(33138/24)
(5
102
terms for remaining and demand payment of wages as a condition, but probably the acceptance of wages would be regarded as reducing them to the status of a paid servant which they would consider lower than that which they held as Mui Tsai and, further, it would be regarded as relieving the employer of the necessity of providing for their marriage.
The then Secretary of State (the Duke of Devonshire) agreed that Part 3 could be left in abeyance for the present unless and until it was
shown to be necessary.
After a year's experience of this Crdinance
the Secretary Chinese Affairs reported as follows:
The number of Mui Tsai in Hong Kong had been very con siderably reduced; in many cases the girls had been voluntarily restored to their parents or relatives by employers who wished to avoid all risk of contact with the law. In other cases Mui Tsai had been given in marriage at an earlier age than usual to relieve the employers of further responsibility. In some cases the Mui Tsai had shown the utmost reluctance to return to their parents which would mean a return to a life of comparative hardship. The section prohibiting engagement of new Mui Tsai had been scrupulously observed. Probably owing to the disordered condition in South China some Mui Tsai had been brought into the Colony with their employers seeking temporary refuge in Hong Kong. The old custom of providing a newly married woman with a Mui Tsai to be her personal servant was said to be dying out in Hong Kong, the bride being presented with money
in stead