Ima jbegki
36
offered in exchange, and that in other cases exchanges based
on the relative values of the old lot under cultivation and the new lot filled and levelled for building should be offered wherever possible.
18.
In conclusion I wish to emphasize the fact that in the Kowloon peninsula and along the northern shores of Hong Kong harbour there is now being constructed a large modern city, which will I believe in future exceed in size, wealth and importance the City of Victoria on Hong Kong island, where the configuration of the ground prevents any considerable further expansion. In Kowloon are already some of the best and busiest wharves and docks of the Colony, and many more are projected. Here is already the terminus of the Kowloon-Canton railway, which will it may confidently be hoped one day run on in unbroken continuity across Asia and Europe to the English Channel. Here it is proposed that the future aerodrome of the Colony should be built. Here waterworks are now being constructed of a capacity exceeding those possible on Hong Kong island. In short the future development contemplated at Kowloon is on a scale suitable for one of the largest and finest cities in the world. It would, I venture to think, be a grave mistake to impede this development by making the scheme so costly as to be beyond the means of this Government. The Memorialists insist that
their rights as Chinese landowners are infringed. I do not
agree that their rights are infringed. But, even if that
point were open to argument, it cannot be denied that the
development of New Kowloon is mainly in the interest of the
Chinese community and that Chinese will be the principal
beneficiaries. I suggest, therefore, that the Memorialists
be told that they will receive full compensation for their
agricultural holdings, as such, but that for the rest they
must