Anowlan
Enclosure 2 m
However,
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if blame is to be attached to the Government in the past I am determined at all events that it shall not be attached to the Government in the future, and with this object I have asked the Attorney-General to prepare a Bill the main principle of which I will endeavour to explain to you as shortly as possible. As stated by Mr. Leach just now, that very able and energetic member of the community, Mr. Francis, Q.C., has shown the greatest ability and energy in grappling with all the correspondence and many difficulties which have arisen out of this epidemic. That learned ... has promised to assist in preparing a bill which I hope will render a recurrence of such an epidemic as the one now with us impossible in the future. This Bill will of course be of a very drastic character. It will give the Government - this is of course simply what we propose - it will give the Government power to enter into immediate possession of, and pull down, and destroy, all dwelling houses and blocks of houses unfit for human habitation. It will provide that the Government shall at once resume the possession of all land on which such dwellings are built, paying of course compensation for so doing. It will provide that the Government shall have power to enter all houses now insanitary, though capable of being put into thoroughly sanitary condition. Owners will be compelled to amend all such defects in the houses as render them insanitary. The Government will have power to re-survey and re-arrange all lots so taken, and open new roads and improve the old ones. Power will also be taken to enter and inspect all Chinese houses; such houses will be numbered and classified, and a fixed number of tenants will be allotted to each house and room, and owners will be obliged to enter into a covenant that that number shall not in any case be exceeded; any infraction of that covenant will of course be followed by heavy penalties. There are naturally and necessarily many questions of detail; questions, for instance, of providing for those removed from infected districts, questions dealing with the rights of mortgagees and lessees, and questions of awarding compensation; but roughly speaking the main features of the Bill are those I have endeavoured to describe. With an Ordinance of this sort in force I need hardly tell you that Taipingshan and a great many streets not in Taipingshan will probably be razed to the ground and re-erected on proper sanitary principles. You will understand that such a measure as this affects many existing interests and will be of a very complicated character, and necessarily the Attorney-General, even with the assistance of Mr. Francis, will require some considerable time in which to prepare it. I can only hope, however, that he will not keep us long in suspense, for I think that the old adage "Strike while the iron is hot" is most applicable just now. When the Bill comes before you, recognising the necessity for some very strong measure and realising the dreadful effect of the plague on the best interests of the colony in the future if any half measures should be adopted, you will give it your full and ready support.
There is another matter connected with the plague which I may refer to, and that is the possibility of increasing our water supply. I suppose that drought to a great measure is responsible for this epidemic, and I understand that there is a large storage capacity available both at Tytam Reservoir and at Pokfulam, if the Council were to decide that the storage capacity should be increased. I may say that in my own opinion it will be no use giving a larger supply of water to the Chinese quarter unless it is distributed in a proper manner by responsible officials. What we want, as was well said in the paper this morning, is not so much a house-to-house visitation as a drain-to-drain visitation, and unless we can flush these drains regularly I am afraid we shall not get rid of the seeds of the disease.
It would be retrograde of me to say, perhaps, that the separate drainage system was a failure, but I cannot help being of opinion that the proper system if it could be carried out for Chinatown would be the surface system (hear, hear) which is in force in the West Indies Islands where I have resided. There you see everything above ground, whilst here you do not see the dead cats, the dead rats, and old rags that choke up the drains and cause such an intolerable and dangerous nuisance.
I should be glad to know what the feeling of the unofficial members is in regard to the additional water supply. I should be prepared to call for reports from experts here if considered it advisable, and I understand that for a moderate expense - $70,000 or $80,000 - we could get 70,000,000 gallons more at Tytam alone.
Before sitting down I think there is one other thing I ought to say and that is that I am sure the community at large and the Government feel most deeply indebted to the Military and Naval authorities for the gallant voluntary assistance which the officers and men have given to us and are still affording to us during this plague. (Applause) They have thrown themselves into the disgusting and filthy work required of them with true characteristic British pluck, and one gallant officer has sacrificed his life in endeavouring to assist the community. I am quite sure that when the sad history of this plague is written one of the brightest spots will be that page which records how officers and men, numbering over three hundred in all, gallantly assisted us by risking their lives, with a view to saving the lives of thousands of others from whom they could never expect recompense, gratitude or even thanks. (Applause.)
I fully endorse all that the Attorney-General has said with reference to Mr. Francis. I appreciate his help most thoroughly. I also wish to say that the Government is indebted to several public officers and lay volunteers, though the latter are not in such numbers as I should like to see, for the courage and energy they have shown in endeavouring to grapple with this disease. I hope, therefore, gentlemen, after what I have said, that you will be prepared to give the Government your fullest and most hearty support in any measure and in any action we may take not only to stamp out this plague but to prevent a recurrence of it in the near future.
Hon. C. P. CHATER - We have listened with the greatest interest to the statement made by your Excellency as to what has already been done, and the steps which it is proposed to take with a view to removing this terrible scourge which has afflicted our Chinese fellow-colonists. What we must do at the moment is to direct our united energies to the stamping out of this disease. This is not the time for enquiring on whose shoulders lies the heavy responsibility of permitting this horrible accumulation of filth from which the plague has undoubtedly arisen. When we have stamped it out, then we can investigate the matter, and apportion the blame where it is due. For the present we have nothing but praise for those who have showed such courage and devotion since the plague was discovered amongst us, and should like to take this opportunity of echoing on behalf of the Colony your Excellency's remarks as to the debt it owes to those in command of the troops for the readiness with which they have come to our assistance, to the military and naval medical officers and to the officers and men of the Shropshire Light Infantry for the work they have so nobly performed, and to express its deep and lasting regret that one gallant officer should have paid for his service with his life. With regard to your Excellency's statement about the unofficial members, I am sure my colleagues will agree with me in saying that we shall do whatever we possibly can in the passing of any Ordinance that would help the Government in driving this fell disease from our shores. (Hear, hear)
His EXCELLENCY - If no other hon. member has any desire to address the Council we will adjourn. Due notice will be given of when we re-assemble.
The Council then adjourned.