In May 1885, Governor Bowen submitted for the consideration of the Secretary of State a draft Bill for "the prevention of abuses connected with Child Adoption and Domestic Services." This Bill was not accepted by Mr. O'Malley, the Attorney General, and his detailed objections were transmitted to the Secretary of State together with the Bill.
In a despatch dated the 12th September 1885, the Secretary of State dealt with these objections and stated that he was not prepared to sanction the abandonment of the Ordinance. Mr. O'Malley raised further objections, which were transmitted to the Secretary of State, and as far as I have been able to ascertain, no reply has been received respecting them.
In accordance with the instructions of the Secretary of State, the leading Chinese and the Chairman of the Sanitary Board were consulted. The Registrar General, in his letter of the 19th April 1886, reported that they were all of the opinion that the Bill, with some slight alteration, should be introduced at once.
Owing to the late period of the Session at which that letter was received, it was not possible to proceed with this subject last Session. After several consultations with Mr. Russell and Mr. Stewart Lockhart, the Acting Registrar General, I drafted a Bill which was read a first time on the 5th November, 1886. In it, I proposed to give the Registrar General the power, on complaint made, to summon the custodian of any female child being trained as a prostitute before him, and to enquire into and deal with the complaint. It would have been altogether in the discretion of the Registrar General to receive or to act upon the complaint, and there could be no grounds to believe that