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adopted on Dr. Chadwick's recommendation is fairly clear that the late epidemic of plague now happily disappearing was due in some measure to defective drainage and general insanitary conditions existing in the City. This is a very important question on which His Excellency does not feel himself competent to form an opinion based upon any valid grounds that have come under the notice of this Government.
If it be so, however large an expenditure may be necessary it must be faced, and all other projects must yield to imperative Sanitary Improvements as of primary importance. His Excellency has requested the Secretary of State for the Colonies to obtain the services of an expert in drainage and sanitation to visit and report upon the sanitary condition of Hongkong, and until such report has been made His Excellency suggests that it may be well to suspend judgment in the matter.
At the same time it should not be forgotten that even at the height of the Epidemic the death rate of Hongkong was less than that of other Eastern Colonies, and eliminating deaths from plague it is less than that of many Cities of Great Britain.
4.4.