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time that hundreds of slave-girls were liberated, and a school was started for them in Canton. It is true that this school has been closed, and it seems as if the movement was only a spasmodio ope, but it shows what the Chinese thought when they were at their best, or, at least, when they were seeking the ideal settlement of all cases that seemed to them to be wrong.
Whenever the question is brought be fore those who are seeking the highest moral good of the Chinese they always sty that the practipe ought to be discon- tinued. Such people all recognise that it is a great evil. Those whom one meets are mostly Christians, but their opinion" seems to be an independent one, and not dictated by the desire to say what will please mizionaries. The action taken at the inauguration of the Republic is proof of this feeling.
I have somewhere in my possession a copy of a sort of deed of sale of a young girl. She was to be made over absolutely to the purchaser, and the parents were pot to have any communication with her (no coming and going, as the expression runs). I am not certain that this was s deal in this Colony, though my recol- lection is that it was; but there is no doubt that this sort of a deal is common in our midet. It is hardly necessary to point out that such contracts should be regarded as illegal, and not binding on parents or the child. But a difficulty comes in, as in such cases, very often neither the parents nor the child can read, and there is very little opportunity. for them to get to know that there is any protection for them
There is a very specious argument in favour of the practice, and it is one that has appealed to me, vix-that this is a method of providing for servante.
In- stead of paying a person a certain sum of money monthly or yearly as some do, lump sum is paid down, and food and alothing are provided for the one pur- chased. It may also be stipulated that the child shall not be sold for immoral purpose,-I do not think that this pro- vision is always insisted on-and that she shall be married in due course. In sono cases I am sure the child is not suficiently protected. It is surely a duty of the Government to see that, in all such cases, there are proper safeguarda.
It is very difficult to find out the truth about any of these children, but many of them are very badly, treated. One 'hears of cases where the child is under fed. That is not strange, as the supply of food 18 not over-plentiful, and naturally the master and mistress and their children must first be fed, and the slave must wait, and, if there is enough, oat of what is "left.
I quite recognise that there are many dificulties. All evils of this sort are strongly entrenched. We know something of the difficulty met by Mr. Stend when be sought to combat the "White Slave" traffic. It is not an easy task, nor is it likely to make the who undertake it at all popular, but we must be above such considerations, and must seek man- fully to do our duty.
Perhaps no Government ever starte out on crusades, such as this would prove
to be, unless it is stirred up by some of) the people. Our progress in this matter may be slow, but there must be something that can be done in this important out- post of the British Empire, and that we may find out to-night, if we attack this! problem in earnest. There is so much of what our American friende cal! "hot air," that our conferences and meetings often seem to be waste of time. Let us hope that it will not be so this time.
What are the possibilities? First of all, it seems to me that we ought to have registration of all auch girls, and no more such contracta should be allowed without the exprese sanction and ap proval of, say, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs which should only be given in special cases. This would only be a be- ginning, but it would be one way in which we could show that we were deter. mined to deal with this particular evil. The Chinese do not like this kind of in- £uence, but then we do not like slavery, and we are the final authority in this matter. This would not be a bardship to the Chinese, though at first, they would say that it was. It is really a very small mitter to go to the Registrar, and have auch contracts properly registered. Even a marriage has to be registered, if it is to be carried out in our way, and if we have to register for marriage, it seems quite reasonable that those who dispose of the fate of young children should have to register.
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The next thing that might be suggested is that all alave girls shall be regularly, or frequently, visitod by, say, lady visitors appointed by the Government. The Chinese do not like this sort of super- vision, but again we feel that they should not be allowed to have slavegirls at all, and they must, therefore submit, to this inconvenience. Of course, multiplying visitors in this way is not good from the Government point of view, but it is a necessity forced upon us by those who prefer to hold the persons of others under their control. Such inspection should be extended much further, and should cover the adopted daughter_type of girl, known to the Chinere as a Feung Nui. This in one of the classes referred to above. If there is bona fide adoption, the need would not be great, in fact it need not be great, in fact it need not be controlled by the most paternal of governments, but probably bona fide adoption in this way is very unusual. The Chinese have other forms of girl adoption.
Another subject on which much has been said lately is the work of young girls as coolies and carriers. There are a large number of such girls, but I do not think that these are slave girls. There is a further reform that should be urged, viz., compulsory education. If all girls under i the age of, say, fifteen were compelled to bo educated, it would have a great effect on all problems connected with girls. It might lead to men doing more work, and women doing less carrying work on Hongkong bills.
At the conclusion an interesting dia cussion, which we propose to give in our! to-morrow's issue, took place. The follow. ing resolution was passed unanimously::
That this meating of the CE.M.8. desire to press on the Government the advisability of registering all cases of child adoption with a view to the nltimate abolition of girl slavery.”