NEW TERRITORIES RIES
(Contd.)
768
and subsequently in Mr. Hallifax (recently retired from the Colony) who is now acting as Police Magistrate in the New Territories, but whose practical work is more often that of an arbitrator, whose decision is accepted without demur.
Taipo Hu (Tai Po), a small market town at the head of Tolo Harbour in Mirs Bay, was selected as the most suitable position for headquarters, situated as it is in almost the centre of the Territory and this position has now been connected with Kowloon peninsula by an excellent road with easy gradients, 18 miles in length, upon the construction of which $325,133 has been expended. This road obviates the necessity of communicating with Tai Po Hu by sea, a sometimes rough and dangerous passage. I am considering the possibility of arranging for the further extension of roads in the New Territory by local co-operation and without expense to the general revenue.
Having established police stations, and arranging for the patrol of the territorial waters by police launches to check armed robberies ashore and afloat, the question of Crown rents and taxes had next to be considered. The district is a poor one and almost entirely dependent upon agriculture and fishing, and north of the range of Kowloon hills, the main source of revenue must for the present be the Crown rent upon land. This necessitated a survey, and demarcation of the holdings, for which purpose a staff of surveyors and demarcators was obtained from India. At the same time a land court was established to deal with all claims and grant leases to those who could prove titles by deeds, or in the absence of adverse claim, by occupation. To understand the difficulties of the demarcators it must be remembered that much of the cultivation is on hilly ground, the small rice plots which must be perfectly flat to admit of periodical flooding when the rice is sown, being terraced in patches, some of which are but a few square yards in area. Up to the 31st March (1903) the total number of such farms demarcated was 283,975, while the total number of holdings for which claims have been presented to the land court was 219,517.
In this land court I determined that solicitors and barristers should not have a right to appear without the special permission of the court, as the claims were for small amounts and I felt that substantial justice would be done at the smallest cost to the claimants. In the performance of this duty Mr. Gompertz, assistant Colonial Secretary, who has from the beginning been a member of the land court, has done excellent work. His report... forwarded with the report on the Territory for 1900, shows some of the difficulties that presented themselves in the settlement of these claims. The case for the land and village of Sam Shui Po (Shum Shu Po) in the Kowloon Peninsula, now before the land court, will further show how these claims overlap in apparently inextricable confusion.
Here the assistance of counsel has been permitted as the claims represent very large sums, the value of land south of the Kowloon range having enormously increased since the taking over of the Territory. An exemplification of this is given in the case of a portion of the shore of Devil's Peak Peninsula, west of Lei Yue Mun Pass. The claimant obtained about eleven years ago a right to about 127 acres for the purpose of establishing fishing ponds. The consideration was $5 per annum. Having paid one or two years' rent, he was five years in arrear when the first whisper was known that the land would probably be ceded to Great Britain, upon which rumours he paid the arrears and in due course laid his claim before the land court, which confirmed his grant.
NEW TERRITORIES RIES
(Contd.)
768
and subsequently in Mr. Hallifax (recently retired from the Colony) who is now acting as Police Magistrated in the New Territories, but whose practical work is more often that of an arbitrator, whose decision is accepted without demur.
Taipo Hu (Tàipo), a small market town at the head of Tolo Harbour in Mirs bay, was selected as the most suitable position for head- quarters, situated as it is in almost the centre of the Territory and this position has now been connected with Kowloon peninsula by an excellent road with easy gradients, 18 miles in length, upon the construction which $325,133 has been expended. This road obviates the necessity of communicating with Taipo Hu by sea, a sometimes rough and dangerous passage. I am considering the possibility of arranging for the further extension of roads in the New Territory by local co-operation and without expense to the general revenue.
*
*
Having established police stations, and arranging for the patrol of the territorial waters by police launches to check armed robberies ashore and afloat, the question of Crown rents and taxes had next to be considered. The district is a poor one and almost entirely dependent upon agriculture and fishing, and north of the range of Kowloon hills, the main source of revenue must for the present be the Crown rent upon land. This necessitated a surver, and demarcation of the holdings, for which purpose a staff of surveyors and demarcators was obtained from India. At the same time a land court was established to deal with all claims and grant leases to those who could prove titles by deeds, or in the absence of adverse claim, by occupation. To understand the difficulties of the demarcators it must be remembered that much of the cultivation is on hilly ground, the small rice plots which must be perfectly flat to admit of periodical flooding whn the rice is sown, being terraced in patches, some of which are but a few square yards in area. Up to the 31st March (1903) the total number of such farms demarcated was 283,975, while the total number of holdings for which claims have been presented to the land court was 219,517.
In t is land court I determined that solicitors and barristers should not have a right to appear without the special permission of the court, as the slaims were for small amounts and I felt that substantial justice would be done at the smallest cost to the claimants. In the performance of this duty Mr. Gompertz, assistant Colonial Secretary, who has from the beginning been a member of the land court has done excellent work. His report.... forwarded with the report on the Territory for 1900, shows some of the difficulties that presented themselves in the settlement of these claims for the land and village of Sam Shui Po (Shumshuipo) in the Kowloon Peninsula, now before the land court, will further show how these claims overlap in apparently inextricable confusion.
Here the assistance of counsel has been permitted as the claims represent very large sums, the value of land south of the Kowloon range having enormously increased since the taking over of the Territory. An exemplification of this is given in the case of a portion of the shore of Devil's Peak Peninsula, west of Lyemum Pass. The claimant obtained about eleven years ago ag a right to about 127 acres for the purpose of establishing fishing ponds. The consideration was $5 per annum. Having paid one or two years rent, he was five years in arrear when the first whisper was known that the land would probably be ceded to Great Britain, upon which rumours he paid the arrears and indue course haid his claim before the land court, which confirmed his grant.
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