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large sum indeed. I question if the Community quite
realise how much, but whatever the sum, if the result
be to banish plague, it will be well spent. The letter
of the Chamber of Commerce shows that the people of
Hongkong will not object to any expenditure within
their means, and I am quite certain that in asking you
to send out a Sanitary Engineer of such eminence in
his profession as will command public confidence, to
report upon the general state of Hongkong, its drainage
system, its water system, and the general question of
sanitation, I have the support of all classes of the
Community.
May I suggest that you telegraph to me the
expense of such an examination and report when I can
lay the matter before the Legislative Council for
approval, Mr. Osbert Chadwick's exhaustive and able
reports of 1882 and 1889 on the sanitation of Hongkong
are now being widely read and considered. By some it
is held that his recommendations have been neglected,
indeed this appears to be the opinion of the majority.
My study of the conditions does not lead me to this
conclusion. The matter will be set at rest by such a
report