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16. The new mine at Lin Ma Hang, and the mine at Ma On Shan, continued to be actively worked. Partly as a result of recommendations made by juries in death inquiries above mentioned the Government borrowed from Malaya an expert who has submitted a report recommending legal provision for stricter control.
17. In the Land Court there were 127 disputes, compared with 91 in 1937. There were a few applications for orders of eviction, but not sufficient to justify a recommendation to the Government that the Prevention of Eviction Ordinance, 1938, should be applied to the New Territories.
REFUGEES.
18. It is not proposed to deal other than superficially with this subject which is fully treated of in other reports.
(At the height of the influx there were probably 50,000 refugees in this District. All the villages in the northern half of it seemed to have doubled their populations without taking into account the Government camps at Kam Tin, Fan Ling North and South, and Gill's Cutting, the various camps organized by the Wai Yeung Association (at Sheung Shui, Wo Hop Shek, etc.), and the huge accumulations at San Tin, Yuen Long, Ping Shan, Ha Tsuen, and Lo Fau Shan.
The local people were undoubtedly most hospitable to their relations and friends from over the border, which resulted in the overcrowding of all available housing accommodation. But not all the New Territories' people were the losers under these circumstances. Some villages undoubtedly came in for a share of the food and spare clothing which at one period were being distributed in such abundance.
Because the Japanese landed at Au Tau the Hakka from Tam Shui, Wai Chow, Ping Shan, Lung Kong, etc., were first to take refuge in the Colony and these people were also the first to return to their homes when conditions became more normal. The Hong Kong Wai Yeung Association was well to the fore in the organization of kitchens and temporary camps in this District, and in encouraging the refugees to return when it became less unsafe to do so. At the time of writing most of the refugees remaining in the District are Cantonese from Po On, Tung Kun, Tai Ping, Bocca Tigris.
It has already been pointed out that the influx of refugees was not followed by a proportionate increase in crime. Indeed on the whole they behaved themselves admirably, and it is marvellous that such crowds of people could live together in such circumstances without much squabbling, fighting, and brutality. Any persons in camps who were caught stealing or fighting there were severely dealt with; and, after the first cases, notices were posted drawing attention to the severity of the penalties.
The District also had its quota of moneyed refugees, many of the large modern country houses being leased by schools from Canton, notably the "Cafeteria" buildings at Castle Peak by the Ling Nam Middle School, a big house near Lam Tei by an American children's co-educational school from Shanghai, various big houses at On Lok Tsuen, Fan Ling, and so on. Not a few comparatively rich refugees have come to live in the market towns.
Apart from crime, this Department acted where necessary as a buffer between refugees and the organizations caring for them and the local people. At one time in the autumn, for instance, it appeared that a certain group of villages in the Pat Heung plain were going to make trouble over the water supply to Kam Tin Refugee Camp, then being laid down. They protested in the usual large numbers and with the usual vehemence that they were being deprived of water essential to their agriculture and to their livelihood. Slight concessions and certain promises were made to them and they appeared satisfied for the time being.
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16. The new mine at Lin Ma Hang, and the mine at Ma On Shan, continued to be actively worked. Partly as a result of recommendations made by juries in death inquiries above mentioned the Government borrowed from Malaya an expert who has submitted a report recommending legal provision for stricter control.
17. In the Land Court there were 127 disputes, compared with 91 in 1937. There were a few applications for orders of eviction, but not sufficient to justify a recommendation to the Government that the Prevention of Eviction Ordinance, 1938, should be applied to the New Territories.
REFUGEES.
18. It is not proposed to deal other than superficially with this subject which is fully treated of in other reports.
(At the height of the influx there were probably 50,000 refugees in this District. All the villages in the northern half of it seemed to have doubled their popula- tions without taking into account the Government camps at Kam Tin, Fan Ling North and South, and Gill's Cutting, the various camps organized by the Wai Yeung Association (at Sheung Shui, Wo Hop Shek, etc.), and the huge accumulations at San T'in, Yuen Long, Ping Shan, Ha Tsuen, and Lo Fau Shan.
The local people were undoubtedly most hospitable to their relations and friends from over the border, which resulted in the overcrowding of all available housing accommodation. But not all the New Territories' people were the losers under these circumstances. Some villages undoubtedly came in for a share of the food and spare clothing which at one period were being distributed in such abundance.
Because the Japanese landed at Au T'au the Hakka from Tam Shui, Wai Chow, Ping Shan, Lung Kong, etc., were first to take refuge in the Colony and these people were also the first to return to their homes when conditions became more normal. The Hong Kong Wai Yeung Association was well to the fore in the organization of kitchens and temporary camps in this District, and in encoura- ging the refugees to return when it became less unsafe to do so. At the time of writing most of the refugees remaining in the District are Cantonese from Po On, Tung Kun, Tai Ping, Bocca Tigris.
It has already been pointed out that the influx of refugees was not followed by a proportionate increase in crime. Indeed on the whole they behaved themselves admirably, and it is marvellous that such crowds of people could live together in such circumstances without much squabbling, fighting, and brutality. Any persons in camps who were caught stealing or fighting there were severely dealt with; and, after the first cases, notices were posted drawing attention to the severity of the penalties.
The District also had its quota of moneyed refugees, many of the large modern country houses being leased by schools from Canton, notably the "Cafe- teria" buildings at Castle Peak by the Ling Nam Middle School, a big house near Lam Tei by an American children's co-educational school from Shanghai, various big houses at On Lok Tsuen, Fan Ling, and so on. Not a few comparatively rich refugees have come to live in the market towns.
Apart from crime, this Department acted where necessary as a buffer between refugees and the organizations caring for them and the local people. At one time in the autumn, for instance, it appeared that a certain group of villages in the Pat Heung plain were going to make trouble over the water supply to Kam T'in Refugee Camp, then being laid down. They protested in the usual large numbers and with the usual vehemence that they were being deprived of water essential to their agriculture and to their livelihood. Slight concessions and certain promises were made to them and they appeared satisfied for the time being.
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