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property in the Colony, resumption would be a costly procedure. I may add that the Government has no legal power to close any of these latrines, but, they must of course be maintained in a sanitary condition, in default, of which they can be dealt with as nuisances.
The present Conservancy Contract brings in a revenue to the Government of $30,384 per anmm (in 1898 it was $28,476) and out of this the Contractor has to provide a fleet of boats to carry the night-soil to Canton where it is used for the. anuring of the mulberry trees used in the silk-worm industry a staff of men to collect the stuff from the public latrines and Government buildings, and a caretaker in charge of each latrine. No mention of this present revenue is made in the Report, but it is estimated that if all the latrines were Government property a revenue of $73,340 would be obtained. This is extremely probable, but how is it proposed to obtain possession of this private property? If by resumption, then the interest on cost of resumption should be shown.
No doubt the large increase in the number of Govern- ment, latrines, which is so urgently needed, will, when effected, facilitate the collection of night-soil by the Contractor, and materially reduce the amounts payable by him to private latrine Owners, and will thus tend to increase the revenue derivable by the Government from this Contract; but any such increase
can hardly be estimated in the manner suggested in the report,
and sust, I think, be left to the competition of rival Contractors.
(Sd.) Francis W. Clark,
Medical Officer of Health.
21/5/1900.
--༞གཏན་་ ་་ནས་