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political and social reforms should be introduced as early as poss- ible to bridge the gap between the Government and the people, and to minimise the areas of social grievances which the Communists can exploit. In this connection we recommend amongst other things, that the Government should pay particular attention to the New Territories, including the feelings of the people and their needs, and should consider giving one or two seats to the representatives of the New Territories on each of the Executive and Legislative Councils. We also welcome the establishment of a local Government system because we believe that through this machinery the people will be able to play a part in the administration of the Colony.
THE NEW TERRITORIES AND THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG
The importance of the New Territories in the future of Hong
Kong is self-evident by the fact that:
a) The New Territories constitute more than 90% of the
total area of the Colony
b)
and
The New Territories have approximately one million people representing almost of the total population
of the Colony.
By tradition and because of family and clansman ties the people in the New Territories are on the whole better organised and more closely linked than the population of the urban areas. Consequently, they can be a potential asset or a potential threat to the peace and order of Hong Kong. If they turn Communist the effect on Hong Kong would be tremendous. On the other hand, if they back up the Government as they did during last Year's disturbances, they could assist greatly in the maintainence of peace and order.
THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS
The present set up of the Executive and Legislative Councils leaves much to be desired. Neither Council is at all representative of public opinion because there are no elected members and the un- official members, being confined to a small number of prominent rich families in Hong Kong, are far too remote from the ordinary people in the street, and hence not aware of the problems faced by them. This is strongly felt by many people in Hong Kong and we recommend there- fore that the Government should not confine itself to a small circle of 'yes' men from a few families which became known because of the accumulation of wealth. Instead, great care should be taken to en- sure that only those who are truly able, public spirited and well- informed of public opinion should be considered for appointment.
APPOINTMENT OF LOCAL BOYS TO SENIOR POSTS IN CIVIL SERVICE
Despite Government's white paper on localisation and its de- clared intention to employ local candidates to replace expatriates wherever possible, very few local officers are now holding posts in
the civil
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