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Page 189 opinion as a whole is adequately represented in the unique processes of government the circumstances are creating. We thus conclude that institutional change is the key to the future development of Hong Kong as an urban industrial society. detailed conclusions follow from this perception of the problem.
Our
The
44. The first priority is thus in our view the extension of the policies of institutional change being developed by the present Governor. The expansion of the system of Mutual Aid Committees;
the promotion of natural leaders emerging at this
RE level to the Legislative, and later the Executive, Councils should thus be accelerated and thought given now to the next stage of institutional reform. Legislative Council may well need expansion to perhaps 50, giving approximately the same ratio of members to the population as exists in the United Kingdom. Such a move might in any case be necessary
to enable LegCo to deal with the increasing sophistication of Government and to permit the appointment of responsible Ministers with executive powers over some of the major government departments. It is improbable that representatives emerging from the lower income groups will be able to undertake the duties of LegCo and ExCo membership without payment; and it may be that the two bodies could become more
effective with effective secretarial help and research
assistance. Government expenditure for these purposes will need to be regarded as a necessary burden on the taxpayer. It would in any case be small compared with the cost of the Civil Service as a whole which
absorbs 40% of Government revenue. The process of enlarging and widening representation in LegCo will need to be gradual but if the Governor manages to effect the first step in June without difficulty (by the appointment of three or four additional members from a wider social background than heretofore) we must look for some acceleration of the process
between now and 1980.
/45.
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