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public work that might be contemplated,
the effect in China would be to strengthen
rather than weaken the hands of the
Foreign Office.
3. I have given the matter very
careful consideration, and even apart
from the representations of the Foreign
Office, I should not be prepared to
approve the enactment of a Bill giving the
Government general powers to interfere with
private rights for the purpose of the
execution of works not specifically defined
in the Ordinance. I do not see that it
would be difficult for the Hong Kong Government
to enact periodically an Ordinance giving
the necessary powers for the execution of a
definite programme of works which it is
intended to carry out within, say, the next
two years, and which would be specifically
defined in a Schedule to the Ordinance. It
would be possible in the first of such Ordinances
to take any steps which may be considered
necessary