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Despatch from the Governor of Hong Kong to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
MY LORD,
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONG KONG.
25th June, 1930.
In reference to paragraph three of Your Lordship's despatch of the 5th March, 1930, requesting that on the conclusion of the six months' interval allowed for the registration of existing mui-tsai a report should be made showing the number of regis- trations effected, and generally what measures, if any, are con- sidered necessary to promote the policy expressed in the present law, I have the honour to inform Your Lordship that on 1st June the number of mui-tsai registered since 1st of December, 1929. was 4.183.
2. At the beginning of April less than 300 registrations had been effected; but, with the loyal assistance of the District Watch Committee and the distribution of many thousands of circulars explaining clearly what was required and the consequence of failure to comply, I am glad to be able to report that the numbers of registrations steadily increased, reaching 1,000 by the end of April and, as stated above, more than 4,000 by the end of May. I con- sider that this is a very satisfactory response. The original esti- mate of 10.000 as the total of mui-tsai resident in the Colony was merely a guess and it appears probable that it was too high.
3. Any diminution from the number of mui-tsai that may have been formerly supposed to exist in this Colony may be accounted for in large measure by the action of employers in returning mui-tsai to their parents either voluntarily or upon request. Within the last six months fifty-two such cases have been brought to the notice of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. In almost equal proportions the return to the parent in those cases has been either voluntary on the part of the employer, or effected without opposition at the request of the girl made to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, or effected without opposition on application made by the parent to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
Apart from these cases which actually come to the Government's notice, I am informed on good authority that many restorations have been privately made, and also that in many cases mui-tsai have been sent to the country homes in China of employers of the middle and upper middle classes.
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4. In the cases of which the Secretary for Chinese Affairs has cognisance the return of a mui-tsai to her parents is not made without enquiry, and since 1st December, 1929, eight claims by parents to recover their daughters have been disallowed, and in six out of the eight cases the girl, at her own earnest request, has been permitted to remain registered with her employer. To take one such case as an example, Tsau Kuk, a little girl of ten, resisted most strongly her natural mother's attempt to recover her from her employer. She was very happy where she was, and well treated, whereas she feared her natural mother would only sell her else- where. As for her father, at the sight of him she burst into tears and flatly refused to go to him.
Other such instances could be given as where Cheung Hing, aged 15, contented and well cared for at her employer's home, declined to go back to a mother who she said would try to take her abroad.
5. I mention these cases to show that the lot of a mui-tsai is by no means necessarily the unhappy one that some have stated. The mien and general appearance of many a mui-tsai whom the Secretary for Chinese Affairs has observed of late being registered in his Department go far to refute such hasty generalizations. That cases of cruelty and ill-treatment do from time to time come to light is unfortunately only too true. It has always been, and it will continue to be, the policy of this Government to deal firmly with such cases. Since the 1st of December, 1929, eleven con- victions have been obtained on charges of cruelty, though it was not found in every case that the girl was a mui-tsai. In one case gross cruelty was found by the Magistrate, who imposed a sentence of six months' imprisonment without the option of a fine. In another case where the victim was not a mui-tsai a sentence of three months without the option was imposed. In another, $500 bail was estreated and a warrant issued for arrest.
In three cases the fine was $100, in one it was $500, in two it was $50, in one $25, and in the eleventh case the Magistrate administered a caution.
6. Since 1st of June, thirty-one mui-tsai have been brought up for registration, in some cases by boatwomen who pleaded ignor- ance, in others by employers who stated that they returned to the Colony too late to register before the 1st of June. The Secretary for Chinese Affairs being satisfied of the bona fides and absence of undesirable features in these cases, caused the girls to be registered, as I had authorized him to use his discretion during the first week or two after the 1st of June. The situation will be carefully watched and it has been made clear by proclamation, advertise- ment, and pamphlet that it is the firm intention of this Govern- ment to enforce the law with reference to mui-tsai. Should cases be found of unregistered mui-tsai, the employers will be prosecuted.
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