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cultivated, or that nothing will be done to change the use
of the land from time to time. For example, we have ascertained
that Lot No. 123 in Demarcation District No. 270 is described
in the Schedule of the Block Crown Lease as "Broken Latrine".
It would be absurd to suggest that the Crown intended by that
description to fix the user of that Lot for no other purpose
than that of "Broken Latrine" for the duration of the Block
Crown Lease.
THE 1898 CONVENTION: TREATY OBLIGATIONS
16.
We now turn to consider how far the terms of the
1898 Convention have been observed by the Crown in the
administration of the New Territories.
17.
By the 1898 Convention it was agreed between the
Governments of Great Britain and China that there would be no
expropriation or expulsion of the inhabitants of the New
Territories and "that if land is required for public offices,
fortifications, or the like official purposes, it shall be
bought at a fair price".
18.
The "official purposes" contemplated in the Convention
appear to be purposes connected with "public offices" and
"fortifications". Since that time, the Crown has expropriated
land for purposes wider than those within the categories of
"public offices" and "fortifications".
19.
The Crown Lands Resumption Ordinance, 1900, empowered
the Crown to resume land for "public purposes". The expression
"resumption for a public purpose" included resumption for: (1)