 1881 advised. Under the 1887 Public Health Ordinance, the Board was composed of four official members and no more than six unofficial members, and that four official members should be appointed by the Governor (two of them being Chinese) and two elected by the ratepayers who were on the jury lists of the election year. Two elections were held in 1888, 1891 and 1894 respectively. The bubonic plague of 1894 raised the question of the composition and powers of the Board. The Government's decision of appointing a Medical Officer of Health to the Board in 1895 was against the will of the unofficial members. John Joseph Francis, the three times elected member resigned, and other three unofficial members Ho Kai, William Hartigan and Robert Kennaway Leigh followed. The members of the Executive Council and the Chamber of Commerce were dissatisfied the sanitation and ineffectiveness of the Board. Prominent leaders including J. J. Keswick of the Chamber of Commerce, Paul Chater and E. R. Belilios were in favour of an official majority while the officers directly responsible to the Governor. Contrast to the abolition of the Board, Ho Kai represented another opinion of maintaining the unofficial majority and larger power of the unofficial members.〔Hong Kong Government Gazette. ''Reconstitution of the Sanitary Board.'' GA 1896 no. 116〕 Governor William Robinson shared the same view with the former, insisted that a Medical Department with a Principal Civil Medical Officer directly under the Government should replace the Sanitary Board. With regard of the reconstitution of the Sanitary Board, Governor William Robinson conducted a plebiscite in June 1896. Besides the reconstitution of the Sanitary Board issues, in 1894 there was a group of petitioners supported by the Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council Paul Chater and Ho Kai with 363 signatures asked for a further representations in the Colonial Government. They demanded: # 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. # Complete control in the Council over local expenditure. # The management of local affairs. # A consultative voice in questions of an Imperial character.〔Hong Kong Government Gazette. ''Amendment of Constitution, Hongkong.'' GA 1896 no. 251〕 In the letter to the Secretary of State Lord Ripon on 5 June 1894, Governor William Robinson addressed: Although the Governor and the Acting Colonial Secretary Stewart Lockhart, J. J. Keswick and E. R. Belilios opposed the reform, Lord Ripon agreed with increasing the number of unofficial members in the Legislative Council, introducing unofficial element into the Executive Council and creating a Municipal Council. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hong Kong Sanitary Board plebiscite, 1896」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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