E-7 -
purchasers. It is usual for supplies for family houses, shops, clubs, hotels and restaurants to be purchased by servants. In the same way if Government opium was ever wanted in a coolie house or employees' quarters, the usual way would be for the manager of the establishment to send out a servant and purchase for the whole staff. Kamshan opium is invariably purchased by servants. It is proposed to continue the census of purchasers of Government opium every year in December. This is the system followed in the Netherlands Indies in all the large centres of the Chinese population.
24. The number who had renewed their pass-books for Kamshan opium before the end of January was 148 out of a total of registered smokers of 231 showing that the balance had left the Colony either temporarily or permanently.
25. Action was taken against a few of the larger divans, in order to give a general warning that such were illegal. It was found that the extent of the business transacted was much in excess of the average of four years ago.
In many cases over ten pipes were seized, formerly four to five constituted a large sized divan.
26. A great number of women were convicted for smuggling, and the numbers remained so high that many had to be released before the expiry of their sentence in order to relieve the congestion in the female prison. Several arrests were made of small children who were carrying opium from ships and sampans. After an attempt to discover their parents, generally unsuccessful, they were usually released, as it would have been a mere waste of time to have taken them before the Court. Most of these children had been specially schooled to say nothing, or to give quite misleading information. It is apparent that carrying opium round the streets has now become a regular occupation of many of the children of the lower classes.
27. The number of retail shops was reduced to sixty-two of which sixteen were in the country districts or on distant islands. According to the 1981 census figures, forty-six shops serve 723,272 Chinese living in urban and suburban districts, and sixteen shops serve 98,157 Chinese living in country districts or on islands.
V.-LEGISLATION.
28. The Liquors and Tobacco Ordinances were consolidated and slightly amended and became law in December. Particular attention was paid to rendering the two ordinances as identical as possible; since the two original ordinances had been passed various small divergencies had crept in, which were very difficult in practice for officers to keep in mind, when taking action under either ordinance. The schedules of licence fees were revised and the amounts increased in view of the fall in exchange.