A pure law!
а
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undertaking in time of emergency there appears
to be nothing more to be done since what we want
is power to secure that the undertaking is managed
by persons who will be loyal to the Government in
time of war or emergency.
The essence of the Ordinance in question
is contained in section 2(1) which provides that
"on any occasion which the Governor in Council may
consider to be an occasion of emergency or public
danger, he may make any regulations whatsoever
which he may consider desirable in the public
interest."
But supposing, for the sake of argument,
the management of these electricity supply companies to be in the hands of persons potentially disloyal to the Government, it occurs to me that no
Emergency Regulations Ordinance can be a perfect
safeguard because the damage might be done before
the Government appreciated the situation and had
time to put its powers into effect. The situation
with a British General Manager and principal officers in control all along would be quite
different.
Subject to any legal observations, I
think that a secret despatch might now be addressed
to the Governor, reference 14, pointing out the
object which it is desirable to achieve and how
far the Emergency Regulations Ordinance appears to
fall short of it; continue in the sense of
paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Sir J. Campbell's minute
of the 11th of March; and conclude by asking for
observations as to the feasibility of introducing
legislation to ensure permanent British control
and management of (a) the two existing companies
and
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