( 3 )
.
" illicit prostitution while during the preceding eight months Rs. 380 Were so
" collected, it would, taken in connection with the fact that the registered prosti-
" tutes have become fewer, appear as ,if the measure had been the reverse of
" useful."
Surgeon Dalzell, Akyab, reports : " Very special measures were adopted to
" check illicit prostitution, and every effort was directed by the Superintendent
" and staff to make the working of the hospital efficient, but for lack of the
" cordial co-operation of the police these efforts were to a great extent annulled."
Elsewhere the measures in force for the control of prostitution appear to
have been the same as in former years and with similar unsatisfactory results.
VI.—How far the registration has been efficient, to what class it extends, and over what area.
Registration extends to all classes and, excepting at Akyab, where the Act
was abolished on the 1st September 1886, is applicable to the same area as in
former years (vide Statement I, Appendix). From what has already been said,
and for the reasons so well given in Deputy Surgeon-General Donnelly's letter, it
may be readily believed that registration has not been efficient. Female camp-
followers, including kitchen women, grass-cutters, &c., appear to be a fruitful
source of disease, and they are most difficult to get at as each is under the pro-
tection of a so-called husband. The activity of the police in effecting the arrest
of women for practising unlicensed prostitution during 1886 may be gathered
from the following table, in which for comparison the figures for the preceding
Six years are also given :—
Station.
1880. 1881. 1882. 1883. 1884. 1885. 1886.
Akyab
...
...
...
37
5
6
32
12
...
. . .
Rangoon
...
...
...
400
396
128
426
236
207
53
Bassein
...
...
...
32
14
17
10
5
8
...
Thayetmyo
...
...
...
21
21
11
28
7
7
9
Toungoo
...
...
...
. . .
7
5
7
1
. . .
...
Their activity seems to be very spasmodic and to have reached a low ebb in
1885 and a lower still in 1886. The Inspector attached to the Rangoon Lock-
hospital explains that the difficulties in the way of bringing prostitutes on the
register are greater than they used to, be. Informers have now to appear before
the Magistrate twice, firstly, to enable the Inspector to procure a warrant ; secondly,
to support the charge against the women. To obtain a warrant it used to be
sufficient if the Inspector made a deposition to the effect that, from evidence in his
possession, certain women were obviously practising prostitution. Surgeon-Major
Baker adds: "Would-be informers decline to encounter such an amount of incon-
" venience, and consequently a state of affairs now obtains which warrants the
" remark that new names, except of such women as come forward themselves and apply for
" enrolment, are now seldom added to the register * * * * If the present condition
" of affairs is allowed to continue, it will be (in fact has become) tantamount to an
" admission that the Act is to some extent a dead-letter, that its compulsory
" clauses have been practically struck out." To put matters on a more satisfac-
tory footing Surgeon-Major Baker proposes that the Lock-hospital Inspector's term
of office be limited to two years, that for zeal and prudence in the discharge of his
duties he be recommended for special reward or promotion, and that he work more
directly under the Superintendent of town police, when Magistrates would be dis-
posed to place more authority in the Inspector's hands. These proposals, especially
the last, seem worthy of consideration.
VII.—Whether registration fees have been levied and at what rate.
No registration fees are levied.