15. SOCIAL WELFARE AND RELIEF.
In spite of all the Medical Department do in more normal times conditions of health in Hong Kong are not satisfactory. Just before the war the population was being frequently disrupted by outbreaks of disease and officials of the Department were kept constantly on edge. The death rate was high and there was much wastage on account of chronic ill-health and destitution. A vivid picture of conditions in Victoria, the most over- crowded and insanitary area in Hong Kong, is painted by Dr.Wellington in his Review. After visiting some of the places he describes T find the picture by no means over- drawn. Although the Sino-Japanese hostilities have ceased the problem of overcrowding is still likely to be with Hong Kong. For many reasons Hong Kong will continue to draw people from Canton just as much as before. They are treated with understanding and there is work for most of them with, in normal times, reasonably cheap feeding. In addition, they receive fair treatment and can carry on their business without disturbance. There is no difficulty in getting into the Colony; if people find the front door inconvenient there are plenty less conspicuous entrances.
While the flow of immigration remains unimpeded the capacity of Hong Kong is measured in terms of houses and accommodation. This has been grossly deficient for a number of years; before the Japanese invasion it was physically impossible to get more people into the tenements of Victoria. Already again they are overcrowded. I have seen conditions in these tenements as bad as those anywhere in the world. Opposite the Central Market, Col. Ware and I went down an alleyway with a broken sewer and the contents seeping over the opening. We visited the first floor flat in a vacant house at the end of it. The staircase was dark and dirty. The flat was about 30' x 11' in size, with a small verandah at the end overlooking the street. It was divided into cubicles, each about 8' x 6'. The narrow passageway was lined with bunks and, at the end of it, there was a shop. 411 the cubicles, and gangway, were packed with furniture and various oddments and there was much livestock on the premises. There were big rabbits maintained for breeding, pigeons, ducks, chickens and lobsters all alive except the lobsters. A Chinese lady was obeying a call of nature as we passed one cubicle and Col. Ware prophesied that the contents of the chamber- pot would be tipped into the street at nightfall; in any event, we could find no latrine. There were some fifteen human occupants, at ten o'clock in the morning, and Col. are thought that the population would increase as night came along. The air and light-well had been roofed over at the level of the first floor so as to increase the accommodation below.
We visited another tenement building where the plumbing was badly in need of repair. gol. Ware explained that in more normal times, there would be available an emergency repair service which would quickly deal with reported damage to the drainage system. Sanitary Inspectors
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