August 18, 1897.]·
But my great anxiety was my sanitary res- ponsibilities and I was thankful, when after ten years, an appeal to the Secretary of State from the Surveyor General and myself, Mr. Chadwick was sent out as sanitary commissioner, and his report resulted in the formation of a Sanitary Board, and relieved me of all further responsi- bility.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. ་་་་་་་་ lofts and the enforcement of the laws against overcrowding. It will require an exact know ledge of the town and of the changes which have taken place since the last census to draw the correct deductions from the attacked re- turns. Suffice it at present to point out that from table XIX. it appears that an area which was occupied by 110,007 persons in 1891 now holds 130,172, an increase of a little over 20,000, and that in every case where an enumerator has had to deal with more than 2,000 persons the number is very probably under the mark.
The hospital was reported on without effect, but it was blown down in the great typhoon of 1874. Then the vacant old Hotel d'Europe was taken for a hospital, a much better building in every respect but still not suited for a hospital either in construction or situation. That build- ing was burnt down in the great fire of 1878 and then began the building of the present hos- pital by adding to the size of the look hospital, not as satisfactory as I could wish but the best I
was able to obtain.
The colony has now a very decent hospital which has had many improvements added to it and will have more in the near future; there is promise of a sufficient medical staff in the future. The nursing staff is all that can be desired. There are decent lunatic asylums, an infectious diseases hospital and hulk, a public mortuary and a five building for the quarters of the nursing staff. An observatory has been built and has its own proper staff. The lock hospital, I regret to say, has been abolished and has become the female venereal wards of the Government Civil Hospital but only the very worst cases come in. The sanitary staff has been put on a proper footing, and the Sanitary Board indulges in less ver- bosity and does more business. What all my reports could not do the plague epidemic has done, opened the eyes of the public and Govern- ment here and at home to the deficiencies in the strength of the medical staff and the awful, unwholesome state of the colony, and its continued presence does not permit them to forget. In the near future there is a good have so. loved well and prospect for the place in which I have made so many friends, and so I say farewell with the profoundest regret.
THE CENSUS REPORT.
The following report on the census of the co- lony for 1897, by Mr. A. W. Brewin, the officer in charge of the census, is published in the Gazette:-
Registrar General's Office, Hongkong, 20th June, 1897. Sir, On the 30th November last instructions were received to take a census of the colony on the night of the 20th January on the same lines as the census taken in 1891.
2-The suitability of the date was questioned by some who maintained that it was so near to China New Year's Day, which fell this year on the 2nd February, that the usefulness of the returns would be diminished owing to the cus- tom, prevalent among the Chinese, of returning home for the new year. There was certainly some ground for this criticism, but after exten- sive enquiries I am inclined to think that the statistics, at any rate of Victoria, have not been seriously affected, the bulk of the people who leave the colony at the end of the year not starting until a few days later, and a number of Chinese coming from the mainland to Hong. kong for a few days at this time. On the other hand, the quarrymen employed in the quarries along the Shaukiwan Road had all left, and a number of fishing boats had gone, as is their custom, to Maçao.
3. The recurrence of the plague last year and the consequent exodus of a large number of the Chinese had prevented the census being taken at a much earlier date, and any post- ponement would have had to be for at least
seven weeks.
4. The Chinese population fluctuates exceed- ingly, and is affected one way or another by each one of the numerous festivals observed in China, and it is not easy to decide upon the best occasion for taking a census, but probably the most suitable time is early in the Chinese eleventh moon.
5.-The special object of the census was to discover, if possible, in what way the popula- tion of Victoria had been affected by the sanitary measures occasioned by the plague in 1894, such as the resumption of Taipingshan, the closing of basements, the removal of cock-
6.The particulars required for the immediate purpose of the census were simply the age, sex and race of each person. In addition to these, however, the birth-places and native-places of the Chinese land population have been ascer- tained, and the birth-places and the various races of the Europeans, Americans, &c.
7. The use of the two terms "race" and "nationality" gave rise to a discussion which was of an academic rather than of a practical interest, as the meaning which was to be at- tached to the two words was explained on the census schedules. Good authority can be found in modern standard dictionaries for conflicting
uses of the words. Some natives of the British
Isles seemed to have found a difficulty as to what entry should be made under the heading of race, but ninety-five per cent. elected to put themselves down as English, Scotch, Irish or
Welsh.
8. Certain preliminary returns were made public on the first of February. They were compiled from the figures furnished by ench enumerator, and could only be regarded as ap- proximate. In preparing the attached tables the schedules were compared with the enumera- tors' books and the necessary corrections made. With the exception of the Chinese population of Victoria in which an error of 4,700 had been
made and of the non-Chinese population of British Kowloon in which there was one of 270, the corrections required were unimportant.
9. The European and American population has been divided in some of the tables into Portuguese and those other than Portuguese. There is a sufficient distinction between the Portuguese population and other Europeans to make this division advisable and interesting. The Portuguese of Hongkong form a European community settled in the tropics, thoroughly acclimatised and apparently not recruited to any extent from Europe. It will not be for another generation that any other portion of the European community will be in a similar position. It is only now that a generation is growing up of Europeans born of parents them- selves born in the colony. The difference between the composition of the Portuguese and of the British community will be seen from the following table :-
British Resident Portuguese Resident Civil Population.
Under 5 years 5 and under 25 years 322 25 and under 50 years 749 50 and over
103 12
Not stated
Total
Total.
Civil Population.
Females..
Total.
138 147 285 134 127 261 302 624 468 468 936 395 1,144 209 466 765 36 139 110 191 301
9 21
1,324 880 2,213 1,011 1,252 2,263
There are several points of difference in the two communities, which consist of almost the same number of persons. There is one to which attention may incideally be drawn, that twenty-one members of the British community were either unable or unwilling to state their exact age, and that twelves of these
were men.
10.-Whatever may be their ethnographical position, for statistical purposes the Jews and Armenians have been included in the European and American population.
11.-The Indians are a sufficiently numerons and important body to appear separately.
12. The return of the number of Eurasians is distinctly unsatisfactor. I am afraid that the arrangements made were not such as to ensure getting the correct number. It is quite evident that the 272 who haro entered them, solves as such in the census schedules form a very small portion of the Eurasian community. No doubt the large majority are included among the Chinese. In the settlement of Singapore the Eurasians in 1881. numbered 3,589.
·
147
13. A detailed and exact comparison, ac- cording to locality of the component parts of the population in 1891, with the population in the present year has been found impossible owing to the form in which the figures were presented, but in table II. there will be found a fairly satisfactory one.
14.-Exclusive of the mercantile marine the
[ some
European and American community in 1891 numbered 4,555. It has now risen to 5,532. The British resident civil population then amounted to 1,448, a number which does not apparently include the European police, 157 in number including women and children, nor the prisoners, nor
temporary In 1897, including these, it residents." numbers 2,213 persons. The Portuguese community now consists of 2,263 persons as against 2,089 in 1891. The Germans, who numbered 208 in 1891, now number 292, The Americans bare increased from 93 to 174, the French from 8 to 112, and the Spanish from 88 to 104. In 1891 there were 'temporary 53 Europeans and Americans, residents," and 23 prisoners whose nationalities were not stated.
15.-Counting those persous over 15 years of age as adnits we find that in the British community the percentage of adult females to adult males is 55. In 1891 it was 35 and in 1881, 48. This supports the statement in the report on the census of 1891 that family life among Europeans is increasing. Of the 2,374 persons of British origin eannierated in the census 1,466 claim to be English, 513 Scotch, 245 Irish and 26 Welsh. 1,580 or about two- thirds of the whole British population, were born in the British Isles. and 670 in other parts of the British Empire; 92 being born in Aus- tralia and New Zealand, 28 in Canada, and 457 in Hongkong. 72 were born in China and Japan. 241 persons of European and American race claim British nationality, including 118 Jews, 51 Portuguese, 18 Spaniards and 13 Arme- nians. Of the Eurasians 236 claim to be British subjects.
16. Of the Portuguese population 1,214, or more than one-half, were born in Hongkong and 931 in Macao. 75 were born in China and
Japan and 10 in Fortugal. Only 51, as stated above, claim British nationality. The rest, with the exception of three, in whose case there is perhaps some confusion between race and na tionality, remain subjects of the King of Portugal.
17. The members of races other than Euro
pean, American and Chinese, have increased in number from 1,439 to 2,502. Of these 272 are Eurasians. It is unfortunately not possible to say in which race the increase has been greatest. Most probably it is among the Indians. These now number 1,348, of whom 371 or 28 per cent. are females. Of the remaining 882, the Japau- ese number 335, the Malays 207, and the Filipinos 216. Of the Malays 131 or 63 per cent. are females, and of the Filipinos 82 or 38
per cent.
The cor-
18-In Return II. of the report on the cen.. sus of 1891 the Chinese land population is stated to be 178.960. This number includes 1.132 per- sons employed in the mercantile marine, pas- sengers, and on foreign men-of-war. responding number for this year is 201,528 in- cluding 1,523 persons on board the foreign ship- ping. This is an increase of 22,508 or 12.61 per cent. In 1891 the number of adult males was 113,241 and of adult females 33,523; the per- centage of the latter to the former being 29.60. In 1897 the number of adult females has risen to 38,860 and of adult males to 129,893, the per- centage of males to males being 20,02. The number of Chinese families in Victoria in 1891 was said to be 14.120. In 1897, in the same area, it is returned as 21,740. This is an ap- parent increase of 53.88 per cent., and may bo account. I for by heads of families neglecting to make the proper entry in the schedule in 1891.
In the present census the enumera. tors were instructed to ascertain by enquiry the number of families in their sections, but the task of ascertaining the correct number is complicated by concubinage as There are two great well as by polygamy. hindrances to the increase of family life among the Chinese Hongkong, namely, the position which the Chinese wife holds towards her parents-in-law and the difficulty of finding suit-
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