سل سلسا
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :---
C.O. 882
5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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the new territory. Tai-po-hü, Kap-shui-Mun, Castle Peak, and Chêng Chan are → places at which these men have made special endeavours to buy up title deeds. They began their operations at Castle Peak and Kap Shui Mun before the inspection of the territory by Mr. Lockhart. They have devoted their attention to the other two places mentioned since the inspection. They have succeeded in acquiring title to land at Kap Shui Mun, Castle Peak, and Cheung Chan. In the case of Tai Po Hui their operations have been blocked owing to the refusal of the San On Magistrate to stamp the transfers. The Magistrate objected to stamp them on the ground that he had now no power to do so. The informant alleges that Ng Lo Sám and Tang Ying Shén are the agents of the Honourable Wei Yuk and the Honourable Ho Kai and some others, who have formed themselves into a syndicate to acquire land in favourable situations. The informant states most positively that Ng Lo Sám and Tang Yung Shén have spread a rumour among the inhabitants of the new territory that when the British take over the territory the present inhabitants will be dispossessed of their property in it. This rumour has been spread with a view to assisting the agents of the syndicate to drive advan- tageous bargains and acquire land cheaply. These tactics have succeeded, and the agents have actually acquired land and houses at very cheap rates at the four places mentioned, the transfers not being completed (as above explained) in Tai Po Hüi. The informant states that Kam T'in has a good reputation. If violence had been offered to Mr. Lockhart at, say, Sha Tâu, where the people are turbulent, it would not have been matter of surprise. But at Kam T'in the reason for the opposition lies with the agenta of the syndicate who are hated throughout the new territory.
The last point the informant emphasised was that the inhabitants of Sham Chun are resolutely opposed to acquisition by Great Britain, and will fight to oppose it.
12th October. The informant further states that when the land at Cheung Sha Wan which belonged to the Tang family was bought by Messrs. Wei Yuk and Ho Kai and their syndicate, the negotiations were conducted bang Yung Shén as represent- ing the Tang family. There is a branch of the Tang family at Kam Tin. This branch was not agreeable to the sale at Cheung Sha Wan The Kam Tin Tangs have, since the completion of the sale of the Cheung Sha Wan land, been filled with resentment against Tang Yung Shén and Ng Lo Sám, who were the means of getting it effected. The informant states that if necessary he will endeavour to produce witnesses who will be prepared to swear in the presence of Ng Lo Sám and Tang Yung Shen that the latter told them "that they would be dispossessed of their land by the British, and that in those circumstances they had better sell the land," and who did in consequence actually sell the land. The informant further states that it is common report in the new territory that Ng Lo Sám and Tang Yung Shén have purchased land at Tai Po Hüi to the value of 1,200 dollars on behalf of the Syndicate headed by Messrs. Wei Yuk and Ho Kai, and that the said agents of the syndicate have represented to the syndicate that the cost price of the land was 2,000 dollars, the 800 dollars difference being pocketed by the agents as their squeeze. As to the alleged subscription, the informant states that he has not heard anything about it.
Enclosure 5 in No. 172.
The Hon. F. H. MAY to Hon. ACTING COLONIAL Secretary.
SIR,
Police Office, October 17, 1898. IN continuation of my letter of the 15th instant, in reply to your confidential letter, No. 39, of the 6th instant, I have the honour to forward the enclosed notes of an interview which took place yesterday between some Chinese from a place called Pán Tin, which is on the borders of the Tung Kún and San On districts, about 10 miles inland from the proposed northern boundary of the Kowloon Hinterland, and the Hon. Wei Yuk. Mr. Wei Yuk, who, I may mention, is the second of the two Chinese whose information I reported in my letter of the 15th instant (paragraph 3), is of opinion that the efforts of the people of Pan Tin to raise funds for their own protection against the rising of the Triad Society, may have given rise to the report that the inhabitants of the Hinterland were raising funds to oppose the British occupation. Although there may be some truth in such an explanation, still the fact remains that, according to Mr. Wei Yuk's own report quoted in my previous letter, the Kam Tin people did at
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one time try to collect money to oppose the British occupation. One thing is abso- lutely clear, and that is that the neighbourhood of Sham Chun is in a very disturbed state. In the (Police) Morning Report of the 15th instant, I reported that a large number of persons from that neighbourhood had sought refuge in Hong Kong.
Yours, &c.,
Enclosure 6 in No. 172.
F. H. MAY.
Rough Translation of a Beport made by Mr. Ho Tung last October, corroborating information given to Hon. F. H. May by an informer.
Result of enquiries made into the matters at Nam Tau, Shum Chun, and Kam Tin.
1. On the 20th October Cheng Yün Tsoi, a Chinese official, went to Nam Tau with 900 soldiers under his command. On arrival he ordered Major Ting to take 300 soldiers to Shum Chun and keep order there. The remaining soldiers were despatched to three places, 6.g., Wang Long Heung (Wang Long village), Tung Wah Hüi (Tung Wah Market), and Sam Po Chuk (three bamboo trees).
2. Chung Shui Yung, the man who put up the flag in Tung Wah Hüi, is a Hak-ka man of the Wang Long Heung. He returned from Honolulu. His estate is estimated at over 10,000 dollars. He is not a gentry. At the same time a society was formed at Sham Chun; the formation lasted three days. The leaders are Cheung Chi Lap, his (Cheung Chi Lap's) nephew, and a man surnamed Choi, all of whom are bullies of the said village. When Mr. Lockhart went to the village not long ago Chung Chi Lap had put on his cap and clothing, and discharged crackers to receive him. The villagers unanimously said that he was cunning, and that his only reason for doing so was to display his smartness. It is said that Mr. Lockhart had taken his photograph. Now at the failure of forming the society he is willing to give information to arrest the rebel Chung. The Chinese officials agreed to forgive him his crime.
3. The reason why the headman Chung Shui Yung put up the flag was to rob the rich families and extort the villages. The formation of the society was a method of gathering money. He had, by means of sending a demanding order, demanded a sum of 20,000 dollars from the Pan Tin village. He had also by the same means demanded a sum of 3,000 dollars from the Tai Chung village. Both of these places disagreed to pay. As regards Shum Chun, Chung Chỉ Lap and others had followed his example. Each man enticed by them to join the society was to pay two dollars. They had extorted the shops of the said Un Long village, the sum demanded each shop raised from 5 to 10 dollars. There were over twenty shops which had paid the enemy. The money collected was distributed among them. Hearing of the arrival of the soldiers, they immediately dispersed.
4 The reason for putting up the flag by the two men, Chung and Cheung, was not due to the possession of San On by England. The enquiries proved that the people of the shops in the markets and towns were glad to see England get the place. But the villagers were very much displeased, especially those of Kam Tin village, owing to the fact that, though the owners of the property in the neighbourhood of Kam T'in village hold deeds, they have to pay tax to the said village. If England got the place, it is feared that the benefit will be deprived of. The shops and houses of the Long village have also got to pay their tax in the year. It is like the way in which the Government charges taxes.
Some were
5. The weapons and rifles of the rebels were not many. smuggled from Sha Kok Tsin, Kowloon, and others were either swords and the like, which were made by the native blacksmiths on compulsion, or muskets made by foreign
countries.
6. In the 11th and the 12th moons last year Tang Ying Shang, Ng Shin Shang, and Tsang Kin had been there with a view of purchasing lands. They had bought land in the 5th and 6th moons, and in the beginning of the 7th moon this year. It was found out now that most of the purchased lands are in Tun Mün and Tai Po market. Lands were also bought in the foot of Ching Shan (green hill), Ha Chun, the neighbour- hood of Kap Shin Mun and Cheung Sha Wan. Those bought in Tun Mün are chiefly fields or gardens nearest to the sea coasts, where the water is deepest. Those bought in Tai Po market are old houses and lands close to the sea shore. Lands were also bought in various other places. As the lands bought were not purchased from one clan, it is impossible to ascertain the whole lot. Nevertheless, à large number of the lands were bought by mistake or by mortgage. Lands had been bought by means of buying
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