Sessional_Paper_1947 — Page 9

5

REPORT

OF

COMMITTEE ON HAWKING.

B. EXPOSITORY.

1.

I.-APPOINTMENT.

ment.

In accordance with the announcement made by His Excellency Appoint the Governor in Legislative Council on 31st October, 1946, we were on 9th November, 1946, appointed as a committee to consider and advise Government on certain questions in regard to hawkers and the practice of hawking in the Colony.

2.

3.

The terms of reference remitted to us were:-

(i) To consider and report on the extent to which hawkers

perform a useful role in the economy of the Colony.

(ii) To advise Government whether any alterations are needed in the system by which hawkers are at present regulated and controlled, with particular regard to the means by which evasion of the bye-laws relating to the licensing of hawkers and to their activities can most appropriately and effectively be checked.

(iii) To recommend what facilities should be provided to enable hawkers in adequate but not excessive numbers to perform useful functions for the community without detriment to the public health and convenience or to the legitimate interests of other traders.

II.-PROCEDURE. COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE.

Just before the outbreak of the Pacific War a special committee of the Urban Council had been appointed to consider the hawker problem. The then Chairman of Urban Council had collected for the information of that committee all data and reports on the subject available up to that date, and fortunately one folio of these documents survived in the possession of one of its members, copies of which were made for the use of members of the present committee.

4. We began work as a committee at our first meeting held on 29th November, 1946, when the question as to how we should proceed was discussed. We agreed that we should first of all try to obtain evidence and opinions from all sections of the community, in whose interests as a whole we conceived that we must conduct our inquiry, and that this could best be achieved by:

(i) publishing in the Press, both English and Chinese, an invitation to anyone with views on the subject to present them in writing to the Committee and also to appear before it at his option; and

(ii) inviting certain individuals and organisations known to be particularly interested in this subject to state their views to the Committee.

Terms of reference.

Pre-war

material.

Collection of evidence.