Sessional_Paper_1898 — Page 462

(8)

would be. By Ordinance 15 of 1894 that regulation at present applies to all dwellings erected after the passing of that Ordinance. I would apply it to every existing domestic dwelling in which cubicles are erected.

You would make it retrospective?—Yes, so far as the houses containing cubicles are concerned. These cubicles are put up almost always by the tenant; they are not the property of the landlord nor do they form any part of the original structure of the house.

And when the tenant leaves does he take the cubicles with him ?-That all depends upon their worth. My own experience is that they are generally put up by the tenant. The tenant takes a floor, puts up cubicles, and sub-lets each cubicle to a family.

He is not the occupant?-He is the occupant of one of the cubicles. He sub-lets the other cubicles.

In fact he farms them out?—Yes.

Any further remedy ?—Then, further, I would suggest that no cubicles be per- mitted except upon the top floors of houses fronting on streets less than 15 feet wide. You will remember that some of the houses we went into were houses three or four storeys in height fronting on lanes 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 feet wile. Even without cub- icles these rooms are dark. You will remember that in some of these rooms which were used as common lodging houses there were no cubicles and they were fairly light and clean; in similar rooms, which were used as family houses, there were cubicles which were very dark. So that I would suggest that no cubicles be permitted except on the top floors of houses fronting on streets less than 15 feet wide.

The CHAIRMAN---Would it exclude the first floor?-That depends upon the height of the building. A 15-feet wide street is the minimum allowed by law at the present time.

Hon. T. H. WHITEHEAD-Have you formed any estimate as to what reduction in the value of property that would make?--No, I cannot say that at all.

How would you utilize the two or three floors without cubicles? For what pur- pose could they be employed?-Rather more than 70 per cent of the Chinese inhabitants of this city are males and it is only in the case of a family house that cubicles are wanted. That is natural where you have women as well as men. It practically means that these rooms will be used as common lodging houses, and I believe common lodging houses fetch quite as good a rent as family houses. I would pat the families on the upper floors and the men on the ground floors in such buildings.

Have you formed any idea as to whether it is a feasible project ?—Yes, I am certain it is.

You think there is enough accommodation on the upper floors for all the families? -Yes, there is not an enormous number of narrow lanes; the whole are included in this list and they contain 1,123 houses, out of about 7,000 houses in the City of Victoria. To go back to the classification of the dwelling houses; could you in that state- ment give us the houses in which cubicles are already in use? I quite realize it entails very heavy work to prepare such a statement as we have asked for, but it seems to me it is desirable we should have it.

The CHAIRMAN Showing the houses in which there are cubicles ?

Hon. T. H. WHITEHEAD-Showing the houses in which cubicles are used. WITNESS The proportion of floors, it really means, Sir. Of course a certain number only have one cubicle.

Hon. T. H. WHITEHEAD-What, on the ground floor?-Anywhere. That will include a certain number of these common lodging houses. A common lodging house