ENG-1959 — Page 28

REVIEW

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here. One point only needs emphasis: the new arrivals whose presence created so many of Hong Kong's difficulties have also, many of them, materially assisted in that successful change-over to an industrial economy which has provided the general pros- perity without which a policy of integration would not have been possible. Many of these new arrivals brought with them capital, industrial skill, technical efficiency, and in some cases even indus- trial plant; and these combined with the resilience and resource of the existing population, laid the foundation for a rapidly develop- ing industrialization.

In all the foregoing, the points to note in relation to World Refugee Year in Hong Kong are, first, that Hong Kong is already making strenuous efforts to solve its own problems, both in terms of money and in terms of available resources of skilled manpower and land; second, that these efforts depend on the availability of very large sums of money for capital expenditure-sums which can only be found if Hong Kong's economy continues to thrive; and third, that, so far as one can judge, these efforts are at least en- abling the Colony, in broad terms, to hold its ground against the needs of the rising population. Perhaps we are even making some headway, but no one could be satisfied with the rate of real gain. Unlike Micawber, therefore, Hong Kong is by no means just waiting for something to turn up to solve its problems. To con- tinue in Micawber's terms, we might even be making six penny- worth or so of progress: but the situation would clearly be still a happier one if we could make half-a-crown's worth. Hence, when Hong Kong received the news of World Refugee Year, those concerned with these matters here at once realized that the significance of the movement lay not in the relative size of the contributions which could be expected (for, generous as they promise to be, clearly they can represent only a small proportion of the scale of expenditure which has been indicated above)- but in the fact that at least some of the money needed to achieve a speedier net improvement in social conditions would now be forthcoming. In other words, World Refugee Year was important because it gave an opportunity to increase the all important rate of real improvement.

This thought led immediately to the corollary that Hong Kong should not use World Refugee Year funds on any projects already