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6.
Conclusions
(a) From the foregoing remarks and from the detailed information in the Appendices, it will be seen that an immense amount of work has been done already in the rehabilitation of the New Territories.
(b) The pre-requisite of a sound administration in the New Territories is security-security for the peasant, for the trader, for the artisan. This security has only been achieved through the constant vigilance of patrols and the regularity of their visits to outlying places. In spite of the large number of troops in the New Territories there is still a number of "bandits" and "robbers" who are willing to risk imprisonment and worse for the sake of a few hundred dollars. But this sort of crime can only now be done in the open and immediate warning reaches the troops after any such robbery. The chief problem is that of ensuring security for the community, in view of the large number of weapons in the possession of unscrupulous individuals.
(c) The food situation can be influenced by the military only through supervision of the distribution of such foodstuffs as are made available through welfare organisations, The reputation for impartiality and fairness must be maintained if the villagers are to retain their confidence in the administration. This will require the continued supervision of all issues of food controlled by the Government.
(d) The years of neglect caused through the indifference of the Japanese to the health and welfare of the inha- bitants in the New Territories can only be made good through strenuous efforts on the part of sanitary squads and doctors. The help which our limited medical organisation has given has been little, but the villagers are pathetically grateful for anything that can be done to alleviate their physical misery.
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Their confidence in the Administration will be immea- surably strengthened if increased and continued efforts are made to bring them relief.
(e) Education is a want which the inhabitants of the New Territories feel keenly. During the Japanese occu- pation no schools functioned freely, therefore there is the work of five wasted years to be made good. The villagers are not waiting passively for the arrival of Government aid and in many cases have restarted their own schools without assistance. If the fostering of Sino-British relations is to be a success and if the inhabitants are to get a true picture of the Government's intentions and interest in their welfare, immediate steps must be taken to inspect and assist all schools.
(f) Nothing has been said in this report about the Political thought of the inhabitants. That there is much pro- paganda both of KMT and of the East River Column in the New Territories is an accepted fact. Our own propaganda is entirely lacking, but a far better sub- stitute for the political doctrines of idealists is the practical methods of relief, the security and the sincere assistance offered by the Administration.
(g) To get results from all these suggested measures will require the ceaseless efforts of the Administration when the military go. The military have had the advantage of numbers only, in everything else they have been handicapped--in transport, in craft, in experience, but their active and sustained interest in the welfare of the individual has greatly compensated for these deficiencies. It would be unfair on the inhabitants and detrimental to our prestige if this interest were to be allowed to die, if the inhabitants felt themselves once more neglected through infrequent visits of the servants of the Administration, if they came to expect delay in the fulfillment of their promises.
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