SLAVERY IN HONG-KONG%
[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The record of the Spectator towards slave-owning wherever it .exists has been so fearless that I venture' to ask for space to call attention to the situation in British Hong-Kong. It had been hoped that a long and possibly embittered struggle would have been avoided, but it is now clear that abolition will only come as the result of organized public exposure and pressure, possibly with an appeal' to the League of Nations. I do not think anyone now denies that Commander and Mra. Haslewood have proved their case— namely, that girls, and sometimes boys, are bought; sold; and resold—that the girls are sold into domestic bondage at a tender age, and that in the process of time the more attractive ones are again sold for a profit for quite another purpose. Our Colonial officials, both in Downing Street and Hong-Kong, say in effect that the admitted transfer of young people for a cash payment is not slavery, because slavery is illegal in British possessions. The official word covering this transaction is "adoption" or " presentation." It is surely a prostitution of those benevolent words to apply them to the villainous transactions of slave trading, whereby thousands of children of tender years have been sold into bondage and, as Dr. Yeung has publicly stated; have become the most fruitful source from which the houses of ill-fame have been filled.
To set free these 10,000 to 50,000 little "adopted-" slaves, purchased for about 20 dollars apiece, and to abolish the system, is no light task when the whole force of official machinery is working in opposition. Happily, the growing abolitionist forces in this country will not be working. alone, for an abolitionist society has sprung into existence in Hong- Kong, composed not only of leading Chinese, but a number of British merchants who appear to be more fully alive to the evil effects of this " adopted" slave system than local officials. The urgent need of the moment is public pressure to secure an impartial inquiry, and to that end it is hoped that organized bodies will direct all their energies.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
