Enclosure 1.
258
To the RIGHT HONOURABLE JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.,
Sheweth:-
Secretary of State for the Colonies,
&c.,
&c.,
fc.
THE HUMBLE PETITION of MATTHEW JOHN DENMAN STEPHENS of Victoria in the Colony of Hongkong Solicitor and THOMAS HOWARD of the same place Merchant.
1.-Your Petitioners are Crown Lessees as tenants in common in equal shares of Marine Lot No. 184 situate at Victoria West in the Island of Hong- kong upon which they have erected valuable godowns or warehouses for the storage of goods and produce.
2.--At the time of the purchase of the Lot by your Petitioners in the year 1884 the land was lying rough and waste having been used as a slipway for the repair of vessels, and this land was selected by your Petitioners from its immediate proximity to deep water and because it was a Marine Lot and was purchased by them for the express purpose of laying out large sums of money upon it in improvements and erecting godowns for the establishment of a godown and money lending business in connexion therewith, to be formed and carried on by your Petitioner THOMAS HOWARD.
3.--Soon after the completion of your Petitioners' purchase it was dis- covered that the measurement of the Lot did not correspond with the measure- ments stated in the Crown Lease thereof, owing to the making and alteration of roads and other circumstances; and your Petitioners were called upon by the Government to surrender the Crown Lease and to accept a new Crown Lease with adjusted measurements and boundaries, which your Petitioners accordingly did. Such new Crown Lease was granted on the 13th September 1884 for the original term of 999 years commencing on the 25th June 1861 at the annual Crown Rent of $249, the area of the Lot being 32,820 square feet.
4.-Your Petitioners thereupon commenced to level the ground and build foundations for the godowns to be erected on the said Lot, when legal proceedings were taken against your Petitioners by an adjoining owner who ciaimed part of the ground as already comprised in his Lease, and although your Petitioners' Lease was supported by the Government, judgment was given against your Petitioners and 339 square feet taken away from them under the judgment of the Supreme Court.
5.-By reason of this and under the directions of your Predecessor the Right Honourable Sir HENRY T. HOLLAND, Bart, your Petitioners were compensated by the Colonial Government to the extent of $1,700 being $5 per square foot, the then market value of the ground in question as stated in the letter of the Honour- able FREDERICK STEWART the then Colonial Secretary dated the 22nd November 1887 No. 1804 addressed to your Petitioners.
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