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escape notice.
Chinese families occupying one or more cubicles in a tenement house can move bag and baggage at any time without trouble or expense and do so constantly.
(f) Sections (7) and (8). Present the same difficulty. The enforcement of such restrictions would involve an almost daily search of all premises in that large area of the city where the population is a floating one.
The Po Leung Kuk has a daily average of some 40 inmates and can accommodate about 70 in all. The number of Chinese entering and leav- ing Hong Kong is several thousands daily.
(g) Part II. Sections (1) to (6). Present the same difficulties as the proposed regulations regarding mui-tsai. There is an even stronger objection to the issue of certificates in the case of socalled ‘adopted daughters'. Instances of genuine mui-tsai being disposed of as prostitutes are rarely met with: but it is quite usual for persons who procure young girls to describe them as 'adopted daughters'. Such persons would be only too glad of the opportunity to secure an official certificate of adoption.
SUGGESTED REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE REGISTRATION OF MUI TSAI
AND ADOPTED DAUGHTERS.
Registration Regulation for Mui Tsai :---
(1) After the promulgation of the registration law all Muitsai must be regis- tered within six months. After the period prescribed, no registration is permissible. Failure on the part of owners to register their Muitsai will be punishable by a fine.
(2) All documents, either deeds of sale or deeds of gift relating to the Mui- tsai, must be surrendered to, and cancelled by, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, who in turn will issue a certificate to the Master or Mistress as evidence of his or her right to employ the girl as Muitsai.
(3) Two copies of a photograph of every Muitsai must be supplied by her owner at the time of registration, one of which is to be filled with the Chinese Secretariat and the other is to be affixed to the certificate issued by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, so as to avoid any attempt at frau- dulent substitution. As an additional safeguard, the Muitsai will be re- quired to place on the register as well as on the certificate, her finger print.
(4) Both the owner and the Muitsai must be present at the registration, and it should be the duty of the official in charge clearly to explain to the owner that hereafter the girl must be treated as an ordinary hired servant and to the girl her rights and future status in the household.,
(5) Wages must be fixed for the Muitsai as follows: From 12 to 14 years old, 50 cents a month; from 15 to 17 $1 a month. All Muitsai who have attained the age of 18 must report the fact to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and have their registration cancelled. They can then either make mutual arrangement with the owners to continue in their em- ployment as free agents or seek employment elsewhere.
(6) If a Muitsai is leaving the Colony, or when she attains full age and free- dom, the owner together with the Muitsai muist report the facts of the case to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. In the event of marriage, the Muitsai should be required to signify her willingness to such marriage to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
(7) Any Muitsai passing through the Colony or staying temporarily in the Colony, whose residence here exceeds the period of two weeks must re- port, accompanied by the owner, to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and obtain a certificate of identity. Muitsai who stay in Hong Kong for a period exceeding one month and who are under 18 years of age must be given into the charge of the Po Leung Kuk and dealt with in the same way as stipulated in clause 8.
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(8) All Muitsai who have been ill-treated or who have not been registered or whose temporary stay in the Colony has exceeded the prescribed period must be given their freedom, if they have attained the age of 18. Those who are under 18 must be entrusted to the Po Leung Kuk which will ad- vertise in the newspaper for the parents, if they are alive, otherwise the nearest kith and kin, to come and claim them. The Po Leung Kuk should execute this duty free for the Muitsai's parents and nearest kith and kin. Registration Regulation for Adopted Daughters :-
(1) Parents of all adopted daughters in the Colony must register the name of
the latter within six months after the promulgation of the law.
(2) At the time of registration all deeds of adoption or deeds of gift must be surrendered to, and cancelled by, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs who, if satisfied, will in turn issue a certificate confirming that the girl is an adopted daughter.
(3) Two copies of a photograph of every adopted daughter must be supplied by her foster parents at the time of registration, one of which is to be filed with the Chinese Secretariat and the other is to be affixed to the certificate issued by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. And as an add- tional safeguard the adopted daughter will be required to place on the register as well as on the certificate her finger print.
(4) The adopted daughter must be present during the registration and it should be the duty of the official in charge clearly to explain the status of the child to the foster parents so that the girl cannot be illtreated in any way.
(5) The parents of the adopted girl should provide her with an education
similar to that given to their own children.
(6) A heavy fine must be imposed on those who employ an adopted daughter as a Muitsai and imprisonment if they employ or sell her for prostitu- tion.
Appendix.
The Government should strictly enforce the law prohibiting the sale and purchase of human beings. Hereafter all sale and purchase under documents purporting to be deeds of sale or deeds of gift will be regarded as an infringement of this Ordinance and is punishable by imprisonment. All persons who act as middle men or go-betweens for the sale and purchase of human beings will also be liable to heavy penalties.
No. 19.
TELEGRAM FROM SECRETARY OF STATE TO GOVERNOR.
20th April, 1929.
Your despatch dated 22nd February, No. 91, mui-tsai. I should be glad of further information as complete as possible on the following points, by despatch as soon as you can furnish it.
1. Apparently a primary difficulty is to obtain evidence that particular girls are mui-tsui and to bring home to them their rights of personal freedom. A proclamation, advertising their rights, was issued in 1922. Have any similar proclamations been issued subsequently? If not, would it be practicable to issue them regularly or even have notices permanently displayed?
2. What are the objections in practice to any system of registration of mui-Isai?
3. How far is any system of registration possible, whether covering all mui-tsai in the Colony or excluding those not domiciled in the Colony?
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