REVIEW
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accepted. The first influx fled from the shattered economy and threat of famine which followed the Pacific War. The people who followed in the second influx voted with their feet against the new régime which was established when the Nationalists withdrew to Formosa. In either case the im- migrants sought in Hong Kong something sufficiently im- portant to themselves to necessitate the abandonment of their homes, the severance of family ties and the renunciation of traditional allegiances. No one will ever know what it cost them to abandon the land on which their ancestors had made their living. They were not denied what they sought, and Hong Kong accepted the burden which they brought with them in the name of humanity rather than because it had any special standing in the matter other than the accident of contiguity.
There were, of course, no homes at all for the great majority of the refugees. There were two reasons for this. In the first place, the serious overcrowding, which had necessitated both immigration control and rent control im- mediately before the Pacific War, began to build up again very shortly after the Japanese surrender, and by 1950 the pressure of population was worse than it had ever been in the Colony's history. In the second place, although conven- tional war damage was comparatively slight, neglect and decay had made serious inroads into the quality and quantity of domestic buildings. There had been no building at all during the occupation, and world-wide shortage of supplies and shipping in 1946 and 1947 delayed even the rehabilitation of such buildings as could have been quickly repaired. A small proportion of the refugees were able to bring some capital with them. This they used in the first place to buy out sitting tenants, many of whom may well have been long residents of Hong Kong. But even the high prices obtained could not provide alternative accommodation, and it was not long before those local people who had been tempted into parting with their homes found themselves no better off than