1887-1903
17
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Building land and orchards pay a very insignificant land tax, whilst burial grounds, which the people wish to be officially recognised and registered, pay once only a stamp fee for the title deed, without being obliged to pay any further tax.
Hill land and Waste land.
All hills and waste lands are claimed by the nearest villages or most powerful clans in the neighbourhood, or even at a distance.
Even portions of the sea and the bed of the sea, foreshore, sand beaches, and any land whatever which may be turned into use and profit, are claimed and in some cases registered.
Crown land is undefined, and adjacent proprietors claim almost every inch of land under cover of vague grants, though they pay no land tax for such illegal possessions.
Land Measurement.
The acreage of land is not always calculated by square measure in mau (0·1515 English acres), as it should be according to law, but generally by the amount of grain required to sow the land, a method which is very uncertain and unsatisfactory, and causes much friction with the farmers, especially as the grain measures vary in different localities.
Cultivated land.
All land under cultivation must be registered, or is liable to confiscation. On registration, stamped title deeds are issued by the District Magistrate.
Chinese Title Deeds.
Officially registered title deeds are called "red deeds" (Hung Kai), because they are stamped with the official stamp in red.
Private deeds of sale are called "white deeds" (Pak K'ai), because they are simply written on plain paper, and do not bear the official red stamp; but the purchaser has the right to register his purchase and obtain a red deed.
There are also mortgages, operating as deeds of sale, redeemable within 30 years; perpetual leases at low rentals, and leases for short terms of 5 or 10 years. Red deeds are the only deeds of which the Government takes cognisance, and the Crown Rent is collected on these deeds only.
The descriptions of land in deeds are always vague, and can only be ascertained accurately by a survey of the actual land in occupation. The local name of the land is given and sometimes the nearest village, but these only show approximately where the land is situated.
Patches of fields situated in different districts are often contained in a single deed, and in one case a deed has been brought in for registration which purports to be a sale of land in 24 distinct villages. It is not rare to find two or three registered deeds produced in proof of ownership of the same lots. The Chinese Authorities kept no register of titles, and, under their system of registry, fraudulent sales could be registered with impunity until litigation ensued, when, after a lapse of years, a vesting order in the rightful possessor could be issued by the District Magistrate.
The consideration money mentioned in the deeds is hardly ever accurate, being usually stated much below the actual sum paid, so that the ad valorem duty payable on obtaining a red deed may be the minimum. In one case in which a sum of $4,000 was paid, the amount entered in the deed was only $475.
Deeds of sale in perpetuity generally state the amount of rent to be paid to the grantor by the grantee.
White deeds are merely unregistered transfers and give very few particulars beyond the rent to be received, and sometimes the amount of grain required to sow the plot and its local name.