CO129-473 - Individuals - 1921 — Page 167

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The charitable view of the whole question

The

is of importance, and should not be forgotten.

actual payment of money in the transaction of the

deed of gift does not shock the conscience of Chinese,

as the reasons that have led to the sale of a child

are always borne in mind: abuses of the whole system,

and ill treatment of mui-tsai are as much abominated

by the better Chinese as by the better Europeans,

but the payment of a sum of money for the deed of

gift has at least a flavour of charity for its

ultimate reason, and in itself and apart from its

sbuses, is not viewed as in any way immoral or wrong.

The custom covers all the best Chinese The most

Europeani sad and the most thoughtful - in Hong Kong

as elsewhere: and the system, generally speaking,

is viewed as working for the good of the mui tsai

themselves. Their total numbers would reach a very

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large figure: much too big for any charitable Institutions or even for the Government to handle

direct: and this reason alone would make it difficult

·

or impossible to interfere in any radical manner

with the solution the natives have found for such

a difficult question.

The attitude of the Chinese people may be

illustrated by the fate of Chan King Wa's attempt to

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alter the system in Canton shortly after the Revolution of 1911 which ended the Empire. Chan, nominally Chief of Police in Canton, exercised very wide powers throughout the Province, and no one quarrelled with his position (which included the power of life and death, very freely used) till his successful

administration