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thereafter take into his employment any female domestic servant under the age of twelve years. The Female Domestic Service Ordinances deal chiefly with the employment of "mui-tsai" which term is defined as including (a) every female domestic servant whose employer for the time being shall have made, directly or indirectly, within or without the Colony, any payment to any person for the purpose of securing the services of such female as a domestic servant; (b) every female domestic servant whose employer for the time being shall, within or without the Colony, have acquired the custody, possession or control of such female from, or upon the death of, any former employer who made any such payment as afore-

said.

87. The subject of "mui-tsai" has been one of acute controversy during the last fifteen years. The custom is one of immemorial antiquity in China whereby a poor family surrendered a daughter to enter a richer family which made a money payment for the transfer and brought up the child as a domestic servant tendant providing her with food and lodging but no wages and marrying her off at a profit on maturity.

or at-

88. Various attempts have been made to argue that "mui-tsai" are in many cases really adopted daughters. The adoption of females is as irrelevant in Chinese Law as in Roman Law, as the line is only continued through male descendants or adopted male children. All existing "mui-tsai" had by a certain date (31 May, 1930) to be registered at the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs and it is an offence to employ an unregistered "mui-tsai", or to bring one into the Colony.

By section 31 of the Protection of Women and Girls Ordinance No. 5 of 1938 whenever any person adopts as his own and obtains the custody of the child of any other person, such child being a girl under the age of 21 years, the legal guardianship of such child while in the Colony shall vest in the Secretary for Chinese Affairs unless the custody of the child was given to the adopter by order of a competent court.

✓89. The maintenance of sanitary conditions in factories is the duty of the Urban Council and is covered by the Public Health (Sanitation) Ordinance No. 15 of 1935, the relevant sections of which read as follows:-

Section 61. Whenever it appear to the Council that any factory or workshop is damp or that it is not adequately lighted or is not ventilated in such a manner as to render harmless, as far as practicable, any gas, vapour, dust or other impurity generated in the course of the work carried on therein, or is not maintained in a cleanly condition, or is so overcrowded during the time in which work is carried on as to be dangerous to the health of the persons employed therein, the Council may, by written notice, require the owner thereof to take such steps as the Council may consider necessary to prevent such dampness, or adequately to light or ventilate the premises, or to render harmless as far as practicable any gas. vapour, dust or other impurity, or to cleanse the premises, or to prevent the same from being overcrowded.

Section 62. Every factory and workshop whatsoever employing not less than twenty persons shall be provided by the owner thereof with proper latrine accommodation on the premises, for the separate use of persons of each sex, to the satisfaction of the Council.

Section 63. Every factory and workshop shall be kept in a cleanly state.

Section 64. (1) All the ceilings and inside walls of a factory or workshop shall be limewashed at least once a year. If these have been oil painted or varnished they shall be washed with hot water and soap once every fourteen months. (2) The council may by special order grant exemptions from require- ments as to limewashing or washing.

Section 65. Every factory or workshop shall be kept free from effluvia arising from any drain, latrine, urinal or other nuisance.