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Singapore, Saigon, Manila, and the Open Ports of China and Japan. With the exception of Canton, the communication with these ports may be said to be by foreign vessels only. That being the case, it is difficult to see why the Chamber of Commerce should assert in its letter of the 15th instant that the Regulations "press most unduly "and unfairly on Foreign Shipping frequenting "the Port, while Chinese vessels from which "infinitely greater danger of dissemination of "disease is to be apprehended, practically escape."
8. Canton, the port from which Hongkong draws its chief food supplies, alone presents any difficulty as regards the enforcement of Quaran- tine; but, if even Canton were to be declared infected, there can be no doubt, that it would be quite possible to subject the native craft to ade- quate supervision, should the safety of the popu lation of this Colony imperatively demand it."
9. The Despatch, No. 310, of 22nd July, 1885, written by Major General CAMERON while admi- nistering the Government, contains a complete explanation of the action taken in this matter of Quarantine, the determination to impose which was not arrived at without the most careful and anxious deliberation on the part of the members of the Executive Council.
10. The Secretary of State will no doubt be fully satisfied that this was the case, and will not follow the Chamber of Commerce, in suggesting, as they do, in the fourth paragraph of their letter to Colonel STANLEY that the Government imposed Quarantine because it had neglected its duty in not providing a Lazaretto.
11. It is true that the permanent Lazaretto, begun by the Governor and sanctioned by the Secretary of State, has not yet been completed owing to the recent financial depression ;-but the Surveyor General was able to report that adequate temporary accommodation for hospital staff and patients already existed, the moment we became aware that Cholera had broken out in the Colony. A sum of $10,000 has been appro- priated for this object, and the permanent Laza- retto will be completed next year, before the usual season for the appearance of epidemic disease.
12. For the reasons and under the circum- stances stated above; looking especially to the strong opinion expressed by the Principal Naval and Military Medical Officers, who have had great experience of Cholera elsewhere, and who have pointed out that the circumstances of a tropical Colony with as yet insufficient sanitation, are entirely different from those of the United Kingdom, the Executive Council advised that the modified Quarantine Regulations of which printed copies are annexed, should be issued.
FREDERICK STEWART,
Acting Colonial Secretary.
HONGKONG, 22nd September, 1885.
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