Sessional_Paper_1901 — Page 720

HONGKONG.

REPORT ON THE CENSUS OF THE COLONY FOR 1901.

Laid before the Beyislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor,

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39

No. 1901

REGISTRAR GENERAL'S OFFICE,

HONGKONG, 15th August, 1901.

SIR,--I have the honour to forward herewith, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, Mr. WODEHOUSE'S Report on the Census of the Colony which was taken on the night of the 20th January last.

Mr. WODEHOUSE, who had been placed in charge of the Census, left the Colony before the tabulation was completed. This has taken somewhat longer than was anticipated, owing in part to the necessity of having to make a change in the clerical staff in the middle of the work and to the laboriousness of the task of compiling and tabulating the List of Occupations. The latter task involved a great deal of work, and I am afraid that the result is not satisfactory.

The Census of the New Territory was taken by the Police, and shews a population of 102,254 persons, of whom 17,243 live south of the Kowloon Range. No attempt was made to ascertain the occupations of the people or their exact ages.

The following Tables in addition to those specified in Mr. WODEHOUSE's report have been com- piled:--

No. XXIII. Occupations of the Non-Chinese portion of the Community.

No. XXIV. Occupations of the Chinese,

No. XXV. Population of the New Territory.

The Honourable

J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, C.M.G..

Colonial Secretary.

I have the honour to be,

Sir.

Your most obedient Servant.

A. W. BREWIN,

Registrar General.

REGISTRAR GENERAL'S OFFICE,

HONGRONG, 18th April, 1901.

The decennial Census of the Colony was taken on the night of Sunday, the 20th January,

2. It was considered advisable to hold it on the same day as in 1897 in order to facilitate the com- pilation of comparative statistics. In other respects, also, the date was a most suitable one, owing to the fact that China New Year fell on the 19th instead of the 2nd February, as in 1897, and did not there- fore, I consider, affect the numbers of the normal Chinese population. In 1891 the Census was taken on the 20th May, which date does not present the same advantages.

3. Certain preliminary returns were published on the 18th February. The greater part of the totals had already been checked, and the figures were, therefore, fairly accurate. The principal error was one of 4,900 in the Chinese floating population, which had been calculated from the totals furnished by the Water Police. Through some misunderstanding, the Gaol returns were not sent in until too late for insertion.

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