245
12.
It is submitted that the statements of the Petitioner and her architects as to the value of the land and as to the insufficiency of the offers made by the Government are not relevant to the petition, as the question of the value of the land must be considered by the tribunal to be appointed under the Crown Lease and all such arguments can be adduced by the Petitioner before such tribunal.
13.
It is true that a portion of the adjoining lot (Kowloon Farm Lot No.3) was recently bought from a private owner by the Hongkong Hotel Company at 45 cents a foot, but this purchase was made for a special purpose, for which the land was, by reason of its situation (adjoining a main road) and otherwise, peculiarly adapted; and I am informed that the price was based upon the mistaken assumption on the part of the purchasers that they had the right to call upon the Government at any time to convert the Farm lot into Building lots, whereas I am advised by the Law Officers of the Crown that no such right exists.
14.
The Petitioner's architects in the correspondence attached to the Petition refer to numerous cases in which the Government has converted Farm Lots into Building Lots on favourable terms, but I submit that each of these