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Most of the trade unions being composed of members whose wages are small have no large funds. The Chinese Seamen's Union has in its time been wealthy and the Pork Butchers Guild supported its anti-Hong Kong activities in 1925 by funds collected from a levy of 1% of the price of pigs purchased by pork dealers (called the "ninety-nine" system), while the proscribed Barbers Union sought to levy an additional percentage on the price of haircuts nominally to finance anti-Japanese activities.
65. What information is available regarding unions at the present day is largely the result of detective work. The present position is anomalous as though registra- tion is no longer required application is still frequently made to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs for permission to establish a union, a permission which is gratuitous but which implies a certain acknowledgment of the union's activities without giving any measure of control.
History of Social Legislation in Hong Kong.
66. "The first legislative steps-British people may be thankful for it actually taken in the Far East for protection of Chinese workers in factories were taken by the Government of Hong Kong, not by the International Settlement of Shanghai." And it might be added, not by the Government of China.
67. In 1919 a resolution was adopted at a meeting of the Sanitary Board (now the Urban Council) requesting in the interests of public health that the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, 1903, be amended to empower the Sanitary Board to make bylaws regarding the employment of children.
During the same year the Board also made certain bylaws to prevent overcrowd- ing in factories, but these never received the confirmation of the Legislative Council.
68. Finally, in 1921 a Commission* was appointed to inquire into the condi- tions of the industrial employment of children in Hong Kong and the desirability and feasibility of legislation for the regulation of such employment.
69. The Commission found that the number of children employed varied ac- cording to the nature of the industry. In some factories there were children engaged in such work as packing whose output was greater and wages smaller than those of adults. In other cases children were tolerated in factories as an act of grace as their mothers when employed in the factories had nowhere else to put the children.
70. The hours of labour appeared to be universally excessive and in few cases amounted to less than seventy a week. Wages were paid almost entirely by piece rates and it was noted that the low wages paid to children must depress the general standard of remuneration of adults.
of remuneration of adults. The Commissioners commented on the absence of factory amenities such as rest rooms, eating rooms and wash houses for the workmen, and remarked that the arrangements for medical attention in case of accidents were of the scantiest. In glass factories in particular labour conditions were unsatisfactory and the physique of the workers poor. It may be noted in passing that in spite of a general improvement in conditions glass factories remain in a generally unsatisfactory condition. The physique of the workers is still poor and the boys who hold the moulds all appear to be stunted in growth. A current ex- planation is that they were employed in China as children in glass factories before coming to the Colony.
71. The Commissioners animadverted on the employment of pseudo-apprentices and the system of sub-contracting both of which will be referred to later in this report. The most difficult problem which they had to face was stated to be the employment of children outside factories in casual and unskilled work. and especially in burden bearing, in particular the carrying of bricks and other materials
"Humanity and Labour in China." An Industrial Visit and its Sequel (1923-26) By Adelaide Mary
Anderson D. B. E., M.A.
* Sessional Paper No. 11 of 1921.