[
    {
        "id": 211363,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1988",
        "page_number": 79,
        "title": "RAS-1988",
        "content_text": "55\n\nDr. Hickling suggested that the space required for each worker should be put at twenty square feet floor area. This suggestion was accepted. Another minor change was made by eliminating the word \"overtime\" in reference to work after 6 p.m.\n\n6\n\nThe editor of the Daily Press, in commenting on the proposals of the Sanitary Board, reviewed some of the steps which had led up to them: Miss Pitts' talk, followed by Mr. Bowley's statements at the meeting of the Church of England Men's Society. Their efforts were seen as examples of the good results \"that may flow from the discussion of matters of public concern by private individuals, and should encourage interest in local affairs\". The editor was confident the proposal would appeal to British pride, \"For every Briton in Hong Kong whose pride of race is based upon his country's efforts on behalf of humanity must hope that the resolutions passed by the Sanitary Board will be endorsed by the Legislative Council\". He believed that the enlightened members of the Chinese community would have no objections to them, as, in his opinion, they were extremely modest and were submitted in the interests of public health.\n\nThe editor recognised that the root of the problem lay in the Colony's educational efforts, but he contended that no matter how many schools were provided, there would not be enough “unless we are willing to educate the whole of South China\". A policy of unrestricted immigration made it impossible to make school attendance either compulsory or free.\n\nThe editor restated the views of Mr. Alabaster that it was better for the children to accompany their parents to work, so long as their little bodies are not strained beyond their endurance, as they would thus be both physically and morally better off than left to their own devices, and their earnings provided them with more food than they otherwise would have. He did advocate that some restriction be placed on the load they carried, as this responsibility could not be left to the parents' discretion.\n\nCase of Child Labour before the Magistrate\n\nApril 1920\n\nThe principles in the agitation for child labour laws had been a missionary and a solicitor, but in April 1920 a doctor publicly took up",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q",
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    {
        "id": 211369,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1988",
        "page_number": 85,
        "title": "RAS-1988",
        "content_text": "61\n\nHe testified that he, himself, had been in the Colony for twenty-eight years and had come into contact with Chinese of all grades and occupations. His admiration for them increased daily. The object of his efforts was “to encourage Europeans and Chinese to work together until this became an ideal Colony, and an example to the rest of the world”. This statement was greeted with applause from most present. The resolution was then put to the meeting and was passed, though there were a few dissenting votes.\n\nAppointment of commission\n\nWith increasing pressure both in Hong Kong and Britain, the Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry on Child Labour in March 1921. The Chairman was the Honourable S. B. C. Ross. Two Chinese were appointed, the Honourable Mr. Chow Shouson, a member of the Legislative Council, Hong Kong-born but a retired Chinese Government official who had extensive business interests in Hong Kong, and Mr. Li Ping, a wealthy Hakka contractor who had extensive property interests, especially in Sham Shui Po. Two missionaries of long experience were named to the Committee, Miss A. M. Pitts of the Church Missionary Society and the Rev. R. H. Wells of the London Missionary Society. The remaining member was a medical doctor, C. W. McKenny.\n\nMiss Pitts' speech 27 October 1921\n\nMiss Pitts gave a talk on the topic at the Helena May Institute on 27 October 1921. She had expected the report of the commission would have been published at the time of her lecture, for she planned to discuss the whole of it. As it had not yet been published, she confined herself to her own personal experiences rather than a full discussion of the situation on the basis of the findings of the report.\n\nShe took a soft approach. Though she had no doubt there was an urgent need for legislation, she thought it spoke well for the managers of factories that there were not more evils than did exist. Her experience had been that when suggestions were made to the managers for improvements, these had been met with sympathetic consideration, and, in most cases, action was taken. Nonetheless, she said, “Human nature being what it is, and having regard to the desire of the people who are poor to work as long",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 211370,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1988",
        "page_number": 86,
        "title": "RAS-1988",
        "content_text": "62\n\nas 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'. \n\nMiss 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.\n\nA 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”. \n\nReport of the Commission on Child Labour\n\n15\n\nThe 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.\n\nMr. 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.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q",
        "rank": 0
    }
]