CO129-519-3 Trafficking in children 10-8-1929 - 10-8-1929 — Page 7

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pending.

3. This woman finally succeeded in tracing her son to a village in Chinese territory and in rescuing him with the co-operation of the Chinese authorities. Since she effected her son's release, she has continued

to assist the Hong Kong police in tracing other

establishments of this nature. She is not, however,

of the usual type of police informer and has up to

now refused to accept any reward. She is evidently a person of great resource and courage and no little

public spirit.

4.

No evidence was secured in the course of

these proceedings to show that the persons arrested were members of a gang as suggested in the article

quoted. It would seem rather that each establishment

was independent of the others, the only link between

them being the 'touts' or agents, who were familiar

with the various addresses at which children could

be obtained. All the children discovered had been

brought from Chinese territory and in no instance was

any evidence forthcoming that they had been kidnapped.

Several were claimed by the would-be vendors to be their

own offspring, and those who were old enough to give an account of themselves usually claimed relationship. The latter part of the article in the China Mail is not based on any information derived from these particular cases, as in no instance has it proved possible to

trace the parents of the children rescued. They are at present being cared for by various charitable institutions in Hong Kong.

5. The difficulty of legal proceedings arises

partly