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A-I believe it was 21,000 square feet.
Q-On what basis did you value these Lots ?
A-On the statement of Mr. Howard, on affidavit, in his Petition to the Government.
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Q-Mr. Howard said it ought to be $5 ?
A-No. I think he said it was-
Q-To which Petition do you refer ?
Mr. CALTHROP:-The Petition of Mr. Howard; Section 12.
Q-How does it begin?
Mr. CALTHROP (reading from Petition):- Section 7 of the said Ordinance "recites, inter alia, that it had been agreed that the cost of the said works should "include a sum not exceeding $5,000 for preliminary expenses, a sum not exceeding $180,000 by way of compensation to owners of wharves and piers along the line ""of the proposed reclamation, and a further sum not exceeding $105,000 for the purchase of a portion of the land in course of reclamation opposite Marine Lots "Nos. 95, 96, 97, 98 and 105 near your Petitioners' Lot, being at the rate of $5 per square foot for the land required for the purpose of widening the Old Praya
"from 50 feet to 75 feet.
Q-Mr. Orange, do you know, as a matter of fact, whether or not the area resumed of 95, 96, 97, 98 and 105 contained 21,000 square feet?
A-I do not know.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL:-Then the whole structure tumbles to the ground.
(Witness continuing):-The Petition says at the rate of $5 per foot.
Q-You do not know as a matter of fact whether it was 21,000 square feet or not?
A-No. My third reason for valuing the Lot at $5 per foot was that it was sold in 1881 to a Chinese, for $80,000, and the Crown Lease area then was 32,820 square feet, which made an absolute value then of $2.53 per square foot. I'did not consider it unreasonable that in the interval between 1881 and 1895 (nearly 14 years) the value should double. It has been a usual event in the Colony for land to double in value. With regard to the sale to Mr. Stephens, he got the land cheaply. How he got it so cheap, I think, was because it was a. Mortgagee's sale. It was originally a slip and was known as McDonald's Slip. Mr. McDonald sold it for $75,000. It must have been before 1881 that that sale took place.
Q-Bought by an opposition business?
A-Yes. Then they sold it to Chinese, and then Mr. Stephens got it for $65,000. This shows the working out of the other Valuations 2 and 3.
Q-In arriving at Valuation 1, you were influenced by the fact that it was a Godown business?
A-The valuation is certainly influenced by what you can do with the land, and what you can put on it.
Q-Then you were influenced by the fact that it was a Godown business?
A-No. I was confirmed in my opinion.
Q-Do the valuations you arrive at on bases 2 and 3, in any way affect your valuation on 1 ?
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