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dix A.
liar surroundings rather than risk a change to new work. It is possible, however, that in addition to any mui-tsais who may desire to leave their present homes there will be others whose employers are unable or unwilling to retain their services if they have to pay them wages. It will be necessary to provide for such cases but in the absence of any indication of what the number is likely to be it is difficult to know what provision to make.
I cannot recommend at present the establishment of an Industrial Home such as the Committee suggest. Very heavy expense would be involved and very likely without due cause the number of girls who may need to be provided for may be only a few dozen at the most. For disciplinary reasons, it would be necessary to run the institution on lines similar to those of a reformatory and to restrict the liberty of the inmates: it would therefore be unpopular and no girl would enter it if she could find any alternative work.
Moreover, such an institution could scarcely be built and ready for occupation in less than two years at the earliest by which time it may be hoped that any need for it would practically have ceased to exist.
I think that it is reasonable to anticipate that the number of cases to be provided for will not be larger than can be dealt with adequately with the assistance of the Po Leung Kuk and other charitable institutions or by arrangements with individual employers of labour and I advise that the matter should be left in that state for the present. If a detailed scheme has to be worked out to deal with contingencies that will very probably never arise there will be indefinite delay before a start is made with the abolition of the mui-tsai system.
Enclosure in No. 7.
I have, etc.,
R. E. STUBBS.
REPORT BY A JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETY FOR PROTECTION OF MUI-TSAI AND THE ANTI-MUI-Tsai SOCIETY.
The Honourable,
Sir,
The Secretary for Chinese Affairs,
Present.
Hong Kong, 29th May, 1922,
In compliance with your verbal request made on 11th March, 1922, that the Society for Protection of Muitsai and the Anti-Muitsai Society should co-operate to devise a scheme for the abolition of the muitsai system for submission to the Hong Kong Govern- ment, we, the members of the Joint Committee separately elected by these two societies for this purpose, have the honour to communicate our conclusions. In our deliberations. we bear in mind that the number of muitsais is in the neighbourbood of ten thousand and that it may be beyond the resources of the Government to provide maintenance for all of them. Moreover, we realize that muitsai-keeping is a very old practice and that the in- terests of the owner cannot be entirely ignored, and, consequently, we are inclined to adopt the expedient of treating the purchase price of a muitsai as money advanced to her parent. For this consideration, the muitsai has to remain to work for her owner for a cer tain number of years before she regains her freedom. Only on this foundation can we hope to build up an adequate organization for effecting abolition.
Legislation.
To our mind, the first step lies in promulgating the necessary legislation, particu- Appen lars of which are suggested in Appendix A. Registration of muitsai is absolutely necessary to effect abolition: the form recommended is not so irksome that opposition from the pub- lic has to be met. Moreover, registration is necessary in order to check the importation of muitsai, which, after the passing of the necessary ordinance, is to be a punishable
7
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offence. Although ordinances have to be rigidly enforced, we beg to point out that undue interference by the Police and Excise Officers with arrivals in the Colony accom- panied by their natural or adopted daughters cannot be too strongly deprecated. It is recommended that the fullest publicity is to be given to the provisions of the ordinance. which should be available to the public at all the police-stations, markets, river and coastal steamers and trains, and a copy of which should be served on every householder whose name appears in the latest Census as the owner of one or more muitsais.
Employment Bureau.
As will be seen from Appendix A, muitsais over the age of 20 years (according to Chinese reckoning) regain their liberty. Although it is expected that the majority of them will remain with their present owners as servants on monthly wages, provision for the absorption of those who fail to make this arrangement has to be made. Hence the neces- sity for an employment bureau, which will be extremely useful in the event of the accom- modation in the proposed Industrial Home being insufficient for the purposes for which it is designed. In such an eventuality, it will be permissable for this bureau to let out to respectable householders on wages the services of those muitsais over ten years of age who have to rely upon the Government for support. Applications for the service of these girls must be accompanied by a chop guarantee that the girls will be properly fed, clothed and treated.
Industrial Home.
dix B.
Full particulars and estimates of the proposed home are given in Appendix B.Appen- It will be recalled that the "Commission to enquire into the Conditions of the Indus- trial Employment of Children in Hong Kong", in its report to the Government, has re- commended the institution of such an establishment to solve the child labour problem and that the "League of Fellowship and Service" has, on its programme, the same object in view. In short, there is already a strong public opinion in favour of the establishment of such a home, in which seri-culture, the promotion and improvement of which is one of the recommendations of the Economic Resources Committee, should form the chief in- dustry. The estimates and particulars are furnished to us by Mrs. A. O'Ben (Mrs. Au Bun), who, during the past three years has been conducting, at her own expense, a home on similar lines in Shanghai for the benefit of orphans of both sexes, and who, if re- quested by the Government, may agree to assist. We beg to state that increase of ac- commodation in the proposed home can be effected at small extra cost by the erection of wooden tenements with fire-proof roofs.
In conclusion, we have to add that as the scheme for abolition is urgently required, the time at our disposal prevents us from going further into details. However, we shall be glad to supply information or suggestions to the Government on any point that may re- quire elucidation or explanation.
Enclosures:-
Appendices A & B.
We remain,
Yours faithfully,
CHAU TSUN NIN.
TSE KA PO.
WONG KWONG TIN.
M. K. LO
C. G. ANDERSON.
T. F. HUNG.
NGAN KWAN YUE.
J. M. WONG.
T. P. WOO.
CHAU WAI CHEUNG.