C2
By the close of the year fourteen girls had been added to the list of those under bond to report themselves regularly to the Registrar-General—a precaution taken to prevent their being forced into prostitution, but five were subsequently exempted from reporting. The total on the list is now 33. One bond under section 34 of the Ordinance has been forfeited owing to the girl being taken away from the Colony without permission. As she was returned to the custody of the Registrar-General, the full penalty was not exacted.
All prostitutes are questioned before entering a brothel and the brothels and restaurants are under constant surveillance to prevent young girls entering them, and to detect any cases of compulsion. The women show considerable reliance on the protection of this office, and apply for help when they are afraid impediments will be placed on their movements. The freedom allowed to women under British Law is well-known in Hongkong, and Chinese women here feel that they have a distinctly more independent position than they have in most parts of the neighbouring districts.
The number of persons reported to the Po Leung Kuk as missing in Hongkong during the year was 238, of whom only 37 were found. The corresponding figures for 1908 were 91 and 39. The number of boys reported missing was 97, as against 37 in 1907. The total number of persons reported missing, including reports from China and Macao, was 399. Of these, 50 were reported to have been found. The corresponding figures for 1908 were 181 and 48. The large increase in the number of missing children has received the serious attention of the Government.
The annual report of the Po Leung Kuk Society will be found in Annexe A to this report.
EMIGRATION.
Emigration Ordinance, No. 1 of 1889. (i.)—Female Emigration. (Table IV.)
The number of women and children examined was 11,686, as compared with 12,108 in 1908 and 15,571 in 1907. There is a decrease of 1,244 in passengers going to the Straits Settlements; an increase of 421 in those going to the American Continent and of 335 in those going to Java Ports. The former increase is equivalent to an increase of 59 per cent. The number of passengers to Java Ports was only 3 in 1908. The very great increase is due to there having been twenty-eight steamers running direct from Hongkong, as against ten in 1908; over 50 per cent. of these passengers are from Kayingchau, and instead of travelling as previously from Swatow to Singapore and thence to the Dutch Indies, they come to Hongkong and proceed direct. A careful record of the time taken in examination during the last six months of the year showed that the rate of examination was 75 passengers per hour.