Child Slavery.
Interesting prosecution.
(South Chine Morning Post. April 17th 1920) Children carrying heavy weights.
539
6. At the instigation of ir. Aubrey, three female earth-carriers were charged before ar. N. L. Smith at the is, istrecy with 111-treening their three sona in a way which woule he likely to cause them urmecessary suffering and ir jury.
Leferdants pleaded guilty.
Mr. . H. King, assistant Sup. of rolice, said ir. Aubrey, met defendents with their children carrying baskets of lime are earth up the Pook on Thursday morning. The ages of two of the boys were
iven as 11 and 13 respectively. One of them wes crying.
Ir. Aubrey rang up the police and defendants were arrested.
Enquiries showed that on the instructions of a contrector, whom the rolice could not trace, the women were engaged by herd coolie to carry lime, earth and sard up the Peak, at the rate of 16 cents per picul, and they envloyed their chilirer to sell their deily carrings. (1.B. The height of the Peak is 150x ft.)
One of the children was carrying two baskets of sand weighing 60 lbs. and the second her two baskets of earth of the same weight, While the third had 32 lbs of lime.
Mr. Smith (the magistrate); children.
You cannot go out without seeing these
ir. King; Yes. I brou ht this case to draw the attention of the public and the parents concernęć.
Mr. Smith said that the only thing that could be done to prevent children from being misused wes through the legislature.
ir. Aubrey sell that he was sure that the carrying of such weights would do the childrer a considerable amount of harm, and continuous carrying would either kill the child, or seriously damege his health for life. There weS no doubt someone in the Colony could stop this practice. It was a disgraceful scene.
r. Smith: I entirely agree. If the women were sent to prison
it would only increase the misery of the children."
Mr. F. Bowley, Member of the Sanitary Board, states that:
་་ The absence of any factory legislation in the Colony must be almost incredible to anyone familiar with the subject as deel+, with in England, and the fact that wonen end childrer of any te may be employed at any kind of work indoors or outdoors, however injurious, for eny number of hours, by night and day, weekdays and Sundays, is surely a disgrace to this wealthy Colory, and constitutes e grave danger to the race, born end unborn."