CO537-1651 — Page 138

ENCLOSURE 5 (Paragraph 10)

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BROADCAST 28th AUGUST,

1946

The subject on which I am addressing you today is the proposed

revision of the Constitution of Hong Kong.

It is, as you know, the declared intention of His Majesty's

Government to carry out such a revision for the purpose of giving the

citizens of Hong Kong a fuller and more responsible share in the

management of their own affairs, and it was concerning this intention

and this purpose that I was authorized to make a public announcement

when I returned to Hong Kong in May last. I am going to quote to you

one paragraph from that announcement:

"Before a decision is taken on the methods of giving

effect to the intentions of His Majesty's Government, it is

considered essential that the important issues involved

should be thoroughly examined in Hong Kong itself, the fullest

account being taken of the views and wishes of the inhabitants."

The examination of these issues and the ascertainment of the views and

wishes of the inhabitants have by now reached a stage which enables me

to make to the public something in the nature of a progress report, and

it is for that purpose that I am speaking to you today.

The first step that I took was to invite public bodies and

associations, as well as individual members of the public, to express

their views on the general question of the revision of the constitution

and in particular to say whether they favoured the proposal that certain

administrative functions should be transferred from the Central

Government to a representative Municipal Council. They were asked, if

they did favour this proposal, to give their views in some detail on

various questions such as the manner in which the Council should be

formed, the qualifications of both Councillors and electors, the functions

which might appropriately be transferred by the Government to the Council,

and other important points.

Before I proceed to analyse or comment upon the replies which have

been received in response to this invitation, I wish to acknowledge with

great appreciation the amount of trouble that has been taken and the

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