CO129-534-3 Report of Retrenchment Commission 4-5-1931 - 19-2-1932 — Page 30

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question will be gone into further on the return from leave of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon.

Paragraph 33.

Government is in thorough sympathy with

the proposal to replace Europeans by Chinese wherever possible. A start is to be made to mention two instances only with

Department

Public Works/Overseers and Sanitary Inspectors. At the same time it is proposed to continue the policy of increasing the proportion of Chinese teachers and Chinese nurses. details are set out under the different sections of the main report of the Retrenchment Commission.

Fuller

Paragraph 35. This is not the first time that somewhat similar proposals have been made and the objections mentioned by Lord Ripon in his despatch No.135 of 23rd August, 1894 still obtain. Since that date the public has been brought into closer touch with Government through the various advisory bodies, such as the Sanitary Board, the Harbour Advisory Committee, the Board of Education and the unofficial "Residents Association" which are frequently consulted by Government, This process is growing all the time, but it will be some years before the Colony is ripe for a municipality on the lines of that of Singapore, and there will always remain the difficulty of reconciling political and municipal government in a colony as small as Hong Kong. There would inevitably be duplication which would be the reverse of that economy which is the aim of the Commissioners. It is interesting to note in this connection that the Members of Executive Council were not in favour of the recommendation in paragraph 35 of the Report on the Education department; a recommendation which would to some extent have municipalised' education,

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