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As Mr. Rowell explained to the Other Territories Sub-Committee at their meeting on 16th July, 1948 (2), the Bishop wishes to have a free hand to collect whatever school subscriptions he can.
It is interesting to learn from paragraph 3 of his letter that the Anglican Schools could take between $100,000 and $150,000 less grant each year. This implies either that the grants in Hong Kong are too lavish or that the parents prefer to contribute this sum of money to Hong Kong revenue by way of school subscriptions than by ordinary taxation. The Bishop's request for preferential treatment either by block grants or by any other radical revision of a code which has been accepted
other by every denomination in Hong Kong should not be
supported. If the Department considers that they would like to hear further discussions between the Bishop and Mr. Rowell I suggest that the first step should be to invite the Bishop to state exactly what freedom he claims and at the same time to explain the phrases in paragraph 8 of his letter on which he bases this claim.
I agree with Mr. Radford that the final approval and implementation of the amended code should wait the decision on the Bishop's proposals.
Li notorion.
5th August, 1948.
(2)
At the meeting of the Hong Kong Sub-Committee of the A.C.E.C. on the 20th July, at which Mr.Rowell was present, the amendments to the Code were considered and approved, although copies of (4) had not then been received. Advantage was taken of Mr. Rowell's presence to get him to talk to the Sub-Committee about the radical changes in the Code that are now proposed by the Bishop of Hong Kong. The idea was to give the Sub-Committee the necessary background on the assumption that the case for drastically changing the Code in order to meet Anglican wishes would shortly be received officially from the Government of Hong Kong and might well be referred by us to the Sub-Committee.
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Since then the Bishop, at his request, had had a long talk with me and explained the case which he has already put to the Governor in the first enclosure to (3). Bishop Hall said that, after the interview which he had with the Governor', the Colonial Secretary and the Acting Director of Education just before he left for Lambeth, the Governor suggested to him that he should come and have a talk with me alone and afterwards meet us with Mr. Rowell also present. At the end of his talk with me Bishop Hall asked that he might have a further talk in the Office at which Mr. Rowell should be present, and I said that I would try to arrange it.
I advised the Bishop to see that kir. Grace of Edinburgh House, as the non-Roman Catholic Missionary representative on our Advisory Committee,
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