Sessional_Paper_1921 — Page 170

166

dealt with on this day. On Sunday the 24th the whole force was mobilised consisting of 69 enumerators, 31 sampans, 9 Government launches, and Naval Yard launches kindly placed at my disposal by the Naval Authorities; motor boats were also used for inspec- it work at various times, which worked from 7 am to 7 p.m. On Monday a reduced force was used, while by Tuesday little remained undone and the number of enumerators was much reduced. On Wednesday only 3 enumerators were placed on the Police patrol launches in case any stragglers had been missed; these proved to be very few indeed. The Census of the harbour was thus taken in 4 days insteal of 7 as in 1911, and I am convinced that if a sufficient number of enumerators and sampans are employed under efficient supervision, the work can be completed in 3 days. The enumerators assembled at the Water Police Station at 6.45 a m. every day and returned about 7 p.m. to report; they had previously been carefully instructed in their duties. Their work was well done on the whole, but they were rather dilatory on the first day, partly because the supervision was inefficient; this was chiefly owing to the European Police officer in charge of each section being unable from his launch to keep his sampans in sight, because they carried no distinguishing flag; this important point should not be omitted in the next Census. Uniform marking of each kind of craft when dealt with is also very important. A good deal of time was wasted because enumerators could not tell at a glance if a particular vessel had been enumerated. All European and Chinese members of the Water Police engaged worked extremely well in spite of the long hours

necessary.

2. To avoid delay and inconvenience arrangements were made with the Ferry, Dock, Godown, Water Boat and Sugar Refinery Companies, whereby the crews of their harbour craft were enumerated by their own staffs.

3. The issue of Sunday cargo working permits to vessels loading and unloading in the stream was restricted as much as possible, as it is impossible to take the Census pro- perly when many craft are moving about the harbour, or clustered round a ship working cargo.

4. The number enumerated in Victoria barbour .e., from Green Island to Quarry Bay was 38,854, an increase of 301 per cent on the figures for 1911. The figures for 1911 showed only a small increase over 1901 due to the terrible typhoon of September, 1906 when 11,000 lives were lost in the Harbour: the figures for this year show that the natural increase has again begun, and that the losses of the great disaster have been fully repaired. Had it not been for the great slump in Shipping and Trade which pre- vailed and caused many of the floating population to seek means of livelihood for the time being elsewhere, the figures would have been considerably higher. Aberdeen and Stanley show a decrease of 773, Shaukeiwan an increase of 374; the lowness of these figures is accounted for partly by a succession of bad fishing seasons, and partly by the good weather prevailing at the time of the Census which enabled the smaller fishing craft to remain outside the harbours; for there are a large number of small fishing sampans which in fine weather put out quite long distances from Shaukeiwan and Aberdeen, and remain out some days.

5. The deep sea fishing fleet and their attendant salt junks were mostly absent, while the number of trading junks present in the harbour was rather smaller than usual.

6. No attempt was made to enumerate the persons on board sea going ships in the harbour. As Hongkong is only a port of call for a large number, their stay in port is short, and the addition of the crews and passengers to the figures gives a purely fictitious addition to the population, while the expense and difficulty of boarding each individual ship on the Sunday afternoon throughout this extensive harbour make the task not worth while attempting, when the figures for the crews can be obtained from the Harbour Office records without any trouble and expense. Chinese crews show a large decrease while non-Chinese crews show a large increase chiefly due to Indian guards on local steamers, Japanese and Americans. There has been a marked tendency recently to increase the number of non-Asiatics carried by the larger ships, especially the liners on the run to Europe and America.

7. 10.410 small craft in all of various classes were enumerated. The numbers enumerated in the Harbours of Hongkong, Aberdeen and Shaukeiwan, 8,918, show the completeness of the Census in the Home waters, the total number of licences issued in 1920 being 9,848; after making due allowances for absence at sea, and loss during the