Sessional_Paper_1901 — Page 584

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When all the claims are collected the separation of those which are undisputed will leave a comparatively small residuum for the Court to deal with. The undisputed claims are immediately available and can be handed over to form the basis of a permanent rent roll.

Staff.

It would accelerate the work of the Court considerably to have two more Cadets who might be styled Assistant Registrars to work in advance of the Court and prepare the ground for its operations. All the claims would by this means be got in, compared with the maps, and tabulated before the Court was ready to sit. Mr. Wood is at present performing this very useful work at Tai Po and I see no reason why he should not after six months' experience of the work of Registrar be given a limited jurisdiction in undisputed claims.

This would make the settlement more than twice as rapid as it is now. Five-sixths of the cases would be dealt with before reaching the Land Court which would not then be occupied with the innumerable details which have to be dealt with in the preliminary stages.

Supervision of the demarcators in their work with the Survey Staff and of the Clerks occupied in taking claims is an absolutely necessary preliminary to the hearing of cases. It is useful and interesting work though of course not judicial and it is an excellent training in the handling of a staff and the lesser details of land work.

Late Claims.

Others

11. It invariably happens that after the last day for receiving claims in a district has passed there are persons who come in with more or less plausible reasons why they have not been able to present their claims in good time. Some of these have registered their deeds at the Land Office and have rested happy in the belief that they have thereby done everything that is necessary. have had their titles looked at in the Tai Po or Ping Shan Rent Roll Office and say they did not understand that they had to come in again. Others have been at sea or in some village inland or in Singapore or Java not returning until the appointed day was over.

I take it that before the law such persons have no rights at all. Section 15 of the Ordinance makes it quite clear that they are in the position of mere trespassers against the Crown. It would however be inexpedient to ignore them, for this would mean the handing over to Government as Crown land, of areas on which were settled many bonâ fide occupants whose claims Government would in equity feel itself bound to enquire into at some later date.

I have adopteil the course of making a separate roster for these late claims informing the parties that the land bas lapsed to Government but that I will make a report on their cases to His Excellency who will deal with them as he thinks fit. Possibly in most cases it will be found best for Government to allow them titles on the payment of a small fine as an example to others.

Survey.

12. It has been very fortunate that the Colony has had the services of a staff of trained Indian Surveyors under a responsible experienced head to prepare the Cadastral maps. The work if undertaken piecemeal by the local establishment must have proved long and costly for there appear to be no properly qualified Chinese Surveyors in the Colony while the expense of employing Europeans on such work would have been quite prohibitory.

It still remains however to arrange for the survey of such claims as are too large to come within the ordinary Cadastral plotting. For them it is necessary to fix fresh points and traverse lines and the 16" scale is not convenient for large tracts of land.

Claims received.

13. I have during the past seven months received claims in respect of:

I. Survey Districts Nos. I-IV comprising that portion of the New Territory which lies Sonth of the Kowloon watershed and is bounded on the East by Li U Mun and on the West by Lai Chi Kok. In all 5,675 claims comprising 7,583 lots have been received in respect of this area. The demarcation of No. IV District is not yet complete owing to the survey having omitted to traverse some of the padi land in the smaller valleys North of Lai Chi Kok, but this work is being pushed on as rapidly as possible.

II. Claims have also been received in respect of the following islands :-

Tsing I or Chung Hue.

Ma Wan.

Ping Chau.

Ni Ku Chan.

Cheung Chau.

In all 880.

As no claims were received in respect of—

Cheang Chau Ching,

Cowe Chau (Kan I Chau),

Chau Cung,

Patung,

these islands are now by virtue of section XV of the Ordinance Crown land.

14. Claims are being received at Tung Chung in Lantao Island where also a small demarcation party is at work.

Demarcation is in progress at Tai Po where Mr. Wood has recently opened an office for the reception of claims.

It would prove a great economy both of time and expense to detach another Cadet to perform the same work at Ping Shan so that when the Land Court transferred its operations to that district the ground would be cleared in advance of all but the really important cases. Up to the present everything has had to be dealt with by the head office, but there is no reason why this should continue now that we have a system in working order and a trained clerical staff.

15. I have added to this report some Notes on Land Tenure in the New Territory *with suggestions as to the form of titles and the system of registration to be adopted when the Court has finished its work.

[* Printed as Appendix No. 1.]