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life, but all declined and stated their intention to continue their profession in Canton or Macao.*
42
The end of licensed prostitution was followed, as Peel had prophesied, by the opening of a large number of sly brothels masquerading as dancing academies, bath houses, or massage parlours. The government had to decide what was to be done and the Executive Council directed that houses containing one or two prostitutes might be left undisturbed by the police so long as they did not constitute a nuisance to the neighbourhood, but that the keepers of larger establishments should be prosecuted, and deported if found guilty." There was also a vast increase in the amount of soliciting on the streets, since prostitutes were obliged to advertise their services openly instead of being found in a recognized place of resort. The incidence of venereal disease soon increased among the soldiers and sailors of the garrison: during 1938 24 per cent of servicemen were reported sick with venereal disease (29 per cent in the Navy, 20 per cent in the Army)." This compared with an infection rate of 7 per cent in 1922 when the tolerated houses were in business. There was also probably a similar increase among the general population; the number of new patients seeking treatment at government venereal disease clinics went up from 3,533 in 1932 to 8,573 in 1939, though possibly part of the increase was the result of the increased availability of treatment and changing attitudes to European medicine."
43
Alarm at the extent of venereal disease in the garrison led the Governor, Sir Geoffrey Northcote, to appoint a local committee in 1938 to examine the situation. This included representatives of the navy, army, police and medical services. The committee clearly regretted the ending of the system of tolerated houses six years earlier; the report stated bluntly: "The results of abolition, namely the increase in venereal disease with its appalling effect upon the defence forces of the colony, and the unpleasant conditions of the streets are much more of a disgrace than the tolerated houses ever were"." It was noted that before 1932 any serviceman could identify the woman he had visited and she could be compelled to seek treatment at the expense of the keeper of the brothel; but in the new era there was no means of compelling a prostitute to seek treatment and it was estimated that three-quarters of the prostitutes...
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life, but all declined and stated their intention to continue their profession in Canton or Macao.*
42
The end of licensed prostitution was followed, as Peel had prophesied, by the opening of a large number of sly brothels mas- querading as dancing academies, bath houses, or massage par- lours. The government had to decide what was to be done and the Executive Council directed that houses containing one or two prostitutes might be left undisturbed by the police so long as they did not constitute a nuisance to the neighbourhood, but that the keepers of larger establishments should be prosecuted, and deport- ed if found guilty." There was also a vast increase in the amount of soliciting on the streets, since prostitutes were obliged to advertise their services openly instead of being found in a recognized place of resort. The incidence of venereal disease soon increased among the soldiers and sailors of the garrison: during 1938 24 per cent of servicemen were reported sick with venereal disease (29 per cent in the Navy, 20 per cent in the Army)." This compared with an infection rate of 7 per cent in 1922 when the tolerated houses were in business. There was also probably a similar increase among the general population; the number of new patients seeking treatment at government venereal disease clinics went up from 3,533 in 1932 to 8,573 in 1939, though possibly part of the increase was the result of the increased availability of treatment and changing attitudes to European medicine."
43
Alarm at the extent of venereal disease in the garrison led the Governor, Sir Geoffrey Northcote, to appoint a local committee in 1938 to examine the situation. This included representatives of the navy, army, police and medical services. The committee clear- ly regretted the ending of the system of tolerated houses six years earlier; the report stated bluntly: "The results of abolition, namely the increase in venereal disease with its appalling effect upon the defence forces of the colony, and the unpleasant conditions of the streets are much more of a disgrace than the tolerated houses ever were"." It was noted that before 1932 any serviceman could iden- tify the woman he had visited and she could be compelled to seek treatment at the expense of the keeper of the brothel; but in the new era there was no means of compelling a prostitute to seek treatment and it was estimated that three-quarters of the prosti-
45
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