위
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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 im- possible to detect mui-tsai on arrival in the Colony except by accident; and after arrival in the Colony the inquisition necessary for 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 certainly be a dead letter.
ceases.
18. You enquire also whether, if the importation of fresh muí-tsai cannot be prevented, it is to be understood that effective abolition of the system in Hong Kong must wait until that importation 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 disappear from this Colony unless and until China really gives it up. It colours all the 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.
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19. Finally, you refer to a proclamation, advertising the rights of mui-tsai, issued in 1922, and enquire whether any similar pro- clamation has been issued subsequently, 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 proclam- tion has been issued on this subject since the proclamation of 14th April, 1922, which was a translation in Chinese of the proclamation suggested in my predecessor's telegram of 28th March, 1922, but I have now issued another proclamation of which I 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 III of the Female Domestic Servants Ordinance, No. 1 of 1923, to accelerate the abolition of mui-tsai in this Colony.
I have, etc.,
Enclosure 1 in No. 20.
Translation.
C. CLEMENTI,
Governor, etc.
AMENDED REGULATIONS FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES AND MUKTSAI.
1. The Mayors and Magistrates of all cities and districts shall make careful enquiries 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 three 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.
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 agreeements 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.
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