CO129-514-2 Mui Tsai system- suggested regulations and possible abolition 9-1-1929 - 16-5-1929 — Page 71

5.

71

Enclosure No. 2.

mui-tsai, orders for the release of whom to a philanthrop-

ic institution are made from time to time when charges of

ill-treatment are brought and substantiated in the Chinese

court."

5.

I also made enquiry from His Majesty's Consuls

at Foochow and Amoy in the neighbouring province of Fukien.

Mr. G. S. Moss, His Majesty's Consul at Foochow, wrote to me

on the 2nd May that the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs at

Foochow told him that there was no special legislation in

Fukien province, dealing with the mui-tsai question. He

added that the system was much less prevalent in Fukien than

in Kwangtung and did not attract marked public attention. The

Reverend W. P. W. Williams, of Trinity College, Foochow,

wrote to Mr. Moss as follows:-

"All I know is that the practice is contrary to law and,

when found out, is severely punished. It is reported by

the Chinese that the practice is still prevalent under

various names. Questioned, the people generally claim the child as a daughter. As far as I can find out, the law on the question is a matter of paper.

The Chinese writer at the Foochow Consulate told Mr. Moss that same years ago societies for the suppression of the mui-tsai system were formed in Amoy and Foochow, the Amoy society being far the more active. He had heard nothing whatever of the Foochow society for at least three years and thought that it was no longer in active existence.

6.

Mr. W. Russell-Brown, His Majesty's Consul at Amoy, has sent me an interesting letter on this subject, of which I enclose a copy. He says that in theory the slave girl system has no existence in China, but in actual fact it is in force from one end of the country to the other. "Girls are everywhere bought and sold for maid servants or

slaves