Sessional_Paper_1900 — Page 261

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One great difficulty has been suspicion on the part of the inhabitants of the intentions of the Government. The people seemed to fear that the Government intended to take their land away from them and, in order to effect this object, wished to find out the owners by inducing them to register all their lands.

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Before the territory was taken over the Governor issued a proclamation in Chinese, a translation of which will be found in Appendix No. IX. In this pro- clamation the people are assured that "their commercial and landed interests will be safeguarded and their usages and good customs will not in any way be interfered "with," and that "as subjects of the great British Empire their perfect freedon "from oppression is assured. Should they have any complaint to make the "Governor will always be willing to hear it and to order what is right."

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When the territory was taken over the Governor in a speech assured the people "that the taxes will be equal and the revenue will be collected justly. You need now have no fear of being squeezed by the officials. If exactions are made in "excess of the just charges, the Governor will dismiss the officials responsible. "The taxes collected will be expended in maintaining order and in public improve- "ments" (see Appendix No. X).

In the proclamation regarding land registration issued in July. His Excellency the Governor stated: "If any one has been forcibly deprived of his land or been "fraudulently induced to sell land at a low price, he may present a petition to the "District Officer, if he lives north of the Kowloon range of hills, or, if he lives "south of it, to the Registrar General or the Visiting Officer to be forwarded to the

Squatters' Board for enquiry," (see Appendix No. IV).

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It may seem peculiar that suspicion should have arisen, seeing that His Excellency the Governor informed the inhabitants both by proclamation and by speech that the tenure of land would remain practically undisturbed and that the Chinese authorities repeatedly notified the inhabitants that the tenure of land would remain the saine as before and that the rights of property would be respected. But, as is well own, the Chinese are a suspicious race and it is not an easy matter to allay their suspicions when once aroused.

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Another cause of difficulty and delay has been the ignorance of the land- lords regarding their own land. For generations landowners have been con- tent to collect their rents without ever having taken the trouble to enquire into the land itself, which has been left entirely under the control of the tenants. These tenants have changed from time to time; sub-leased the land; sold the right of cultivation or mortgaged that right, without consulting the landowners who were quite satisfied so long as the rent was regularly paid,

It has often happened that some crafty tenant has asked his landlord to reduce his rent, giving as an excuse that it was impossible to make the land pay unless the rent were reduced, and that if the reduction were not agreed to the tenant must give up the land. The landlord, who has inherited the land without knowing any particulars regarding it, is practically at the mercy of his teaant and is constrained to comply since it is impossible for him to take over possession of land, which in many cases is far re- moved from his own village or district. Besides, tenants generally form a "ring," agreeing among themselves that no other person shall be allowed to take over cultivation from the tenant in occupation. It is easy to see how such farming rings are able to boycot the landlords. In fact, it is not an unusual proceeding for tenants, taking advantage of the ignorance of their landlords, to make an ab- solute sale of a part of the land, the part retained being sufficient to pay the

rent.

A reference to paragraph 12 of Mr. BRUCE SHEPHERD's memorandum (Ap- pendix No. VIII) shows that farmers or tenants have made a stand against the clans, their landlords. He states: "The clans and farmers agree that the farmers are "absolute owners of the soil in perpetuity, but have been paying money or produce "to the clans for generations, which the clans claim to be rent payable to them. The case for the farmers is that the land is and always has been theirs absolutely, "free from rent, and that the amount paid by them to the clans was the Govern- ment land tax, which they claim to pay direct to the Hongkong Government "without the intervention of the clans." It is hoped that some way out of this difficulty will soon be found.

A further source of delay has arisen from the fact that much of the land under cultivation has never been reported to, or registered by the Chinese Government. According to Chinese law all cultivated land must be registered, and should any land be discovered that has not been registered, the Government either enforces