pense of maintaining
a large number of rescued women and girls. No one is allow ed to marry or adopt a girl from the Pó Léang Kuk until he can find satisfactory security approved by the Registrar General and enter into a bond before him in which the rights and welfare of the girl are care- fully protected.
In order to give some idea of the num- ber of persons who have been assisted by the Pó Leung Kuk, in the manner which I have described, I have had a return drawn up, giving the statistics for the last 4 years of the numbers of males and females received by the Society, and showing how they have been dealt with.
From this return it will be seen that during the past 4 years, no fewer than 2,412 males and females have been sent to the Po Loung Kuk and restored to their relatives that 218 women have been married, and 46 children have been adopt- ed; and that the total number of persons dealt with has been 2,851. A glance at the figures contained in the return will shew that the figures for the period from the 12th July, 1891, up to the end of 1891, or a period of less than six (6) months, amount to a total of 506, by far the largest number for such a period since the Society was first established. This increase in numbers is to a great extent due to the increased powers given to the Registrar General under the Women and Girls Protection Ordinance, which came into force last year, and to the unremitting exertions of the present Committee, who, though business men whose time is much occupied by their own affairs, have con. trived to devote an amount of energy and time to the work of the Society which has increased its efficiency and has been of the greatest assistance to this offica. Such
zeal in the cause of humanity is, I submit, not only worthy of support but should also receive some formal recognition from this Government.
THE WANT OF ACCOMMODATION.
The Committee, however, does not ask for reward or favour, but, in the petition which I am forwarding, requests that the Government may grant the Society auine aid in order that it may have a suitable place for housing and maintaining those who are entrusted to its care, and this brings me to the question of a Home.
The Pó Leung Kuk has hitherto had no Home of its own, the persons placed under its care having up to the present time been quartered in a portion of the Tung Wa Hospital, which the management of that Institution kindly placed at the disposal of the Society. The accommodation thus af- forded has been for long recognised as in- sufficient and in no way suitable for the purpose for which it is now used. Both
the Government and the Society have been fully alive to the defects in the present ar- rangements and steps were taken many years ago to find a site, but the difficulty was to find one suitable, a difficulty in tensified by a feeling of soreness which existed among some of the members of the Society owing to the Chinese Recreation Ground, which had been granted as a site, being resumed by the Government under instructions from the Secretary of State: Mr Chadwick, the Sanitary Commissioner sent out by the Colonial Oflice to Hong- kong, having strongly recommended the retention of the site in question which the lato Sir Richard MacDonnell described as the Langs of Taipingshan.' In 1887, an- other site, a vacant piece of ground in- mediately behind the Tung Wa Hospital, which is now built over, was applied for, but it was finally decided that the Govern- ment should build a row of houses, the top-floors of which could be used as & Home and the other floors let out as shops or residences. These houses were accord- ingly constructed, but when completed the Society represented that they were not suited for a Home, and when I returned from leave at the end of 1890, I found the Pó Leung Kuk still located in the Tung Wa Hospital and the question of a Home atill undecided.
On viewing the houses, the top-floors of which had been built for a Home, I reported that I agreed with the members of the Society in considering the proposed accommodation unsuitable. The idea of utilizing the top floors of the houses in the manner proposed has been abandoned, and the question of the erection of a suitable Home has not yet been definitely settled.
The Commitee of the Pó Leung Kuk and the Tung Wa Hospital now offer
A SOLUTION OF THE DIFFICULTY.
Opposite the Tung Wa Hospital is Lot No. 361, which was granted to the Taug Wa Hospital Corporation by the Govern- ment for the lawful and charitable pur- poses of the said Corporation.'
Only a small portion of this lot being used by the Tung Wa Hospital for hospital purposes, the members of that Corporation, at a meeting held on the 13th December Jast, resolved:-'That on Lot No. 361, where the Kwong Fuk I Tez stands, which was given by the Government to this Hospital, a plot should be marked out for
the site of the Pó Leung Kuk,"
I attach the translation of a letter hand-
ed to une by the Chairman of the Tung Wa Hospital, which contains the above resolu tion, and which adds that if in the future the P6 Leung Kuk should find a more anitable place to which to remove, the plot of ground with the building on it will revert to the Tang Wa Hospital for char- itable purposes,' a condition which may require some slight modification,
The Pó Leung Kuk Society considers the site will be in every way suitable for the purpose of a Home, and it is con- veniently situated for those who are in- terested in the work of the Society.
A plan of the building which it is proposed to erect is attached.
If there is no objection on the part of Government to the grunting of the site, aud if the plan of the building is approved generally, the question resolves itself into one of
WAYS AND MEANS.
With regard to the financial aspect of the matter, I would point out that accord- ing to Ordinance 11 of 1890, the Women and Girls Protection Ordinance, it was evidently the intention of the Legislature that a Home should be provided out of the public revenue, and that the persons lodged in it should be maintained at the public cost.
Section 17 of that Ordinance seems clear on that point :~-~* It shall be lawful for the Governor in Conneil, out of moneys to be provided by the Legislative Council for that purpose, to provide a suitable building or buildings for the purposes of temporari-
ly housing and maintaining women and girle detained under the provisions of this part of the Ordinance and as the Asylum for them during such detention.'
I should also mention that at Singapore and other places in the Straite Settlements, where Homes have been established under the Women and Girls Protection Or- dinance, the cost of the building and the expenses of the upkeep have been and ars being defrayed out of public moneys, and no subscription, like that raised in Hong- kong among the Chinese, to which re- ference is made in the petition from the Pó Léang Kuk, has been collected in the Straits in aid of the Homes there.
The principle of Government support of a Home having been thus affirmed by the Legislative Counoll and embodied in one of the Ordinances of this Colony, which has received the sanction of Her Majesty the Queen, it would seem that all that now re-
mains to be done, in the direction of giving aid towards the establishment of a Home and the maintenance of those entrusted to its care, is to consider the amount of financial assistance which the Legislative Council would be justified in affording to the Pó Lóung Kuk and on what conditions such assistance should be given.
As is pointed out in the petition from the Committee of the Pó Leung Kuk, a subscription in aid of the Society was started among the Chinese community about the beginning of last year, and, not- withstanding the general depression in commercial circles, which was so prevalent during the past year, a sanı atmounting to $30,000 has been subscribed. The interest on this sum will only help to defray a portion of the annual expenses of the Society, which are estimated at from $5,000 to $6,000, and that is the reason why the Committee now apply for Govern- ment aid.
I understand that it is the intention of the Government to sell the five houses, the top-floors of which were intended for a Home. Their value, together with that of the ground on which they stand, has been estimated by the Surveyor General at $21,000. I would, therefore, recommend that the Legislative Council be requested to vote that sum toward defraying the cost of building a Homo, which if constructed in accordance with the plan referred to above will, I am informed by the architect who made the plau, require an outlay of about $15,000. This would leave a balance of $6,000 which might be given as a grant- in-aid to the Society. I feel certain that, if the Government supports the establish. ment and maintenance of a Home as I suggest, the Chinese community, which has already subscribed so generously, will be willing to give still further substantial proof of its charity by annually subscribing towards the maintenance of those who come under the care of the Society. It is at present impossible to say whether those subscriptions together with the interest on the other funds will be sufficient to meet the expenses of the Society, but even if they are not, I presume the Government would be willing to make regular grants in proportion to the amount of the subscrip- Lions from the Chinese community.
THE STATUS OF THE SOCIETY,
DOW
The Society also asks that it may bo placed on a more satisfactory footing. At present it is recognised by the Government and the Rules referred to above have been approved by the Secretary of State.
is Seeing, however, that it Society possessed of large funds, and that it will have to deal (if my recommenda tions are approved) with moneys granted by Government, I think it would be well to grant the request of the Society, and have its position and status defined by law in the same way as was done in the case
of the sister institution, the Tung Wa Hospital. If this be approved, I shall be glad to place myself in communication with the Acting Attorney General and give him all the information he may require for drafting an Ordinance.
VALUE OF THE WORK DONE.
In conclusion I have only to remark that the work which the Pó Leung Kuk does gratuitously, and for the performance of which it has received little or no recogni- tion from the Government and that portion of the public which is ignorant of its work- ing, is much appreciated by the Chinese residents of the Colony, as is shown by the large sum which they have subscribed towards it, and to point out that if it were not for the existence of the Society and the hearty manner in which its members co- operate with this office in endeavouring to suppress kidnapping and other kindred offences and in providing a refuge for destitutes and rescued women and girls, voluntarily the burdon which it now undertakes would have to be entirely borne instead of being shared by Govern ment. This would most certainly entail au increased expenditure for the salaries of those who would have to be employed to carry on the duties now so excellently per- formed by the Society and necessitate "the placing on the annual estimates of a large sam for the maintenance of destitutes and others, and in the end the work would not be so effectively or so satisfactorily per- formed as at present.
I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant,
J. H. STEWART LOCKHART,
Registrar General, Honourable W. M. Goodman, Acting
Colonial Secretary.
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