10
ADVANTAGES
"I do not propose to discuss the material advantages of our association with Britain, save to remark that (as you all know) it s conferred, and will continue to confer, substantial financial and commercial advantages on both sides.
"I should like, however, to mention briefly some of the other benefits which we derive from it, though some of those can also be argued to have indirectly contributed to our material success.
"One of the most important reasons for our prosperity is
the initiative and enterprise of our manufacturers, traders and com reisl leaders, Those men have flourished because they know that, provided thoy kept within the bounds of laws which wore liberal in origin and humanely applied, they will not be discouraged or obstructed. They know that they may spook with complete freedom in public or in private, subject only to those restrictions on sedition and libel which may Community must accept.
"This freedom of thought and expression is essentiel to the full development of the human spirit. It encourages an open society in which ideas and enterprise develop without constraint and in which in eruity and originality can flower.
"It is the sad lesson of other countries that the repression of personal opinion le :ds, sooner or lat r, to bad administration, to civil unrest and ultimately to violence and insurrection. The British tardition of freedom of expression, which has been transplanted with such success to Hong Kong, is perhaps best illustrated by the way in which our mudin operate. They are loud and insistent in their criticism of persons, departments and institutions. In this they perform an essential function, by ventilating grievances and ensuring that the territory is administere in a humane and rolistic way.
"Allied