Paragraph 18 of No. 69. Life of Council.
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Paragraphs 19 and 41 of 69. Mayor and Town Clerk.
Paragraph 21 of No. 69. Official
language.
Paragraph 24 of No. 69.
Qualification of voters.
Singapore Council, that at least six months of the qualifying period of residence must be within the twelve-month period immediately prior to the date of the candidate's registration as a municipal voter.
9. For the rest, the qualifications which the Governor suggests are straightforward and present, I think, no difficulty in acceptance.
10.
In contrast to the recommendations for the Singapore Municipal Council that there should be yearly elections of one-third of the Councillors, the Governor of Hong Kong proposes that the Councillors should retire in a body every third year. The Governor's arguments are convincing and there seems no reason for not accepting his opinion.
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11.
His recommendation for the Chairman (or Mayor) of the Council is that he should be elected by the Council for one year who should also vote him an allowance. This also is in contrast to the recommendation for Singapore which is that the existing arrangements whereby a Government administrative officer is seconded to act as Chairman of the Council should be continued. paragraph 41, however, the Governor puts forward the | suggestion that an experienced Town Clerk should be
appointed in the first instance from this country. The appointment of such an expert with local government experience would meet the suggestion referred to in the minutes of 8.4.46 and 13.4.46 and on which the Secretary of State said that he hoped a local goverment expert would be consulted.
Sir G. Gater would no doubt be interested in this aspect of the proposals and might perhaps be willing to lend his good offices in securing a first rate and suitable man. With an experienced Town Clerk engaged from this country there seems no objection to the proposal to have an elected Mayor. The Governor expresses doubt as to whether the new Council ought to be committed to an important official on a long-term contract before it comes into existence. But I would have thought that it should be possible to secure a suitable Town Clerk for a period of something like three years and that if so the Council would hardly be ready to appoint its own Town Clerk in a lesser period.
12.
In paragraph 21 of 69 the Governor recommends that the official language of the Council should be English and not both English and Chinese on the grounds that relatively few persons who could make any valuable contribution would be excluded by such a decision. It will surely be the case that as time goes on those few will become fewer. Proposals for increased educational facilities, for the establishment of a British Council centre, and a public relation department and proposals in connection with the University for the training of teachers in English must all conduce to a still more wide understanding and use of the English language. think we can accept this recommendation.
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13. The Governor proposes that the qualifications of electors should bẹ:-
/(a)