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+ CONFIDENTIAL.
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R 23 SEP 8,
234
GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
HONGKONG. 9th. August, 1918.
With reference to your Confidential Des- -patch of the 5th. December, 1917, and to my telegram of the 14th. May, 1918, I have the honour to inform you that I am 23769 advised that the law of this Colony does not recognise the
existence of any servile status whatsoever. It cannot be imagined that any Court in this Colony would on consideration hold that Captain Elliot's proclamation had the effect of perpetuating my form of slavery in Hongkong. The status in China, as in Hongkong, is as abhorrent to the Chinese as it ie to the English conscience. It has an accurate translation in the words "no puk".
2.
Misapprehension in this matter however can easily arise from the prevalence of a custom common to all China, and in accordance with which practically every house- -hold in Hongkong that can afford the expense includes a maid- -servant ("mui tsai") who has been handed over by her natural guardians to her employers in exchange for a money payment. The condition of the maidservant is far from that of the slave,
Ithe "no puk she takes her place as a regular servant of the
household, but her own natural guardians are entitled to see her from time to time to ensure satisfactory treatment; they are often specifically entitled at any time to repay the money md "redeem" the girl: they can arrange the girl's
marriage
E RIGHT HONOURABLE
WALTER LONG, M.P.,
&c..
&c...
&C..