732
those persons who were found by the Land Court to have been
C
the proper owners under the Chinese Government at the time
:
of the taking over of the New Territories. It is not com-
-petent to the Government to repossess itself of the lots
belonging to these persons without payment of the value of
the leases nor to prevent their subletting to Europeans or
others who may desire to purchase them for the erection of
factories or godowns or for other purposes. The land that
might be reserved in the manner requested by the Admiralty
is therefore confined to that which is at present uncultiva-
-ted and unoccupied for which no Crown Leases have been is-
-sued.
24987
63
3.
With regard to this land I am for
the reasons stated in the 3rd. paragraph of Sir Henry
Blake's Despatch No. 274 dated the 4th. June, 1903, averse
to its reservation in the manner proposed which would mere-
-ly have the effect of depriving the Colony of the value of
the land in order that in an indefinite future the Admiral-
-ty may, should they wish to acquire it, do so at less than
its market value at the time.
4.
I am prepared, however, to give
to the Admiralty the first refusal of any Crown Land, other
than lots for ordinary cultivation or for the erection of village