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normal administrative organisation was restored as far as possible. Up to this time Government's efforts had been con- tined to the day-to-day tasks of rehabilitation and considera- tions of long term reform would have been neither appropriate nor practical, but the first official announcement made after the restoration of the Civil Administration looked to the future and was concerned with constitutional reform. At the cere- mony of the re-establishment of Civil Government, the Governor announced that His Majesty's Government had under consideration the question of the best method whereby the people of the Colony might be given a fuller and more responsible share in the management of their own affairs. He stated that he had been instructed to examine the whole question in consultation with representatives of all sections of the community and to submit at an early date recommenda- tions as to the way in which the constitution might best be revised on a more liberal basis. The Governor indicated that one possible method of achieving this end would be by handing over certain functions of internal administration, previously exercised by the Government, to a Municipal Council consti- tuted on a fully representative basis, which would give to all communities in the Colony an opportunity of more active participation, through their chosen representatives, in the administration of the territory. In the following month invitations were extended to a wide selection of representative bodies, both Chinese and non-Chinese, to put forward their views on the form which the revision of the constitution should take and on some of the questions which would be involved if they favoured the establishment of a Municipal Council. At the same time those members of the public who felt that they were in a position to express the opinions and wishes of any part of the community were also invited to express their views. Many representations, to which much care and thought had been devoted, were received both from public bodies and from private individuals, after careful consideration of which the Governor, on the 28th August, 1946, made a broadcast address to the people of the Colony. The general trend of the representations received having shown
shown that popular opinion favoured the establishment of a Municipal Council, the Governor in his broadcast address outlined tentative proposals for the formation of such an authority which, he emphasized, were meant as a basis for discussion and on which he invited further written proposals. In brief the Governor proposed that a single Council, having the urban area of the Colony as its administrative area, should be composed of two-thirds members elected in equal numbers by Chinese and non-Chinese voters and one-third appointed in equal numbers by Chinese ånd non-Chinese representative bodies. He also indicated the nature of the franchise, the qualifications which would be required of councillors and the functions which might be entrusted to the Council and spoke of the aim that the Council
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