CO129-453 - Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1919 [1-3] — Page 503

+ CONFIDENTIAL.

My Lord,

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONGKONG. 24th. March, 1919.

479

7477/19/9.

I have the honour to inform Your Lordship

that the lack of housing accommodation for Europeans in this

Colony has become very acute. In the City of Victoria apart

from Government quarters and the hiversity the only avail-

-able houses left are a few on the Peak rond between the 300

and 500 foot contours, and possibly about six more in

Macdonnell Road. All the remaining houses of a good type on

the middle levels have been bought by Chinese and Japmese

and as I pointed out in my Confidential Despatch of the 16th. December, no matter how many houses and flats are built they

are immediately occupied by Chinese.

2.

The hotels and boarding houses are

practically always full, and when the ordinary tourist traffic is again resumed there will be the greatest difficulty, in providing for it. The probable result will be that the hotels will give notice to many of their permanent residents to quit, in order to make room for the more lucrative business

of catering for ships' passengers.

3.

In order to provide sites in a healthy situation for houses for Europeans to take the place of those now not available in Victoria the most practical method of proceeding will be to develop at the earliest possible date the remainder of the Hill District. I enclose a plan on

which

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

VISCOUNT MILNER, G.C.B.,

&C..

&c.,

&C...