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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
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the charge of wastefulness. And it is to be noted that complaints about the water supply have been consistently few from Kowloon. An increase in the supply of water is of course desirable, but we are still far from being able to provide an unlimited supply, so that every possible cause of wastefulness must be ruthlessly eliminated. Our Water Authorities never had complete faith in the rider main system from this angle and have long since lost all confidence in it, and have consequently for years pressed unceasingly for the method of control originally advised and which alone is automatic, that is to insist on the metering of all house supplies. Water in addition must of course be provided by stand-pipes which would be free to the users but must still be paid for in some way or another as by a water rate.
About 1923 the demand for meters which had been constantly growing was given more and more consideration and it is un- fortunate that the principle of universal meterage was not dealt with more definitely at that time. Instead it would rather seem that the idea was generally accepted as being correct and the reluctance to allow meters was obviously relaxed. The figures in the Sessional Paper reveal this fact very clearly and with it the steady increase of meters from 1923 onwards. The desire for meters and the conviction of the experts that a universal meterage system was the only method of alleviating our troubles worked together until now although there are some 12,000 meters in use and new meters are being rapidly installed, yet we cannot overtake the applications.
In 1929 when the transition stage I have described was still existing but had in fact gone too far for any drawing back and when the impression that the rider-main system was to be abolished was making headway Sir Cecil Clementi engaged in Council that the system would not be abolished without an opportunity for public discussion. Even then however the conclusion was fore- gone and the discussion could hardly have been more than a facing of the facts and an explanation. It is hardly to be wondered at that the Government in 1932 definitely accepted the principle of the abolition of rider mains and the substitution of universal meterage, a decision which they found was forced on them by the position as it then existed and was entirely inevitable in the face of the history of the water supply since 1903.
It was so inevitable indeed, that Sir Cecil's promise was overlooked; the Government was at fault in this matter, but the error can hardly be said to have affected the policy to be adopted. An apology from the Government for the omission is called for, but I would put it to the Council that the pressure of facts was such as allowed little room for difference of opinion.
The acceptance by the Government of the principle of universal meterage and the effort to meet the heavy demand for meters has resulted temporarily in an unfortunate position which