CO537-2188 — Page 355

No.105

CONFIDENTIAL

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONG KONG.

29th

April, 1947.

47.

(69)

Sir,

With reference to my despatch No. 145 of

22nd October, 1946, and connected correspondence regarding

agile the establishment of a Municipal Council in Hong Kong, I

RECEIVED

9 MAY 1947

C. O. REGI

have the honour to enclose a copy of a minute written by

Mr. Hazlerigg before his departure from the Colony dealing

with the question of the practical steps which form a

necessary preliminary to the setting up of the proposed

Council.

2.

Some preliminary work has already been done in

regard to the survey of the Municipal area with a view

to determining the boundaries of voting wards but much

practical work remains to be tackled before a Municipal

Council can be brought into being on the lines proposed.

3. It is in my view of the utmost importance to

ensure that the groundwork of these important constitutionɛ]]

changes should be soundly laid, more especially as they

depend upon procedures and principles novel in this area.

For this purpose I endorse Mr. Hazlerigg's proposal that

an experienced Town Clerk from the United Kingdom should

be engaged for a period of about two years to supervise

the establishment of Municipal government in this Colony:

and I shall be grateful if immediate steps may be taken

to select and engage a suitable officer. No doubt Mr.

Hazlerigg would be willing to assist in the task of

selection.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

ARTHUR CREECH JONES, P.C., M.P.

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