Sessional_Paper_1898 — Page 332

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A photograph of the holder is attached to the Certificate which bears on its face a statement that he is not a labourer and is entitled to enter the United States of America under the Treaty between that country and China, dated 8th December, 1894. A fee of $3.00 was originally charged for each Certificate issued and the proceeds carried to the Revenue of the Colony.

During the course of 1897, applicants for these Certificates became so numerous that the fee was raised to $5.00 in June and to $10.00 on 1st August. The number of emigrants still increased so rapidly that the fee was again raised on 20th September to $25.00, at which figure it still remains.

No Certificate is issued unless a Bond for $500 has been entered into by a registered householder of the Colony as a guarantee of the good faith of the emigrant.

POPULATION.

The following is the estimate of the number of the population of the Colony on the 30th June :—

British and Foreign Community,

13,700

Chinese.

235,010 CENSUS.

Total. 248,710

A Census of the Colony was taken on the night of the 20th January.

The work was placed in charge of Mr. A. W. BREWIN, the acting Assistant Registrar General, who was assisted by Mr. CHAPMAN, the Government Assessor.

A larger staff of enumerators was engaged than for previous Censuses and better pay was given. The work of tabulation instead of being done by the staff of the Registrar General's Office with the assistance of one or two extra Chinese writers was performed altogether by temporary clerks.

Preliminary returns were published on 1st February, and the full Report with statistical tables attached was made by Mr. BREWIN on 20th June (Sessional Paper No. 4).

MARRIAGES.

(Ordinance No. 14 of 1875.)

The

The number of marriages solemnized during the year was 93 as compared with 71 in 1896. number of marriages between Chinese in Victoria on the occasion of which permits to fire crackers were issued was 251 as against 207 in 1896.

BIRTHS AND DEATHS. (Ordinance No. 16 of 1896.)

Table IV A gives the number of Births and Deaths registered during the year.

The death-rates at various ages and the causes of death will be found in Tables IV B and IV C. The Births among the British and Foreign Community were 243 compared with 255 in 1896, and the number of Births registered as having occurred among the Chinese Community was 1,125 as compared with 978 in the previous year.

There were 17 prosecutions under the Ordinance in 1897, under the following headings

Unlawful removal of dead bodies, .....

Death, failing to report,

Death, wilfully giving false information of,.................

14 cases.

12

1

2

The number of deaths in the British and Foreign Community was 204 as compared with 253 in 1896; among the Chinese 4,484 as compared with 5,607 in 1896, of these 19 died from Plague. 174 of the deaths among the British and Foreign Community and 3,033 among the Chinese were cer- tified to by a registered Medical Practitioner or were the subject of a Coroner's Enquiry. The following table shows the number of deaths and the death-rate per 1,000 during the last seven years.

British and Foreign,.

Chinese,

Total,

Estimated Population.

1895

1891

1892 1893 1894

1896 1897 10,494 10,590 10,686 10,782 10,828 12.709 13,700 .214,320 221,072 228,038 235,224 237,670 226,710 235,010 .......224,814 231,662 238,724 246,006 248,498 239,419 248,710

British and Foreign,..

Chinese,

Total,

Deaths.

5,374

4,906 5,422

7,407

5.400 5.860 4,688

Death-rate per 1,000.

18.20

17.37 17.97

24.18

21.30

22.93

23.90

21.18

22.71

23.28 17.64 19.91 30.42 21.92 24.75 19.08 30.11 21.73 24.48 18.85

14.89

Under the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance, 16 of 1896, the removal of a dead body from the Colony is forbidden without a certificate having been obtained from the Registrar General or a Registrar.

The issue of these certificates has now been undertaken by the Police, the Inspector in charge of the Central Station being a Registrar. Of such Removal Certificates 537 were issued in 1897.

EXHUMATIONS.

137 permits were issued to exhuine human remains for removal to China or for re-burial in the Colony.