14.
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(b) There would be a great temptation to corruption if
a systematic drive of the Colony for purposes of registration
were attempted.
(c)
Very drastic powers would be required, if registration were to be made effective, and such powers would
be intensely unpopular.
(d)
Registration would be very unsatisfactory, if persons not domiciled in the Colony were exempted, partly because domicile is often so difficult to determine, and partly because so many Chinese are not domiciled here.
(e) The daily ebb and flow of population across the frontiers of Hong Kong, both by land and water estimated at between five and six thousand each way, and the constant movement of the population within the Colony, both to and from the island and the mainland, present difficulties which can hardly be exaggerated. An army of inspectors with the widest power of entry and search would be required to enforce registration and heavy expenditure would be incurred to little
or no purpose.
(f) The parents of a mui-tsai are usually satisfied with her situation, and the child herself is usually content with her position and quite prepared to co-operate in any deception necessary to avoid registration.
(g) It would be very difficult to secure persons qualified to make the necessary inquisition.
17. You enquire whether an addition should be made to Paragraph 4 of the Ordinance, providing that no mui-tsai may be brought into the Colony for services in that capacity. I fear that such a condition, if made, would be completely ineffective. It would be quite impossible to detect mui-tsai
on arrival in the Colony, except by accident; and after arrival in the Colony the inquisition necessary for detection
of
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