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the time being shall have made, directly or indirectly, within or without the Colony, any payment to any person for the purpose of securing the services of such female as a domestic servant;
"Kii) every female domestic servant whose employer
for the time being shall,within or without the Colony, have acquired the custody, possession or control "of such female from, or upon the death of, any former
employer who made any such payment as aforesaid." It is quite clear therefore that, whether she is "registered" or not,a girl is a "Mui-tsai" if she comes within this definition. This is apoint of greater importance than has perhaps been realized.
A
53
In its observations on the inspection of mui-tsai, the Committee again suffers from its unfortunate omission to take evidence. Few facts are recorded by it. Some interesting facts,which I have obtained from the Governor's half-yearly reports are these. There is a European
Inspector of Mui-tsai, and there are two Chinese Lady
Inspectors.
excellent.
The work of these officers appears to be It is praised, not only in the half-yearly
reports, but also in the reports of the societies interested in child-welfare in Hong Kong. The European Inspector
This is
rarely, if ever, makes domiciliary visits. interesting in connextion with the idea of "parental control", and the proposal for an "Official Guardian".
In the half-
-year ending the 31st May last, the two Chinese ladies paid 1,622 visits to the registered mui-tsai,and to a number,which is not mentioned, of ex-mui-tsai, who had obtained other employment. As there were 2,122 registered mui-tsai at
the end of that period, it is seen that at least 500
registered mui-tsai (-nearly one-quarter-
mui-tsai-nearly quarter were
ee not visited.
If the number of visits to ex-mui-tsai was considerable,
or if many girls were visited more than once, the number of