CONFIDENTIAL
Memorandum of Kowloon and the New Territories.
The distance between Kowloon Point and the town of
Victoria is 1618 yards, and the distance is traversed in 8 to
10 minutes by ferry steamers which ply every few minutes between
the mainland and the island.
In assessing the value of Kowloon to the island of Hong
Kong,
it is necessary to stress the extraordinary development
of the former during the past few years. It is almost impossible
for anyone who has not been in Hong Kong recently to realise the
pace and extent of such development. Kowloon has not only
become an actual residential suburb of Hong Kong, but it has also
developed very rapidly in respect of wharves, godowns, oil stores,
etc.
The question should be approached from the following points
of view:-
(a) Civil.
(b) Military .
(c) Naval.
(d) Air.
(a) Civil should be divided into:-
(i)
Residential.
(ii) Public Services.
(iii) Trade.
(i) Residential - The majority of Europeans living on the
island reside on the Peak, but possible sites here are limited,
while the configuration of the lower levels is such that it is
very difficult to find additional sites for houses near the town.
Kowloon has, therefore, become an outlet for residences, and a
large number of Europeans and a still larger number of Portuguese
and Asiatics, who work on the island, have found it necessary to
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Private notes are available after approval.