1841-1886
STATE OF HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL POSSESSIONS.
285
183
14. The waterworks are steadily progressing towards completion. They have required a longer period than was originally thought sufficient. This is principally owing to the difficulty of getting, at this distance from England, castings and pipes to meet exactly the various exigencies of the island formation. This will be easily understood if we take into consideration that the reservoir is placed at a distance by direct route over the hill scarcely exceeding two miles, while the distance by the road along which the pipes are laid is more than double, owing to the sinuous contour of the hills it traverses. The main pipes have been laid down in the town, and the value of this service has been amply proved, it being ascertained that by simply screwing a hose on to the fire-plug, water can be thrown over any of the houses in the vicinity; a fact the great utility of which requires neither comment nor explanation.
15. The districts of Bowrington, Wanchai, and Seyingpoon have been laid out, and are partially built upon.
16. Nothing has been done at Kowloon, except to have it surveyed, which appears to have been very satisfactorily executed by Mr. Bird, late of the Royal Engineers, who was temporarily employed for that service. This work was commenced in the end of 1862, but was only finished a very short time back.
17. The government gardens begin to show signs of the labour that has been bestowed upon them. Seeds and plants have been obtained from England, Australia, and elsewhere, and I hope by the end of this year they (the gardens) will be sufficiently advanced to afford some enjoyment to the community.
Police.
Full strength Short strength Indians 60 318 Chinese 550 486 64 48618. On the first of May last year, a body of 150 men, natives of India, arrived, and were incorporated with the police force of the Europeans Colony, which had just been re-organized under Ordinance 9 of 1862. A year has elapsed, and although the experiment has not perhaps answered to the full expectation, yet it is undoubtedly an improvement upon the old system. At all events there is no better mode, within the reach of the Colony, of forming a police force. The strength of the force is 486, of which 60 are Europeans, 318 Indians, and 108 Chinese; that being short of the authorized complement by 64. I may add that instructions have been sent to Bombay for the enlistment of 60 additional men, but no intimation has yet been received of their having been obtained.
Education.
19. In the Appendix mentioned in the third paragraph of this letter will be found the report of the Board of Education for 1862. It has been considered advisable to discontinue four of the village schools, on the ground of the non-attendance of the pupils, owing, as it is stated, to the poverty of the parents rendering it a matter of imperative necessity to employ their children in agricultural labour for their subsistence; to this perhaps may be added the inclination, common to most people, to undervalue that which costs them nothing, and on this view the board recommended the handing over to the villagers the four schoolhouses rent-free, in order that they may, if so disposed, employ their own schoolmasters. This recommendation has been carried out, on certain conditions as to the care of the houses, &c., and the funds thus released have been used in increasing the efficiency of the schools in Victoria and its neighbourhood. Mr. Stewart, the head master of the Central School, arrived early in the year, and has applied himself to his work with diligence.
Sanitary.
20. The Colonial Surgeon's report for 1862, appended to the Blue Book, shows that the health of the Colony during the last year has been satisfactory; and as the three previous years have been almost as healthy, we may perhaps venture to anticipate that the improvement may be permanent in its character. The Colonial Surgeon says it is to be "hoped that this improvement has been the result of the many sanitary reforms that have taken place;" and taking into consideration the almost entire freedom of the Colony from cholera, as compared with every place in the vicinity, I think we are entitled to attribute our escape, under Providence, to the sanitary reforms mentioned by the Colonial Surgeon.
21. Your Excellency appointed a sanitary committee, with a view to consideration being given to the existing system of drainage, and the suggestion of any improvement