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Even portions of the sea and the bed of the sea, foreshore, sand beaches, and any land whatever which may be turned into use and profit, are claimed and in some cases registered
All land in the New Territories with effect from 23rd July 1900 was declared to be Crown Land." Any Crown Land not included in a Block Crown lease was, therefore, unleased Crown Land. But the District Commissioner records:-
"Certain prescriptive rights over "Crown Land" have, however, always been recognised either tacitly or by official acknowledgment; most villages have rights of this kind over a greater or smaller area adjoining them, where they graze their cattle, cut grass and bury the dead..."
The question of clan lands has right from the outset been a thorny problem. The Memorandum states:-
"Small villages and hamlets often place themselves under the protection of large and influential clans to which they refer all their complaints and from which they expect assistance in case of attack, robbery, and lawsuits. In some instances the smaller villages pay their land tax to the Government through the influential clans... These clans have, as before stated, claimed large tracts of land, which they have never occupied, but which they have leased in perpetuity to others, who undertake to bring the land under cultivation. The greater part of the land claimed by clans was never registered and, as a rule, it appears that no land tax was ever paid on this land to the Government." The cultivators, who have paid rent for years to the clans, in view of the fact that the land had not been registered, were afraid to dispute the rights of ownership, as they anticipated it would result in the land being resumed by Government and they would thus be deprived of their right of cultivation.
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The sequel is to be found in the "Memorandum of the work done in the Land Office, Hong Kong, in respect of the New Territories for the year 1899***.
"The most serious matter of all, however, has been the stand taken by the farmers against the clans, their former landlords. The clans and
14
Even portions of the sea and the bed of the sea, foreshore, sand beaches, and any land whatever which may be turned into use and profit, are claimed and in some cases registered
**
All land in the New Territories with effect from 23rd July 1900 was declared to be Crown Land." Any Crown Land not included in a Block Crown lease was, therefore, unleased Crown Land. But the District Commissioner records:-
"Certain prescriptive rights over "Crown Land" have, however, always been recognised either tacitly or by official acknowledgment; most villages have rights of this kind over a greater or smaller area adjoining them, where they graze their cattle, cut grass and bury the dead... "":
The question of clan lands has right from the outset been a thorny problem. The Memorandum states:-
"Small villages and hamleis often place themselves under the protection of large and influential clans to which they refer all their complaints and from which they expect assistance in case of attack, robbery, and lawsuits. In some instances the smaller villages pay their land tax to the Government through the influential clans... These clans have, as before stated, claimed large tracts of land, which they have never occupied, but which they have leased in perpetuity to others, who undertake to bring the land under cultivation. The greater part of the land claimed by clans was never registered and, as a rule, it appears that no land tax was ever paid on this land to the Government." The cultivators, who have paid rent for years to the clans, in view of the fact that the land had not been registered, were afraid to dispute the rights of ownership, as they anticipated it would result in the land being resumed by Government and they would thus be deprived of their right of cultivation.
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The sequel is to be found in the "Memorandum of the work done in the Land Office, Hong Kong, in respect of the new Territories for the year 1899***.-
"The most serious matter of all, however, has been the stand taken by the farmers agamst the clans, their former landlords. The clans and
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