CO129-522-3 Social hygiene- including trafficking in women & children- brothels- etc. 27-2-1930 - 13-4-1931 — Page 59

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fornication a criminal offence and I do not see therefore

how such single 'sly' prostitutes can be dealt with.

3.

By a segregation of the prostitute such as

is practised in Hong Kong it is possible to avoid the evils

of "street walking", to ensure that the casual and perhaps

unwilling mele is not subjected to temptation and, to some

extent, to compete with the problem of Venereal Disease.

I have no hesitation in saying that in many respects the

system which obtains here is more orderly than is the state

of affairs in London and I was not surprised to hear educated

Chinese who have visited that city comment adversely on the common sight of obvious prostitutes loitering in the streets

in the West End. One cannot but feel that the comparison is

unfavourable to London.

4.

It is unnecessary for me to stress the

special difficulties in Hong Kong as they are set out in the

reply of Dr. Drummond Shiels to Mrs. Neville Rolfe, which accompanied Your Lordship's despatch. I refer to the constant movements of thousands of Chinese daily in and out of the Colony and the difficulty of dealing effectively with the international traffic in women and girls in the event

of the abandonment of the system of toleration. It is comparatively easy in Malaya to exercise a large measure of control in respect of women entering the country as they arrive in limited numbers by large vessels or by rail fran the direction of Siam. The same control is impossible in Hong Kong where thousands may arrive daily in river steamers, junks or by land. At the same time the dangers of traffick- ing in women are ever, as Your Lordship is aware, before this Government and the officers of the Secretariat for

Chinese Affairs are constantly engaged in trying to cope

with this evil.

5.