Sessional_Paper_1929 — Page 252

Enclosure 2.

Enclosure 3.

244

still flourishes, though under a different name, 'adopted daughter'. At the time of the introduction of the prohibition all indentures were called in, and those that were surrendered were cancelled and destroyed, though no steps were taken, for obvious reasons, in the direction of liberating the vast numbers of girls concerned. I understand, however, that the application of the regulations has brought about some improvement in the treatment of mui-tsai, orders for the release of whom to a philanthropic institution are made from time to time when charges of ill-treatment are brought and substantiated in the Chinese court"

5. I also made enquiry from His Majesty's Consuls at Foochow and Amoy in the neighbouring province of Fukien. Mr. G. S. Moss, His Majesty's Consul at Foo- chow, wrote to me on the 2nd May that the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs at Foo- chow told him that there was no special legislation in Fukien province, dealing with the mui-tsai question. He added that the system was much less prevalent in Fukien than in Kwangtung and did not attract marked public attention. The Reverend W P. W. Williams, of Trinity College, Foochow, wrote to Mr. Moss as follows:

"All I know is that the practice is contrary to law and, when found out, is severely punished. It is reported by the Chinese that the practice is still prevalent under various names. Questioned, the people generally claim the child as a daughter. As far as I can find out, the law on the question is a matter of paper".

An informant of the Foochow Consulate told Mr. Moss that some years ago societies for the suppression of the mui-tsai system were formed in Amoy and Foo- chow, the Amoy society being far the more active. He had heard nothing whatever of the Foochow society for at least three years and thought that it was no longer in active existence.

6. Mr. W. Russell-Brown, His Majesty's Consul at Amoy, has sent me an interesting letter on this subject, of which I enclose a copy. He says that in theory the slave girl system has no existence in China, but in actual fact it is in force from one end of the country to the other. Girls are everywhere bought and sold for maid servants or slaves, the euphemism 'adopted daughter' usurping the place of 'slave girl'. He also says that a few social reformers started a "Society for the Liberation of Slave Girls' in Amoy, but that the support given to the society was of a perfunc- tory and apathetic nature, public opinion being as yet unconvinced of the necessity of interfering with an age-long custom. "This indifference", he writes, "arises in all probability from a belief shared by all classes that the generality of slave girls are well treated by their mistresses”.

7. In addition to making enquiry from official sources, I have also caused in- vestigations to be made through private Chinese channels, and I attach a translation of a letter received by a trusted informant from a Chinese friend of his in Canton. It is to the effect that in the city of Canton the police have warned the people from time to time, in compliance with the regulations, to report in case they have any mui-tsai and to submit for examination the deeds they have in respect of them; but that in each police station of the city not more than ten cases have been reported, and that the re- gulations are only a matter of form; that purchases of mui-tsai still continue, despite the prohibition; that some masters do send their mui-tsai to school but only in the hope that they may be sold to rich families as concubines for an enhanced price, but that he knows of no case of a mui-tsai being sent to school as a result of any dispute re- ported to a police station; that the insufficiency of schools in Kwangtung is notori- ous, and that the Canton Government cannot afford to establish schools for the ac- commodation of mui-tsai. He then writes :-

"The abolition of mui-tsai is a good idea in the interests of humanity. But China is a vast country with a dense population, and the idea cannot be altogether excellent. Piracy and unemployment prevail in all outlying districts. Industry and trade have not yet been developed, and no in- stitutions have been established for the accommodation of the unemploy- ed. The cost of living in Kwangtung is particularly high, and poor families of several persons generally cannot earn enough for their sup- port. People, who have several daughters, will sell some of them to others as mui-tsai in the hope that they can secure means of livelihood