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of retail distribution in the long run, either by the hawker, or by the consumer, or by the general public. Surely, the basic approach to any question concerning hawkers should be a gradual, step by step approach to its solution. I see the itinerant hawker progressing to become a static one, progressing further into a hawker bazaar, and then becoming a stall-holder in a market. In the ultimate future, retail distribution will no doubt develop further to larger self-service centres. This is a long programme and we are concerned only with the initial stages of it. I would, however, question, even today, whether retail distribution by some sixty thousand individual hawkers on the public streets is, in fact, the most economical method of distribution. Would the income at present spread so thinly over a large and increasing number of hawkers not serve a better purpose if it were spread more thickly over a smaller number? There is also the hidden contribution made by the public as a whole by way of free space gained by the hawker, and lost by the community. And untold disorder, danger and inconvenience on the streets. I understand that the Public Transport Survey last year revealed that out of a total of three hundred and thirty-five miles of Urban roadway in the Colony, ninety-two miles were affected by hawkers. On a recent occasion when seventy-seven hawkers were moved, a total of forty-five lorry-loads of unwanted goods were carted away. These are formidable figures and give some indication of the undesirable use of public space that is incurred at present.
We hear much of the need for crash programmes. I heard recently, for instance, the alarming suggestion of a crash programme for the motor industry! But if a crash programme is needed in Hong Kong, it is in relation to hawking. I suggest that we should make a thorough survey of the present shopping needs of the public, with a view to reaching a more positive approach to the problem. I believe that a vigorous effort should be made to contain hawkers within a suitable space, pending their subsequent establishment in bazaars and markets. I suggest that a further effort should be made to limit their equipment, by clearing it away at night, and limiting it to what can be brought back each day. Assistance would certainly need to be given, in helping redundant hawkers into other employment. I should have thought it more fitting, that the first aim as regards hawkers, should be to keep in the forefront of policy considerations, the rights and economic needs not only of hawkers, licensed or unlicensed, but also of the public as a whole. I think I should at this moment forestall Mr. BERNACCHI and assure him that I am not about to propose an amendment to the motion before Council.
Local Government. Much has been said of the need for advance in local Government, and I share the feeling that progress in this direction is highly desirable. But we need to be sure that what we are recommending will really work. There is, for example, in Canada a notice exhibited, which instructs you "not to board the aircraft whilst in flight"!
I think that we should not lose sight of the purpose at which we are aiming. It could firstly be to achieve a more efficient form of Government. On the whole, I think our Government is as efficient as one could hope. Secondly, perhaps to provide an area of discussion where different sectors of the community can bring their comment to bear on Government policy. This, I think, is an important contribution, and one which Government could use to greater advantage. But of all the reasons for the extension of local Government, I rate most highly the need to give expression to the increasing demands of the members of our community, in particular the emerging youth. To say that Chinese tradition does not demand the choice of its own Government, does not answer the question. Our youth is emerging here today with different standards. Particularly when they return from education overseas, they must be expected and, indeed, welcomed to wish to contribute to their own welfare and to their own future.
I am particularly interested, in the two reports published, in the proposed voting franchise. In the Ad Hoc Committee's report, it is suggested that a wide roll should be established for the District Councils, but that a narrower roll should apply to the Greater Council, which would supervise the operations of the District Councils. This does not seem to me a satisfactory solution. I cannot believe that the voters on the wider roll of the District Councils would be satisfied indefinitely with this arrangement. Surely, they would in time press for voting rights to the Greater Council also. But much as I should like to see a strong Council with a Colony-wide franchise, I do not regard this as a safe solution for Hong Kong, in its present position. I believe that even the members of those formidable political parties, the Reform Club and the Civic Association, would view with some concern the likely entry into the arena of political parties with affiliations outside Hong Kong. For these reasons, I believe that we should aim at having a wide franchise to a number of District Councils, and achieve this object by stages, as suggested in the minority report of three persons in the Government Working Party's report. I should, however, prefer to see greater emphasis placed on the Joint Consultative Council, envisaged in this report, so as to strengthen the collective expression of District Councils, in relation to the central Government.
Urban District Officers. But there is, in addition, the possibility of a direct attack on the problem. A principal objective in the reform of local Government should be to improve contact between the Government and the people. The aim is to improve the understanding of people's aspirations and wants, by the Government, and to explain better the Government's actions and policies, to the people. An immediate way to achieve this aim is to hire men, and
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of retail distribution in the long run, either by the hawker, or by the consumer, or by the general public. Surely, the basic approach to any question concerning hawkers should be a gradual, step by step approach to its solution. I see the itinerant hawker progressing to become a static one, progressing further into a hawker bazaar, and then becoming a stall-holder in a market. In the ultimate future, retail distribution will no doubt develop further to larger self-service centres. This is a long programme and we are concerned only with the initial stages of it. I would, however, question, even today, whether retail distribution by some sixty thousand individual hawkers on the public streets is, in fact, the most economical method of distribution. Would the income at present spread so thinly over a large and increasing number of hawkers not serve a better purpose if it were spread more thickly over a smaller number? There is also the hidden contribution made by the public as a whole by way of free space gained by the hawker, and lost by the community. And untold disorder, danger and inconvenience on the streets. I understand that the Public Transport Survey last year re- vealed that out of a total of three hundred and thirty five miles of Urban roadway in the Colony, ninety-two miles were affected by hawk- ers. On a recent occasion when seventy-seven hawkers were moved, a total of forty-five lorry-loads of unwanted goods were carted away. These are formidable figures and give some indication of the undesirable use of public space that is incurred at present.
We hear much of the need for crash programmes. I heard recently, for instance, the alarming suggestion of a crash programme for the motor industry! But if a crash programme is needed in Hong Kong, it is in relation to hawking. I suggest that we should make a thorough survey of the present shopping needs of the public, with a view to reaching a more positive approach to the problem. I believe that a vigorous effort should be made to contain hawkers within a suitable space, pending their subsequent establishment in bazaars and markets. I suggest that a further effort should be made to limit their equipment, by clearing it away at night, and limiting it to what can be brought back each day. Assistance would certainly need to be given, in helping redundant hawk- ers into other employment. I should have thought it more fitting, that the first aim as regards hawkers, should be to keep in the forefront of policy considerations, the rights and economic needs not only of hawkers, licensed or unlicensed, but also of the public as a whole. I think I should at this moment forestall Mr. BERNACCHI and assure him that I am not about to propose an amendment to the motion before Council.
Local Government. Must has been said of the need for advance in local Government, and I share the feeling that progress in this direction is highly desirable. But we need to be sure that what we are recommending will really work. There is, for example, in Canada
a notice exhibited, which instructs you "not to board the aircraft whilst in flight"!
I think that we should not lose sight of the purpose at which we are aiming. It could firstly be to achieve a more efficient form of Government. On the whole, I think our Government is as efficient as one could hope. Secondly, perhaps to provide an area of discussion where different sectors of the community can bring their comment to bear on Government policy. This, I think, is an important contribution, and one which Government could use to greater advantage. But of all the reasons for the extension of local Government, I rate most highly the need to give expression to the increasing demands of the members of our community, in particular the emerging youth. To say that Chinese tradition does not demand the choice of its own Government, does not answer the question. Our youth is emerging here today with different standards. Particularly when they return from education over- seas, they must be expected and, indeed, welcomed to wish to contribute to their own welfare and to their own future.
I am particularly interested, in the two reports published, in the proposed voting franchise. In the Ad Hoc Committee's report, it is suggested that a wide roll should be established for the District Councils, but that a narrower roll should apply to the Greater Council, which would supervise the operations of the District Councils. This does not seem to me a satisfactory solution. I cannot believe that the voters on the wider roll of the District Councils would be satisfied indefinitely with this arrangement. Surely, they would in time press for voting rights to the Greater Council also. But much as I should like to see a strong Council with a Colony-wide franchise, I do not regard this as a safe solution for Hong Kong, in its present position. I believe that even the members of those formidable political parties, the Reform Club and the Civic Association, would view with some concern the likely entry into the arena of political parties with affiliations outside Hong Kong. For these reasons, I believe that we should aim at having a wide franchise to a number of District Councils, and achieve this object by stages, as suggested in the minority report of three persons in the Government Working Party's report. I should, however, prefer to see greater emphasis placed on the Joint Consultative Council, envisaged in this report, so as to strengthen the collective expression of District Councils, in relation to the central Government.
Urban District Officers. But there is, in addition, the possi- bility of a direct attack on the problem. A principal objective in the reform of local Government should be to improve contact between the Government and the people. The aim is to improve the understanding of people's aspirations and wants, by the Government, and to explain better the Government's actions and policies, to the people. An immediate way to achieve this aim is to hire men, and
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