Oki houses
not affectcil.
Housing of employees.
Reservations.
Opinions of Commission-
ers on Re- servations.
Reasons for reservations.
124
106. The proposal in paragraph 105, if adopted, would in no way delay the demolition and reconstruction of houses which are so old or dilapidated as to require reconstruction.
107. The housing of employees, already dealt with under Branch I, paragraph 27, will also tend to diminish rents, not merely by providing more houses but also by diminishing the number of people who are at present obliged to compete for houses to live in.
108. There is now only one aspect of the problem left to be dealt with by us. It is the question of how best to protect the various classes of the community from being, as they have been in the past, forced out of certain parts of the Colony, in which they have for years been residing, by economic. pressure from outside.
109. It is the opinion of the Chairman and Mr. Bailey that the only means of attaining the desired result is the creation of reservations for all sec- tions of the community; and the views and recommendations contained in the following paragraphs relative to the subject are their views and recommenda- tions. Mr. Kotewall, recognising that the question is not one of racial diseri- mination, and that, like the British residents, the Chinese and Portuguese permanent residents of the middle and working classes have suffered severely from the economic pressure caused by periodic influxes from the neighbour- ing Provinces, agrees to the principle of Reservations for British residents and for those Chinese permanent residents and residents of other races, who desire such Reservations.
Mr. Kotewall, however, considers that the area comprising the Kowloon foothills together with the hills behind as marked green in Enclosure 7, which is recommended in para. 121 for an European reservation, is far too large for the purpose. In para. 118 the Government is already asked to reserve for the same purpose "the whole of the foothills surrounding and forming part of King's Park on the West, North and East side, and also the hilly area immediately adjoining such foothills; "and it is believed that fully 100 houses, with garden space around them, could be erected on this amphi- theatre. Even if the eastern side of the area were required for Military Officers' quarters (ride para. 120), the remaining portion thereof would still seem to be sufficient to accommodate nearly all the British residents who have recently been or will soon be dislodged from their houses. Those who cannot be accommodated in this area could then go to the Kowloon foot- hills. But the area of the latter which is recommended to be reserved for the purpose is, to Mr. Kotewall's mind, unnecessarily large--larger, it appears from the map, than the whole of the developed portion of the Kowloon Peninsula which has taken about 80 years to reach its present size and prosperity. The total British population of the Colony, according to the Census taken in April, 1921, is about 8,000, the majority of whom are already fairly well housed in different parts of the Colony; and judging by the rate at which that population has grown during the last two decades, it seems unlikely that in the next two decades or so it would increase greatly out of proportion to the past rate, or to such a number as would actually need the enormous area proposed to be reserved for them. Apart from other considerations, it is economically unsound to detach a vast area of good building land from a locality which is rapidly developing, and to set it aside in order to meet the needs of a section of the community who requires only a very small portion of it for a long time to come.
long time to come. Mr. Kotewall is therefore of the opinion that only such an area in that locality as will adequately meet the present needs of the British residents, should be reserved for them, with a reasonable margin of land allowed for recreation- grounds and for future expansion.
* 110. The question of the setting aside of reservations for different sections of the community has received the most anxious consideration of the Commissioners; and they are of opinion, after carefully studying the very special circumstances prevailing in this Colony, including its proximity to the