THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 6TH NOVEMBER, 1897. 943.
late years fallen upon us.
There have been only 17 cases of Plague during the year, several of which are said to have been imported from the mainland. This is very satisfactory when it is remembered that the disease was prevalent in the neighbouring ports of Amoy and Swatow, and in the island of Formosa for several months. The comparative immunity from Plague enjoyed by Hongkong during 1897 may be due to the improved sanitary condition of the Colony and the increased vigilance of the Sanitary Board.
The death rate of the British and Foreign community for the first 9 months of the year is 21.5 per thousand as compared with 23.6 for the corresponding period of 1891, whilst the death rate amongst the Chinese community for the like periods has been reduced from 26.9 per 1,000 to 18.9 per 1,000. This represents an annual saving of nearly 2,000 Chinese lives and about 17 European.
The main drainage has been, practically, completely re-modelled. Thirty-six miles of sewers have been laid, not including the drains constructed in connection with the re-drainage of houses, which would nearly double those figures. I am informed that Victoria may now be regarded as one of the best drained cities east of Suez, and that its domestic sanitation will compare favourably with that of any of the large cities in England.
Bye-laws have been made for the compulsory concreting of ground floors in dwellings, for the prevention of overcrowding, for the regulation of bake-houses, laundries, opium- smoking divans, offensive trades, and animal depôts, for the regular periodical cleansing of tenement dwellings, and for the notification of communicable diseases, and these are being quietly and steadily enforced.
The New Central Market, the Slaughter-houses and adjoining Cattle Depôts at Kennedy Town and Kowloon which have an important bearing on the food supply of the Colony have been completed during my administration, whilst the water supply, which is of vital import- ance to the health of the community, has been increased to 400,000,000 gallons, and extended to the Kowloon Peninsula, and to the populous villages of Shaukiwan and Aberdeen.
The most noticeable features in the history of Education during my term of office have been--(1) the revision of the Grant-in-Aid Code in 1893, which added arithmetic to the subjects for which grants should be given to schools giving a purely Chinese education, elementary science in the case of schools giving a European education in the Chinese language, and a seventh standard in all classes of schools. (2) The graduating of two pupils in July, 1892, from the Chinese College of Medicine, being the first two graduates from that Institution. (3) The opening of the Belilios Public School for Girls in December, 1893, for which we have to thank the generosity of an Honourable Member of this Council; and (4) The limitation in November, 1895, of grants-in-aid to schools giving a European educa- tion in the English language-a measure which was induced by the very marked deficiency in this respect on the part of the Chinese community resident in this Colony, and the necessity recognised from the experiences of 1894 of providing a more enlightened education. I trust that this policy will be maintained, and that a training institution, which will furnish a supply of qualified teachers and so place the means of acquiring a useful knowledge of the English language and Western ideas within the reach of the poorer classes of the Chinese community may be provided. I consider that such expenditure will be incurred in a most important cause, and I commend to the notice of the Council the desirability of increasing the Grant-in-Aid Vote, and of continuing to substitute subsidised schools for the Govern- ment schools that still remain in existence.
As regards the attendance at the various educational establishments in the Colony, I re- gret to say
that the check experienced in 1894 on account of the Plague has been more per- manent in its results than was originally anticipated, and recovery has been further impeded by its recrudescence in 1896. I hope that, given favourable circumstances, the progress in this direction which was so noticeable during the first three years of my term of office, may again make itself evident at an early date, and that education will receive that support which it so fully deserves.
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