CO129-478 - Public Offices & Others - 1922 — Page 801

1

C.O. 49238

REC? REP 3 OCT 22

704

41 Kensington Palace Mansions,

W.

1.10.22.

Dear Grindle,

(This being Sunday, I can't get any decent sized

paper}

I am much obliged for your letter of yesterday.

9000

I do not despair of getting the thing to work somehow or other so long as the one point is conceded, that is that it is absolutely impossible to do anything practical at once and

before the Chinese have had their say. By all means pass

the declaratory clause and prohibit new engagements as

as possible but we must have breathing space to see what we

can do with any girls who are thrown on our hands.

I will take your paragraph 5 seriatium. (a) Registration is essential to any practical steps. the girls are not registered the system will simply keep on

as it is in spite of anything that we say.

If

If we don't register, we may as well cghten our- selves with the declaratory clause and a prohibitior of engagement These will be mere bruta fulmina but Parliament

might be satisfied.

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However I take it that Mr Wood doesn't þject to

(a). (f) is also in my opinion though I may be wrong of the essence of the thing because it is the nonpayment of wages that determines the status of the Mui Tsaf as a member of the family. Payment of wages at once places her in the

which position of a servant and takes her out of the family, apparently is what the opponents of the system went.

As to (b) and (c) we are agreed, also as to (g) and

(h).

Unfortunately

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