CO537-2188 — Page 362

A.

Registration Staff.

A senior officer, well versed in the

franchise requirements, will be needed to organize

the whole of the registration.

Deputy registration officers will be

required for (1) each ward for the Chinese electors

and (ii) for an office on each side of the harbour

for non-Chinese electors.

In the absence of knowledge of the number

of electors one can only guess what junior staff will

be required either at the central office or in the

ward offices.

I should say that there must be at the

central registration office one man, preferably

European, with a first class knowledge of the whole

of the Municipal Area and with the ability to speak

Chinese fluently. (One had hoped that this most

important post might be filled by Mr. Brewer). There

must also be a first class interpreter, a stenographer

and two or more clerks able to type.

The deputy registration officers in the

wards must be intelligent officers with good know-

ledge of their respective districts and of sound

judgment and the ability to make decisions.

They

will have to familiarize themselves with the terms

governing the franchise, and be able to assist

persons to fill up their forms of application.

On these officers will rest the

responsibility of deciding whether a person's

qualifications are in order or whether the

application for registration must be rejected.