Enclosure
→ The
rth-China Daily News.
IMPARTIAL NOT NEUTRAL,
HANGI AI, 9TH JANUARY, 1895.
HEALTH IN HONGKONG,
Ayer grace 1894 must have been ed at in Hongkong with a sense lief. It began badly with a sudden prolonged drop in exchange which ght in its train misery to many lat us hope, wisdom
94 Janiew. 14 1995.
ship's information the en- closed extract from the issue of the North-China Daily of the qt instant, the subject of the Bill a-
News
он
the Public Health
mending Ordinance and its passage through the Legislative
Connoil.
I have the honour to be,
My Lord Marquess, Your Lordship's Most Cordient
Humble Servant,
Wain Rehnis
Robwigy
to not
entire
Hardly had the Colony began ccommodate itself to an altered dard of living, when a riot broke among the Chinese, the danger which was not, perhaps, suffi- tly appreciated at the time. As hatter of fact it was a serious rict Lone which cost no small amount rouble and anxiety to subdue. To riot succeeded the Plague, than b no more weighty misfortuna ever befallen the Gibraltar of Esst. The calamity was not with- its uses in the fine public spirit broked. There was
nce of anything like panic among English. The disease was faced fought calmly and resolutely, a zeal and devotion, both civil and tary, not unworthy of the traditions he race from which they sprang. even when the fight was done the rel of Death still hovered near, and the pear drew to a close the beat- of his wings was heard in the th of more than one, who in public social life had earned the respect regard of the community in which
had lived and borne their part. we are to learn from the lessons e past a restrospect such as this not be without its value, it ald teach us at least to investigate causes of our ills; to remove when possible; and, where that is d to be impracticable, to endure results with patience. Exchange, is one of these evils, not perhaps ediable but to which, pace the etallista, we have learned in our understanding to bow the head. te, we may hope, will be ameliorated finally extinguished with the grow- intimacy of our relations with our pinese fellow-subjects. Death still e with equal foot and irresistible amous to the door of rich and poor. his servant, the Plague, has been ght and conquered; ought never, ed, to have won his temporary ery, but for supineness and lect. Overcrowded dwellings, con-
inated wells, defective sanitation--| were the sources of weakness: the springs of the strength of the The lesson is writ large- ish these and you banish the Plagne. And now let us see how Hong- has taken the lesson to heart. Public Health Bill passed its reading as far back as last Septem-], Since then it has been discussed overhauled by official and unofficial abers, referred to that sapient body Sanitary Board for consideration
ease.
losu
and re-drafted about half-a-dozen times by the Attorney-General. In fine, no stone appears to have been loft unturned to render as free from fault as possible the measure which at last advanced to the second reading stage at the Hongkong Legislative Council on the 22nd ultimo. It would be an abuse of language to describe this deli- berate method of procedure as legis- lation in a panic. Ample time had been given for full discussion, and yet one of the unofficial members had the hardihood to ask for an adjournment on the plea that further time was re- This pre- quired for consideration, posterous request having fallen to the ground the obstructive tactics of the opposition were turned upon the Bill itself.
It is unnecessary to deal with the Bill in detail. It was admirably sum- marised in a lucid and cogent speech by the Attorney-General. Suffice it to say that the sections making provision for requirements of floor and air space, powers of house inspection, the closing of wells and the shutting up of houses where two or more convictions have been obtained within three months, were each and all opposed by the on- official members in 匙 body. The Amendment to the first of these sections proposed to substitute 21 square feet of floor space instead of 30 feet, and 800 instead of 400 cubic feet of air space, that is to say just one fifth of the air space required by law for every prisoner in Victoria Gaol. In the second section referred to. Doctor Ho Kai proposed to confine the inspection to common lodging houses. The third section was opposed on the ground that the use of wells might fatill be safely allowed for fire and drain purposes. And in the fourth it was proposed that the house should only be closed when the conviction had been obtained against the same person.
Now it is plain that these sections form the very head and front of the Bill. Under the old figures of section I, a floor might be covered with coolies lying on their backs, oue wan's head within 6 inches of the feet of the other, and a space of 6 inches round each. No one will contend that that would not be overcrowding, and everyone, who knows anything of the Chinese and their habits, knows that that is just what would take place. It is idle to legislate against overcrowding unless you deter- mine the number of occupants to ench house. Even then your efforts will be foiled without a thorough-going system of inspection. How else is it possible to check the herding of Chinese ? The proposal to limit the inspection to com- mon lodging houses would nullify, and was intended to nullify all provisions against overcrowding. So with regard to the closing of wells, you may put up: what notices you please, the Chinese will continue to use water nearest at hand, contaminated or not, and, lastly, it is useless to hope to reach the offender unless you close the house after two or more convictions. It passes the wit of man to devise other means for catching a Chinaman. Suppose the Amendment of Mr. Belilios carried and the conviction required against the same
118
Tperson, who does not see that as soon
as one offending tenant was evicted his brother would take his place, and then his cousin, and so on through the long gamut of Chinese relationships. The fact ie the amendments were simply a barefaced attempt in the interests of a few landlords, whose pockets were likely to be affected, to wreck the Bill. In vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird. The Bill is a thoroughly practical and well considered measure. It is urgently needed. It is supported by the Press and by the great body of educated opinion in the Colony. It may even be doubted whether the landlords are not unnecessarily | alarmed. Plagues are expensive things and, if they cast their bread upon) the waters now, the landlords may find it coming back to them after many days in the shape of increased rents from healthier and wealthier tenantry. In any case it would be as well for them to reflect that in spite of all their efforts the Government is determined to set its house in order. They cannot afford to run the risk of another out- break of the Plague. The opposition | will be brushed aside by a compact Government majority and the Bill will shortly pass into law.
So far good. But he would be a shallow observer who would say that therefore obstruction does not matter. A wider issue is being raised by the opposition than they themselves seem to be aware of in the spectacle of a Legislative Assembly, where the Goveru- ment is found engaged in a struggle for the public weal against the public representatives themselves. We are forced, not for the first time, to ask whether representative Government in Hongkong has not been made a failure and a shaw by the unworthy tactics of men who seek their own ends, thrusting better men out of their places, and robbing the word "Honourable," applied to political life, of half its significance. People are being led to seriously ask themselves if it would not be better to do away with it altogether, if the affairs of the Colony would not be better administered under a strong Governor with Downing Street behind bin as a court of appeal. And in the present state of affairs in Hongkong we think they would,
REC?
C. O.
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