Adm 18 165 19 Forei Offic 14 pround rent at Victoria, show- that the rates then established, rising as they do to an annual rent of £340 per acre Carmot safely ve maintained. But if so, it must almost certainly follow that if the scale of payment be lowered prospectively it would not be long possible to enforce upon the present Land owners the continued payment of their present Rents.
It has not been without reluctance that we have contemplated any immediate alteration the effect of which may be to diminish the present Revenue of Hong Kong. The question, however, has become so urgent that it is impossible any longer to postpone its settlement, and it is clear that an attempt to maintain the existing rents, if they be really excessive, would in the end be more fatal to the progress, and consequently Revenue of Hong Kong, than any immediate loss could be.
Under these circumstances, We would venture to submit our opinion that the Governor should be authorized to constitute the Committee of Enquire which he has proposed, both with respect to the general question of reduction, and as to the cases of alleged hardship, submitting...