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Enclosure 2.
Enclosure 3.
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still flourishes, though under a different name, 'adopted daughter'. At the time of the introduction of the prohibition all indentures were called in, and those that were surrendered were cancelled and destroyed, though no steps were taken, for obvious reasons, in the direction of liberating the vast numbers of girls concerned. I understand, however, that the application of the regulations has brought about some improvement in the treatment of pui-tsai, orders for the release of whom to a philanthropic institution are made from time to time when charges of ill-treatment are brought and substantiated in the Chinese court".
5. I also made enquiry from His Majesty's Consuls at Foochow and Amoy in the neighbouring province of Fukien. Mr. G. S. Moss, His Majesty's Consul at Foo- chow, wrote to me on the 2nd May that the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs at Foo- chow told him that there was no special legislation in Fukien province, dealing with the mui-tsai question. He added that the system was much less prevalent in Fukien than in Kwangtung and did not attract marked public attention. The Reverend W P. W. Williams, of Trinity College, Foochow, wrote to Mr. Moss as follows :--
"All I know is that the practice is contrary to law and, when found out, is severely punished. It is reported by the Chinese that the practice is still prevalent under various names. Questioned, the people generally claim the child as a daughter. As far as I can find out, the law on the question is a matter of paper".
An informant of the Foochow Consulate told Mr. Moss that some years ago societies for the suppression of the mui-tsai system were formed in Amoy and Foo- chow, the Amoy society being far the more active. He had heard nothing whatever of the Foochow society for at least three years and thought that it was no longer in active existence.
6. Mr. W. Russell-Brown, His Majesty's Consul at Amoy, has sent me an interesting letter on this subject, of which I enclose a copy. He says that in theory the slave girl system has no existence in China, but in actual fact it is in force from one end of the country to the other. Girls are everywhere bought and sold for maid servants or slaves, the euphemism 'adopted daughter usurping the place of 'slave girl'. He also says that a few social reformers started a "Society for the Liberation of Slave Girls" in Amoy, but that the support given to the society was of a perfunc- tory and apathetic nature, public opinion being as yet unconvinced of the necessity of interfering with an age-long custom. "This indifference", he writes, "arises in all probability from a belief shared by all classes that the generality of slave girls are well treated by their mistresses".
7. In addition to making enquiry from official sources, I have also caused in- vestigations to be made through private Chinese channels, and I attach a translation of a letter received by a trusted informant from a Chinese friend of his in Canton. It is to the effect that in the city of Canton the police have warned the people from time to time, in compliance with the regulations, to report in case they have any mui-tsai and to submit for examination the deeds they have in respect of them; but that in each police station of the city not more than ten cases have been reported, and that the re- gulations are only a matter of form; that purchases of mui-tsai still continue, despite the prohibition; that some masters do send their mui-tsai to school but only in the hope that they may be sold to rich families as concubines for an enhanced price, but that he knows of no case of a mui-tsui being sent to school as a result of any dispute re- ported to a police station; that the insufficiency of schools in Kwangtung is notori- ous, and that the Canton Government cannot afford to establish schools for the ac- commodation of mui-tsai. He then writes:-
"The abolition of mui-tsai is a good idea in the interests of humanity. But China is a vast country with a dense population, and the idea cannot be altogether excellent. Piracy and unemployment prevail in all outlying districts. Industry and trade have not yet been developed, and no in- stitutions have been established for the accommodation of the unemploy- ed. The cost of living in Kwangtung is particularly high,
and poor families of several persons generally cannot earn enough for their sup- port. People, who have several daughters, will sell some of them to others as mui-tsai in the hope that they can secure means of livelihood
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with the sum of about $100, which is acquired from the sale, and save their families from starvation. If mui-tsai are suddenly abolished, unless loans can be raised, such people will not be able to do anything but fold up their arms and wait for death. The so-called prohibition in previous years of girls binding up their breasts and the suppression this year of Chinese medical practitioners and astrologers were all attempted without due regard to circumstances and the fact that it would lead to unemploy- ment, and I am afraid that such measures will only turn out unsuccessful. If the mui-tsai question is to be solved for the sake of humanity, it will suffice if the rich families are prohibited from maltreating them. Poor girls, who have been sold to be mui-tsai, generally refuse to go back to their parents, even when forced to do so by their masters. They prefer to remain mui-tsai, for they are free from cold and hunger and can have better food, lodging and clothing. Each year very few cases have oc- curred in which mui-tsai want to go back to their families".
8. I have also received a report from the Honourable Dr. S. W. Ts'o, O.B.E. member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. He writes concerning the Canton Regulations:-
*
*** * *
"These regulations are but dead letters.
As a matter of fact. the buying and selling of girls is still going on in China".
Similarly the Secretary for Chinese Affairs reports :---
"I have asked a number of Chinese whether they have heard of any attempt being made to enforce these regulations, but the answer has always been no".
I think it is, therefore, safe to say that the regulations published by the Chinese au- thorities on the 1st March, 1927, have not as yet been carried into practice with respect to mui-tsai and that the practice now in force is to all intents and purposes the same as that described in paragraph 2 of this despatch.
9. There is another preliminary point which it is well to dispose of. You sayIt is constantly alleged that mui-tsai are a regular source of recruitment for prostitution, and you ask whether any further safeguard against this can be intro- duced. It is very necessary to state emphatically that the mui-tsai system is not a regular source of recruitment for prostitution. The usual source of such recruitment is among poor families, which in times of distress will sell female children to traf- fickers from whom they pass into the hands of women who train the children with the object of their becoming prostitutes Mai-tsai are by training not suited for use as prostitutes. The sale of a girl to be a mui-tsui has indeed the effect of protecting her from prostitution as her master and mistress retain her services for domestic purposes and would guard her from the wiles of ill-disposed persons. Mui-tsai are more close- ly attached to the family than are hired servants, and they cannot so easily be decoyed away without enquiries being set on foot. As a rule, children acquired for training as prostitutes are not employed as domestic servants. They are generally taught to sing and to play Mah Jong and to act as entertainers at restaurants; and in China large numbers of these girls, who are known as "guitar girls", may be seen frequent- ing restaurants, where they are called to amuse customers at dinner. It should be clearly understood that the mui-tsai is only one variety of purchased child; and it is of course, very necessary, if the practice of sale and purchase of children is to be suppressed, that the activities of all professional traffickers should be curtailed in every possible way. This is the aim of the Hong Kong Government acting through the department of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and by means of the Police. But in practice it has proved very difficult to deal effectively with these traffickers, depor- tation being as a rule the only remedy. As regards further safeguards in this respect. unless the buying and selling of girls is stopped in China, nothing can be done in Hong Kong which will have much effect. The only effectual safeguard is to enlist the co-operation of the Chinese community to put down these practices by exposing any cases which may come to light
*Not printed.
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