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As regards Part III of the Ordinance and the Regulations made under Part IV section 33, dealing with the subject of the registration of brothels, returns are given in Table III A & B showing the number of prostitutes and servants who entered and left registered brothels during each month of the year, and the number of registered brothels and inmates at the end of each month during the year. The total number of prostitutes who entered brothels for Chinese was 1,144 and of those who entered brothels for others than Chinese 180.
There were 49 prosecutions against unregistered houses during the year in 41 of which convict- ions were obtained (see Table II).
FEMALE EMIGRATION.
In Table IV will be found a return showing the number of women and girls and boys passed by the Emigration Officer, assisted by an Officer from this Department, during 1892. The total number was 6,550, showing an increase over 1891 of 323 persons.
HOME FOR GIRLS
The women and girls rescued under the Ordinance have continued to find a home in a portion of the Tung Wa Hospital. As I pointed out in my report last year, the accommodation there is both insufficient and unsuitable. The question of the erection of a Home better adapted to meet the require- ments of the Ordinance and to afford greater comfort to its inmates has been referred to a Special Committee appointed by His Excellency the Governor, the members of which are also considering a draft bill for the incorporation of the Pó Leung Kuk or Society for the Protection of Women and Girls, by which it is proposed to place the Society on a more satisfactory footing and thereby to increase its efficiency.
During the past year I have received great assistance from the present Committee and other members of the Pó Léung Kuk in carrying out the provisions of the Women and Girls Protection Ordinance. Without such assistance I doubt whether it would be possible for the Ordinance to work effectively, and I am certain that, in the absence of the co-operation and advice of the leading members of the Chinese community, it would be impossible to secure properly the welfare of the large number of women and girls who are rescued.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The estimated population on the 31st December was as follows:-
British and Foreign
(including Army and Navy).
10,590.
Chinese.
221,072.
Whole.
231,662.
This estimate is based on the average increase in the population between 1857 and 1891, which was 3.152 per cent.
MARRIAGES.
The total number of marriages in 1892 was 75 as compared with 87 in 1891.
BIRTHS.
In Table V, Return A, will be found a return of the births registered during 1892. Among the British and Foreign Community, the total number of registered births was 183-males 99, females 84 -which shows a decrease of 22 compared with the births in 1891. Among the Chinese Community there was an increase in the number of registered births, the total being 1,660 in 1892-males 943, females 717-and 1,529 in 1891.
DEATHS (ORDINANCE 7 OF 1872).
Table V, Return A, contains the number of deaths during the year 1892.
The deaths among the British and Foreign Community numbered 184 or 7 less than in the previous year: among the Chinese, 4,722, as compared with 5,183 in 1891.
The annual death-rate per 1000 was lower last year than in 1891. Among the British and Foreign Community it was 17.37 in 1892 and 18.20 in 1891: among the Chinese 21.36 in 1892 and
24.18 in 1891.
BURIALS.
Of the 3,830 deaths which occurred among the Chinese in Victoria, 3,586 bodies were buried in the Colony, leaving 244 to be accounted for which were sent out of the Colony. The number of dead bodies brought from other places and buried in the Colony amounted to 61.
EXHUMATIONS.
In each case a
248 permits were granted to exhume dead remains and remove them to China. reference was made to the Superintendent of the Sanitary Board before the issue of a permit.
INFANTILE MORTALITY.
A reference to Table V, Return C, will show that the total infantile mortality last year was larger than in 1891. During 1892 the number of deaths under one year was 1,539 or 31.37 per cent. of the total mortality for the year. For the British and Foreign Community there was a decrease of deaths under one year, the number being 22 as compared with 29 in 1891, but among the Chinese community there was an increase of 13, the figures being 1,504 in 1891 and 1,517 in 1892.