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placed under the direction and control of the Land Officer.
He is the officer who by training, knowledge, and experience is
best fitted for the work, and the change will give effect to
the policy, laid down in the 8th. paragraph of Mr. Chamberlain's
Despatch of the 6th. January, 1899, of bringing the New Terri-
tories under the general administration of the Colony.
(3).
The land settlement will, however, throw
an immense amount of additional work on the Land Officer who
must have extra assistance.
I have accordingly appointed Mr. C. Clementi
Assistant Registrar-General, to be a Member of the Land Court
under the Amending Ordinance now submitted.
When it was decided to contest the decisions
of the Land Court referred to in paragraph 3 of this Despatch
Mr. Clementi's services were availed of to investigate the
genuineness of the title deeds in these cases. When the cases
have been decided I shall report on the work done in connection
with them by Mr. Clementi. It will suffice to state here that
Mr. Clementi has by close study for several months past of the
laws of China regarding land tenure - a study for which his
extraordinary grasp of the Chinese language peculiarly fitted
him qualified himself to be regarded as an expert in this
intricate subject. His knowledge of Chinese laws, of Chinese
documents relating to land, and of the language in general will make him, I feel confident, a most useful and efficient
Assistant to the Land Officer in the work of land settlement.
(4).
Mr. Clementi will continue to draw his
salary as Assistant Registrar-General while seconded to the Land Court, and I have appointed Mr. A. G. M. Fletcher, Cadet,
who
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