CO129-272 - Governor Sir Robinson - 1896 [5-9] — Page 39

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It is

poorer

confined chiefly to the

classes of Chinese, whose dirty and insanitary habits_ foster its progress. "The ordinary chinaman of the poover class -in this Colony seldom thinks

of cleaning his house, and the heaps of dirt and rubbish, which the

remove

-house cleansing parties

one small floor of a

floor of a house,

from

causes the spectator to wonder

can

find

where the occupant " room for himself. Many of

the houses are, moreover, so

situated

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situated and constructed as to

-afford an utterly inadequate

supply of light and ventilation, and the position is aggravated by the high rents which pre- vail in this. Colony and which

overcrowding.

encourage

The

housing of the working classes in HongKong is an

important question the consideration of which should be no longer de- layed. I accordingly propose ~ shortly to appoint a Commission "to enquire into and report

on

this