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Extract from letter from Mr.T.Hazlerigg to ir. Roberts-Wray, dated 25th Oct.1946.
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I think I must be suffering fro writer's cramp after our efforts on constitutional reform! The despatches were sent off to England a day or two ago and I expect will go to you for consideration whereon God help you!
I do not know what is the procedure in the se matters. My feeling is, of course, that the best procedure would be for the Legal Adviser to the Colonial Office to take the whole matter out of the hands of the local people and prepare all the necessary legislation, but perhaps this is too much to hope for,
Just in case the legislation has to be prepared in Hong Kong, I wonder whether you could possibly send us some precedents of the constitutions of various Colonial Municipalities. This is something entirely new to us and I should hardly know where to begin. I rather envisage a couple of Ordinances one dealing with the form of the constitution and the other covering the electoral law, franchise, corrupt and illegal practices (as to which we have no law here), and all that sort of stuff. I have not made any real study of this side of the matter and it would be immensely helpful to us to have precedents if you could send them. There will be terrible snags arising out of local conditions, which we shall have to overcome by some means or other.
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