Sessional_Paper_1929 — Page 221

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2. This Ordinance was introduced on the instructions of the Secretary of State, and is an attempt to deal with the mui-tsai problem. It follows closely the terms of the Secretary of State's telegram of the 24th November, 1922.

3. Section 2 is declaratory. Payment to a parent or guardian by an employer who thereby obtains the custody of the child has never in this Colony conferred any rights upon such employer as against the parent or guardian, and has never conferred on such employer any right of retaining possession as against the child herself, but many persons have ignorantly imagined that such rights could be transferred.

4. Broadly speaking, a mui-tsai is defined as a female domestic servant whose em- ployer obtained her services by means of a payment to any one. Paragraph (ii) of the. definition is intended. to cover two cases. One is the case where a girl has been trans- ferred by one employer to another, and the second is the case where an employer has died and the care of the household has devolved on, e.g., his son or widow.

5. Section 4 provides that no person shall hereafter take into his employment any mui-tsai. This of course will not prevent any one from employing under an ordinary con- tract for service a girl who was formerly employed as a mui-tsai.

6. Section 5 provides that no person shall hereafter take into his employment any female domestic servant under the age of 10 years. This is intended to prevent evasion, as in the case of a child under 10 it might be difficult to prove that she was a mui-tsai.

7. Section 6. deals with the treatment of mui-tsai. It provides that no employer of a mui tsai shall overwork or illtreat such mui-tsai or subject her to any punishment to which he might not reasonably subject his own daughter. It also requires the employer to provide sufficient food and clothing, and in case of illness, such medical attendance as the employer might reasonably have been expected to provide for his own daughter.

8. Section 7 was introduced on the motion of an unofficial member. It is intended to emphasise the seriousness of cruelty and to ensure the infliction of an adequate penalty for gross cruelty.

9. Section 8 was also introduced on the motion of an unofficial member. It seems scarcely necessary. Apparently its object is to remind the public of the penal provisions of the two Ordinances referred to.

10. Part of the policy of the Ordinance is to prevent transfers of mui-tsai from the employer to another. It is, however, obviously necessary to provide for the case of the death of an employer, and, in that event, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs will under sec- tion 9 have power to make any order which he may think fit regarding the transfer of a mui-tsai to, e.g., the widow of the former employer.

11. Sub-section (2) of section 9 requires every person who becomes the actual em- ployer of a mui-tsai, by reason of the death of the former employer or for any other rea- son, to report such fact within one week.

12. Section 10 provides that every mui-tsai who wishes to be restored to her parents or guardians, and every mui-tsai under the age of 18 whose parents or guardians wishes such mui-tsai to be restored to their custody, shall be so restored, without any pay- ment, unless the Secretary for Chinese Affairs sees some grave objection in the interests of the mui-tsai to such restoration. For instance, he might refuse permission to restore a girl to the custody of a mother who was living an immoral life.

13. Section 11 provides that every mui-tsai shall, as hitherto, have the right to apply to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, and that upon any such application the Secre- tary for Chinese Affairs may make any order which he may think fit regarding the custody, control, employment and conditions of employment of the mui-tsai.

14. Part III of the bill will not come into operation until such date as may be fixed by proclamation of the Governor in Council. This is provided in section 17.

15. Section 12 gives a wide power of making regulations.