}
6.
But I do not believe for one moment that such a restricted franchise would be acceptable to the
inhabitants of Hong Kong for purely municipal purposes. Nor do I see any reason why such a limited franchise should be necessary for such purposes.
7. If, at the present stage, an attempt were made to introduce a structure such as that outlined in para. 2 above and even if, contrary to my expectations, such a structure was accepted by the inhabitants of Hong Kong, on the basis of a limited franchise such as that at present proposed for the Legislative Council, I do not think that they would long be content with it for purely municipal affairs. This would lead to agitation for the widening of the franchise (probably to include other than British subjects) which, while we might be ready to concede it for municipal affairs, would not be acceptable for wider Legislative Council affairs. The result would be mounting dissatisfaction which we may well be able to avoid by the creation of a Municipal Council (separate from the Legislative Council) with a franchise which could be progressively widened to satisfy the growing aspirations of the inhabitants as their civic experience matures.
8. In this connection it may be mentioned that in our discussions in 1944/45 which led up to the formulation of the "Young Plan" for a Municipal Council, we were faced by a choice between granting a fairly liberal franchise, and severely restricting the scope of the powers to be conferred on the Municipal Council, or alternatively of conferring a wide range of powers on the Municipal Council and severely restricting the franchise. In the "Young Plan" an attempt
was made to strike a mean between these conflicting necessities.
9. Another point which I think should not be overlooked in discussing a possible structure for the Government of Hong Kong is that, in the New Territories, there are fairly extensive rural areas the governmental needs of which are not only very different from those of the urban areas but with which Councillors with/purely urban or commercial back- ground could hardly be expected to deal sympathetically. This circumstance was taken into account in our discussions in 1944/45. It does not in itself constitute an objection to a "Hamburg" structure for the Government of Hong Kong because it would be possible to limit the authority of the unofficial sub-committee of the Council to the urban areas. I mention this circumstance here however because I feel that a wrong picture is likely to be formed by talking about Hong Kong as a "City State".
10. It should also be observed that the local demand for a Municipal Council, with a franchise which would include non-British subjects has not been "abandoned". It has only been postponed until the whole matter can be gone into by a local Commission after the reform of the Legislative Council now proposed.
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19 Jan 50.