THE HỌNGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 4TMп FEBRUARY, 1880.
(Translation.)
To His Excellency the Governor.
The petition of the undersigned Committee-
mbers and merchants, acting on behalf of the hinese Community of Hongkong, viz.:-Cmú
Cris, Woso K'wan-t'ong, Léung On, Kwok Treso, Fung Ming-SHAN, WONG SHU-TONG, Teng Tang, Léung Lün-ro, Ci'an CHEUR-CHI, Fexo Yix-ring, Ts'ui Sui-silang, P'áng Yat- 78, Úlló-rs'ün, KWOK NAM-PING and others, praying Your Excellency to be pleased to stretchi point of law and to apply it with discrimination, a to yield to the feelings of the people, and to extend compassionate consideration to their views.
Sheweth,-
That whereas the Colony of Hongkong is situated in the immediate neighbourhood of the
Canton Province, many of the poor, from all sorts
places, sell their daughters or dispose of their was to save their own lives (from starvation), And as the Chinese Government has never pro- ibited the practice, it was hitherto continued fe a long time without interference,
That lately, however, there were certain avari-
dous rogues and vagabonds who, under the pre- kxt of buying girls to be employed as domestic
rvants, sold them from hand to hand to be sent broad for purposes of prostitution, such confusion of stones with pearls being a matter for extreme mynet,
That Your Petitioners last year addressed Your · Exallency by petition on this subject, praying I permission to establish a Society for the pro- lection (of women and children), hoping thereby to stamp out such practices, whence it will be seen that the undersigned Committee-inembers hate
ch wicked practices as one hates an enemy,
That the practice of purchasing boys for pur
ps of adoption, and the practice of buying girls
e purposes of domestic servitude, widely differ
Eom the above mentioned wicked practices, be-
ase the purchasing of boys has its reason in the
sence of male descendants creating a desire to
shopt a son as the sphex adopts the mulbery
ct, whilst the buying of girls has its origin in
the necessity for a division of labour caused by
the multifarious character of domestic duties,
That such servant girls being young have both
to be taught and to be tended, and when they
Lave nached maturity, they have to be given in uriage (to free men), whilst all along they are Moved to take their case and have no hard work
tado,
That all former Governors of this Colony were
lly aware of these social customs of the Chinese
pople and never insisted upon the law being
tia motion against them, but treated the matter
th indulgence and forbore prosecution,
That Your Petitioners, find that, in the year
MI, His Excellency Governor ELLIOT issueil a
憲台求股保公
祉
I
郭梁
忪
119
具稟人代闔港華紳商民
招雨田
梁安
馮明珊
馮登
陳灼之
崔瑞生
胡浩泉
等爲乞
郭松
***
ROX
馮衎庭
彭逸
郭南屏
恩變通例
恼而恤民事綠本潯地近省城各處貧民多有賣女鬻男以求生活因華官向無禁歴相安近因有等食
匪徒假託買婢爲名
忒砍亂玉殊堪痛恨去歲甘椉請
可嫉惡如仇已可槪見至於買子承嗣買
與此等大相懸殊買子淅因後嗣乏人欲藉螟蛉之繼
女