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The ballot papers were then distributed, and on the votes being counted the CHAIRMAN read out the result as follows:-
Mr. Thurburn Mr. Francis
52 28 He therefore declared Mr. Thurburn duly elected.
Mr. THUÉBURN, in acknowledging the com- pliment, said-Gentlemen, I have now only to thank you for the honour which you have done me in electing me as the representative of the Chamber on the Legislative Council. I have only got to say that I shall look after the in- terests of the Chamber to the best of my ability. I can do no more. I have nothing more to say. (Applause.)
The CHAIRMAN-That terminates the pro- ceedings.
HONGKONG SANITARY BOARD.
On the 21st inst. a meeting of the Hong- kong Sanitary Board was held. The President (the Hon. R. D. Ormsby, Director of Public Works) occupied the chair, and there were also present the Vice-president (Dr. Lowson, Act ing Principal Civil Medical Officer), Mr. F. J. Badeley (Acting Captain Superintendent of Police), Lient. Col. Ryan, Mr. J. McKie, Dr. Hartigan, Mr. E. Osborne, Dr. F. Clark (Medical Officer of Health), Mr. Fung Wa Chuen, Mr. Chan A Fook, and Mr. G. A. Woodcock (Secretary).
THE PROPOSED ASSISTANT MEDICAL OFFICER
OF HEALTH,
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND translated into English and published in the Government Gazette and copies supplied to the Harbour Office for the use of the shipping com- munity.
Lient. Col. RYAN seconded and the motion was carried.
THE SUGGESTED REMOVAL OF THE PLAGUE CEMETERY.
The following letter, dated June 18th, from the Acting Colonial Secretary, was submitted:-
"I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 97 of the 13th inst., embody- ing the report of a sub-committee of the Board on the subject of the question of the removal elsewhere of the Plague Cemetery at Kennedy town. In reply I am directed to inform you that Government is not in a position at present to lay out a Plague Cemetery at Lamma Island, and therefore proposes to defer the further con- sideration of the question, which will, however, not be lost sight of."
THE RESERVATION QUESTION.
Dr. CLARK moved:-"That the Board recom- mend the Government to extend the provisions of The European District Reservation Ordinance, No. 16 of 1888, to that portion of the Kowloon Peninsula which lies to the South of Austin Road.” He observed that since he gave notice that he would move this resolution it had come to his knowledge that the Government had had the matter in hand and he believed that something was under consideration. Still, after talking the matter over with some members of the Board, it seemed to him that perhaps the hands of the Government would be strengthened if the Board, The following letter, dated June 8th, from forwarded a resolution in the terms suggested the Acting Colonial Secretary, was submitted:- by him. The area which he suggested should In reply to your letter No. 90 of the 26th be reserved for European occupation was ultimo, embodying a resolution of the Sanitary that portion of British Kowloon to the South Board to the effect that an assistant Medical of Austin Road. It was a very small portion Officer of Health was urgently needed to assist even of old British Kowloon. It did not com- the Medical Officer of Health in the perform-prise more than 200 acres, and was less than ance of his duties, I am directed to inform that one-eighth of the whole of what Was His Excellency the Officer Administering the formerly known as British Kowloon. The Government has been pleased to recommend the circumstance which brought this matter specially appointment of such an Officer for the favour- to his notice was a plan which he had be- able consideration of the Secretary of State." fore him, by which it was proposed to build 28 houses for occupation by Chinese upon the site of one European house which formerly was in the area which he had defined. The Government had been able to present the erection of Chinese houses upon the actual site of the European house, but at pre- sent there was nothing to prevent the erection of Chinese houses where the garden was. The pre-amble of the Ordinance providing for the reservation of a European district in the city of
INTERNATIONAL SANITARY CONVENTION.
Papers dealing with the Venice International | Sanitary Convention were submitted and the following minutes were appended-
Dr. Clark-In view of the importance of this subject, I would recommend that these General Sanitary Regulations be translated and inserted in the Government Gazette for general imformation."
Dr. Lowson :-"I disagree with the M.O.H., as it would be money wasted."
Mr. McKie I agree with the remark of of the P.C.M.O.”
Lieut. Col. Ryan :-" I M.O.H.'s suggestion."
agree with the
Dr. CLARK said that these regulations were the regulations at present in force in accordance with the Venice Convention for the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and neighbourhood. It seemed to him that for the information of the shipping community of the colony it would perhaps be well if the regulations were published in the Government Gazette. If Mr. McKie as the re- presentative of the shipping community thought they did not wish to know what these regulations were, then the matter was at an end; but he still thought and he had gone through them again carefully that morning-that if the regulations were printed in the Government Gazette they would be of some use to the mem. bers of the community of this colony.
Lient. Col. RYAN was of the same opinion, adding that sometime ago the question oropped up as to the desirabity of adopting the Venice convention.
Dr. CLARK-We have adopted it. Lieut. Col. RYAN said that in that case he thought it was essential that the regulations should be made known,
Mr. McKIE agreed, but said that there was not a single sea captain who ever got a Government Gazette. Let the regulations be published if they liked, but let them be published in such a way that they would reach the foun. tain head.
Mr. BADELEY said that the regulations should be published in pamphlet form and distributed to the captains in the same way as the regulations of the Harbour Master..
Dr. CLARK moved that the Board recom- mend the Government to have the regulations
Victoria said:-" Whereas the health and com-
|
[June 29, 1900.
the comfort of people but for the health of the people, and it seemed to him that whether they were Chinese or whether they were Europeans it was their duty to see that they lived in a healthy state. If the Chinese houses proposed to be built on the site of this European house were insanitary, they ought not to pass the plan; but to say in this wholesale manner that no portion whatever of the Kowloon Penin- sular should be occupied by artisans or work- men, but that the whole should be laid out in villa residences, might be very delightful, but it was utterly wrong economically. There were persons who had invested money in property. there-persons who, like the shareholders of the company which he represented, had invested large sums of money for developing large trading concerns there. Without their employees living close at hand it would be impossible for them to carry on their business. This resolution if it was passed would mean that that part of Kowloon Peninsula indicated would be prac tically doomed from a business point of view.
The PRESIDENT- Do you propose any amendment?
Mr. OSBORNE—No.
Mr. FUNG WA CHUEN quite agreed with Mr. Osborne. He said that if they put restric tions down like this they must pay compensa- tion to people. They would be simply interfer ing with private rights. Of course he liked to see fine houses everywhere, but, as Mr. Osborne had rightly pointed out, if the place was in- tended as a business place it was wrong to make these restrictions.
The PRESIDENT said that this matter had been receiving very careful consideration from the Government for some time, and it was likely to bear fruit. He was sorry the Medical Officer of Health had not restricted the area a little more, because he thought that west of Robinson Road it was impossible to do anything except with perhaps a small part bounded by Garden Road. If the area in question were in the hands of the Government the matter would be a simple one, but as a matter of fact nearly every square foot was out of the hands of Government. South of Austin Road was now in the hands of private individuals, although a great part had not been built over. He foresaw very great difficulties in the way of carrying this out.
;י
On the motion being put to the vote it was carried.
THE RE-HOUSING QUESTION, In compliance with the request of the Acting Colonial Secretary, the Secretary drew up a memorandum showing the powers of the Board for closing or otherwise dealing with insanitary property, the memorandum concluding as fol- lows:-
44
fort of Europeans in a tropical climate demand conditions which are inconsistent with the neighbourhood of houses crowded with Briefly the Board can grant permits for the occupants and otherwise used after the man occupation of (a) basements, (b) cocklofts, (c) ner customary with the Chinese inhabi- new buildings. The Board can enforce (a) the tants, etc., it is desirable to reserve by law a redrainage of houses, the drains of which have district wherein such conditions may be se- been found to be defective; (b) the concret- cured." That summed up the whole ques-ing of the ground floor of surfaces where tion. It was wise of the Government to re. serve some district where Europeans might live together and where they would not be exposed to such diseases as smallpox and plague by the contiguity of Chinese tenement houses. It so happened fortunately that almost the whole of the European houses were in the little area marked on the plan, and he was credibly in- formed by European residents in Kowloon that a short time ago a scheme was on foot to pull The following minutes were appended →→→ down a large number of these European houses and Dr. Clark: This only shows what I have erect in their places Chinese houses. Therefore if so frequently urged during the past five action was to be taken it must be taken very years-that the Sanitary Legislation of this promptly or it would be almost too late. The colony is even now more than than 50 years bo. resolution if passed and the Ordinance if adopt-hind the home enactments relating to cities. ed would not apply to existing Chinese dwel- lings in the prescribed area.
Lieut.-Col. RYAN seconded.
Mr. OSBORNE remarked that this was no light matter which had been brought up. This portion of Kowloon Peninsula, although it had hitherto been occupied mainly by European dwellings, was undoubtedly intended in the future to be the business portion of the mainland. There must be congregated there in the future --if they were going to have any railway at all- the railway station, and shops and factories of all kinds, and if the Sanitary Board thought they could stay the tide of progress by the mea- sures suggested by the Medical Officer they would find themselves mistaken. They were there not to legislate or advise legislation for
slops are thrown; (c) a window area of one- tenth the floor area, not including a window of 10 square feet into the back-yard; (d) construc- tion of a back-yard of 50 square feet or of an ares of half of the kitchen; (e) limewashing tenement houses twice a year. The Board can- not close an insanitary building except during an epidemic, while a magistrate can at any time order its closure but its demolition."
The Liverpool Sanitary Act of 1846 made the minimum width of streets 30 feet-here it is 15 feet and stipulated that the height of any building should not exceed the width of the street on which it fronted. Here a building may even now be erected of a height of 40 feet fronting a lane of only 15 ft. 1 in. in height, and private streets have actually been set back an inch or two in order to make the street exceed the 15 feet limit, and allow building to the height mentioned. I have pointed this out in my annual report for 1899 and in previous reports. The Liverpool Act of 1846 further provides that no court may be built as a cul-de-sac unless 25 feet in width. Here almost courts are cul-de-sacs and are under 15 feet in width, and the Liverpool Act further
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