理以順輿情
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事凡港中妓婦其中係買來者十居八九 九華民政務司衙門乃兼理妓女注册等
奴者實恐賤音而虐
十例禁不准買人爲
至買嗣買婢皆有應得之罪在董等之心甚有所不解也可否於此畧爲變通 姦婦女及買爲娼而曾不意該例之第七第八欸竟組織包涵如此之廣推而
是有一千八百七十五年第二條例則忖 堅督當時之意乃指誘拐强留串
無已則立一例凡類此者亦包括在內自可漸漸戢除爾等以爲何如衆日善於 譭法嚴禁斯時 堅督以爲辦奸淫頗難著手因於英國自主之例窒碍難行 嶽大傷風俗又因拐誘婦女出洋爲娼種種良不忍覩是以面凛 堅督求
罪則應先將此歎革除何以開港至今亦 此事無人不知若謂買與賣皆有應得之
遇之所以愛惜人類
給傭資一節雖與傭
也今之蓄婢視其不
仍其舊而不禁革者此可見歴任 官
稔知華人風俗不爲擾民之政也
異然幼撫恤長遣嫁
morals, seeing also a system of kidnapping of females going on, intended for exportation for purposes of prostitution, to the total obscuration of the moral
hse, could not bear looking on quietly
and in personal interview with His Excellency the Governor begged that some energetic measures be devised for the repression of this evil. At the time Sir ARTHUR KENNEDY considered it was almost impossible to move a finger to repress sly prostitution, because it was impossible to deal with it without coming in collision with the liberty of the individual guaranteed by the English law, and that only one course was left open, viz.:- to pass an Ordinance comprehending in its application every thing of that sort whereby the evil might gradually be abated. He also asked Your Petitioners what they thought of it, and all replied it would be an excellent measure. Accordingly Ordinance No. 2 of 1875 was passed. Your Petitioners therefore considered that, according to Sir ARTHUR KENNEDY's intention at the time, this Ordinance referred simply to kidnapping and to forcible detention and seduction of women and girls, as also to the purchase of females for purposes of prostitution, but to nothing else. Strange to say, Sections VII and VIII allow a construction and have a range of application so extensive that they can be made to extend to the buying of sons for adoption and to the buying of girls for domestic servitude, which would assume accordingly a criminal character. This in the opinion of Your Petitioners inexplicable, and they
beg, therefore, to suggest the advisability of dealing with the matter by a slight alteration (in the wording of those sections) so as to yield to the feelings of the people.
9. The Office of the Registrar General was charged with the superintendence of prostitutes
and the licensing of brothels and similar affairs. But from 80 to 90 per cent. of all these prostitutes in Hongkong were brought into these brothels by purchase, as is well known to everybody. If buying and selling is a matter of a criminal character, the proper thing would be, first of all, to abolish this evil (connected with the brothels). But how comes it that since the first establishment of the Colony down to the present day the same old practice prevails in these licensed brothels, and has never been forbidden or abolished ? It will be seen from this that successive Registrars General, who were thoroughly acquainted with Chinese social customs, abstained from such grievous measures (as interference with purchase of children for adoption or domestic servitude).
10. When the law forbids the purchase of slaves, the reason certainly is that it is to be feared they might be reared in contempt and treated with barbarity. Such prohibition is, therefore, a matter of benevolence and compassion. Now as to bringing up girls for domestic servitude, of course if one looks at the fact that these girls receive no wages, there is indeed a difference from ordinary servitude. But as one has to
事而相判雲泥今之誘拐爲娼與立嗣買婢者其情亦與此相類惟智者必能分其涇渭也 庇魯日斯巴尼亞等國立約准其招工蓋猪仔則詭計誘拐而來招工則聽其自願同是一
若非有全權而本人亦半由自主比之終身爲奴者何啻霄壞前者中國嚴禁猪仔今則與 失婢女之家必出賞帖設法訪尋總要得闷而後已因恐其母追問故也如此看待則買 主人有所殘忍苛待或威逼致命或天去無踪其從母及至親之人均可到官追究是以遺 父母可以時來雲間中途亦能收贖長大婚嫁須通知其父母允與否亦聽本人自言個
*K
買子買婢者大相懸絕於此可以別其具歹 見港中
七數月前港中華商會呈禀 臺前求設一 爲乃誘奸傌藉此圖利居奇與名正理順 董等因 匪徒縱橫於 大英仁愛之地緣以彼等所 任之初 拐之手可見董等嫉惡如仇斷不忍見此等 督靑蒞 保長公會專保護婦女及幼童以免陷於奸 前堅
八數年
淫風甚
beings. For when a girl is bought for domestic servitude, her parents may come at any time to visit or inquire after her, and before the contract is half When the girl is of over, they may redeem her. age, she is to be married, and the parents must, of necessity, be communicated with, and as to willingness or unwillingness, the girl herself is allowed to have her say in the matter. If the master (of a servant girl) is cruel and overbearing and drives her to despair so as to kill herself, or to run away without leaving a trace behind her, the parents or relatives of the girl may apply to the Court, and the master will be prosecuted and punished. It is for this reason that any family, which has lost a servant girl, is bound to issue a notification offering a reward for any one who will devise means to find her, until she is recovered, for, it is feared that otherwise the parents will institute proceedings in the matter. This being the treatment required, it is evident that the purchaser has not complete power, but that one half of the power rests in the girls' own free will. Comparing this system with life-long slavery, it is evident the two are as different as heaven and earth. Some time ago the Chinese Government strictly prohibited the coolie trade, but has now concluded treaties with Peru, Spain and other countries, sanctioning free emigration, the reason being that the coolie trade was based on deception and kidnapping, but free emigration is a matter of independent free will. Both (coolie trade and emigration) are to a certain extent matters of the same nature, yet when they are discriminately examined, the two systems differ as wide as heaven and earth. Thus also the system of kidnapping girls for purposes of prostitution, and the adoption of boys or purchase of servant girls, are also matters of the same nature (as coolie trade and free emigration). Only it requires some intelligence to be able to distinguish the (turbid) river King, from the (clear) stream of Wei,
7. Some months ago, the Chinese Merchants of Hongkong presented a petition to Your Excellency, praying for permission to establish a Society for the protection of honest people (women and children), the object being to afford protection to women, girls, and young children generally against the snares of seducers and kidnappers. It will be seen from this, that Your Petitioners hate that form of wickedness as one hates one's enemy, and cannot bear seeing this class of rogues and vagabonds at liberty to play their pranks in this humanely governed English Colony. For their practice is to use kidnapping and seduction, cunning and deceit as a source of profit and permanent revenue, and differs from honest and straightforward buying of sons or purchasing of servant girls so widely that there can be no comparison at all. Thus good and evil can be easily distinguished in this case.
8. Some years ago, about the beginning of Sir ARTHUR KENNEDY'S administration, Your Petitioners, seeing immorality flourish to an extraordinary degree, to the great injury of public