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NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
(Extract from the China Mail,' February 28, 1901.)
To-day, we make public the details
of a scheme of public improvement conceived by the Hon. C. P. Chater, C.M.G., having for its main object the amelioration of the overcrowding of the central districts of the city. The rapid increase of population, due to the steady development of Hongkong as a port of call for China-bound vessels, is revealed by the recent census, and it is a well-known fact that house accom- modation has not kept pace with the Colony's requirements. As it happens, labour is needed at what may be termed the heart of the Colony, in the city of Victoria, and although there has been great expansion in recent years on the Kowloon Peninsale, it is found that the congestion and overcrowding have not been relieved in relative proportion. Mr Chater's scheme is to reclaim the foreshore at Wanchai, on somewhat similar lines to the roclamation now nearing completion between the Cricket Ground and West Point, and thereby to throw open a large area on which houses may be built suitable for the Chinese working classes. The scheme is a large one, and Mr Chuter's labours in putting it into concrete shape deserve public recognition. It was on his sug- gestion that the central reclamation was undertaken, and the success that has attended it far exceeds his or the public's expectations, and fully justifies the immediate coinmencement of the proposed new reclamation.
The correspondence clearly sets forth the details of the scheme, but for the benefit of our readers we summarize the main features. As it now stands, Mr Chater has asked the Government to consent to the reclamation of the foreshore from Arsenal Street to the East Point Sugar Refinery, the work to be performed entirely by the Marine Lot-holders of the Wanchai District and carried out, within five years, to the satisfaction of the Government. Given the Government consent, Mr Chater undertakes to negotiate with the lot-holders in order to secure una- nimity, and on his shoulders will fall much of the preparation and super- vision entailed by the scheme. The reclamation will be carried out into the Harbour, approximately, as far as the reclamation now in progress for the Naval Authorities. The present Praya East will be convorted into a street 75 feet wide, then there will be an area 120 feet wide for back-to-back Chinese houses, another street 75 feet wido,
and an area wide enough for godowns 225 feet deep, and outside of all a praya 75 feet wide. Ten streets, 50 feet wide, will intersect the building blocks, and these, together with all channellings, sewerage and drainage, will be constructed by the lot-holders. No public expenditure is involved by the scheme, which will allow of the construction of over 2000 Chinese houses of the most improved type, woll lighted and ventilated, and capable of accommodating about 100,000 people. In addition to this, however, the removal of material for reclaiming the foreshore will open up new sites which will then be at the disposal of the Government. At first, Mr Chater proposed that Morrison Hill and the hill on which the Royal Naval Hospital stands should be utilised for the re- clamation, and it is to be regretted that insuperable obstacles were raised to this portion of the scheme, for had these hills been removed, and literally cast into the sea, a more symmetrical arrangement could have been made for the laying out of the area at the east end of the city. One would have thought that the opportunity of remov ing the Naval Hospital from the vicinity of the humblest Chinese dwellings to a healthy situation like Flagstaff Hill at Kowloon would have been welcomed, and before the scheme takes its final shape we hope for the sake of all con- cerned that this change of site way yet be brought about. The total cost of carrying out the scheme, based on the present high price of labour, is esti- mated at over one million dollars. It will be asked, naturally enough, what benefit the parties immediately con- eerned are to derive from the scheme. The Marine Lot-holders will have to bear the cost; during the progress of the work, the value of their present property may be lowered; they will have to face the cost of building upon the reclaimed sites, and, probably, the reconstruction of the present properties. In return, they will secure the new sites on lease for 99 years, and, judging from the experience in the present reclaimed frontages in the central part of the city, those new sites will con- siderably exceed in value the present foreshore lots. The Government, on the other hand, which expends nothing, will have a large addition to its rate- able area in the city, and would also have ground to dispose of at Leighton Hill and Mount Caroline, from which
the material for the reclamation will be taken. The net yearly gain will he from $150,000 to $200,000, and a hump sum of from $600,000 to $1,000,000 may be obtained from land sales. Desirous of making the most of the bargain, the Government at first asked for a large premium per square foot of reclamation, in consideration of the rights obtained over the new area by the present lot-holders; but after negotiation this sum was reduced to 25 cents per square foot. If this aruount is obtained, it will add still further to the Colony's benefit.
On the face of it, having regard to past experience, the scheme is an excellent one, and we hope Mr Chater will succeed in carrying all the lot- holders with him. The Government may well appreciate it for it will undoubtedly lead to the rebuilding of a large portion of the Colony's pro- perty, and thereby contribute to the desirable improvement of the sanitary condition of the city of Victoria. With the details before them, the publie will be able to decide upon the financial aspect of the proposal, and to offer suggestions for the guidance of the Government. Provided the cost to the Colony is not too great, the public and
the Government ought to welcome any scheme which will help to relieve the surface overcrowding of the city, and if, incidentally, the increased building should tend to lower the present excessively high rentals, the scheme will confer a double benefit upon the public. Putting that aspect of it aside, it is obvious that something must be done to meet the steady increase of population. Instead of declining, it is more probable that the Colony will grow in prosperity with the prospect of a large development of trade with the interior of China. Great and im- portant as are the shipping interests of the port, they will continue to grow in importance, and the increased traffic will attract native labour to an extent probably little dreamt of by the pre- sent inhabitants. It is wise and states- manlike to provide for future contin- gencies, and since Mr Chater has so generously placed his ripe experience and valuable assistance at the disposal of the Government in the public in- terest, we hope the preliminary nego- nations will be delayed as little as possible, and that every facility will be afforded him to push forward the scheme to a speedy conclusion.
Extract from the 'DAILY PRESS,' March 4.
It is now fourteen years since the Hon. C. P. Chater submitted to H.E. the Officer then Administering the Government at Hongkong a project for the reclamation of the foreshore, extending from the Gas Works near West Point to the Swimming Bath at Government Wharf. This schome, the successful results of which are so fami- liar to us, was most bitterly opposed at the time, largely owing to a misconcep tion of the motives which actuated it, and partly no doubt to the novelty of the idea at that timo. But since 1887, we have learnt much, and nothing more thoroughly than the urgency of more space, more accommodation for our ever growing population. It is true that even in July, 1887, Mr Chater was already writting: In Hongkong, land has now attained such high values, in consequence of the increased prosperity of the Colony and the influs of popula- tion, that it is found remunerative even to reclaim sites from the sea at great But if popu expense to the owner.' lation and high rents were pressing heavily on the Colony then, they are
far pressing
more heavily now. Throughout last year complaints were constantly, we might say without ex- aggeration daily, heard of the difficulty of living for the poorer classes in Hongkong, the enormous rise of rents, and the actual lack of any house or room accommodation within easy reach
How well of the centre of business. founded were such complaints no one with any experience of Hongkong can fail to see. We have urged repeatedly the necessity for more accommodation for the working classes at no great distance from their work. Now the space at the disposal of the inhabitants Additional of this island is limited. living-space can only be obtained in certain definite ways. We may either bring the present outskirts of the city into closer connection with the centre by somo method of traction; or we may add to the habitable part of the island by levelling inland and reclaim- ing from the sea; or, better still, we Mr may combine the two plans. Chater's scheme is to add to our avail- able ground a strip of land 250 feet wide, commencing from Arsenal Street and continuous with the outer line of the Naval Yard and Arsenal extension and running eastwards to the East Point Sugar Refinery. It also involved originally the cutting down of Morri- son Hill and Mount Shadwell, to which the Government found itself unable to in default of these elevations accede ; Mr Chater has proposed the levelling of Leighton Hill and Mount Caroline, which the Government thinks may It is unnecessary to possibly be done.
point out to those who saw the con- struction of the existing Praya exten- sion how much money and labour is to
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