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delep at ion 5
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Conference
2.
problem here, how imperative it is to alter the status of this Municipality without further delay.
39
Detached minds like Lord Hailsham, Malcolm Macdonald,
Lionel Curtis etc., who have recently visited Shanghai and who have
had an opportunity
-
some more, some less of studying conditions
here, fully realize that it will be many years before the Chinese are capable of taking over the administration of the Municipality of Shanghai and governing the city themselves; but that is no
reason why people should (as so many do) simply say it is
useless to talk about giving the Chinese any executive authority
in Municipal affairs until they are fully qualified to take over
these responsibilities. If we were able to do nothing else, we could
at least give them the opportunity for training and what better
"nursery" could one have than Hong Kong? It is to my mind regretable
that those who are responsible for the Government there apparently
completely fail to realize the advantages that would accrue to
the Colony and to the Nation, not only politically, but from the
point of view of efficiency and economy, of a broad and generous
policy of this nature.
Assuming that politics could be divorced from
Municipal affairs in Hong Kong and these two considerations
kept apart, I believe that by selecting the right type of Chinese
and at the outset appointing them to subordinate permanent positions in the Government, much of advantage to the Colony would
be accomplished. Take for example the Public Works Department: