5
universally, thought that it would be undesirable to bring these within
the administrative area of a Municipal Council at any rate in its early
stages. I concur in this view. The interests of these rural districts
are well served under the District Officer system and it would be difficult
to ensure such representation as would be likely satisfactorily to protect
these interests in a Council which would be mairly preoccupied with urban
affairs.
It must be recognized that the exclusion of these rural districts
from the Council's administrative area will give rise to a number of
problems if the duplication of staffs in essential services such as roads
and water sumplies is to be avoided. Similarly most careful consideration
will have to be given to the arrangements for education and for the maintenance
of medical and sanitary services in the New Territories when these services
are transferred to the Council. I have no doubt however that when the time
comes it will be quite possible to arrive at satisfactory arrangements for
the continuance and expansion of the existing services in the New Territories
by co-operation between the Central Government and the Municipal Council.
14.
There are wide differences of opinion as to the number of members
to be appointed to the Council. My original suggestion was that it should
consist of forty-eight members. The numbers suggested by others have ranged
from fifteen to one hundred, but the weight of opinion is distinctly in
favour of a smaller number than that proposed by me. The suggestion that
there should be forty-eight members has been opposed on two grounds. The
first that a Council so composed would be unwieldy and unworkable, and the
second that it is unlikely that forty eight men able and qualified to serve
would be forthcoming. When suggesting this number I had in mind two main
considerations. The first was that there should be an adequate number of
elected representatives for wards which in all would contain considerably
more than a million persons. The second was that I felt that a substantially
smaller number would involve the Councillors in so much work on the Council's
Committees that many valuable men might not come forward as candidates
It has been
because of the likelihood of excessive demands on their time.
suggested that this latter difficulty might be met by keeping the number of