12
Mr. Carter
I agree with the line advocated in the attached submission, and
that the submission should form the basis of Lord Shepherd's brief for
his forthcoming visit.
2. I am sure that it would be extremely unwise for us to proceed in this matter with anything but considerable caution. It would to my
mind be a serious mistake if we were to move over to adult suffrage in
present circumstances in Hong Kong, and I therefore entirely agree with
the conclusion in paragraph 8. I am also very much in agreement with
the line advocated in paragraph 7. A further argument which might be
added to the brief for Lord Shepherd is the example of Gibraltar, with which he, of course, is fully conversant. For the past few years we have had in Gibraltar the Central Government and the City Council.
Both were co-terminus, and both were elected. It soon became clear
that there really was not room for two co-terminus authorities in
Gibraltar; and in the new Constitution which is to be published on
Friday of this week we have taken the opportunity, with the agreement
of all concerned in Gibraltar, of merging the functions of these two
authorities, so that henceforth we will have a single authority in Gibraltar discharging the functions of both the Central and Local
Authority.
3.
Hong Kong is, of course, vastly more sophisticated and complicated
to administer than Gibraltar. But I am sure it is as valid of Hong Kong
as it was of Gibraltar that there is no room for two co-terminus
authorities.
4. A further disadvantage of the Urban Council's proposals on this
particular score is that the Local Authority in Hong Kong will, naturally enough, contain a large elected element, whereas this is firmly ruled out for the Central Legislature. If a conflict were to develop on any particular point between the single Municipal Council proposed by the Urban Council and the Central Government, it would surely be inevitable that the Municipal Council would claim that they represent the "voice of the people" because of their elected element. 5. On a point of detail, in the summary of Mr. Dickinson's proposals
in the Annex to the submission, would the new non-mandatory and non-
exclusive powers in relation to schools apply to all kinds of schools, or simply to elementary schools? Perhaps this could be made clear in
the Annex.
ANS.
(A.N. Galsworthy)
27th May, 1969