CO129-274 - Public Offices & Others - 1896 — Page 501

495

Ꭰ Ꭱ Ꭺ Ꮲ Ꭲ .

the element which is least representeä

while it is also far the most numerous,

and that I should regard as valuable

any step which tended to attach them

more closely to the British connection,

and to increase their practical interest

in public affairs.

6.

As regards the second point, name-

ly, whether or not an unofficial element

should be introduced into the Executive

Council, I would observe that, whilst

most of the larger Crown colonies

possess one or more uunicipal Councils

subordinate to the Colonial Government,

in Hongkong there is no such institution

Mnevry

and that it seems impracticable to alter

this state of things for this reason,

among others, that the Colony and the

Municipality would be in great measure

co-extensive, and it would be almost

impossible to draw the line between

colonial