Sessional_Paper_1938 — Page 263

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HOUSING COMMISSION 1935.

REPORT.

(Paragraph references are to paragraphs in Appendix II).

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1. A Commission to enquire into the housing difficulties in Victoria and Kowloon with special reference to overcrowding and its effect on tuberculosis and suggest steps which should be taken to remedy existing conditions was appointed by Sir William Peel under Proclamation dated 10th May, 1935. A copy of this Proclamation is attached as Appendix I.

2. In March, 1936, Mr. R. A. C. North was appointed Chairman in succes- sion to Mr. N. L. Smith; Mr. J. J. Paterson replaced Sir William Shenton in May, 1936; and Mr. R. R. Todd (Chairman of the Urban Council) replaced Mr. W. J. Carrie in March, 1938.

3. A number of circumstances, including those which led to the appointment of Mr. Smith to act as Colonial Secretary and subsequently as Officer Administering the Government in 1935, the appointment of Mr. North to act as Colonial Secretary in 1936 and 1937, the outbreak of hostilities between China and Japan, and the necessity of securing information regarding action taken elsewhere, led to con- siderable delay in the preparation of the report.

4. Apart from these circumstances, we have met with some difficulty in reaching an agreement among ourselves in the matter of making definite recom- mendations, and have been obliged, after much discussion, to abandon our original intention of dealing with our subject in detail, and to substitute proposals which amount, in the main, to a recommendation that the problem be approached ab initio by experts who have made a special study of such matters as Town Planning, Housing and Slum Clearance. The most that we feel ourselves qualified to do is to suggest the directions in which this approach should be made.

5. We attach as Appendix II of this report, a memorandum prepared for us by our Secretary, Mr. W. H. Owen. We have given this memorandum very careful consideration and have examined in detail the views and suggestions there put forward.

6. While we are aware that this niemorandum contains statements which are controversial, and that some of the suggestions contained therein are regarded as impracticable in present circumstances, we have included it in full and have used it to illustrate the conclusions set out in this report. We hope that this study of the problem, which is based on a careful examination of local conditions and of the methods adopted in other countries, may prove both interesting and useful.

7.

It will serve to illustrate the difficulties which must be faced in any attempt to apply to Hong Kong methods which have been adopted elsewhere, if we point out that the standards of housing considered in Appendix II are below those accept- able in many European countries.

8. We have not thought it worth while to burden this report which a dis- cussion of the relationship between overcrowding and tuberculosis, and, indeed, many other contagious and infectious diseases. The facts do not admit of controversy and may, we feel, be taken for granted.

9. Hong Kong is a powerful magnet drawing to itself not only the seekers after work but hangers-on and parasites of all kinds. The struggle for existence is very severe. It is only too common, especially amongst unskilled labourers, to find three men doing the work of one and sharing remuneration which might be adequate for one but is certainly insufficient for three; while the regular employee is fortunate if he is not maintaining a number of relatives out of his earnings.

10. The system of contracting and sub-contracting is often carried to extreme lengths, and results, in many instances, in the inability of the final sub-contractor to pay even the low wages on which he has based his contract.