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the increased area of the Colony, giving greater permanence
to its foundation, I should have imagined the tendency on the island would have been the other way, and the leaseholds con- verted into freehold as in the Mother country and in India.
3. I am decidedly of opinion that the step con- templated would adversely affect land sales in Victoria, and for the following reasons.-
(a) No person wishing to become the owner of
land would purchase on so short a lease because it would
not pay him to erect substantial buildings.
(b) It would put a premium on the existing lot
which would naturally be much sought after.
(c) It would drive purchasers to invest in land in the hinterland of Kowloon, where level sites will be available and where taxation for some time at least
would be lighter than on this island.
4. I wish to point out that by adopting short period leases in HKong the Govt. would be actually creating a market for the owners under long leases as against itself. In other words land under short leases will be unsaleable in com- petition with the old lots, unless the crown rent were made nominal and the upset price brought down to a very low figure.
5. It is difficult to fix a really equitable provision to compensate tenarts at the expiration of a short lease like 75 or 99 years, as these properties frequently change hands, always in the hope that the lease will be renewed or extended on its expiry. In the event of its final determina-
tion
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