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Chadwick's preliminary Report on the sanitation of Hongkong,
and in paragraph 4 of that Despatch I ventured to draw your
attention to the opinion expressed by Mr. Chadwick on page 34,
that nothing short of the general resumption of insanitary
tenements and their entire reconstruction would bring about
any thorough improvement in the sanitary condition of Hong-
kong; an opinion which was re-affirmed, with corollaries, in
Sections 0 to 3 of paragraph 103 of his Report. It is clear,
therefore, that if the principles laid down by Mr. Chadwick
are to be followed to their logical conclusion, it will be
necessary for this Colony to face the necessity of incurring
a very large expenditure in respect of the resumption of in-
sanitary properties; and even if such resumption is carried
out gradually, a considerable portion of the Colonial Revenues
will have to be devoted annually to that purpose. I therefore
welcomed an occasion which gave the Government an opportunity
of effecting a large resumption at moderate cost, in a locality
which is susceptible of great improvement.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient
Humble servant,
M. Gascoigne
Major-General,
Administering the Government.