NS CONFIDENTIAL.
CO
(171
268
HEC
RE 4 EB 20)
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONGKONG. 27th November,
1919.
My Lord,
To Secretary of State:
Confidential Despatch of
23rd October, 1918. From Secretary of State:
Confidential Despatch of Do
14th January, 1919.
o Secretary of State:
Confidential Despatch or
12th September,1919. )
With reference to the correspondence
2 noted in the margin, I bave the
honour to inform Your Lordship that there is an organised plan on the part of certain Chinese gentlemen to provent European applicants from obtaining building sites in the
portion of Cheung Chau recently dealt with by Ordinance, the
method adopted being that of running up the price of the premium to a prohibitive figure at the auction.
2.
If this factious opposition is allowed to continue it will of course put an end to the scheme for a European reservation on this island and I submit that it is necessary to take some steps to defeat it. I propose therefore that for the present the system of auction should be dispensed with in this area and that sites should be leased to approved applicants on reasonable torms. In order that the Goverment may receive a fair price for the land such as it is the object of the system of auction to secure, I propose that the upset. premium, which would normally be one cent per square foot, should be increased by 50 per cent and that a similar increase
should
RIGHT HONOURABLE
VISCOUNT MILNER, G.C.B.,
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