204
Dr. FITZWILLIAMS asked if they had any reason for thinking Mr. Carter had not been pensioned at his own request.
Hon. Mr. HEWETT replied that Mr. Carter was not pensioned off at his own request.
The PRESIDENT said he had no information on the subject, but it was news to him to learn that Mr. Carter did not wish to accept the pension.
Hon. Mr. HEWETT replied that Mr. Carter did not know a short time ago he was to be pensioned. He was at home a good many months enjoying his holiday when he was suddenly in formed his services were not required. He might have been looking for further employ. ment during those months.
The PRESIDENT asked if any member wished to make a resolution.
Hon. Mr. HEWETT asked that the views they hau expressed be laid before the Government,
Mr. HOOPER expressed a similar wish. The PRESIDENT said a copy of their remarks would be forwarded to the Governor.
Members wished the Press to oblige.
Mr. LAU CHU PAK said he wanted it to be recorded that he supported those remarks.
The Board agreed with the recommendation that one sanitary surveyor was sufficient for the needs of the Colony.
The Board then discussed the recommenda- tion that the number of inspectors be reduced.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
by Mr. HOOPER asked if the arguments adduced m the President had been before the Retrench-
ent Committee.
[September 4, 1909.
was satisfied that each one had a full day's work Likewise, brushwood of such a nature on private dwellings should be removed by the owner or to perform.
occupier at his personal expense. The speaker hoped the Medical Officer of Health”would second his resolution. Mr. Hooper here spoke The PRESIDENT replied that he did not know of other insects than the anopheles which were injurious to public health, and thought How the Committee obtained evidence.
COLONEL BEDFORD endorsed the views that was sufficient to show that a nuisance expressed by the President and emphasised existed, and everyone who did not do all
of necessity
having & the
certain they could to have such a nuisance abated of men on leave as they were would be wanting in duty. Why had number
Was it from a view of serving in a tropical climate. The staff might be the Government put in this notification asking reduced by sickness. If there were two or three the public to do it?
He could not think that, on leave and several sick, what were they going retrenchment ? to do? He thought that all reductions should because he was given to understand that the be carried out gradually, and he advised the removal of brushwood cost nothing. He was Board to reduce only one for the first year and speaking subject to correction, because only this see how it worked. Rushing into great re-week he found that this clearing of brushwood was done under the supervision of the Sanitary ductions was always a danger.
Department, whereas he thought it should have been done by the Afforestation Department. He knew of his own knowledge that brushwood on the banks of a stream surrounding an Artillery mess had been cleared by a staff of 150 old Chinese women who got per-
The PRESIDENT moved that in the opinion of the Board 24 inspectors exclusive of the the minimum with which storekeeper was the work of the Department could be carried on efficiently.
Dr. FITZWILLIAMS seconded.
Mr. HOOPER proposed as an amendment that mission to remove it free, and did so because the number be 23.
Hon. Mr. HEWETT seconded.
it was a marketable commodity. The only cost to the Government would be supervision Only three voted for the amendment and the by an officer, who would see that the clearers
did not damage public or private property. motion was carried!
The report as amended was adopted.
MARKET BYELAWS.
The report of a select committee appointed to consider the question of amending the market bye-laws was submitted.
Mr. HOOPER minuted-I think the police should have access to the markets.
Other minor matters were discussed. With regard to the lighting of the markets, opportunity of Mr. HOOPER said he was not able to agree the PRESIDENT took the with the President and Dr. Fitzwilliams, but conveying the thanks of the Government to re- held the view expressed by the Retrenchment those members of the Board who were Committee, which included the Colonial Secresponsible for the large saving which had
been effected on this particular item. tary, the Colonial Treasurer, the President of the Sanitary Board and Hon. Mr. Murray Stewart. That Committee, after taking evidence, had recommended three inspectors be dispensed with, a view with which he agreed. However, he was prepared to compromise and accept an amend, ment striking out one. In a mercantile estab- lishment where there was a fairly large staff, when any members went on vacation their duties were distributed over the remainder and he suggested that that' principle should apply to the Department. It might be argued that if they had an epidemic plague or any other infectious disease they would not be able to cope with it, but he might point out that if they were pushed they might borrow from the police, who had acted before as sanitary inspectors. At present they acted as sanitary inspectors in the suburbs and in the districts beyond the jurisdiction of the Board. They were sufficiently intelligent to act in cases of emergency. When plague broke out in 1894 and they had not sufficient staff the military undertook the work, and to maintain a force in time of peace that was equivalent in many cases to that in time of war was, when their finances were so straighened, highly,
He agreed with the improper. Retrenchment Committee. He thought that two inspectors might go, but if three were pro- posed he would accept that.
COLONEL BEDFORD seconded the resolution. What Mr. Hooper proposed was really in accordance with the views which the Military It had been Authorities here had laid down. laid down as a working axiom that no scrub or brush wood other than cultivated plants and flowers should be permitted to exist within one hundred yards of any inhabited military build- ing. This clearance was one of the recognised measures in all anti-malarial campaigns. The speaker quoted figures dealing with the death rate from malaria in the Colony, and said he thought its future malarial history was by no means assured. The Peak at comparatively free, but it The PRESIDENT stated that he had submitted present was with the report of the Crown Solicitor, who agreed, was unquestionably primary cases that were Only a few weeks ago an to the members of the select committee that occurring now.
A sufficient number of police anopheles was found in Mount Austin Barracks, He the old byelaw,
was 1,300 feet above sea level. of for the maintenance of order in the market, etc," which
was ultra vires, because the Board was not in a attributed the present apparent immunity to position to enforce it. The Captain Superin- the simple fact that there were very few were no native children, tendent of Police could not be summoned for natives at the Peak, and especially to the
who were & means not obeying byelaws, but it would be arranged fact that there
of spreading ́ ́ ma- Was that police should be there.
only necessary to glance laria. It at other tropical island colonies to read a lesson which all in Hongkong should take to heart. Three years ago the 1,400 foot level at Mauritius was practically free from malaria. Now the population there was being decimated by it, and villages are simply becoming waste places. The same thing happened in Madagas- car, where the disease spread from terrace to terrace until it got to extraordinary high
the French island o altitudes, and Réunion it had gone up over 3,000 feet
Hon. Mr. HEWETT disagreed with Mr. Hooper in one matter. He thought they should adhere to the original recommendation of the Retrenchment Committee. Epidemics had been exceedingly rare during the past twenty years, and he thought it was absurd to keep reservė men on the staff on the chance of there being wanted once every two or three years. military had assisted them before, and he thought it was cheaper to pay for the special aid when wanted.
The
|
On the suggestion of Mr. HOOPER the stand- ing orders were suspended to relieve the Secretary from reading every clause.
The amended bye-laws were then adopted.
BRUSHWOOD AND MALARIA:
Mr. HOOPER, pursuant to notice, moved: "That in the interest of the Public Health of this Colony it is desirable for the Government to clear all brushwood from Crown land in the close proximity of dwelling houses which is likely to be detrimental to the Public Health owing to its harbourage of mosquitoes on the ground that the existence of such brushwood is a nuisance detrimental to the Public Health.*
1
in
sea level. Therefore he viewed with no é above to
of confidence the future of the upland The cost of such work to be paid for out of districts of this Colony. For that reason the Public Funds, and that where such brush-he cordially supported Mr. Hooper's pro- wood is on private land the owners be called posal for doing away as far as possible with all undergrowth, because not merely did it upon to clear it at their own expense."
afford sheltering places for all the mosquito tribes, but receptacles for an accumulation of water were to be found beneath, and these were nurseries for all varieties of mosquitoes. Again, so long as the ground was shut out from view, they couldnot tell the course of the nullahs or what marsh lands were underneath.
In doing so he said that a few days ago he would have thought it superfluous to bring such a motion, because he was always under the impression that where such a nuisance existed owners and people interested could be called upon to abate it. But he saw in the The PRESIDENT did not view with favour Daily Press the other day a notification that
Hon. Mr. HEWETT entirely agreed with what the reduction of the staff to 21, and gave figures that paper was officially informed that the
Government were prepared to remove brush-had been said by the proposer and seconder to support his contention that if this were done the men would not be able to overtake the in-wood from their own land at the expense of of the resolution, and reminded the Board that creased duties cast upon them. He was pre- private individuals. Thinking that there must some years ago he brought up this very question be something wrong he considered it better to in connection partly with the clearing of pared to compromise and reduce the number
ventilate the matter here. To allow brushwood, ground and the draining of nullahs. In con- to 24, but they should not be reduced to the ir- reducible minimum. By the proposed reduction which harboured mosquitoes, etc., to remain was nection with the Mount Austin barracks, he the a nuisance which was liable to be summarily previously found that mosquitoes were extreme- they were doubling the duties of staff, casting upon them plague work and dealt with by the Public Health Ordin- ly bad there, but unfortunately the P. m. O., scavenging supervision in addition to their ance, and because brushwood was on Crown who was then a member of the Board, after other duties. After detailing the work land it was not free from that Ordinance.visiting the barracks reported that there were of an inspector, the President said they could ir Matthew Nathan, when Governor of the no anopheles, and consequently no action was not reduce the staff beyond a certain limit at Colony, took Counsel's opinion and found that the expense of efficiency, and he was prepared Crown lands came within the measures of the to recommend that the number be reduced to law. Therefore, if there were any places in this Colony in close proximity to private dwelling 24, exclusive of the storekeeper.
houses, where mosquitoes were harboured and became a menace to public health, it was for the Government to remove the brushwood,
Dr. FITZWILLIAMS seconded. The PRESIDENT added that at present there were 25 inspectors at work in the Colony, and he
taken.
i
The MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH entirely endorsed everything that had been said with regard to the absolute necessity for clearing In the present year the scrub and brushwood. Sanitary Department had cleared many thou- sand feet of brushwood, while on the upper
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.