Enclosure 3.
Extract from the Hongkong Laily Press of the 10th March, 1920.
431
CHILD SLAVERY IN HONGKONG.
HOW TO COMBAT THE EVIL.
INTERESTING LECTURE AT CEM.6. MEETING.
31
On
An interesting address
"Child Slavery in Hongkong was delivered by the Rev. H. R. Wells at the fortnightly meeting of the Church of England Men's Society held last night. The Rev. V. H. Copley Moyle presided and there was a large attendance.
The CHAIRMAN said that they were for- tunate that night in having a gentleman well known to them all, Mr. H. R. Wells, › who was familiar with Chinese life. Mr. Wells was going to speak to them on the subject of slavery among Chinese girls, a subject which they had discussed from time to time at their meetings.
He thought it was a subject which the mem-, bera should try to understand and one on which they should have views.
Mr. H. R. WELLS, in the course of bis address, said:—
·
We boast of our Flag and our free- dom, and some of us sing Britons never shall be slaves, yet we are informed that there are many alaves in our midst, though we had understood that no slaves are to be allowed under the British flag.
Perhaps you may know Ping Shao, where the Church Missionary Society worked for many years. It is said that
there are
a great number of slaves in this village, and some say that all those who live there, and are not of the Tang clan, are really slaves. Of this I cannot be certain, but in any case they say that these people are now quite free. What would happen if the Territory were to revert to the Chinese we do not know.
There are in our midet very many girls who are made over to others. The Chinese are past masters in the matter of organi- sation in certain respects, specially in matters that concern relationships with other people. Any who have gone into this question will be able to bear out this statement. First of all girls are at ▲ discount in this wonderful country. There are reasons for this. Most of the reasons are religious, and are connected with ancestor worship. They may not be the only reasons, but they predominate. A few days ago a Chinese woman was in my house, and, on being asked some questions on the subject of the position of women in her country district, she said that there had been six sons and four daughters born in her family, and she was the oldest girl. The boys had been saved, but the girls had been killed. She was the only one spared. Possibly there are special reasons why even she was *pared. The Chinese do not like to de stroy the first child, even if it is a girl. But very great numbers of girl babies are destroyed annually in this province and 'probably still greater numbers in the
Whole of China.
We constantly meet with another class of cases, viz. child wives. The people are very poor, and they find it dificult to keep their children and feed them.! They, therefore, arrange to let a daughter go to her future husband, and be brought up in his family. This meets the views of both families. The husband's family secures a prospective wife for the son at a very moderate price, and makes certain that there will be a wife for him, and that is a great consideration in a poverty. stricken country like China, There are many Chinese who cannot afford the ex- pense of taking a wife under ordinary conditions. It would cost them perhapit several hundred dollars, but for a few tens of dollars they get the girl, and there is not much money spent on the wedding ceremonies when they take place, after the bride and groom have attained the age at which they are to marry. Mean- while, the little girl has to act as the servant of the household; sometimes even, I believe, carrying the prospective hus- band on her back, as he is some years, younger than she, though this is a very infrequent occurrence.
Then we come to the next type. Tha girl is to be disposed of, and the best- price obtainable, consistent with morali- ty and decency, is to be obtained. There are at least two methods of carrying out this arrangement. The girl may be sold as a daughter, that is, he sold to be rel garded as the daughter of those to whom she is sold. This is a very common prac tice in Hongkong, though not so common in other parts. The lot of such girls is not necessarily a happy one, for the owner or new parent may desire to get all he or she can out of the girl. But much a girl will eventually be disposed of ass bride to a respectable person. She will he regarded as the daughter of the people who are arranging the marriage. This may be for her advantage, and, probably, will be, as these people are sure to be better off than her own people, so that her chances of an easier life after marriage are great.
The case of the girl who is sold as a slave is quite differen1 She may, even- tually, be married, and have a happy life. but for the present she is a slave, and may be badly treated, or otherwise, as it suits her mistress. Of course, the same Applies to many, and perhaps most, Chinese marriages, as the bride in regard ed as being under the mother-in-law, and some mothers-in-law are said to be very unkind, not to say cruel. But the slave girl is in a position in which no human being ought to be placed,
The question may come up, as to whether the Chinese regard this custom in a bad light. It is true that many of them think it to be quite right, and in fact the only right way to deal with superfluous girls. But all really enlightened public opinion is against the practice.
A proof of this may be seen in the action taken as the time of the revolution in Canton, when the Republic was first, started It was part of the programmEŠ of the Republic to put down all slavery, and to recognise all people as equal, as far as their personal standing was con- cerned. So great was the fooling at the