M 20
B. VITAL STATISTICS.
34. Births and Deaths registration which was established by Ordinance No. 7 of 1896 as amended by Ordinance No. 26 of 1928 applies to the Colony only. There is no registration in the New Territory.
35. The Registrar of Births and Deaths is the Head of the Sanitary Department, a Senior Cadet Officer. The Assistant Registrars are the Officers in Charge of various Police Stations, the Inspector in Charge of the Disinfecting Station Kowloon, and the Principal Clerks in Charge of the various Chinese Public Dispensaries.
36. Births are registered at the Central Office in Victoria, at the Chinese Public Dispensaries and at the Police Stations at Aberdeen and Stanley.
37. Deaths can be registered at the Central Office, at the Kowloon Disinfecting Station and at a number of Police Stations.
38. Death registration being a necessary preliminary to a permit for burial it may be taken for granted that practically all deaths are registered. Bodies found dumped, and they are not a few, are taken to the Public Mortuaries where they are examined by the Medical Officer in charge who fills out death certificates and forwards them to the Registrar.
39. Birth registration is not universal and a considerable number of births especially those of females are never reported to the Authorities.
40. Death certificates are scrutinised by the Medical Officer of Health attached to the Sanitary Department.
41. Population. The estimated population for the whole of the territories under British jurisdiction was 1,075,690.
42. The estimated population for the Colony was:-
Non-Chinese mostly resident in Hong Kong and Kowloon 18,150 Chinese City of Victoria 550,000 Villages of Hong Kong 43,890 Kowloon & New Kowloon 264,000 Junk & Sampan population 103,400 Total Chinese 961,290 Total Civilian population Chinese and non-Chinese 979,440The estimated population for the New Territories was 96,250.
43. During the year 730,570 persons entered and 677,941 left the Colony by river steamer and by railroad making a balance of immigrants over emigrants by these routes of 52,629.