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The Kowloon Dock.
Mr. Chan Pak Pang, Sub-contractor for Ship-building.
The San Shing Lung Ginger Factory, Mong Kok Tsui,
3. Findings. As a result of these interviews it was possible to form certain general conclusions with regard to the conditions of child labour in factories. :---
(1) The extent of the employment of children. The number of children employed varied according to the nature of the industry. For instance, in some factories, they are largely used because in such work as pack- ing their small and nimble fingers give them a decided advantage over adults. Not only is their out-put greater than that of adults, but when working on time rates, as they do in some factories, they receive smaller wages.
Apart from the question of economic advantage, children are also in some cases employed in factories as an act of grace. Some mothers who work in factories are said to be unable to find homes for their children during their hours of work, and are compelled to take them to the factories. In such cases odd-job work is given to the children, who work near to their mothers, and enter and leave the factories at the same hours.
Employment of this nature is therefore, more a result of socia! conditions then of factory recessities,
(2) The necessity for child labour. It is significant that some of the witnesses. including some large employers of children, professed indifference to the presence of children in their factories, and stated that their removal would not cause them more than a temporary inconvenience. Many of them said that they continued to employ young children more in deference to the wishes of parents, than from any decided motive of economic advantage.
(3) Hours of labour.-These appear to be universally excessive, and in few cases amounted to less than seventy (70) a week. One witness stated quite definitely that girls were working thirteen and three quarter (132) hours per day for thirteen (13) days consecutively, after which they had a day's rest. In other words they were working 961 hours and 824 hours in alternate weeks.
With regard to overtime the position is obscure. That overtime is frequently worked in factories is undoubted, but some witnesses seemer desirous of conveying the impression that the attendance of children during these hours was optional. In theory this may be correct, but in practice the business necessities of the factories and the pressur of seedy parents must be such as to leave the children little or no choice. Children are also regularly employed on evening and night shifts. The bours of children employed on night shifts are similar to those worked by them during the daytime, and arrangements are also in force by which they may be changed from one shift to another. (4) Wages. The most important point in connection with the wages of children is that they are paid almost entirely by piece rates. The few exceptions to this rule that were found were the Docks, certain Glass Factories and the Orient Tobacco Manufactory where the children are paid by time rates. In the last named factory the few children employed were paid at a rate of twelve (12) cents for a working day of nine (9) hours. The piece rates paid vary in different factories, though by working longer hours a child appears to be able in some cases to earn as much as thirty (30) cents a day. One girl was found who appeared to make as much as $15 a month.
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In view of the Chinese family system, whereby children generally hand over their earnings to their parents or guardians, the actual rates . paid are not in themselves of great importance. It is when they are considered in comparison with the wages paid to adults, and as a means of depressing the general standard of remuneration, that the rates become important. As the terms of reference do not include a con- sideration of adult wages, we do not propose to enter into detail on this question, except to note that the low wages paid to children inust depress the rates of wages paid to adults for similar work.
In some factories deductions are made from wages on necount of bad conduct. Information on this question was not easy to obtain, and the general impression gained was that factory discipline was left largely in the hands of foremen and subordinates.
In the M. Y. Sun Biscuit Factory, where personal cleanliness in workers is most desirable, special regulations have been introduced to deal with hairdressing and manicuring.
Offences against these regulations are punishable according to a fixed schedule of fines. In view of the special circumstances of this factory the practice seems to be necessary and unobjectionable, but it should be subject to oversight by Inspectors.
(5) Apprenticeship.lu the course of the interviews few indications of any general system of apprenticeship were noticed. When children reach the age of sixteen (16) or thereabouts and the deftness which justified their original employment has begun to disappeur, their places must be taken by those younger in years. Satisfactory evidence as to the fate of those displaced was difficult to obtain, and the general conclusion drawn was that conditions in this respect varied in different factories. In some cases the older children may be discharged and in others they may be given different work in the same factory. Girls are not in the same position as boys, in view both of the possibility of marriage, and of the definite demand in some factories for female workers between the ages of sixteen (16) and twenty (20). Many girls are doubtless able to change from one factory to another with little or no inconvenience; but the same opportunities are not open to all, and no evidence was forthcoming of any general organisation for assisting the flow of labour from one industry to another. The difficulties in this connection are aggravated by the keen competition for places in factories. Many of them have waiting lists and it is not reasonable to suppose that workers of sixteen (16) or seventeen (17), whose health may have suffered from long hours of work in confined spaces, would be preferred for work which can only be satisfactorily done by able- bodlied adults.
In the docks and ship-building yards boys are extensively employed, especially on the work of boiler chipping. One of the witnesses stated that boys were absolutely necessary for this work as men were umble to enter the man-holes of the boilers. It was admittel that the work was hard and that many of the boys were not physically fitted for it, but at the same time those who were able to stand it were sometimes able to qualify for more skilled employment.
(6) Factory Amenities.-No provision seems to have been made in factories for rest rooms, eating rooms, and wash houses, and the arrangements for medical attention in case of accidents are of the scanticst. In few cases were work people allowed to eat their midday meal in any part of the factory building, and much inconvenience appears to be caused them in this respect. An exception to this state of things is Mr. Li Ping's factory at Shanshuipo, where a school is provided for small children during the working hours of their mothers.
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