89
octiest Ress
atrast from to Faily free of the 20th hor 1953
healthy areas in which the registered population" is 1,000 to the acre, or 640,000 to the square mile (and I have reason to believe that the registered population is considerably below the real density), is not to be expected. The difficulty must be solved by the creation of a new city by resumption, re-sale, and reconstruction; and with the steady operation of such a trust as is proposed there is no reason why this necessary improvement of Victoria should not be effected within twenty years, at a moderate cost to the inhabitants, who, it must be remembered, have the happy distinction of hearing the lightest burden of taxation of any colony in the British Empire. (Applause.) In the elementary principles of sanitation by pre- venting surface over-crowding we are far behind the Chinese, who even in their largest cities keep down the general height of their bouses to one story. Wheu Victoria has been reconstructed I hope that the four-storied' tenement-house will have ceased to exist. But no reconstruction of the city, or advance of material wealth should be allowed to interfero with the development by education of the minds and character of the people. This is the foundation upon which our hopes must rest for the stability of the colony of the future, and it is not being neglected. As the ro ult : of a commission on The subject, & new code has been arranged that will improve the present system. Petitions wero received from the Europeati residents praying for the establishment of a school for the separato instruction of European children, and from Chinese residents praying fr the establishment of a school for the education of the better classes of Chinese, Both proposals were approved. The English school has been established in Kowloon by kindness of Mr. Ho Tung, by whose permission a school just completed by bim, ab considerable expense, and presented to the colony as a mized school for i both races, was devoted to the purpose of a j school for Europeans, the Government under. taking to replace it by building a school in Yanmali, which is now in course of construction. The school for the childron of the better classes of Chinese has been established by private enterprise. It was with great pleasure that I saw at last accomplished the opening of addi-
tional treaty ports and ports of call on the West River. The proposals now sanctioned by Treaty were formally accepted by the Tsung-li Yamen in two interviews that I had with that body at Paking in 1800. They had the approval of Sir obert Hart, and also, of the late Li Hang! Chang, but the committee appointed by the Vice. roy to report upon them reported unfavourably and the matter was shelved, in spite of frequent! protosis, until the whole position was consider. į ed by the Treaty Commissioners, and the proposals were definitely accepted. The valne of Waichow on the East River may not be so apparent at present, but it was added at my suggestion, as in my opinion it may one day ha a valuable link in the direct trade bo ween the rich East River valley to the north, and Hongkong, the land communication between Walchow and Wirs Bay presenting no engine ring difficulties. (Applanse.) Dur ing the evenful five years of my administra- tion Hongkong has been brought face to face with typhoon, war, pestilence, and famiue, and 1 look back with ad ration to the behaviour of the colony in every contingency. Abounding charity and generosity accompany the buoyant energy of the community, and I find that within the five years over $425,000 have been subscribed in aid of the widows and orphans of our soldiers and ailors who fell in the South African war; in aid of the famine-stricken people of Kwang si; in aid of the sufferers by tho destructive typhoon of 1900; and in aid of the fand for the erection in London of a momorial to our late revered and beloved Queen, and this in addition to the local charities
of
the Chinese portion of the community, of which but few realise the extent, or the economy and ability with which they are administered. It has been my pleasant duty to open two hospitals within the past year, built by the hinese commanity at an expouss of $140,000, and affording accommodation to 136 patients. An equally pleasant task has been the opening this month of the Victoria Jubilee Hospital for! Women and Children on Barker Road, built by joint subscription and grant from Colonial funils, in commemoration of the Jubilee of Her
1
Majesty the late Quesu. I will not weary you with further figuros. I desire but to emphasise some of the salient features of the time during which I have been Governor of the Colony. have especially dwelt upon the treatment of the problem to besolved on the New Territory because on the experience of the 400,000 Chinese in this
of i Colony is formed the Chineseo estimate British justice and of the security that is tot be found under the British dag, and as surel, as the water of the great rivers flow from the snow-capped mountains to the so8, so surely will the estimate of our qualities as a nation flow from sea to mountain, following the lines of trade to their extremest limits. To every one of us who lifts his eyes from the immediate exigencies of the business of the hour and looks into the future, this conviction j carries with it a sense of great responsibility, and apart from our national sense of justice compels us so to deal with the Chinese people with whom We come in contact as to satisfy them that in Hongkong they will find a Government fair and just, hoping to shape the destinies of a free community where comu ercial activity is sustained and developed by that seoarity without which no commerce can expand, (Applause.) I shall leave the Colony with a last- ing and grateful remembrance of tho assistance and support that I have invariably received from the members of this Council which includes all the members of my Executive Council. Fair and independent oriticista no honest Govern. ment need fear. nor prudent Governor ignore, and the changes between rough-hewn Bills and the finishod Ordinances bear witness to the care with which the members of this Council, especially the unofficial members, have examined the measures introduced, and the readiness of the Government to yield to sound objections. In a Council whose discussions and debates havo been actuated by a strong sense of public duty, and into which no element of personal rancour has ever entered, my duties have been light indeed, and in bidding this Council farewell I do so with a lively sense of gratitude for the bappy relations that have always existed between us, and an earnest prayer that the interests of the many people who form the community of this great port ani Colony will always in the future be safeguarded by members as able, impartial, and single-minded as yon, gentlemen, to whom, se your President, I now say good-bye. (Loud applause.)
Hon. Sir Pau, CHATER-Your Excellency, Speaking on behalf of the unofficial members, I can confidently say that we have all listened to your farewell speech with equal interest aud regret. with great interest because of the im- portant questions with which it deals, with per. sonal regret because we recognise that it is the last occasion on which you will address this Council. I can assure you, Sir, that we most cordially reciprocate the expressions of good- will that hars fallen from you. (Applause.) The relations between the head of the Executive aud this Council, during your Excellency's tenure of office, have been marked with the best of feeling, and I aw suro that all my colleagues will agree with me that every opportucity has been given by you for the ventilation and discussion of debatable questions. For my own part. I can truly say that I have aways received the greatest consideration at your hands; that for any subject I desired publicity yon have afforded me every facility and any proposals that I hare had the good fortune to be able to put į forwart for the benefit of the Colony have received your prompt attention and your earnest support. Your Excellency will leave this Colony in many respects much better than you found - Public works have made some progress, but perhaps more has been done to initiate them than actually to bring them to com- pletion. You have sown where your anccessor will reap. Works commenced in your time will be completed during his term of office. The bounds of the Colony have been extended, the population considerably increased, its impor- tauce enhanced, and its revenue very large y augmented, to largely, indeed, that the sanitary improvements. which are now so very necessary, may be gradually carried into effect without in creasing the taxation. That progress will, I am sanguine, continue. Neither emporary commercial depression nor the recurrent ont- breaks of plague will be able to permanently, J