498
3
Lordship's despatches in which you inquire whether the Jani tary Board
may
not be the
nucleus of a Municipal ~ Council, I have the honour
that in my
my
resi
to inform you opinion, which is shared by falmost all the leading
·dents of this Colony, the es- tablishment of a municipal- ity in Hongkong is not desir.
able even
if it were practicable.
There is no leisured class a-
mong
the European
com-t
munity
munity with sufficient spare time to devote to the affairs
of a municipal Council and, the Chinese population,
among
the
very few Chinese gentle- men who might be capable
would refuse to
of serving wont
act.
There are also grave
objections to
to any body in- dependent of the Government being entrusted with the~ raising and spending of. funds, which
which would be -
mainly