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Q—Of course, I am not suggesting that you ought to be always inspecting. I put it in this way. Since you have been here, owing to the manifold duties you have to do, there has practically been no inspection of buildings-no regular inspection- either by yourself or by Mr. TоOKER or anyone else? It has been a dead letter?
A-I have simply to wait until they are finished and then I go round. I have not got the time to really properly inspect buildings.
Q-So that there might be any amount of bad work put in, and you are none the wiser ?
A-I know there are whole blocks of buildings put up at West Point and I have not had time to look at them at all.
Q-And the plans of these houses have been passed and the houses passed?
A—Oh, no, I have to pass them at the end.
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Q-So far as outward appearances go?
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A-I have nothing else to go upon.
Q-But these four men, could they actually say from outward appearances that the building was erected of good material all through?
A-Yes.
Q-Would they get over 600 houses each per month? Because it seems absolu- tely impossible that they could check the materials, in my opinion.
A-I think they could each do 100 houses a day off and on.
Q-And inspect them in such a way as to satisfy themselves with the material used ?
A-Yes. Chinese houses are all the same, and, therefore, the inspection is not
difficult.
Q-Yes, but they are not all Chinese houses. Out of this 2,400 houses, how many are Chinese and how many are European?
A-I should say 2,000 are Chinese.
By Mr. Thurburn.-The Public Works Committee made a recommendation, which is supposed to be coming into force, that architects should be obliged to see that the proper work is put in the house, and that only architects with certain certificates should be allowed to practise here, and that it should be made incumbent upon every Chinaman erecting a house to employ an architect. The reason that decision was come to was that it was considered absolutely impossible for the Public Works Department to carry out the work unless they had a very large staff. You don't seem to be of that opinion?
A-I think four men might do.
Q-How do you explain this? You have just told us a Clerk of Works has to be on one building all day long to see how the material is laid, and then you say one man can go over 100 houses a day. I want to know how one man can go over 100 build- ings a day and satisfy himself?
A-As a Clerk of Works, I pictured to myself a place like Queen's Buildings, Government House or such a place. Of course it is one man's time there to keep weights, check material and do detail drawings, etc.
By Mr. Shewan. But you don't consider that you are a Clerk of Works?
A--Simply.