October 7, 1901.]
times the width of the street upon which such building fronts,' and there can be no question that such an enactment is still of paramount importance to the sanitary welfare of this Colony."
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
287
city in the world; at any rate the most over- (Government he inforr ed that the Board is still crowded city in the East, to our knowledge. of the opinion that no balcony should be erected That being so, one measure to prevent the in future in any street less than 30 feet in overcrowding will be the opposition to this Bill| width." in the way suggested. If it is passed in the way it is now sent up for us to consider, it practically means that this proviso to Sec. 2 will | not be deleted or, in other words, houses can be rebuilt to exactly the same bright as those already on the site. I think the board ought to insist, as a Board, on houses-not being allowed to be erected to a height of more than one-and-a-half times the width of the street on which they frout.
The PRESIDENT--I will second that. Mr. CHATHAM-With regard to that matter, under the existing laws balconies can be erected in streets of 2 feet in width, so that the pro- an improvement in posed new law effects
It gives an increase of that matter also. five feet in the width of the street-and- that is a very considerable step forward. In order to get the whole thing through I recommend that here also we should request the Government to pass the new Ordinance as it stands.
The PRESIDENT- Surely it would be a greater improvement to havo it 30 feet instead of 25 feet?
Mr. CHATHAM-I don't agree, sir, with the proposal that has been moved by Dr. Clark and seconded by yourself. Dr. Clark, in his remarks, stated that the Bill simply continued the stutus That is not so. t present there are quo
Mr. CHATHAM-With regard to that, sir, many houses in the Colony which do not exceed
u height one-and-a-half times the width of the the balcony is a very mild obstruction in any street, but all these houses, under the existing street as compared with the verandah, and it is law, can be raised, in some cases, to a height of distinctly beneficial to the house. There is no about three times the width of the street on question of tat.bec ause it permits all the win- That is what is aimed at by dows to beh opened tothe floor so as to enable which they front. this measure. It is regarded as a purely tem- people to pass out. I think it may inter- porary measure which is to come immediately cept a little light and air, yet the benefits into force, so that the prevention of this great which accrue from it compensate for that defect. Mr. Chatham was then asked to put his increase of overcrowding that must result may be arrested. Everywhere at present old 'previous amendment in writing, and the That the houses are being pulled down, and new ones PRESIDENT read it as follows:
In Government be asked to pass the Bill in its of much greater height are being erected some cuses two additional floors are contained present form at the earliest possible date." in these new houses, and this Bill will effectually put a stop to everything of that nature. I will therefore propose That the Board request the Government to pass this Ordinance at its earliest possible convenience," and so render the raising of these buildings impossible.
.
The PRESIDENT-You propose that as an amendmen?
Mr. CHATHAM—Yes.
Dr. CLARK said-The members of the Board will have gathered from the minute which I havo written, and which has been circulated, that per- sonally I do not think the Board should support this draft Bill. It proposes to prevent any fur- ther increase in the height of existing buildings which may already exceed one-and-a-half times the width of the street on which they front, but it also contains a proviso to the effect that any house which is re-built may be re-erected to its present height. That is to say, that if we have now a four or five-storied house fronting on narrow street (and I have shown in my minute that there are many such) that that house can again be erected to the same height, although the streut still remains extremely narrow, and the dangers of overcrowding will thus be perpetuated for another 20 to 30 years (which is the ordinary life of a Chinese honse in this Colony). In other words, the Bill practically proposes to continue the status quo. We have at the pre- sent moment an enormous amount of surface crowding in this City of Victoria, and this Bill will do nothing whatever to mitigate it. It may possibly prevent its becoming much worse, but it will do absolutely nothing to remedy it. There are two cities lu the East which have the unenviable notoriety of being the centres of plague, and those two cities are Hongkong and Bombay. Until this last week I with other members of the community thought the surface crowding in Bombay was in excess of that in Hongkong, while it has been generally stated that the surface crowding in Bombay was, moreover, in excess of any other city in the world. During the last week, however. an Indian journal, published in Bombay, has been sent to me, which calls attention to the fact bad that Bombay may now relinquish the ominence" which she has hitherto held of hav- ing the most crowded areas in the world, for it is pointed out that whereas no acre in Bombay contains more than 760 persons, there are two districts in Hongkong which contain over 80. It is not a question moreover of one or two, acres only which contain this enormous popu. lation, but of no less than 50 acres in the centre of this City of Victoria, oach of which contains over 800 persons. The limit of safety per acre is generally looked upon as about 200 persons, so we must regard these districts as containing four times as many people as they should do. This Bill will not ab.te that surface-crowding one jot. I under- stand it is intended simply to prevent the run- ning up of additional stories to existing heights. If that is so, all that is necessary is to pass one clause to the ffect that
additional story shall be added to any existing house which shall raise the height of that house a greater extent than one-and-a-half times the width of the street on which it fronts." What the Board want and have asked for repeatedly is an enactment to the effect that "no house which is rebuilt shall exceed in height one-and-a half times the width of the street on which it fronts." I don't think there is any neccessity for us to go into the ques-that it refers to Clause 2 only? tion of compensation; it is one which does not I don't think, however, concern the Board. that we should as a Board approve of this draft Bill which has been sent down to us for our opinion, but that we should repeat our recom- mendations, which have been made perio- dically since 9th June, 1898, when we first raised this question, and brought it most strongly before the Government. I beg to move: "That the Government be informed that in the opinion of this Board it is essential to the sanitary welfare of the Colony that the proviso contained in Section 2 of the draft Bill be deleted." I have another resolution dealing with the question of balconies. Perhaps you may wish to let that stand over until you decido the first question.
Dr. LARK explained that he meant the status quo as regarded overcrowding and not as regarded legislation. The Bill as brought in would not diminiso the overcrowding. That was matter which concerned the Bourd.
to
* no
The PRESIDENT-Yes, I think it would be better. In seconding the resolution proposed by Dr. Clark, I would impress upon the mem- bers of this Board the necessity of considering this matter from a public health point of view There is no doubt at all that, as Dr. Clark has shown, this town is the most overcrowded
I
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It was then put to the meeting and carried by four votes to two, the President and the Medical Officer of Health voting against it.
Dr. CLARK-I think I am entitled to ask that my minute may be forwarded to the Government so that they may have some idea of what streets will be affected by this Bill.
The PRESIDENT-Yes. EMPLOYMENT OF ADDITIONAL RAT-CATCHERS. Papers notifying the approval by the Govern- ment of the employment of six additional rat- entebers and one foreman were laid on the table.
THE FLUSHING OF THE SEWERS.
The reply from Government relative to the r. BREWIN expressed his willingness to Hushing of the sewers and storm-water drains, second the amendment, and said he did not see and correspondence thereon, was laid on the why they should fight say of the Ordinance, table. The reply was as follows:-- because it did not deal with other questions.
The PRESIDENT-Practically this amend- ment means we are to be con.ent with a small concession, hoping that we may get a larger
one later on,
Colonial Secretary's Office, 11th September, 1901. Sir, Lu reply to your letter of the 3rd of last June. I am directed to inform you that there are at present 42 flushing tanks working in Dr. CHATHAM-It is a very big concession.
the sewage system, and that the question as to The PRESIDENT-Not from a public health the advisability of increasing the number will point of view. f Dr. Clark's motion is carried be laid before the Sanitary Engineer who is it will be a great improvement on the present being engaged by the Secretary of State at the Bill.
|
}
J. H. STEWART LOCKHART,
Colonial Secretary.
Mr. CHATHAM-I foresee many objections request of H.E. the Governor to examine into
aud report upon the drainage system. I have the honour to be, Sir, being raised to any Bill embodying the provisions |
Your obedient servant, that we all agree are desirable. I forseo objec- tions to its passing, and meanwhile this continual | raising of buildings is going on all over the city. If this is passed and no one has power to stop it. we can stop it; and make any recommendations At present every. we like to the Government. where the s.ate of the City is growing worse, and it is to stop this that I am anxious that! the measure should be passed.
Dr. CLARK —lay I ask the Acting Director of Public Works to make his amendment so
J'T. CHATHAM-I will agree to that.
The SECRETARY,
Sanitary Board.
APPROVAL OF ADDITIONAL BYE-LAWS, Papers were laid on the table relative to the approval by the Legislative Council of addi- tional bye-laws relating to the prevention of epidemic, endemic or contagious disease.
DISINFECTION OF INFECTED PREMISES.
23
Dr. CLARK, pursuant to notice, moved that Bye-law 8, under the heading "Disinfection of contained in Schedule B, Infected Premises of Ordinance 13 of 1901, be repealed,
Mr. CHATHAM seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
SUCCESSOR TO COLONIAL VETERINARY SURGEON.
The PRESIDENT, pursuant to notice moved that the Bourd recommend the Government to ',obtain, at as early a date as possible, a successor to the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, whose service expires on the 2nd proximo.
It being decided, however, that it would be better for Dr. Clark to move both his proposals, and to take Mr. Chatham's amendment as combatting them both, Dr. CLARK Said-With regard to the question of balconies, referred to in clause 4, it was only two or three: months ago that the Sanitary Board sent up a recommendation to the Government that no balcony should be allowed in future to be erected in a street of a less width than thirty feet. This Bill allows balconies in a street of 25 feet in width, and I think that the Board is practically bound to call the attention of the Government to this matter, and to them that they are still of the inform same opinion that balconies should only be allowed in streets of 30 feet in width.
This latrine is situated underneath the play- When you remember that balconies are 4ft. 9in. to 5ft. wide, and you have them on ground of Belilios Public School, the officials of
sidės of
they will which have lately complained of unpleasant your streets. both considerably decrease the amount of air and smells. In view of this, Dr. Clark minuted a ventilation in the streets. I will move "That recommendation that the excavation under the with reference to clause of the Bill the playground be considerably extended in area
Mr. CHATHAM seconded, and the motion was agreed to
A NUISANCE.
Correspondence was laid on the table relative to the Gough Street latrine.