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as they can, it shows the need for some laws to help people in spite of themselves". She realized that “the people one is trying most to help are the ones who will most rebel against it'.
Miss Pitts appealed to Christian principles and the influence she believed they exerted. “I do think we should have a very strong Christian conscience on this matter. What is being done by young Chinese, by students and the younger leaders of the day, is really all the results of Christianity. It is Christianity that makes them see that women and children ought not to be oppressed and that money made at the expense of exploiting human strength is not money one would like exactly to possess.
A columnist in the Hong Kong Telegraph who regularly provided "Rambling Thoughts on Current Matters" took exception to Miss Pitts crediting Christianity with all social advance. It was part of a new spirit, he said, which “in spite of wars and the brutality and bestiality attendant on wars, is steadily and ceaselessly at work". He, however, commended the general remarks of Miss Pitts. He testified that the blunt manner in which she had dealt with the question of child labour had made him uncomfortable. He saw a hard road ahead of those who were advocating change. Something would be done only if they kept on shouting until they got near to being troublesome, for "the only way to get things done in a place like Hong Kong is to make yourself almost a nuisance”.
Report of the Commission on Child Labour
15
The report of the Commission on Child Labour was placed before the Legislative Council on 27 September 1921. The Commission had collected evidence from ten factories. This showed that few children worked less than seventy hours a week. Most were on piece work. In a tobacco factory the children were on a time rate of twelve cents for a nine-hour day. There were no rest halls, eating rooms or wash houses.
Mr. Li Ping, a member of the committee, was commended for providing a school for small children whose mothers worked at his factory at Sham Shui Po. On the other hand, conditions were particularly bad at a glass factory where boys worked from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. for a dollar a month plus their board and lodging.
62
as they can, it shows the need for some laws to help people in spite of themselves". She realized that “the people one is trying most to help are the ones who will most rebel against it'.
Miss Pitts appealed to Christian principles and the influence she believed they exerted. “I do think we should have a very stong Christian conscience on this matter. What is being done by young Chinese, by students and the younger leaders of the day, is really all the results of Christianity. It is Christianity that makes them see that women and children ought not to be oppressed and that money made at the expense of exploiting human strength is not money one would like exactly to
possess.
A columnist in the Hong Kong Telegraph who regularly provided "Rambling Thoughts on Current Matters" took exception to Miss Pitts crediting Christianity with all social advance. It was a part of a new spirit, he said, which “in spite of wars and the brutality and bestiality attendant on wars. is steadily and ceaselessly at work". He, however, commended the general remarks of Miss Pitts. He testified that the blunt manner in which she had dealt with the question of child labour had made him uncomfortable. He saw a hard road ahead of those who were advocating change. Something would be done only if they kept on shouting until they got near to being troublesome, for "the only way to get things done in a place like Hong Kong is to make yourself almost a nuisance”.'
Report of the Commission on Child Labour
15
The report of the Commission on Child Labour was placed before the Legislative Council on 27 September 1921, The Commission had collected evidence from ten factories. This showed that few children worked less than seventy hours a week. Most were on piece work. In a tobacco factory the children were on a time rate of twelve cents for a nine hour day. There were no rest halls, eating rooms or wash houses.
Mr. Li Ping, a member of the committee, was commended for providing a school for small children whose mothers worked at his factory at Sham Shui Po. On the other hand, conditions were particularly bad at a glass factory where boys worked from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. for a dollar a month plus their board and lodging.
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