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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
on its merits. In section 185, Sir, conce.ning, the obstruction in streets on which domestic buildings front, I think that any member who cares te perambulate a portion of our city in which these streets are located would come to the conclusion that they are undoubtedly re- stricted now by all manner of obstructions in the shape of stalls and accumulations of mer. chandise of all descriptions. In section 186 it is proposed to substitute the word building for domestic building as regards the maintainance of private stresis. I think that will com. mend itself to members, bзcause there are streets for instance in the neighbourhood of the Hongkong and Shangbai Bank which are very much used and from a publio health point of view should be maintained in as sanitary con- dition as other streets. Section 222 and 223 relate to steps which must be taken before any work can be commenced or resumed. Some very considerable modifications have been intro- duced into this section and they have been also recast and arranged so as to set forth more clearly what the provisions are in each specifio | case whether it is commencement or resumption. Section 264a is a new section which is very important as it delegates to the Building Authority the power of modification or exemption with regard to certain sections which is now vested in the Board or in the Governor in Council. It is felt that in many cases the modification required is of such a slight extent that an undue amount of delay is in- volved in getting plans through these two bodies. A great deal of time must nec ssarily be occupied in dealing with matters of that decoription by the present course laid down in the Ordinance. Section 267 is also an important ones it admits of the construction of simpler class of buildings which is intended of coaise to apply more to the outlying districts. The provisions of the ordinance are very large- ly framed with regard to the buildings in the city itself or the more populous parts of Kowloon and they can scarcely be said to meet in a satisfactory way the requirements where buildings are less dense and the developments are not as advanced as they are. With these few words, Sir I move the second reading of the Bill.
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never heard it suggested that med fcation should mean something less than was supposed in the clause in connection with which that term was used. One of the principal features of the Bill is the concentration under the building authority of all matters which affect the construction of buildings. The submis. sion of plans to the Medical Officer of Health which require his signature to the issue of certificates will be dispensed with and it is hoped considerable time will be saved in the passing of the plans. I propose only to refer to the principal matters dealt with in the Bill before the Council, because the objects and rea- sons of the Bill have been fully set forth both as regards the Bill itself and subsequent amend ments which bave been circulated to the mem- bers. I may say, Sir, it is proposed to withdraw the definition of external air in the section introduced because it would operate rather | harshly upon parties who wished to erect a building of moderate height who happened to bave opposite to this proposed building aa- other of much greater height belonging to some neighbouring owner. The proportion of floor space and cubic space per head is very mach reduced, Sir, in the amended Bill. The provision of a similar sort was incorporated in the original ordinance I of 1903 but withdrawn when that Or- dinance was amended at a later period. When certain other amedments which have been made in the present Bill are before the Council it is hoped that it will have greater effect and be found a useful provision. Section 101a-a new seotion-has been introduced to apply to existing buildings when they are being altered. The provision has regard to the thickness of walls which apply to new buildings. Under the present ordinance the requirements as regards the thickness of walls are limited to new buildings only. It is evidently absurd to reconstruct a portion of an existing building of less thick. ness than that required for new buildings, Another section—103.—is to regulate the construction of partition walls principally with a view to acquiring some more substantial form of construction than can be insisted on at the pre- sent time and with a view of securing the use of nonflammable materials, especially in places which are so densely populated as are many of the build- ings in this Colony. Section 107 refers to party The Hon, Mr. OSBORNE—To rightly under- walls. At the present time there are no restrict-stand the complex questions involved in the ions regarding the openings in party walls and Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, and t when a man makes an opening he does it where appreciate at their proper value the conclusions he pleases and in the course of time that opening arrived at by the Sanitary Commissioners,, one becomes a source of danger to the building needs, I think, to revert to the history of its Section 151 introduces some amendments as origin, to have followed the course of its deve
lopment and to be familiar with the events which culminated in this enquiry. The Colony of Hongkong, Sir, came into the possession of Great Britain at a period when, throughout the world, the principles of advancel sanitatio were little anderstood and even less practised. It came within the Empire as a prize of war; its sole value was considered to be its strategic position; its development as a trading centra was neither intended or desired; its future lay unplanned; its commercial propects unheed.d No wonder then, that neglected, unguided, it fell into evil ways and maturing in an atmo- sphere of drift, it bred the evils of congested areas, insanitation and disease. Not till 1884 was there any serious attempt to grapple with the subject of sanitation; not till the first outbreak of plague in 18 14 did the community awake to a realization of its danger, nor did off cial spitby, heedless of warning from Dr. Ayres and others, yield to a sense of its obvious duty, Then under the spur of panic, under threatened injury to its comme cial interests, the Colony attempted to do in haste what it ought long since to have done at leisure; it attempted to rectify in a moment the mischief of many years' growth, and it has now for some years past been paying in full measure the penalty attendant upon indifference and neglect. But whatever blame attaches to individuals, applies only to those who in the years previous to 1884 allowed these evils to germinate and develope The out- come of this state of affairs was the original and drastio Ordinance of 1903, described in the Commissioners' Report as the work of a novice. If, Sir, the deliberations of nearly ten years, embracing the recommendations of Messrs. Chadwick and Simpson, experts sent from home at the express wish of the public; embracing consultations with architects, medical autho- rities and lawyers; embracing the study of
regards the lighting of buildings of a greater depth than 40 feet as the present provisions in the Ordinance are found to be somewhat loo drastic and it is hoped this alteration will meet the requirments of the cale. The Amending Section 153 is based largely upon
the recommen ́stions of the Cubicles Commities
confer
which included four anofficial members of this Counci land one of the leading architects, and the proposals now made I presume will recommend themselves to the members of this Connoil. In connection with that clause it is proposed to introduce an an end ment with regard to houses on the reclamation but it will be limited to houses not exceeding one hundred feet in depth. Becction 153, which it is proposed to renumber as 154a, provides for a scheme for improving existing blocks of buildings. That scheme, Sir, if it becomes at all general will undoubtedly very substantial improvement in the condition of the Colony and I think the improvement will be affected at what may be regarded as a moderate cost. In section 175 it is rot proposed to delete the words by the owner." That has been a bone of con. tention on provious occasious. There can be no doubt that it was the intention of the original Ordinance that the space specified should be provided by the owners and the provision has been in force for many years. It is not peculiar to Hongkeng because it may be said to be universal that open Braces must be provided by the owner. Sealion 179 deals with open spaces and scavenging lanes. A few amendments are introduced to that, Sir, but I do not think they are of very vital importance. In section 180 the Government, Sir, are not prepared to accept a lane as part of the open space to be provided. The modification is contained in paragraph 8, section 1, and that is considered enfficient to enable each case to be dealt with
4.
(May 2, 1908.
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every known interest involved; references to India and other countries; the whole of them oollated and elaborated to suit local conditions; the whole of them discussed and criticised ad nauseam in public; if thi, Sir, be correctly described as the work of a novice, it would be interesting to know in what consists the work of an expert. The fault, now laid bare by experience, lay not in that the Ordinance was ill considered, ill digested; "but that it violated the great principle which underlies all sound legislation, and which is that laws should be based only upon experience and faut, and that the buman intellect is in- capable of creating them to fit conditions not yet known. ad this principle been observed, the Ordinance would have been framed with elasticity to deal with circumstances as they arose; and I submit that no amonat of tin- kering, no number of amend ng Ordinances will avail, until this principle be taken to heart and followed. Speaking from personal experi ence of plague measures, and conversant as am with the work of the Sanitary department . in past years, I cannot allow this opportunity to pass
without commenting, with your Excellency's permission, on the charges of incapacity and corruption levelled at the whole department in the Commissioners' report, especially where they say there WLS reason to fear that corruption and bribery extended throughout the staff of British inspectors. True it is that instances of corruption came to light during the enquiry, but so far as the evidence has been male public there is nothing in it to warrant such an assumption as that I have referred to: considering the difficulty of obtaining suitable men for such unpalatable work, considering that in the first instance Inspectors had to be garnered from whatever local sources were available, it would have been wonderful indeed if such an organization as the Sanitary department had been evolved at once without Aw and without fault; and if, Sir, corruption
indir.duals of
evidence be accepted as incriminating the whole, then very few of us are lift the first stone; for what business in the Colony is there which during recent years has not in some manner been victimised by the dishonesty of individual employees. Similarly, when wholesale charges of incapacit are preferred, it is wi not to allow details to unduly sway one's judgment, but to bear in mind the stupendous task which had to be perf formed nider conditions of difficulty and discouragement; in face of the obstinacy, ignorance and resistance of the very people on whose Lehalf these measures were being tried; then to give credit where credit is due, and frankly acknowledge the good work accomplished. But from beginning to end of the Commissioners' report there is not one word of approbation, not the faintest meed of praise; everything from the start has been wrongly done and practically the whole Sanitary staff are, by implication, branded either as ragues or fools. Of all the mistakes, Sir, that have followed in the wake of the Public Health and · Buildings Ordinance, not the least of them, I think, is the injustice, I might even say the cruel injustice, to thus bespatter the characters of those men who, whatever their faults, whatever their shortcomings, in the dark days following 1894 did at least fulfil their dorious and dangerous task to the beat of their ability and with loyalty to the public weal, do not say that none of the Commissioners strictures were justified. I do not deny that the Sanitary department needed reform; but I do say that in criticising the work of that department, allowance should be made for the difficulties that had to be met, and that it is aufair to judge to-day when most of those difioulties have disapeared. Sir, despite the utterances of some, despite the criticisms of the Press, and despite the findings of this Commis. sion, I believe the majority of men who are acquainted with the circumstances will declare unbestilatingly, that notwithstanding expense, notwithstanding mistakes and notwithstanding abuses, a great and lasting improvement has been effected in the Sanitary condition of the Colony; those who can testify to the evil slums and stench ridden streets of former days will not withhold praise when they pass through the clean and wholesome thoroughfares of to-day; those who like myself were wont to exhibit as
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