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49
Collection of Nightsoil
Perhaps the most controversial of the items which are now appearing for the first time in the Budget is the provision for a scheme, known as departmental collection, whereby
· Government
will employ coolies, some 2,000 in number, for the removal of nightsoil, the cost of the project to be met by an increase of one per cent in the rates. My Chinese colleagues and I learn with deep satisfaction that it has been decided by Government that this scheme should stand over until further con- sideration has been given to the matter and that Government will refrain from expenditure without the consent of the Finance Committee. This decision is, in our opinion, a wise one.
We venture to suggest that, before committing itself. Government should examine carefully and find out ex- actly what are the improvements and advantages attached to departmental collection. All of us realise that the present system is far from satisfac- tory. We would welcome a change for the better: but how is the pro- ! posed system a better one? Surely not because some 2.000 coolies. hitherto free-lances, would thereby become Government servants. Judg- ing by the many representations which have been made, the coolies themselves do not appear to share the same enthusiasm.
Average of Tenant's View
I presume there must some im- provements from the point of view of public health but can it be said to be progress when the same old method and the same old set of coolies are
employed? In fact, so far as the average tenant is concerned, he would prefer to deal with the coolie work- ing for himself, who in all likelihood would be a far humbler individual than the same coolie working in the role of a Government servant. At least, now, when a tenant has a complaint to make, he goes to a neutral party; but with departmental collection, he will be faced with the task of laying a complaint before the head of a Government department against one of his subordinate officers, two totally different propositions.
It appears to me that there is some confusion of thought as regards the issues involved. While improved transport or improved buckets would represent an improvement in the method of collection and will be beneficial, the change in the status of the coolie is unimportant and is not a condition precedent to the setting up of adequate supervision.
As an alternative and a more satisfactory solution my collea- gues and I submit that the Urban Council should license the existing coolies or a number of fore- men to provide coolies; that the Coun- cil should take a deposit from them and see that they carry out their duties properly; any delinquency to be punishable by fine, the payment of which will be guaranteed by the deposits suggested, with the cancel- lation of licences in cases of grave or repeated offence. We would most respectfully urge Government to try this alternative solution before em- barking on a scheme of departmental collection.
No Reason to be Apprehensive Further, I have been informed that the present coolies through their guilds, have petitioned Government expressing their readiness to intro- duce improvements in transport and in receptacles and to meet any re- quirements which Government may stipulate. It therefore does not ap- pear that Government should have any reason to be apprehensive of a lack of progress.
Finally, even if it could be shown, which many of us doubt, that it would be to the best interest of the Colony that departmental collection should be adopted, it nevertheless still re- mains for Government to be satisfied that the use of public money is necessary, particularly where further taxation is involved.
The people who have recourse to the present system have never re- fused to pay. Take the poorer classes, whom it is intended to benefit. In their case there will be no relief; as we know, most of them are merely sub-tenants and it will only mean that the principal tenant, who makes a business out of sub-letting will be spared a legitimate expense and will derive a bigger profit thereby; while on the other hand, tenants of pro- perty with a water carriage system will be penalised by higher rates. Can this be said to be an encourage- ment to the general introduction of water closets, or is it not rather an inducement to cling to the old anti- quated and much restricted system? Argument Fallacious Government has attempted to jus- tify the use of public money by claiming that it is through the use of public money that drains have been laid. There is an obvious fallacy in this argument. Firstly, the drains are there whether water closets use them or not, they serve to carry away storm and sullage water and secondly, drains alone do not make a water closet system; whereas Government, in cases where the owners of property have not thought fit to install water closets, will be assuming the whole cost of a system which takes the place of but is far less satisfactory than a water carriage system.
I now come to a matter which affects the good name of the Colony and with which my fellow Chinese members have as.ed me specially to deal. Many a resident, alarmed by the serious prevalence of crime and vice, has repeatedly approached us to press Government for more energetic action. We on our part have made repeated representations to Govern- ment, sometimes as the result of specific requests from members of our community but more often than not on our own initiative. The posi- tion is now getting from bad to worse. We know that the Hon. Com- missioner of Police is doing all he can: but we feel that something more must be done.
The suppression of gambling, particuarly of Tse Fa lotteries, which are fast becoming an open scandal, the eradication of open soliciting in the streets, the placing of a check on the activities of girl escort bureaux, the prevention of robbery and larceny, especially petty thieving and snatching in the streets form the list which we have been asked to bring to the attention of Government. Must Sleep Behind Bars The stories of the existence of lands where one may sleep with one's front door open and not be robbed; where one may leave a parcel in a tram-car and have it returned the next day,
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seem to us fantastic and fill us with wonder and envy. It is sad to think that we in Hongkong must sleep be- hind iron grilles and bolted shutters and yet not be free from depredation. No one is respected, be he magistrate or policeman, be he taipan or ordin- ary shopkeeper. Nothing is free from filching. It may
be only plank from a staircase, a hook for fastening a window or a short length of wiring, the saleable value of which is infinitesimal though the replace- ment cost be high. As for motor- cars, fountain pens and ear rings, these are stolen, or picked from the pocket, or snatched in broad day light.
If all crime were the result of poverty, the search for a cure, dif- ficult though it may be is not im- possible; but if a gambler steals to get stake money and a dope fiend to satiate his desire, the matter becomes far more complex.
An Immense Problem We realise the immensity of the problem confronting us. Apart from the question of arrest, which is a police matter, no permanent solution can be found without taking into ac- count the provision of adequate pri- son accommodation, the creation of decent employment, a reduction in the cost of living and the introduc- tion of general education. The higher the ethical standard of the people as a whole, the less there is of crime; and it is by going to fundamentals that it can be hoped
to efface all the sores with which this Colony is beset.
The leavening of the masses takes time; but there is no need to remind Government of the urgency of the problem. Next to the prevention of invasion from without is the preven- tion of lawlessness and disorder from within.
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We therefore trust that Govern- ment will undertake its just ponsibilities and will make more serious and more strenuous efforts to stamp out crime. We owe it to the innocent and the law-abiding to re- move from them a constant fear of and a growing concern for lawless- ness and insecurity. (Applause).
WAR EXPENDITURE
Hon. Mr Li Urges Use Of Surplus Balances
POLICY CRITICISED
The Hon. Mr Li Tse-fong said: Sir.-The Hon. Financial Secre- tary in his speech on January 16, 1941, reviewing the financial posi- tion of the Colony, stressed the point that although the revised estimate anticipates a surplus of $17,213,670 at the end of the present financial year, this surplus is largely a nominal one. The Financial Secretary explained that out of this surplus of over $17,000,000, a sum of $5,790,000 was invested in the 1934-Dollar-loan, "while by the end of next year a total of over $4,000,000 will have been advanced in anticipation of a future loan."