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In the course of time we hope that adult labour will replace that of children in factories, so that the Government should be asked either to undertake the necessary industrial training or to encourage private enterprise in this direction. Meanwhile schools for "half timers," such as those which have been successfully started in India, might be tried.
In Shanghai a Chinese lady has had good results with such methods. In hes "Industrial Home" the children do four (4) hours manual work and four (4) hourr study, while the remainder of the day is devoted to recreation.
Such or similar methods might be attempted in Hongkong.
PART II.
Children Employed in Casual Labour.
9. The employment of children outside factories in casual and unskilled work, and especially in burden bearing, is the most difficult problem which we have had to face. Reliable information is extremely difficult to procure, the work is done by the poorest members of the community, who have often no fixed place of abode, and the place of work is constantly being changed. The eyes of European inhabitants are naturally drawn to those who carry bricks and other materials to the Peak and Hill Districts, but the same kind of labour is carried on all over the Colony. Children are freely employed in this work; and investigation has shown that even those as young as seven (7) or eight (8) years are not exempted. The physical condition of many of the women who have been long engaged in this work is even worse than that of the children, and judging from this we are driven to the conclusion that no form of work exercises such a degrading effect upon the workers as labour of this kind. We are unable to suggest any regula- tions which will suffice to alter this state of things, and in our opinion the real solution of the question lies in Mechanical Transport. As far as the Peak is concerned the approaching completion of the motor road should bring this method of transport within the range of possibility. A recent answer to a question in the Legislative Council indicates that considerable economy in the speed and cost of the transport of all articles to the Peak could be effected by the introduction of motor transport, and that the present system of manual transport is slow, cumbrous and wasteful.
10. As the development indicated in the last section will take time, we propose as a temporary measure, that all building and engineering contracts entered into in the Colony should contain clauses prohibiting the employment of children under the age of thirteen (13) years, and regulating the weights carried by child workers. We do not pretend that this proposal covers the whole ground, or that it will provide the remedy needed; but we think that it will do good in causing contractors to realise their responsibilities to labour, in fostering co-operation between them and Inspectors, and in gathering information about a section of the community of whom little is known. As a scale of weights suitable for children over the age of thirteen (13) and below that of sixteen (16), it is suggested that twenty (20) catties is a suitable minimum, and that no load should exceed forty (40) catties. For purposes of comparison it may be added that one small brick is roughly equivalent to 2 catties, so that the number of bricks that a child may carry should vary from eight to sixteen (8 to 16). Between these limits the load would be adjusted to the age and physical fitness of the child. It is most desirable that this standard should not be interpreted too literally. The figures are not in any sense final, and are only meant to afford a rough indication of the carrying capacity of children of different ages. What must at all costs be avoided is the harrying of labourers by petty officials. These suggestions can only result in good if Inspectors and contractors work in close co-operation. In this connec- tion we are greatly indebted to Mr. Li Ping, the result of whose investigations is to be found in Appendix 3 (A).