!
1554
osure !
423
particularly in connection with Chinese girls, and one a missionary of much experience and knowledge of Chinese life and customs. It may be that Viscountess Astor had this
Commission in mind, and if so the answer to her question is
that four of the six members are British. I expect soon to
receive the report of this Commission.
4.
5.
Secondly as mentioned in the second enclosure
to my Confidential despatch of the 14th of February there is
a Committee of Chinese ladies who have undertaken to assist
the Committee of the Po Leung Kuk in matters relating to the
happiness and comfort of small girls. I enclose a copy of a report from the Secretary for Chinese Affairs with regard to the work of this recently established women's Committee.
Finally there is the Po Leung Kuk Committee itself to which Viscountess Astor may have intended to refer; though if that is the case I would observe that the Po Leung Kuk has been in existence since 1876 as appeare from the preamble to the Po Leung Kuk Incorporation Ordinance, No.5 of 1893, and is not, as implied in both question and answer, of recent origin. In accordance with Section 18 of that Ordinance the institution is regularly inspected by two Unofficial Justices of the Peace of whom, as a matter of practice, one is British and one Chinese, the present British Justice being the Honourable Mr. H. W. Bird.
As explained in my Confidential despatch of
37
996
4139
6.
the 21st of December, 1920, the Committee of the Kuk meets practically every day to discuss such questions as may arise
or may be referred to it by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, to whom a report is sent daily.
7.
In the despatch to which I have referred
I trust that I have conveyed to you a true idea of the methods and work of this institution; and it is, I submit, almost self-evident that any attempt to compel the inclusion
of