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THE CHINESE SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN
AND CHILDREN.
PETITION FOR A GOVERNMENT GRANT. The following report by Hon, J. H. Stewart-Lockhart, Registrar-General, on a petition from the Pó Lóung Kak, or So- ciety for the Protection of Women and Children, was laid before the Legislative Council by command of His Excellency the Governor, at its last meeting :-
Registrar General's Office, Hongkong, 1st February, 1892, Sir, I have the honour to forward herewith, for submission to His Excellency the Governor, the translation of a petition from the Chinese Society for the Protec- tion of Women and Children, commonly known as the Pó Lóung Kuk, praying that the Government will be pleased to devise some means of making a grant to the So- cisty, which will enable it to meet its ex- penditure, and to place the Institution on a firm and lasting basis.
HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY.
2. In order to facilitate the consideration of the request made by the Petitioners, a short sketch of the origin of the Society may be found useful,
3. In the year 1878, public attention was drawn to the question of traffic in human beings and the evil practice of kidnapping by the late Sir John Smale, who was at that time filling the office of Chief Justice. The discussion, to which his utterances from the bench gave rise, created much interest among the Chinese community, which led to a numerously-signed memorial being presented by the Chinese residents to the Governor, Sir J. Pope Honnessy, praying for permission to form an associa tion for suppressing kidnapping and kind- red offences. This memorial was forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and in reply the Earl of Kimberley stated that the memorialists should be allowed to form an association of whatever kind they desired, and that, in cider to obtain official recognition, its rules and organisation should be made known and approved by the Colonial Government. Before the receipt of these instructions a society ontitled the Pó Leung Kuk had already been constituted informally and was re- ported to have rendered much practical aid to the Government. The Acting Chief Jus tice, Mr Snowden, stated that he found the aociety of great help in the detection of kidnappers and the Governor expressed his conviction that its operations and influence would do more than anything else to put an end to whatever was really bad in the native customs to which Sir John Smale had drawn so much attention. the society were drawn up and it was pro- posed that an Ordinance giving them legis- lative force shonld be introduced. The Secretary of State did not consider lcgisla- tion necessary and suggested that if the society required corporate powers, the As. #ociation could be formed under the Com- panies Ordinance and formal approval could be given to its rules and organisation by the Local Government. Incorporation of the Society at that time was found imprae- ticable and it was agreed that publication of the rules as amonded would meet all practical purposes.
Rules of
These rules were approved by the Secre tary of State. The names of the first officially recognised Committee of the Society appeared in the Gazette of the 12th August, 1982, since which date a Com- mittee has been elected annually and recog nised by the Government.
THE WORK OF THE SOCIETY,
4. Having briefly traced the origin of Society, I think it will not be out of place to describe the work which it performs.
5. The work of the Society is performed by a Committun of eight (8) persons. The present Committee is made up of the fol Jowing gentlemen, who are well-known members of the Chinese community, the mention of whose names is quite a sufficient guarantee for their respectability :-Wai Ting-pan, President and Treasurer, of the Wai Tun Shin Tong, Compratore. Eastern Extension Telegraph Company; Lau Tsó. in, Vice-President, of the Tai Fung Shun, Nám Pak Hong; Ch'an Wai-hi of the Tai Cheung, Piece Goods Firm; Sham U-fai of the Tai Shing, Foreign Goods Firm; Ng U-ü of the Ts'eung Ki, Nám Pak Hong: Tong Ping-lum of the Kwong Ch'enig Long, Californian Goods Firm ; Wong Kai- ming of the Sui Ch'eung Wing, Nám Pak Hong; T'am Kwok-ying, of the Sun Shing, Contractor's Firm.
This Committee, acting on behalf of the Society, co-operates with this department in detecting cases of kidnapping and kimi- red practices, and in bringing to justice the offenders in such cases; it provides a ten- porary home for men, women, and girls who have been inveigied into the Colony under false protences for the purposes of emigration for women and girls brought into the Colony for improper purposes, but who are found to be unwilling to enter on or who wish to abandon a life of shame; for children who are being brought up in vicious surroundings by persons who have no legal claim to them; for destitute wo- mon and girls found by the Police or sent back from places outside Hongkong, such as the Straits and San Francise.
But the work of the Society does not only consist in aiding in the detection and bring- ing to justice of kidnappers and in the pre- vention of the traffic in human beings and in affording food, clothing, and shelter for rescued women and children and destitutes. It also co-operates with this department by correspondence and other reaans in making inquiries with a view to discovering the relations of those entrusted to the care of the Society, and finding out ether parti- culars regarding them. For this portion of their duties the Committon are specially qualified, for they are either personally acquainted with the locality in China where inquiry has to be made or have reliable friends to whom they cau entrust the work of investigation, or can refer the matter to one of the many charitable institutions which exist in China, and which have always been ready to help in such inquiries. Indeed, it is difficult to see how this work of investigation confd be carried on, except through the instrumentality of a body of Chinese gentlenen such as the Pó Leung Kak. If inquiry leads to the discovery of the relatives of those rescued, dun precan- tions are always taken by this office, if necessary after consultation with the Com- mittee of the P6 Leung Kuk, to secure that the interests of the woman or girl handed over, are properly safeguarded.
It is not, however, always possible to re- patriate all the women and girls who are rescued and who find a temporary home in the Pó Leung Kuk, either owing to their having no relatives or friends or to other reasons. Consequently other arrangements have to be made, if practicable, for having them respectably and comfortably settled in life. These are as a rule of two kinds, though in some or ves, young girls are sent direct to the Victoria Home and hopa to the West Point Reformatory, where they are well cared for and educated. The wo men are maled and the young girls are adopte 1. And here again the usefulness of the Society is manifest, for without its aid, this partment would find it almost im possible to carry out this portion of its work and the Government might find it self permanently burdened with the ex-
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