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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
man of Your Excellency's knowledge of China and of the Chinese, sound judgment, and calmness in face of difficult and trying problems.
(Applause).
HON. MR. M. K. LO.-Your Excellency,-In addition to what has already been said by my Honourable friend the Senior Unofficial Member on behalf of all the Unofficial Members of this Council, and by my senior colleague on behalf of the Chinese Members of this Council, I desire to make some observations of my own on various matters.
To begin with, I would like to say a few words on the question of Water Supply. I venture to think that, until the end of last year, everyone in the Colony was under the comforting impression that, at all events in the near future, there would be no further restrictions, in view of the completion of the Shing Mun Gorge Dam.
Within a few months the Colony was shocked and dismayed at finding that, Shing Mun notwithstanding, the Colony had to be put upon a restriction basis; it was suddenly confronted with a Report on the Water Supply of Hong Kong, published as a Sessional Paper during the early part of the year, which showed the necessity for an immediate further expenditure of some $3,000,000.
Paragraph 124 of Mr. Woodward's Report reads as follows:-
"124. This Colony has suffered almost continuously from its earliest days from water shortages the reasons for which have been mostly 'financial'. Water being one of the primary necessities of life it is essential that ample supplies be provided particularly in the Tropics where the dangers to health are far greater than in temperate climates. This cannot be too strongly emphasized and it is accordingly urged that not only should the proposals embodied in this report be put in hand at the earliest possible date but the policy of providing water resources well ahead of requirements be adopted. This latter procedure is generally adhered by Municipalities and other Water Undertakers."
to
I do not know whether I have properly appreciated the implication of the above paragraph, namely, that somehow the present unsatisfactory position regarding the water supply of the Colony has been due to the reluctance, on the part of this Council, in sanctioning the necessary expenditure. If so, I feel that the implication should be refuted. And this can be easily done by a few quotations from Hansard's Reports of the proceedings of this Council.
On the 18th July 1929 my Honourable friend, the Senior Unofficial Member, introduced a motion in Council that--
"In the opinion of this Council it is imperative, in the interests of this Colony, that all the permanent measures to increase the
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