CO129-606-2 Treasury control over Hong Kong finances 22-1-1948 - 9-12-1948 — Page 49

COLONIAL

On

Sift 15517/48

CIRCULAR

CONFIDENTIAL

DESPATCH

Sir,

OFFICE

22

THE CHURCH HOUSE

GREAT SMITH STREET LONDON, S.W.I

49

23rd August, 1948.

Financial Devolution.

I have the honour to enclose for your information a copy of a despatch which I have recently addressed to the Governors of African Colonial terri- tories, on the subject of the measure of control over the financial policies of those territories which will in future be exercised from London. I also

enclose a copy of a proposed Parliamentary Question and Answer, which would be given in the House of Commons as soon as replies are received from all the Governors to whom the despatch has been addressed. Some replies are still outstanding, but it is intended to bring the new arrangements into force before the outset of the next financial year.

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You will observe that the proposed arrangements involve a considerable measure of devolution, and a change of emphasis from the conception of formal control to that of informal yet effective consultation. The proposals originated in the Conference of African Governors held in London last autumn, and the final form of the proposals has been elaborated with the conditions of African Colonies particularly in mind. This does not, of course, mean that Colonial territories outside Africa are in a less advanced stage of constitu- tional and political development indeed, the reverse might in some cases be

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claimed but it does suggest that any extension of the proposals to non-African territories might involve substantial alterations and adjustments.

3.

For reasons which I am sure you will appreciate, I have been most anxious that the implementation of these proposals in the case of the African territories should not be delayed. and it is the intention, as I have stated above, that they should be brought into force in time for the opening of the next financial year. It is by no means my intention, however, that non-African territories should be neglected in this matter, and it is accordingly stated in the enclosed draft

The Officer Administering

the Government of

Parliamentary