11. There are over 20,000 local boats registered at the Harbour Office, the occupants of each of which vary in number from four to forty according to the size and character of the craft. The Harbour Authorities believe the population to be 150,000 and certainly 100,000 cannot be an overestimate.
12. Of the total population over 95 per cent are Chinese. According to the Census Report one third of the whole were born in the Colony. The remainder are mostly those who have come from China attracted by the facilities offered for employment. Children born in the Colony are frequently sent to the family homes in China, there to be brought up by the grandparents, the parents remaining behind to earn their living. Many return to their native towns or villages when too ill or too old for labour. Through such exodus the death rates of the Colony are lower than they otherwise would be.
13. The masses are working people belonging to what is commonly described as the coolie class. The Chinese of the upper classes, many of whom have received a western education, are mostly engaged in commerce but there are among them a number of professional men, including both lawyers and doctors.
Housing Conditions.
14. The town plans of Victoria and Kowloon are widely different: the former may be described as old-fashioned and irregular, the latter as modern and regular.
15. The site on which Victoria stands is a narrow strip of land 4 miles long by 1/5th to 2/5ths of a mile broad, lying at the northern foot of the mountain and separating it from the sea. The total area of available space is about one square mile or 1/32nd of that of the whole island. Limited in front by the sea and behind by the steep slopes of the mountain there remains hardly an inch of space which has not been occupied for one purpose or another. The conformation of the site with its rapid rise of land near the sea-shore led in the early days to the erection of houses on the narrow strip of land near the harbour and extending a little way up the lower slopes of the mountain, the houses being separated by narrow lanes and alleyways. When the population was small and the houses only one and two stories in height, the situation was not unsatisfactory. As the population increased the houses were heightened to four and five stories without any corresponding widening of the spaces separating them, and overcrowding with its attendant evils made its appearance.
16. Year by year the population continued to increase, immigration being accelerated by unrest in China. The great majority of immigrants were ignorant working people with small wage earning capacity, accustomed to poverty, overcrowding and insanitary conditions. Victoria was the centre of trade...
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11. There are over 20,000 local boats registered at the Harbour Office, the occupants of each of which vary in number from four to forty according to the size and character of the craft. The Harbour Authorities believe the population to be 150,000 and certainly 100,000 cannot be an overestimate.
12. Of the total population over 95 per cent are Chinese. According to the Census Report one third of the whole were born in the Colony. The remainder are mostly those who have come from China attracted by the facilities offered for employ- ment. Children born in the Colony are frequently sent to the family homes in China, there to be brought up by the grand- parents, the parents remaining behind to earn their living. Many return to their native towns or villages when too ill or too old for labour. Through such exodus the death rates of the Colony are lower than they otherwise would be.
13. The masses are working people belonging to what is commonly described as the coolie class. The Chinese of the upper classes, many of whom have received a western education, are mostly engaged in commerce but there are among them a number of professional men, including both lawyers and doctors.
Housing Conditions.
14. The town plans of Victoria and Kowloon are widely different: the former may be described as old-fashioned and irregular, the latter as modern and regular.
sea.
15. The site on which Victoria stands is a narrow strip of land 4 miles long by 1/5th. to 2/5s. of a mile broad, lying at the northern foot of the mountain and separating it from the The total area of available space is about one square mile or 1/32nd. of that of the whole island. Limited in front by the sea and behind by the steep slopes of the mountain there remains hardly an inch of space which has not been occupied for one purpose or another. The conformation of the site with its rapid rise of land near the sea-shore led in the early days to the erection of houses on the narrow strip of land near the harbour and extending a little way up the lower slopes of the mountain, the houses being separated by narrow lanes and alley- ways. When the population was small and the houses only one and two stories in height, the situation was not unsatisfactory. As the population increased the houses were heightened to four and five stories without any corresponding widening of the spaces separating them, and overcrowding with its attendant evils made its appearance.
16. Year by year the population continued to increase, immigration being accelerated by unrest in China. The great majority of immigrants were ignorant working people with small wage earning capacity, accustomed to poverty, overcrowd- ing and insanitary conditions. Victoria was the centre of trade
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