The Cuarmmax submitted the motion, and it was carried unanimously.
Mr. Hanr said—The next resolution is as follows Resolution XI.—That this Meeting under Article IX of the Land Regulations of 1870, hereby authorizes the Council for the tim ing to raise (if necessary), a sum not excecdi Tis, 10,000 S. 8. by Debentures redeemable in not less th not more tha: years from is at the rate of not over annum, purpose of completing the New Mongkew Police Station.
Mr, Hart wont on to say that the works to be done at the Hongkew Police Station were the erection of residences for the Inspectors of Roads and Nuisances, at a cost of Tls. 3,600; a bell-tower, Tls. 700 a godown, Tls. 750; stable, ete., Ths. 75 extras on' the contract of 'Tis, filling in and fixing, Tls. 1,450. of Tls. 7,500 includes the residenc Inspectors of Roads and Nuisan allowance has previously been made to the Inspectors for rent; but now the Council had deemed it' advisable to build houses for them instead of continuing that allowance. In asking for the Tls. 10,000, it was not to be concluded that the whole amount would be necessary—the Council may only issue debentures for Tls. 7,000 perhaps, if they should find that that amount would be sufficient to carry the building through.
Mr.. H. Lavers seconded, and the motion wai passed.
Mr. Hanr said—The next resolution, gentlemen, is—
Resolution XIJ.—That after the Slat day of May next, no permission shall be given by the Council fo any or persons to arrect Sheds or Store Building or other material upon the forestiors of the Bund, and all unexpired permits shall then be withdrawn or cancelled, and all Shed~ and Materials shall be removed from the said foreshore.
In introducing this resolution, I would briefly remark that I think every Ratepayer present must agree with me that the state of the foreshore of the Bund is perfectly scandalous. (Applause.) And in order to remedy this serious blot on the Settlement, the Council, after due consideration, have deemed it advisable to bring forward such a resolution as this. I may mention that it is not the intention of the Council to raise the question of the ownership of the foreshore; the Council, in looking at the whole question, merely say the foreshore is " portion of the Settlement. It is not necessary for me to say, or for the Council to say, who that foreshore belongs to. To people who have been resident here a great many years, the question has been very often raised. One man says it is his, and another says it is his, and the bigger power behind says it is his. But apart from that the Council do not raise that point,—they say it isa portion of our Settlement, and that at the present time it is in a disgraceful state and must be cleansed. 'There is no doubt that the Bund lot holders may say it belongs to them. I shall not say it does not. 'The Council does not wish to say it does not. The only power they wish to ascertain, and it isa power which it may be said' they already possess, being a body having charge of the conservancy of the Settlement, they merely wish to point out that the foreshore, being part of the Settlement, must be kept clean. We have heard 1 great deal of discussion from time to time about the opium hulks, and what an eyesore they were and are alongside the Bund, Looking at the opium hulks and looking at these sheds, how many complaints are made about them. Look at the sheds now You can hardly walk along the now, pathway of our Bund, The smells are of the worst character. None of us are favourable to the odours emitted from Chinese cookery, and, as one passes along, cooking is going on' in each of these sheds for a number of men, and I think from 150 to 350 men are fed daily in them. You can understand the refuse that is thrown from these places—you can understand the smells emitted. There is no power to keep the sheds clean, We cannot do it, and if you go immediately behind, between the sheds and the river, you will find a series of latrines which are perfectly filthy. What will be the condition of the Settlement as summer approaches and during the hot season if these places are allowed to remain? The stench will be intolerable, and the health of the Settlement will suffer considerably. (Applause.) With regard to the convenience it is to the Bund lot-holders to erect sheds there, I think it is imaginary. more or less. A few days ago, I discussed the question with Mr. Groom, who, as you know, is an architect, and making alterations at present to some buildings of Messrs, Russell & Ca. on the Bund; and he says it is not of the smallest consequence the sheds being erected there. It is more a convenience to the contractors, who immediately settle a colony there, and the work done is not confined to that necessary for houses facing the Bund, but for buildings in other parts of the Settlement. So far as doors and windows are concerned, they might be made at Pootung, and the stones faced hundreds of miles away. The sight of the foreshore is a disgrace, that would not be allowed to prevail in any other part of the Settlement, and why should we allow it here? You have entrusted a certain number of mon as guardians to look after your interests and keep your Settlement clean. Why, then, should they not keep the foreshore clean and so take care of the health of the Settlement? I have been in conversation with the Superintendent of Police, and in a report he has prepared on the subject, which I now Troll in my hand, he gives a very fair account of what takes place in these sheds daily. One portion of this report I will read. {The report described the latrines as being very offensive, and that the longer the sheds remained, the danger to health would become greater, for there were no means of cleansing the latrines. ]—When you take, gentlemen, these facts into consideration, you can fully understand what_a disgraceful state these places are in. Before sitting down, I would again remind the Ratepayers who may probably object to this measure, that it is only introduced by would create illness or sickness. ft is a the Council as a means of preventing what proceeding on the part of the Council which has nothing to do with the right of ownership of the foreshore. The only thing is the Council recognise it as a portion of the Settlement. I might mention also that in 1871, the Council passed a motion in reference to the foreshore; and in conclusion, I have only to add that if you do not keep the foreshore clean, the consequences will be terrific. (Loud applaud:
Mr. F. B. Fornes—It is very satis factory to hear from the gentleman who has just sat down that this resolution is not in any way to prejudice the rights that exist of Bund lot-holders; but I may point out that the resolution as it stands, does, in an indirect way, open the whole question of ownership of the foreshore, Here, in this resolution is a direct instruction to the Council from the Ratepayers to move all sheds and material from that foreshore, by or on a certain date. This is not' the proper place to go into the legal aspects of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.