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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
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immediately surrounding houses where human food is prepared. (2) The owners of these im- mediately surrounding houses have, recently, in compliance with the requirements of the Sanitary Board, opened more windows in these premises directly facing the said site; with the object of letting in pure and fresh air into these houses; bat if a pabliolatrine is erected, which would be directly opposite to their windows, they will have bad and vitiated air instead." I wish to draw attention to No. 2, which seems to be a very strong objection. We all know that the Government has called прод house owners to open windows at the rear of their premises in order to get sufficient air and now the Government by the erection of this latrine is compelling them to open their windows to admit vitiated air. This requires every consi. deration and I should be only too pleased to hear the Government's answer to this. I quits admit that latrines are necessary but the sites have to be carefully selected and from a study of the plan I am of opinion that the site is as bad as it well can be. First of all it is in the centre of a block of houses. In 008 direction it measures 30 feet, in another 27ft. 2 in., the breadth is 22ft. 9 in one direction and 19ft 2 in another. As it is right in the middle of a block of houses & it seems to me both harmful and insanitary. I think the Government before proceeding with this resolution might consider the objections which have been raised. I would like to see the minutes of the Medical Officer of Health or the Sanitary Board before I record my vote.
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The Hoo. Mr. WEI YUK-I second that. The COLONIAL SECRETARY-Sir, this is one of those questions which the Sanitary Board has been constituted to deal with. The Sanitary Board has thoroughly investigated this question and it has recommended that this latrine be built on this site. That decision was arrived at after the fullest investigation by the Medical Officer of Health and, as I have already explained, it is impossible in the heart of this populous city, except at prohibitive expense, to get a site that will be sarrounded by large spaces of air on all sides, There are a great many latrines in the city of Victoria-I bave here a map showing the latrines in this particular part-and every one of them is theoretically open to the very same objection that the senior unofficial member has urged against this particular one. It is a very small latrine and the fact that it is in a side lane is in its favour. If it fronted on to a public street it would be more of a nuisance then where it is. There is nothing inherently insanitary about a well kept latrine. There may be a certain odour arising from it but I think I can stafe on the highest authority that under the ff- cient system of supervision which obtains in this city no efavia will escape that is in any sense dangerous to healtb. As regards the other things mentioned they can be obviated by pro- per removal of the contents of the latrine. I don't think that any serious objectio has been shown against this la'rine that could not be shown against dozens of other latrines in the city. If these objections are to weigh against the institution of this latrine then all I can say is that many other latrines would have to te condemned as insanitary and thus make the provision of future latrines practically an Impossibility. I commend this resolution with confiden s to the Council. It is a baby in the latrine family which is sponsored by the Sanitary Board, and if the Sanitary Board cannot guide us in matters of this kind I don't know what this Council can do.
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On the resolution being put to the vote, HIS EXCELLENCY declared that the ayes had it, but the Hon. Dr. Ho KAI asked for a division which resulted as follows:-
For the resolution-Hon. Mr. Slade, hon. Sir Henry Berkeley, hon. Mr. Marray Stewart, hon. Mr. Pollock, Harbour Master, Registrar General, Director of Public Works, Colonial Treasurer, Attorney General, Colonial Secretary, His Excellency the General,
five cents, to defray the charges of the year 1907.
The COLONIAL TREASURER seconded and the motion was agreed to,
CHEMISTS AND DRUGGISTS (ORDINANCE, The ATTORNEY GENERAL moved that the Council go into Committee on the Bill entitled An Ordinance to provide for the registration of Chemists and Druggists and to regulate the
Sale of Poisons.
TARY seconded and the
The COLONIAL SECRETA motion was agreed to.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL said that the committee was adjourned on the last occasion to enable certain amendments to be framed to clause 11. He had an opportunity of drafting amendments which would meet with the approval of the gentlemen concerned,
The Bill passed through committee and there being no objection the Bill was also read a third time.
THE PUBLIC HEALTH ORDINANCE.
HIS EXCELLENCY-The committee stage on the Public Health and Baildings Ordinance stands next on the orders of the day. An hour or two b fore the meeting of this Council I received a letter from the Chief Justice com. menting on certain asp cts of the debate which took place in this Council last week. The receipt of that latter raises 8 con- stitutional point which I think deserves a serious consideration, and although I have given the matter in conjunction with the Attorney General my most careful consideration up to the last moment before the assembling of the Council I think it better to postpone the com- mittee stage until next meeting of the Council. Hon. Sit HENBY BE' KOLE-Do you post- pone consideration of the entire Bill?
H18 EXCELLENCY-Yes. The only remain. ing clause is the one proposed by yourself. The Council stands adjourned until Thursday
next.
FINANCE COMMITTEE.
A meeting of the Finance Committee was held after the Council the Colonial Secretary presiding. The following votes were passel:
PUBLIC WORKS FITRAORDINARY.
The Governor recommended the Council to vote a sum of six thousand seven hundred dollars ($6, 00) in aid of the vote, Public Works Extraordinary, Saiyipgpun Anglo-Chinese Sobool Extension.
The Governor recommended the Council to vot) a
sum of one thousand seven hundred dollars (31,700) in aid of the vote, Public Works Extraordinary, 1 Victoria British School- Additional Storey to Quarters.
WATER WORKS.
The Governor recommended the Council to vota a sum of eight thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500) in aid of the vote, Public Works Extraordinary, Miscellaneous Water Works.
PUBLIC WORES RECURRENT. The Governor recommend d the Council to vote a sum of six thousand five haudred dollars (86,5-0) in aid of the vote, Public Works Re. current, Maintenance of Kowloon Water Works
OPIUM SMOKERS.
The following paper entitled Calculation of the percentages of opium smokers in China, Ssuohuan and Hongkong was laid on the table at the Legislative Council yesterday:
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A lurid picture has frequently been drawn, especially in recent times, of the prevalence of opium smoking throughout China. For ex- ample, to quote only from a number of printed papers which reached me by last mail, Bishop Hoare of Hongkong has stated that the opium trade "inoreases the incalculable misery of millions of our fellows and tends to a grievous deterioration of a noble race." The Rev. Dr. Griffith John asserts that "qpium is not only robbing the Chinese of millions of money, year by year, but is actually destroying them as a people." Mr. George Cadbury speaks of the opiam trade 8.8 demoralising a heathen nation for the sake of revenue." The Rev. The COLONIAL SECRETARY moved the third R. F. Horton remarks that "we are all prefectly reading of the Bill entitled An Ordinance to au- well aware that opium is the cause of anatter- thorize the appropriation of a supplementaryable misery and destruction to the Chinese." sum of one hundred and sixty-six thousand seven Lundred and thirty-five dollars and eight
Against the resolution-Hon. Dr. Yo Kai and Hon. Mr. Wei Yak,
THE APPROPRIATION BILL.
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Finally Mr, Theodore C. Taylor, M.P., is good enough to say that "from the point of view
[June 22, 1908. of reform the blackest opium spots in Chins are the spots under British rule," while the whole assumption underlying the speeches, made at a breakfast meeting at the Hotel Cecil, London, on the 28th of last February (fully reported in the issue of "National Righteous- ness," dated April, 1908), was that the Chinese, as a nation, were demoralized and rained by. their addiction to the habit of opium smoking.
No doubt, in justification of such an opinion, It would be possible to refer to Article 2 of the Proposals in Ten Articles for carrying out the Opium Edict of the 20th September, 1906, which commences as follows :- "The vice of opium smoking is of long standing, and it may be reckoned that some 30 to 40 per cent. of the population are addicted thereto " It, therefore, becomes desirable to consider what are the real facts as to the prevalence of opium smoking, and in this memorandum an endeavour is made to calculate the percentages of opium smokers (1) in China as a whole, (2) in the province of Saüch'uan, where admittedly opium smoking is heavier than in any other part of China, and (3) in Hongkong.
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(1.) Percentage of opium smokers in China 04 a whole.-Sir John Jordan, in the first paragraph of his general report on opium, dated in November, 1907, states that the population of China "is generally estimated at four hundred millions. Further on in the same report he writes: "The amount of opium produced in China in 1906 has been "estimated at 33,00 picals... Of this total only 4,730 piculs are exported to Foreign Countries Foreign raw opium imported in the same year was as follows:-
Malwa Patoa
Benares Other kinds.
Total
Piouls.
14,465
25,486
Indian,
53,430
13,479
795
54.225 piculs.
"Thus China may be said to have required for her own consumption in 1906 :-
C
Native opiam Foreign opium
Total
Piculs,
325,270
54,225
379 425
or 50,599,333 lbs. weight, or 22,588 tons, of which about one seventh comes from India. As opium is always retailed in taels, I may add that one picul equals 1,600 taels. There- fore, 379,495 piouls equal 607,192,000 taels,
Now no person can be considered a confirmed opium smoker unless he consumes about Tls. 0.2 of prepared opium per diem, I have intentionally taken a very low figure, in order that the resulting percentage may be the highest possible: but, as a matter of fact, Sir J. Jordan, writing on the 14th August, 1907, states that "a smoker of Tis. 0.3 weight. a day of Indian opium requires Tis. 0.4 of Chinese opium to produce the same effect," the assump tion being that a confirmed opium smoker will consume twice the weight which I have adopted for purposes of this calculation. Estimating. tberefore, & total annual consumption of 607,192,000 taals, the daily consumption will be 1,663,539 taels: and allowing Tls. 0.2 for each smoker per diem, it results that there are 8,317,695 persons who smoke opium in the Chinese Empire. Curiously enough these figures agres closely with the statement made by Sir J. Jordan in a despatch to the Foreign Office, dated the 30th September, 1906, in which he writes, that the opium habit has gained a firm hold upon 8,000.001 of the adult popula tion of the Empire," although at that date the British Minister at Peking could not as yet have been in possession of the figures quoted in bis report of November, 1907.
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Assuming, then, that the total population of the Empire is 400,001,000, of whònì 8,000,000 are opium smokers, the number of per ons who smoke opiam in the Chinese Empire is only 2 per cent. But I must point out that even this percentage is far too high for 607,192,000 taels is the weight of raw opium before pre- paration, whereas Tis 2 is the weight of pre- pared opiam as consumed. Now the Govern- ment Analyst at Hongkong has recently reported that raw opium by preparation loses 50 per cent. of its weight: therefore, the amount of prepared opium actually consumed
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