239
5. On the general question it might be possible to meet criticism by maintaining as is done in China to-day that as such payments confer no right to the services of the mui-tsai; the distinction between mui-tsai and domestic servants or between mui-tsai and adopted daughters has in fact ceased to exist and that there are now no mui-tsai in South China. It would in short be a simple matter to abolish mui-tsai by abolishing the name, and by substituting the title "adopted daughter" to direct public attention to another and less invidious aspect of the system. It would, however, serve no useful purpose to deny that there are still mui-tsai in Hong Kong as well as in China. This has been made inevit- able by the history of the past five years which have witnessed a state of disorder and distress in Kuangtung and elsewhere unsurpassed since the Taiping Rebellion. Those who have had experience of famine relief work will realise that it is seldom the desire. for money which induces parents in China to part with their children and that the altern- ative may quite well be starvation. Until some measure of prosperity has returned to the countryside it will prove very difficult to put a stop to the practice of transferring chil- dren from one household to another. In fact even the Anti-Muitsai Society do not ex- pect this and their proposals for the enforcement of registration not only presuppose the continued existence and quasi-legalisation of the mui-tsai system but also provide for the registration of adopted daughters.
6. The practical difficulties in the way of any satisfactory form of registration in a colony such as Hong Kong with its daily ebb and flow across the frontier and the con- stant movement of the population within the city itself can hardly be exaggerated. An army of inspectors with the widest powers of entry and search would be required to en- force it and even so the difficulty of proving the initial payment to the parents or guar- dians which brings a girl under the law would be almost insuperable. The parents of the child are satisfied with the situation, and the child herself is usually content with her position and quite prepared to co-operate in the necessary deception; while even assum- ing that persons qualified to make the necessary inquisition could be secured there is no doubt that these proceedings would rouse strong opposition from all classes of Chinese in the Colony.
7. The results to be secured would hardly seem to outweigh these disadvantages. The alternatives must still be faced of registration cards and recognition of the system as suggested by the Anti-Muitsai Society, or of the wholesale removal to Homes of girls who are themselves unwilling to be removed, or their restoration to parents who are unable to support them.
8. Meanwhile a recent declaration by the Canton Government of a similar nature to the preamble to the Hong Kong Ordinance marks a step in advance. The practice of obtaining servants by purchase is clearly stated to be without validity and public opinion in China may be expected before long to accept this attitude. Improvement in economic conditions on the mainland will no doubt hasten the change. As has been said already in Hong Kong this view has been for some time accepted without question and the fact that a money payment may have been made is not considered relevant to the transac- tion. In the circumstances it is hard to see how the charge that the practice is in any respect a form of slavery can be sustained
9. I enclose a copy of certain suggestions forwarded to me on February 6th last by the Anti-Muitsai Society and on these I would make the following comments:-
(a) Section (1) at once raise the question of the disposal of mui-tsai whose
employers fail to register them within six months.
This
(b) Section (2) provides for the destruction of the "deed of sale or gift" which has no legal validity whatsoever and its substitution by a certificate 'as evidence of the employer's right to employ the girl as mui-tsai”. would give semi-legal sanction to a status which the law as it stands does not recognise.
(c) Sections (3) and (4) call for no special comment.
(d) Section (5). It is difficult to see how such a regulation could be en-
forced.
(e) Section (6). A very short experience of the conditions of life in the Chinese quarters in Hong Kong will I feel convince anyone of the im- possibility of tracing and keeping in touch with anyone who wishes to
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.