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adopted by the Government. I do not hesitate in saying that the whole shipping community I would rise in a body and appeal to the Secretary of State, while resisting it to the utmost here. A civil war woull scarcely be an exaggerated! state of the case. Again, I have already sbown that not more than One Or
two per cent. of the Chinese immigrants could and this surety. It would therefore mean a complete stoppage of the entire immigration of the colony. I submit, therefore, that it would not tako long to rain the colony if such an absurd proposition were adopted.
With reference to this question of medical inspection of all vessels the Medical Officer of Health has made, in various parts of there papers, statements which I cannot allow to pass vachallenged, inasmuch as I consider some of them quite wrong and others very liable to mislead and create a false and unnecessary alarm.
(a). The Cheang Hok Kian case. There is an atterapt to creat a panic by alluding to "the great danger to the colony that would have accrued" had any one of these 50 coolios who landed from the Cheang Hok Kian found his way to one of the water reservoirs or Bilter beds while suffering from cholera." In the first place perhaps Dr. Clark is not aware that each one of those 50 coolies was examined prior to landing and showed no trace of disease. But for the sake of argument, if wo assume that each one of these 50 coolies was suffering from cholera at the time, does Dr. Clark mean for a moment to say that these men were going to leave their sick beds to go out to Pokfolum, Tytam or Bowen Road filter buds, or other places. Has Dr. Clark seen a case of cholera ? if he has, I am sure he would not suggest such a thing which to my mind is the height of impossibility, to say the least of it. A. cholera patient is not only disinclined to leave his bed, but is mostly unable to do so, much less to go for a chair ride or walk to these sources of water sapply. The above statement made by the M. O. H. is calculated to create a gross and falso alarm and bias the taind of any one anacquainted with the subject. It is more than likely that avery one of those coolies who landed loft Hongkong within 12 hours of their arrival for Canton, inasmuch as they were returned immigrants from Singapore on their way to their homes in China. Even if the medical inspection of all vessels was in force, these wen would have landed all the same nader sur- veillance, i.., with the only difference of having given a name and address, which whether false A or correct, would only be proved later on. very exaggerated idea of the danger the colony has escaped exists in the mind of the M. O. É, whereas euch danger was infinitesimal, if not nil. And certainly this case cannot be used as an argument for the medical inspection of all
vessels.
(b.) In his minute to the Sanitary Board on the Quarantine Regulations, the M. O. H. states that what is argently required is the appointment of an additional Medical Officer of the Port," and, again, that "this is not the class of work a medical man would care to take up permanently," and yet he says that "no difficulty would be experienced in getting good men at a salary rauging from $130 and quarters for a period of three years." I wonder if Dr. Clark would have come out at this salary for a period of three years. I think it is impossible to get good men at such a nominal salary, or if they did come out under a wrong impression they would resign iu a month.
(e). Dr. Clark thinks that these two medical men working each 5 hours a day could accom- plish the Herculean task of madically inspect ing all vessels, of doing the same to all junks and boats coming from different ports, and of attending to the emigration from the colony. From the Harbour Master's Report I find that the daily average of emigrants is 2,300, of crews coming into the port 1,288, and of eni
total grauts leaving the colony 593; making
of 4,281 men to be examined daily. Allowing the highest possible figare per minute for in- spection-and a very poor inspection at that-- viz.
3
víz, 3 meu per minute, by simple arithmetic we bave nearly 24 hours' constant work with. { out a moment's delay of any kind. Every- į thing must go like clock-work; not a minute! must be lost in going from one ship to another, not a minute can the poor medical officer get for a morsel of food or a drink of water. Work! Nothing but work from daylight to dark! This is the "reductio ad absurdum of the proposition. It therefore wants at least four medical officers to do the proposed work. Probably there is no port in the world with such stupendous figures for im- migration and emigration. The port of Londor, which has nothing like the figures of Hong- kong. has, I think, four medical officers doing the work and are further assisted by the Customs officers.
(d) Finally the Medical Ofleer of Health save the expenditure pou launch and rew would not exceed that incurred at present." The Harbour Master has shown that it would be essential to have two inspecting stations. one at each end of the barbour; therefore the medical officer uty at each station would Ponies in bao bi cauiness to gỏi ra ship to another. Thas we have two launches. But a third would be required for the medical officer duing smigration duty, as there are very often three and four ships leaving the colony of a morning and requiring to be inspected for the passengers. So that wo want three launches as a total and minimum and such was actually the case in the epidemic of 1894 in Hongkong when there were four medical officers and three launches at work. Again in the draft "Sug gested Additional Quarantine Regulations," the following appears: Provided always that rheu any vessel is not visited by a health officer within a period of 18 hours from the time i of her arrival in the colony," then the vessel may come up to her anchorage and land her passengers. The M.0.H. evidently thinks that a vessel way under his scheme be detained as long as 19 hours and even then not be examined. He is a little inconsistent here. Imagine the result if the English mail was de. tained 18 hours in the harbour for nothing, not even the pleasure of a visit from a medical officer. The ship has lost by this at least $500 in wages alone. It would not take the P. and O. Ü. and other shipping firms very long to be up in
arms.
In conclusion, I submit that a series of gore napractical uggestions" than those put for. ward by the Medical Officer of Health it is scarcely possible to conceive and could only have been put forward by one quite unay- quainted with the ways and means of the im- migration, migration, and shipping of the colony generally. Further, I beg to submit present ()that this colony cannot at adhere in its entirety to the articies of the Venice Convention; (2) that it is impossible to have a medical inspection of all vessels without a very heavy increase in the cost to the Go- verument; (0) Medical surveillance is imprac tioable in this coibuy.
The only practical doduction is that a neigh- bouring port having an epidemic disease pre- vailing should be unhesitatingly proclaimed infected and medical inspection necessarily follows; the sick from any infected vessel removed to hospital as speedily as possible, the healthy allowed to go free, and the vessel thoroughly disinfected and released. Further, let the sanitation of the colony be perfected as ispeedily as possible and a regular and rigorous sanitary inspection of houses be maintained with a thorough enforcement of all sanitary regulations applying theroto and epidemic dis- enses will not gain a hold in the colony, even though an occasional case pay be imported from shipping. This, the foundation and root on which the Samary Commissioners from Her Majesty's Government to the Venice Conference stood and which was the back. ground of all their arguments.-I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
G. P. JORDON, Health Officer of the Port.
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Dr. J. M. Atkinson, P.C.M.O.
on
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