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limited number of girls of this kind, but even now it often happens that these institu- tions have no vacancies; and, if the number of homeless girls increases to any extent the problem of their disposal and the difficulty of supervising them will be extremely serious.
14. You enquire what is the legal position under the Female Domestic Ser- vice Ordinance, No. 1 of 1923, of the mui-tsai acquired outside this Colony and im- ported since the enactment of the Ordinance, whether their employers accompany them or are already resident in the Colony. I am advised, in reply to this question, that Sections 4 and 5 of the Ordinance apply only to acquisition within the Colony It is impossible to make acquisition in China an offence. Sections 6 to 11 of the Ordinance apply to all mui-tsai within the Colony, wherever and whenever acquired If Part III of the Ordinance were brought into force, registration would be required of all mui-tsai, whenever entering the Colony.
15. I have so far dealt in this despatch with the 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th paragraphs of your telegram, which aim at elucidating facts and removing miscon- ceptions. I now turn to those paragraphs in your telegram, which aim at devising some method of further reform.
16. I take first the proposal with respect to registration. You will observe that the Chinese authorities, in the regulations made by them on the 1st March, 1927, required the registration of all mui-tsai existing at that time. These regulations, however, have remained a dead letter. The Hong Kong Government, on the other hand, while enacting Part III of the Female Domestic Service Ordinance, No. 1 of 1923, which provides for registration of mui-tsai, determined to suspend the opera- tion of that part of the Ordinance until circumstances permitted its actual enforce- ment. This, it seems to me, was the more honest course; and I am entirely opposed to any schemes of legislative "eyewash". The objections in practice to any system of registration of mui-tsai are as follows:
(a) The practical impossibility of proving that any particular girl is a muitsai, except in occasional cases where the facts are inadvertently admitted or come to light accidentally. The girl herself may be of little or no use as a witness for this purpose. The problem is to prove that a payment was made, perhaps years ago and perhaps in China. Even then the defen- dant may set up the defence that the case was one of adoption. If no payment is proved, the defendant may allege that the girl is a daughter. Friends and neighbours will not come forward, even if they know. No critic of the Hong Kong Government has ever suggested a solution to this. problem.
(b) There would be a great temptation to corruption if a systematic drive of
the Colony for purposes of registration were attempted.
(c) Very drastic powers would be required, if registration were to be made.
effective, and such powers would be intensely unpopular.
(d) Registration would be very unsatisfactory, if persons not domiciled in the Colony were exempted, partly because domicile is often so difficult to de- termine, and partly because so many Chinese are not domiciled here. (e) The daily ebb and flow of population across the frontiers of Hong Kong, both by land and water estimated at between five and six thousand each way, and the constant movement of the population within the Colony, both to and from the island and the mainland, present difficulties which can hardly be exaggerated. An army of inspectors with the widest power of entry and search would be required to enforce registration and heavy expenditure would be incurred to little or no purpose.
(f) The parents of a mui-tsai are usually satisfied with her situation, and the child herself is usually content with her position and quite prepared to co-operate in any deception necessary to avoid registration.
(g) It would be very difficult to secure persons qualified to make the necessary
inquisition.
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