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with these matters. it was deemed advisable to enlarge the Sanitary Board by a certain number of unofficial members on it, two of whom were to be elected and thus give the Board somewhat of a popular character.
In further proof that the measure was only a tentative one and that the Government were unwilling to confer any great powers on the Board, although their functions were extensive, I would remark that no revenue or source of revenue was granted to the Board. The provisions of the Bill were greatly determined by the fact that it was drafted by Mr. Price, who was then Surveyor General, a very able officer, and who had taken up with enthusiasm the sanitation of the Colony and no doubt he looked forward to be for many years the ruling spirit of the Board and to be entrusted with carrying into execution this new legislation and he drafted it according to what he thought he would be able to do.
The success of the measure depended greatly on his continuing for several years at the head of the Board; unfortunately, Mr. Price left the service two or three years after the institution of the Board.
It really had no power since it had no funds and it was not a sufficiently influential or powerful body to secure at the hands of the government, the keepers of the purse, the acceptance of its plans or proposals. Nor do I think it possessed sufficient expert knowledge to deal satisfactorily with such a difficult and complex question as the sanitation of Hong Kong. But the greatest fault which I find against it is that its members were all of them busy men, who could afford little time for the work of the Board.
A further reason why I now address you is that the composition of the Sanitary Board was
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