in the Ordinance or assured, acquired or possessed for any charitable purpose, otherwise than under the authority of a licence granted by the Governor. Twenty such licences. were granted during the year, one to an educational body and nineteen to religious bodies for miscellaneous religious purposes, non-profit making schools, social welfare purposes, and, in one case, investment. Twelve licences were in respect of flats or floors in buildings in urban areas; five in respect of lots in urban areas totalling 116,562 sq. ft.; and three in respect of lots in the New Territories totalling 194,006 sq. ft.
Card Index of Owners and Mortgagees
57. Besides complete card indexes to all lots and sections of lots, the Land Office maintains an index, not open to the public, of all persons registered as the owner or mortgagee of land in the Colony. According to this the number of landowners (excluding mortgagees) rose by 10,248 during the year to a total of 79,271 on 31st March 1964. Many of these own several properties, many simply a small undivided share in a property coupled with the right to a flat or part of a flat. The total cannot be taken as completely accurate since it is possible that the holdings of two people with identical names, both in Romanized form and in Chinese characters, may be on the same card.
Safe Custody of Deeds, Wills, etc.
58. Under Section 22 of the Land Registration Ordinance deeds, wills, etc., may be deposited in the Land Office for safe custody. A fee of $15 is normally payable in respect of each document so deposited, but where two or more instruments relate to the same property the charge is $15 for the first instrument and $2 for each additional instrument. 24 deposits were made during the year.
Liaison with Legal Profession
59. It having been learned that the Chief Land Registrar in England had set up a joint advisory committee of nominees of the Law Society and senior members of the Land Registry's staff to discuss land registra- tion matters, the Registrar General invited the Incorporated Law Society of Hong Kong to join in setting up a similar committee in Hong Kong. Upon the Society's agreeing, a Joint Land Office Standing Committee consisting of the Deputy Registrar General (as Chairman), the Senior Assistant Registrar, Land Office, and two nominees of the Law Society, was set up with a view to meeting periodically for regular discussions. on matters relating to land registration and Land Office procedure in
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