13
but that in the hast for 4 years
the & afirmat tas hivern, white
the
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Filler M
Ecrtainl
88
has
amended to something like a third of the total
contribution in which case the deficiency
would have been even more. We might also point out that the valuation increased less rafialy
ely than the aggregate revenue during the
war years owing to the natural slowness with
which house and land rents adjusted themselves to the new level of prices, and that looking at
the pre-war years only the two systems give almost identical figures (17,00,000 and 17,500,000
respectively).
In
(2) I think this is rather fanciful.
any case even if the rents in Kowloon are less
than those in Hong Kong, the aggregate valuation
is hardly likely to be lower. Experience
generally suggests moreover that the more thickly
rents populated a place becomes the higher the "retes.
It is hard to predict what is going to happen
but I do not really think there is much in
this fear.
(3) It is not entirely clear what area is
covered by the valuation. It is stated in
paragraph 14 of the despatch of the 24th of
June 1926 that it extends to the whole of the
Island of Hong Kong, Kowloon, and New Kowloon.
Presumably it excludes only the less settled
parts of the new territories. Before reaching
final agreement with the War Office it would,
however, be desirable to get exact agreement as
to the limits of the assessment area.
kelythe
will
(4) It is unlike the Straits want to
follow Hong Kong's example as they are at
present pressing for a very different system.
Perhaps
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.