March 25th, 1922]
While recognising the justification for the order to shoot, we can all regret that the occasion made it necessary. That no one regrete more keenly than. Mr. KING the sufferings caused by the necessities of the occas on we
can well bəlieve, but that he acted with the greatest forbearance and a full sense of his respon- sb.lity was made abundantly clear. More over, those who have close'y followed the ev dence must fully share the conviction of the Jury that at the time the shooting took place a stage had been reached when any further concession to the will of the orowd would have only resulted later in bloodshed on a far heavier scale if the law was to be eventually upheld. It is clear that the crowd set out with the
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UHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
VICTORY OF THE ANTI- MUI-TSAI AGITATION,
(Daily Press, March 23rd, 1922.) Ir has been at last decided to abolish the mui tai system in Hongkong.
We have never doubted that this would be the outcome of the agitation maintained in growing strength against it during the past five years. Mr. CHURCHILL, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, has made the announcement in the House of Commons, and the cable tells us it was received with These cheers testify to the general interest which has been aroused in a system which, violates the British law against slavery, and has been national favourab y honour. to
allowed compensation
ninge of its history and the local Govern- to endure in the Colony from the begin- ment has repeatedly defended the system
When the
"cheers."
described
a blot on ag
has Yet it
our been
deliberate intention of breaking the law; the consequences of their illegal action must therefore be accepted. Government undertook consider the giving of in the case of persons who had been killed or injured it went beyond any legal obligation. Now that the inquiry has ter- minated, the Government will, of course,
as a benevolent institution. The voice of fulfil the promise it made, but we hope locally from time to time, and the notable protest against the system has been raised that, instead of the word tion," the term "
compensa-instance of the protest of Sir JOHN SMALE, compassionate allow-
when he was Chief Justice here, some- will be used to describe any gifts that are made to the sufferers, for that term more correctly expresses the charac- ter of the gift.
ance
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thing like fifty years ago, was mentioned by Mr. CHURCHILL when replying to a question in Parliament on the subject a month or two ago; but never before has a persistent agitation been maintained at had in the last five years. home on
the subject such as we have
As many of our readers will recollect, the starting point of the effort which has culminated so successfully, was a case in the Supreme Court in 1917, when Mr.
not
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One word may be added in reference to the seventh paragraph of the Jury's rider in which they refer to the extremely abnormal conditions that prevailed in the Colony at the time of the incident which, it is very appositely remarked, was closely connected with the criminal intimidation which brought about the strike. When the Jury say that they trust the C. G. ALABASTER was defending a prisoner Government will take such immediate charged with having unlawfully, by steps as are necessary to prevent any
fraud " enticed away two little servant repetition of such chaos." we regard this girls from the custody of their mistresses. as a subtle way of expressing the opinion Mr. ALABASTER argued that the indictment that the Government had fa led in this could not stand because the lawfulness of respect in the instance under considera- the custody was an essential ingredient tion. The same inference, we suppose, is of the offence and it had been shown by to be drawn from the expression of a
the evidence that these children had been hope
"that the Chines residents for living in a state of slavery which could their part, will do all that lies in their power to assist the Government to this end with suggestions and advice." Many European residents have been wondering whether the Chn se residents-the who have an important stake in the Colony-gave to the Government on this recent occasion all the advice and help that they might and should have done in their own interests as well as in the interest of the general community.
We may be quite sure that the Government have learnt many lessons from the recent strike, by which they may be expected to profit in the event of a recurrence of criminal intimidation in the Colony ou such a scale; but it is to be hoped that the true lessons of the strike have been learnt by the Chinese, and that.we may never again have to record any similar organised effort in the Colony to defy the authority of the Government.
men
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of questions on the subject in the Hous of Commons. At last the point wa reached when Mr. CHURCHILL began to entertain doubts as to the correctness of the Colonial Office attitude towards the question; as he put it, ho was not entire y satisfied with the gist of the ques tions and answers in the House of Com mons" and his closer investigation of the system has resulted in the decision to that the formation some months ago by decree ite abolition. We can hardly doubt Chinese initiative of a Society to press for the abolition of the mui-tsai system contributed greatly to this volte face on the part of the Colonial Office, and the Society, which is to hold its first annual general meeting on Sunday, will be able to congratulate itself on the speedy con version of the local Government and the
Office. Mr. CHURCHILL Colonial marked that it will take time to draw
system, but the Secretary of State expects up the scheme for the abolition of the the change to be carried out within year. According to the cable the scheme is to be drawn up by the Government "in consultation with the Society for the protection and abolition of mui-tsai." Societies" we suppose, is the right word for two have been formed in the Colony within the past year-one for the " pro tection of mui-tsai; the other for the The two are abolition of the system. antagonistic, but whether both societies will co-operate in drawng up the scheme for the abolit on now that the Govern- ment has decided on abolition is a ques- tion which we believe is not yet deter- mined.
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re:
According to the Census there are 8,653 The of these mui-trai in the Colony. effect of the Secretary of State's decision is not necessarily to cast all these girls from their present homes, but simply to release them from conditions of service which come within the meaning of the tem slavery. The great majority of them will doubtless remain as hired servants. For those who are not so retained some temporary provision will, we suppose,
the Census Officer in his Report on the be made by the Government or charitable organisations. It may be recalled that Census taken last April remarked that the returns showed that very few young girls are employed in the Colony as hired domestic servants. The Chu Lin_(Nin)
We discussed in a leading article at the be recognised in a British Colony time the point taken by Mr. ALABASTER, and showed that the precedents in other places under the British flag supported his contention. The Chief Justice, it may be mentioned, had been spared the necessity of giving a decision, or girl hired by the year, who has on the point raised by Mr. ALABASTER, as
been suggested as a substitute for the the case against his client had failed on
mui-tsai, does not appear, he said, to be another issue. Lieut.-Colonel JOHN WARD, popular, but there are on the other hand M.P., the well-known Labour leader,
a large number of boys between the ages happened to be in the Colony at the time, in Chinese households, and there were of 12 and 14 employed in domestic work in command of a regiment of the garrison. He became greatly interested in this 122 young girls described as Tuk Mui, a flag, and from that moment inaugurated ai status will cease to be recognised, so allegation of slavery under the British term which in most cases denotes the same status. By a stroke of the pen the mui- at home an active campaign against the mu-tsai system in British terri-hat all the girls will acquire the status tory. There came to the Colony shortly afterwards a Naval Officer and his wife Commander and Mrs. HASELWOOD-who also became deeply interested in the question, Ms. HASELWOOD especially. She personally investigated the system, wrote vigorously on the subject to the local The glories of the waltz should be papers, and by cable and letter brought quickened afresh by "The Pearl of the the matter to the notice of influential Pacific," composed by Maud Fitz-Stubbs, persons at home. Her activities seem to better known locally as Mrs. Harry have so exasperated the local Government Woods. Already a popular success in that it Australia, following on the "Heather
resorted to the most autocratic and reprehensible means of suppressing and Orlando " waltzes, by the saine
theru. Because Commander HASELWOOD composer, there is every reason to believe declined to help in this direction he was the Pearl ""
will soon become a favourite transferred from the station. He retired in dancing circles in the Colony, and from the Service in consequence, on half beyond. The tune is not flamboyant but pay, and has since devoted a good deal is simple and sweet and ideal for its pur- of time in assisting his wife to dis: pose. the second movement, in particular.minate heing especially tuneful.
a know edge of the mui-tsai Piano-players system at home. They have succeeded in will find this an acquisition to their dance stirring up a wide interest in the subject, music, and a piece that presents no diffi and the Secretary of State for the culties to the average player. Copies can be obtained from local music-sellers.
Colonies during the last three or four years has been bombarded with some scores
THE PEARL OF THE PACIFIC.
C
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-the designation, at least-of hired wil not be effectually abolished by the domestic servants. The mu-tsai system
mere issue of a proclamation. Some machinery for enforcing the order will the details of the scheme which is to give be needed, and we await with interest effect to this decision. of interest to mention the recent decision Meanwhile it is of the Chinese Government in Canton to abolish the system, and that a Judicial Commission is at present engaged in drafting regulations which are to apply when abolition is formally decrced.
The will of the Right Hon. Lord prentice in Aberdeen and in St. Paul's Mount Stephen, formerly a draper's ap- Churchyard, has been provel at £1,414.319. Estate and legacy duties amount to over £500,000. The residue on the property, estimated at £750,000,000, is left to the King Edward Hospital Fund.
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