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employment for many. They cannot all hawk in the streets. Some who can scarcely be described as criminals swell the population of the overcrowded gaols where they find a comparative degree of security and comfort. The official refugee camps contain a few thousands. These will no doubt return home as occasion offers. It is the unofficial refugees who are the problem. When things return to normal the question of restricting the population of the Colony to those who are economically capable of maintaining themselves on a fair standard of living or whose birth or years of work have given them a claim on the Colony will require consideration. But so long as conditions in the Colony are better than in the neighbouring provinces of China there are bound to be many who will endeavour to come to Hong Kong. If one may say so, the Colony in respect of population has already reached saturation point. The solution of the problem depends fundamentally on the development and prosperity of China.
is.
*
217. The Colony could be made considerably more self supporting than it The development of the fishing industry and agriculture should help in this connexion. Market gardening has developed in recent years but there is still con- siderable scope for improvement and expansion. A Committee was appointed in 1934 to consider and advise as to what practical steps could be taken to improve and extend the breeding of pigs and poultry in the New Territories, and a report on the possibilities of a co-operative system in Hong Kong was prepared in 1935 by Mr. C. F. Strickland, C.I.E.** Little if anything has been done to develop in the Colony thrift and loan societies, housing societies, and consumers' stores.
I was recently approached for information regarding co-operative thrift and loan societies, as developed in Malaya, by the manager of an important public utility company in Hong Kong, which treats its employees excellently, but which finds money-lenders congregated round its gates on pay days. There appears to be considerable room for development in this connexion.
218. The present housing congestion in the Colony has already been referred to. Housing that is adequate for a million, and Hong Kong housing is not, is inadequate for a million and a quarter or a million and a half. The problem of housing is difficult as the population is not static and the flow of immigration may as at present be hundreds of thousands. So long as ownership of property is regarded as primarily a profit making concern, if not a speculation, it is inevitable that landlords in times of housing shortage should attempt to recoup themselves for their losses or diminished profits during periods of depression when a certain pro- portion of the population returns to China.
219. It must always be remembered that in dealing with labour in Hong Kong one is dealing not with workers segregated in cantonments but with the urban popula- tion itself, and legislation must regard them as citizens in the first instance. Those who live in coolie lines are a very small proportion of the total labouring classes. The existing legislation controlling such lines is confined to the New Territories. Admittedly, the existing mines are all situated in the New Territories, but road and catchment work and building generally are not confined thereto, and it is recom- mended that similar provisions should be extended to the remainder of the Colony and an endeavour made to secure uniformity in the application of the regulations.
220. As has been pointed out, in matters of medical treatment workers are treated not as a separate class but as individual citizens whose health as such is the concern of government. The Nutrition Research Committee already referred to is investigating the question of nutrition in the Colony including the application of dietetics to the social problems of the Colony. Benefits derived from the investiga- tions of the Committee will be for the community in general.
221. The recommendation for the development of primary vernacular education has already been referred to.
✔222. The absence of any but crude statistics regarding cost of living and wages has already been commented on. Such information is essential before any adequate standard of living can be assessed, established, and maintained. It is understood that
* Sessional Paper No. 5 of 1934. ** Sessional Paper No. 5 of 1935.
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