Sessional_Paper_1901 — Page 375

No. 10.

HONGKONG.

REPORT ON THE LAND COURT FOR 1900.

Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of

His Excellency the Governor.

371

No. 18

1901

LAND COURT,

SIR,

HONGKONG, 4th March, 1901.

I have the honour to forward my report on the work of the Land Court for the seven months ending December 31st, 1900.

The Department was constituted as from the 1st June, Mr. H. E. POLLOCK being appointed Pre- sident, myself Member. Mr. J. H. KEMP was gazetted Registrar, and on his removal to the Magistracy on 28th November Mr. WooD was gazetted Registrar in his place.

2. I found on taking up my duties that matters were in the following state.

The Survey on a scale of 16" of between 30,000 and 40,000 acres of the New Territory had been completed leaving the remainder of the mainland and the whole of the islands to be dealt with.

Demarcation.

It had not been possible to arrange for any demarcation either precedent to the survey or follow- ing with it and no holdings therefore were shown on the maps which had been completed. A large number of claims to land had been brought in at Tai Po aud at Ping Shan for the purposes of the Rough Rent Roll, but the form in which they were laid, though possibly adequate for the purpose for which they were received, was neither sufficiently full nor sufficiently clear for them to serve as the basis of an investigation into title.

3. It was necessary therefore to provide in the first instance a suitable form of claim and this was drawn up by the President and myself. A Demarcation Staff had also to be improvised and after experiments lasting over several weeks I obtained the sanction of His Excellency for the enlistment of 20 Chinese to be trained as demarcators to accompany the Indian Surveyors in the field and obtain particulars of the ownership of holdings.

4. The enlistment and training however of the Demarcation Staff required time and meanwhile it seemed advisable to commence getting in claims as rapidly as possible leaving where necessary the identification of the land claimed to be completed when the lot number tickets had all been issued. This has caused a good deal of delay; for persons who have first laid a claim in the Court, and subse- quently received a lot number ticket on demarcation usually imagine that nothing further is necessary so that it has often proved very difficult to get them to come to the office and produce their tickets. I have arranged that in future demarcation shall have a clear start in each district before the receiv- ing of claims begins and that no claim shall be received unless the appropriate lot number ticket is produced at the same time.

Commencement at Kowloon City.

5 The Law Committee of the Legislative Council had recommended that if possible the land facing Hongkong and lying to the south of the Kowloon watershed should be first dealt with on account of its growing importance as an outlet for the expansion of the Colony and of its far greater superficial value relative to the rest of the New Territory. I therefore decided to make Kowloon City the first base of operations and by the courtesy of the Trustees I obtained as an office the building used before the Convention as a general Meeting House and School room within the Walled City.

The area including Kowloon City and extending to the Lyeemun Pass was well adapted to be taken as a test of the work that would have to be done containing as it did (a) padi and vegetable land, (b) house and shop property, and (c) fishing grounds and foreshore. Furthermore it was rea- sonable to suppose that its proximity to Hongkong would render the people more amenable to Western methods and better able to understand the meaning of what they were required to do than

night have been the case with villagers in more remote districts.

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