CO129-310 - Acting Governor Major Gen Gascoigne - 1902 [1-4] — Page 397

Ordinance No. 5 of 1888 authorizes the charge of $1 for the official Signature of the Governor, and it has been the practice of the Land Office to charge this fee for affixing the Public Seal to a Crown Lease which is also signed by the Governor, such practice having been authorized for more than fifty years. It is provided by this Ordinance that one fee shall cover both the Seal and the Signature. It seemed better that all such fees should receive proper Statutory authority and their receipt heretofore be validated and legalized.

The fees, in many instances, might not unfairly have been raised in view of the greatly diminished value of the dollar now, as compared with A.D. 1844; but this has only been done in one instance, namely, where deeds, etc., are registered relating to more than one Lot or section of a Lot. In some instances, several Lots are included in one instrument and additional work is thereby thrown on the Land Officer. In such cases, the registration fee is raised to ten dollars instead of five.

This is in accordance with the former practice existing at the time of translation of Crown Leases. Through Goodman, Attorney General.

Yo Hang Kang
T5617
Love No. 120
Hong Kong
The O.A.C.
A.F.
28/4
M. Johnson 200
Ans 33303 × 485771
393
30 Apr 02

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 102 of the 21st March last submitting for the signification of H.M., the proposed Ordinance No. 5 of 1902 of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, entitled, "An Ordinance to amend the Ordinance to provide for the Registration of Deeds and Judgments and...