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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 in- effective. It would be quite impossible to detect mui-tsai on arrival in the Colony, for except by accident; and after arrival in the Colony the inquisition necessary detection of a newly arrived mui-tsai would be as difficult as in the case of those who had been resident here for years. Such a provision, if enacted, would almost cer- tainly be a dead letter.
18. You enquire also whether, if the importation of fresh mui-tsai cannot be prevented, it is to be understood that effective abolition of the system in Hong Kong must wait until that importation ceases. In the opinion of myself and my advisers, effective abolition seems impossible except by gradual education of the Chinese com- munity on this subject and by slow, but constant, pressure and by discouragement of the system in every possible way. The practice will probably never entirely disap- It colours all the pear from this Colony unless and until China really gives it up. Chinese population that flows into Hong Kong. It would be as hard to free Hong Kong from it as to keep a space clear of mud at the mouth of the Canton River.
19. Finally, you refer to a proclamation, advertising the rights of mui-tsai, Enclosure 4. issued in 1922, and enquire whether any similar proclamation has been issued subse- quently, and you ask whether it would not be practicable to issue such proclamations regularly, or even to have notices permanently displayed bringing home to mui-tsai their rights of personal freedom. I find that no proclamation has been issued on this subject since the proclamation of April 14th, 1922, which was a translation in Chin- ese of the proclamation suggested in my predecessor's telegram of March 28th, 1922. but I have now issued another proclamation of which enclose a copy and which I shall cause to be permanently displayed at police stations and, if possible, at steamer wharves and other public places.
20. This Government will do its utmost to bring the institution of mui-tsai to an end within the Colony as soon as it is practicable to do so. We shall give the most earnest consideration to any practical proposals, which may be put forward to that end; but we consider that, unless effective steps are taken by the Chinese authorities to abolish in fact, and not merely on paper, the mui-tsai system as it now exists in China and especially in the Kwangtung province, it will not be possible, by means of legislation or by bringing into force Part II of the Female Domestic Service Ordi- nance, No. 1 of 1923, to accelerate the abolition of mui-tsai in this Colony.
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(3) If any master who formerly kept slaves dares to threaten or oppress them in contravention of these regulations, the aggrieved party may make a complaint to the Authorities.
(4) From the date of the publication of these regulations no girls shall be bought, sold or pledged as mui-tsai, and all agreements for such purposes shall be null and void.
(5) All existing mui-tsai at the time of the enforcement of these regulations shall no longer be called mui-tsai, but shall be called adopted daughters. All agreements or presentation deeds in respect of their purchase and sale, shall be sent to the nearest Police Station for cancellation and registration in a register specially provided for the
purpose.
(6) No adopted daughters shall be ill-treated. They shall be sent to school during the age of 12 to 16, and shall not be married later than 23, but may be allowed to remain single if they choose.
(7) No adopted daughters shall be forced to become concubines.
(8) Adequate clothing, board and lodging shall be provided for adopted daughters according to the circumstances (of their adopted parents).
(9) Each District Magistrate and Mayor should, after considering the local condi- tions, take steps to establish Poor Girls' Homes or Female Industrial Schools.
(10) After the publication of these regulations, if any person is proved by the Kai- fong or neighbours or discovered by the Police to have beaten or maltreated his adopted daughter, the Magistrate, Mayor, or Officer in charge of any Police Station concerned, shall send the girl to a Poor Girls' Home or to a Female Industrial School to be brought up. The person who ill-treated the girl shall be fined as warning. When anybody who has been fined for maltreating his adopted daughter is found to have maltreated her again, a greater fine or other punishment will be imposed.
(11) Anybody who commits any breach of Regulations 3, 4 and 7 shall be punished according to the law, and anybody who violates Regulations 2, 5, 6 and 8 shall be fined according to the offence.
(12) These regulations shall be enforced from the date of publication.
Enclosure 1 in No. 20.
TRANSLATION.
I have, etc.
C. CLEMENTI.
(Dated) 1st March of the 16th year of the Republic (1927).
:
Sir,
Enclosure 2 in No. 20.
LETTER FROM CONSUL AT AMOY TO GOVERNOR.
1st May 1929.
AMENDED REGULATIONS FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES AND MUI-TSAL.
(1) The Mayors and Magistrates of all cities and districts shall make careful en- quiries as to the condition of slaves and mui-tsai in their respective localities, and report to the Provincial Government and the Commissioner of Civil Administration. The Magistrates shall send in their reports within 3 months and the Mayors within two months.
(2) Freedom shall be restored to all (male) peasant slaves in the country no matter whether they are called adopted sons or "Ka shang". The terms masters and slaves shall be abolished.
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter, T/S:AMP, No. 1961/ 1910. of the 24th April, enclosing a copy of extracts from an article entitled "The Mui Tsai' question, published in the issue of the 20th April of a Canton newspaper entitled The China Truth, and enquiring whether regulations prohibiting the Muitsai system had been promulgated by the Chinese authorities in this district; and if so, what practical effect, if any, such regulations have had on the employment and treatment of Muitsai.
2. The judge of the Chinese District Court of Amoy, whose advice I have sought in this matter, informs me that no new regulations have been promulgated by the Fukien authorities prohibiting Pei nü (the equivalent in this and other provinces of China of Muitsai (f), a term which appears to be confined to the province of Kuangtung.
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