( 4 )
suspicion ; but even here the comparison does not hold good ; the unlicensed prostitute can
be watched and caught in the act, which can rarely be done in the case of other criminals."
In Moulmein order is said to be maintained in the lines for prostitutes by an
inspector of police. During the year 11 were brought up for practising clandestine
prostitution, of whom 7 were convicted (4 imprisoned and 3 fined) and 4 acquitted ;
12 for non-attendance at periodical examination : all were imprisoned.
Beyond the registration of acknowledged prostitutes nothing is done at Akyab,
and not a single Arakanese woman is on the register though numbers live by
prostitution.
The special measures adopted at Bassein were the prevention of unlicensed
women entering the brothel lines and the registration of such as were found carry-
ing on clandestine prostitution. Ten were prosecuted for practising without
licenses ; of these 4 were fined, 5 put on the register, and 1 discharged.
VI.—How far the registration has been efficient, to what class it extends, and over what area.
The accompanying marginal statement compares the average number of
women on the register for
the quinquennial period
1879 to 1883. If mere
numbers on the register
influenced the extent of
venereal disease, a more
apparent relationship
between this and the
statement under section
III should be discover-
able. With the excep-
tion of the year under
review, which gives a
somewhat similar percentage, the ratio of admission for venereal of all forms has
year by year become greater in the European garrisons. Increased facilities do
not appear to improve the returns in this respect.
As a very large proportion of the women arrested for practising illicit prosti-
tution are found to be
diseased, and as this is
believed to be the prin-
cipal source of venereal
affections, a compari-
son of the numbers so
charged during these
years will be found in
the margin. From
1879 to 1881 there was
a gradual decline (from
612 to 468) in these
arrests, in 1882 they fell
to 188, and in the year
of report they again
rose to 526. The unusual numbers arrested at Akyab and Moulmein in 1879
give to that year's aggregate exceptional predominance ; and the paucity of Ran-
goon's figures for 1882, partly explained in one of the footnotes to page 4 of the
preceding lock-hospital report, principally accounts for the smallness of the
provincial total. But these oscillations in the district and provincial figures do
not correspond with, or explain the general upward tendency in, the numbers
admitted for venereal diseases at the different garrisons where European troops
are stationed.
Registration in Rangoon extends to all classes,—Europeans, Burmese, and
Natives of India : in the other towns it is confined to Asiatics, or rather there are
none others on the register.
Stations.
1879.
1880.
1881.
1882.
1883.
Akyab
...
56.30
51.58
58.29
60.78
50.65
Rangoon ...
467.08
496.36
436.96
387.69
475.21
Bassein ...
25.40
28.39
25.00
23.10
19.30
Thayetmyo..
23.60
25.59
23.92
26.50
23.00
Moulmein ...
58.00
61.42
51.25
68.50
75.00
Toungoo ...
15.60
17.82
18.32
13.23
14.74
Total ...
645.98
681.16
613.74
579.80
657.90
Stations. .1879.
1880.
1881.
1882.
1883.
Akyab
...
...
114
37
5
6
32
Rangoon
...
...
336
400
396
128
426
Bassein...
2 6
32
14
17
10
Thayetmyo
...
...
21
21
21
11
28
Moulmein
...
...
115
41
25
21
23
Toungoo
...
...
...
...
7
5
7
Total
...
612
531
468
188
526