( 2 )
there has been a more than commensurate increase of disease, both among
the women themselves and among the European soldiers and the examinations,
which are the most essential portion of the system, have been less stringently
carried out than in former years.
3. The falling-off in all these respects has occurred chiefly in Rangoon,
where the numbers dealt with far exceed those at any other station. Of the total
of 1,100 registered, 705 belong to Rangoon ; and among these there were 950
cases of sickness, while the average attendance at the periodical examinations
was about 65 per cent., or less than at any other hospital. The causes of this
are explained in the report. In the first place, it is pretty clear that the executive
staff, whose duty it is to carry out the law, is quite inadequate for the work. In
a town of upwards of a hundred thousand inhabitants, it is impossible for
a single Inspector of Police, who is engaged in court more than half the day, and
has only two or three peons to assist him, to exercise any check over illicit pros-
titution. And according to the report of the Medical Officer, the medical establish-
ment is also insufficient. In the second place, it is alleged that most of the dis-
ease is beyond the control of the local authorities, being imported mainly by coolie
immigrants from the Madras coast. Besides this, however, there are not wanting
in the report indications of a lack of that strict supervision and control which is
imperatively required if the present rules are to be of any value. If the medical
and police establishments have been too weak for the efficient performance of their
duties, it is matter for regret that this has not been brought prominently to notice
earlier, and the defect supplied. No time should now be lost in introducing the
necessary reform. The second allegation is of such a nature that it would tend to
paralyse the efforts of the police and other preventive agencies, and without strong
evidence any such assertion cannot be accepted. On the face of the matter, there
is no apparent reason for thinking that venereal disease is more prevalent in the
seaport towns of Madras than in those of Burma, and at any rate it is difficult to
believe that so much disease is imported as to affect the returns very seriously.
If this is so, there should not be much difficulty in obtaining proof of the fact, and
it might then be possible to devise some special measure to meet the evil. Informa-
tion might be obtained and recorded in the Lock-hospital books as to the places in
which disease was contracted, the dates when the women left Madras, and other
details ; and special vigilance should be exercised in regard to new arrivals. The
state of things described by the Assistant Magistrate should be at once remedied.
Cordial co-operation between the medical, police, and magisterial authorities is
required, and it must be borne in mind that, under section 2 of the rules, the
Magistrate invested with power to try breaches of them is the officer who is
"responsible for the actual execution of the rules." It is asserted by the Magis-
trate—and not now for the first time—that the weekly inspections ordered by the
medical authorities give rise to much discontent among the women, lead to evasion
of the rules, and do not practically increase the protection against disease. The
point is perhaps a difficult one to decide ; but it is for obvious reasons desirable
that the difference of opinion about it which still continues should be, if possible,
determined, and that Magistrates and Medical Officers should act on the same
principle. During the past year, in Rangoon, out of 2,037 women reported to the
Magistrate for non-attendance, only 201 were brought up for punishment, and it
is scarcely surprising therefore that the attendance should have been bad. Until
the present law has had a fair trial, by being thoroughly carried out, and been
proved to be ineffectual, the suggestion of fresh legislation appears premature.
4. At Moulmein, an average of 66 women were on the register during the year,
though there were only 49 remaining on the 31st December. The total number
registered was 106, and there were 84 cases of disease among them. The
average attendance at examinations was 57, defaulters numbering 91, against 42
in 1876. Among the civil population, venereal desease is reported to have in-
creased steadily from 159 cases in 1874 to 292 in 1877, and there was a
slight increase among the troops. This, with a proportion of registered prostitutes
of one to 1,053 of the general population, sufficiently shows the necessity for a
stricter application of the rules. At Akyab, the proportion was one to 323, and
during the past four years, so far as can be judged from the hospital returns,
there has not been much increase of disease. It is noteworthy that among the