0
370
(a) for the lawful purposes of
and
12.05ber of Commerce,
Best 25 100 13 (b) for the Ellis Kadoorie Scheel now standing upon the
lot; because by the deed of trust of the 19th.
March, 1907, the Government seems to have acquiesced
in an extension of the trust upon which the Trustees
for the Chamber held the land. The former of these
trusts has now to all intents and purposes ceased,
for the Secretary for Chinese Affairs has reported
that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce no longer exists, and it is proposed under Section 6 of Ordi-
-nance 47 of 1911 to write the name of the Chamber
off the list of registered societies. The latter
trust is in a most unsatisfactory stete (1) because
the extension of the trust was ultre vires, the
sanction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies
not having been obtained, and is therefore strictly speaking illegal, although the Government could scarcely repudiate it now; and (2) because the
Crow lessees, i.e. the trustees for the Chamber
have left the Colony and someone else is apparently
paying Crow Rent in their name.
4.
In these circumstances I am advised that the
best plan will be to persuade the payees of the Crown Rent to make
default in payment. The Covernment could then re-enter on the pro-
-perty and would only have to deal with the Trustees of the
School. It would then no doubt be easy for Government to agree
with the trustees of the School to take from Covernment a new lease
upon such terms as the Government might think fit to grant for the purposes of the School only.
If you agree to this procedure I propose that the new lease should be granted upon the following terus:-
(1). Term of lease 75 years.
(2). Crown Rent 1 per annum.
(3).