J
327
No. 27
98
HONGKONG.
REGISTRAR GENERAL'S REPORT FOR 1897.
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government.
REGISTRAR GENERAL'S OFFICE,
HONGKONG, 19th March, 1898.
SIR, I have the honour to forward herewith for Your Excellency's information my report on the work of this department for the year 1897.
REVENUE.
All the items of Revenue show an increase as compared with the previous year with the exception of the revenues derived from Boat Licences and the Registration of Householders which have slightly decreased.
The total Revenue collected during the year amounted to $113,759.66, or $16,139.05 more than that for the preceding year.
The Markets are responsible for $998.64 of this increase, and there is an increased Revenue of $13,807.00 derived from fees for Certificates of Identity issued to Chinese emigrating from the Colony to the United States of America.
EXPENDITURE.
The actual expenditure in 1897 under personal emoluinents, including Exchange Compensation and Other Charges, was $13,488.95 as compared with $15.263.14 in 1896 and $18,585.13 in 1895.
Pó LEUNG KUK INCORPORATION ORDINANCE.
(No. 18 of 1893.)
WOMEN AND GIRLS PROTECTION ORDINANCE.
(No. 9 of 1897.)
The Report of the Pó Léung Kuk Society with the accounts of the Revenue and of the Expenditure of the Society for the year are published separately. The Committee of the Society has held monthly meetings throughout the year.
The number of Women and Girls detained during the year under Part II of Ordinance 9 of 1897 was 255, an increase of 14 on the number detained in 1896 and of 60 on the figures for 1895.
Table II (a) gives particulars as to how those Girls were disposed of.
The number of girls under the protection of the Office under section 25 of the Ordinance is 43, regarding whom details are given in Table II B.
104 Women and Girls were reported to the Pó Léung Kuk as having disappeared in Hongkong; 28 of them were subsequently recovered. Many of the married women reported as missing, no doubt, had their own reasons for leaving their homes.
I regret to be compelled to again call attention to the large number of "sly" brothels, which will, I fear, continue to increase until steps are taken to deal with this evil. The Chinese are most anxious that something should be done to remedy the present state of affairs, which they complain is a great nuisance to respectable residents in the Colony and acts as a deterrent to the increase of Chinese family life in Hongkong.
There were 424 warrants issued during the year under Section 30 of Ordinance 9 of 1897 to searchsly brothels," and 25 Girls were rescued by these means.
EMIGRATION.
The number of female passengers and children examined at the Emigration Office and allowed to proceed to their destination was 8,501 in 1897 as compared with 8,686 in 1896 and 11,008 in the previous year. (See Table III.)
The figures for 1894 were 6,455 and for 1893, 9,109.
1897 thus appears as an average year though there is a slight decrease under the important heading of Emigration to the Straits Settlements.
CERTIFICATES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
In 1896, the Registrar General undertook the issue of Certificates of Identity to Chinese of the "exempt class" proceeding to the United States of America.
A Certificate contains a general description of the holder giving his name, age, profession, height and noting any physical peculiarity he may possess.