initial commit of ebook 12818HEADmain

4 files changed, 15042 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/12818-8.txt b/old/12818-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3e3003
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/12818-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7521 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Heathen Slaves and Christian Rulers, by
+Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew and Katharine Caroline Bushnell
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Heathen Slaves and Christian Rulers
+
+Author: Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew and Katharine Caroline Bushnell
+
+Release Date: July 5, 2004  [eBook #12818]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEATHEN SLAVES AND CHRISTIAN
+RULERS***
+
+
+E-text prepared by the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team
+
+
+
+HEATHEN SLAVES AND CHRISTIAN RULERS,
+
+BY
+
+ELIZABETH ANDREW AND KATHARINE BUSHNELL
+
+1907
+
+
+
+
+
+
+"_Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them_."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A Chinatown Slave Market and Den of Vice. (Built and
+owned by Americans.)]
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MISS MARGARET CULBERTSON MILITANT SAINT AND
+SAINTED WARRIOR
+
+WHO AT PERIL OF LIFE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT FOR THE RESCUE OF THE SLAVE
+GIRLS OF CALIFORNIA
+
+--AND TO--
+
+MISS LAKE, MISS CAMERON AND MISS DAVIS WHO BY PATHS MADE SOMEWHAT LESS
+DIFFICULT BY HER ACCOMPLISHMENT, HAVE NOT CEASED TO WAGE A HOLY WAR
+FOR THE DELIVERANCE OF THE CAPTIVES.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
+
+
+"Heathen slaves and Christian rulers." No injustice is done to
+Christians in the title given this book. The word "Christian" is
+capable of use in two senses, individual and political. We apply the
+words "Hindoo" and "Mahommedan" in these two senses also. A man who
+has been born and brought up in the environment of the Hindoo or
+Mahommedan religions, and who has not avowed some other form of faith,
+but has yielded at least an outward allegiance to these forms, we
+declare to be a man of one or the other faith. Moreover, we judge of
+his religion by the fruits of it in his moral character. Just so,
+every European or American who has not openly disavowed the Christian
+religion for some other faith is called a "Christian." Furthermore,
+such men, when they mingle with those of other religions, as in the
+Orient, call themselves "Christians," in distinction from those of
+other faith about them. They claim the word "Christian" as by right
+theirs in this political sense, and it is in this sense that we employ
+the word "Christian" in the title of this book. The word is used thus
+when reckoning the world's population according to religions.
+
+As we treat the Hindoo or Mohammedan so he treats us. Our Christianity
+is judged, and must ever be, in the Orient, by the moral character of
+the men who are called Christian; and the distinguishing vices of
+such men are regarded as characteristic of their religion. Official
+representatives of a Christian nation have gone to Hong Kong and to
+Singapore, and there, because of their social vices, elaborated a
+system, first of all of brothel slavery; and domestic slavery has
+sheltered itself under its wing, as it were; and lastly, at Singapore
+coolie labor is managed by the same set of officials. What these
+officials have done has been accepted by the Oriental people about
+them as done by the Christian civilization. It cannot be said that the
+evils mentioned above have been the outgrowth of Oriental conditions
+and customs, principally. It has been rather the misfortune of
+the Orient that there were brought to their borders by Western
+civilization elements calculated to induce their criminal classes to
+ally themselves with these aggressive and stronger "Christians" to
+destroy safeguards which had been heretofore sufficient, for the most
+part, to conserve Chinese social morality.
+
+Christian people, even as far back as Sir John Bowring, Governor
+of Hong Kong, and up to the present time, both at Hong Kong and
+Singapore, have acquiesced in the false teaching that vice cannot be
+put under check in the Orient, where, it is claimed, passion mounts
+higher than in the Occident, and that morality is, to a certain
+extent, a matter of climate; and in the presence of large numbers of
+unmarried soldiers and sailors it is simply "impracticable" to attempt
+repressive measures in dealing with social vice. These Christians
+have listened to counsels of despair,--the arguments of gross
+materialists,--and have shut their eyes to the plainly written THOU
+SHALT NOT of the finger of God in His Book.
+
+Had there been the same staunch standing true to principle in these
+Oriental countries as in Great Britain the state of immorality
+described in the pages of this book could never have developed to the
+extent it did. But Christians yielded before what they considered at
+least unavoidable, and, not abiding living protests, must take their
+share of blame for the state of matters. A higher moral public opinion
+_could_ have been created which would have made the existence of
+actual slavery an impossibility, with the amount of legislation that
+existed with which to put it down. There were a guilty silence and
+a guilty ignorance on the part of the better elements of Christian
+society at Singapore and Hong Kong, which could be played upon by
+treacherous, corrupt officials by the flimsy device of calling the
+ravishing of native women "protection," and the most brazen forms of
+slavery "servitude." To this extent the individual Christians of these
+colonies are in many cases guilty of compromise with slavery; and to
+this extent the title of this book applies to them.
+
+The vices of European and American men in the Orient have not been
+the development of climate but of opportunity. It is not so easy in
+Christian lands to stock immoral houses with slaves, for the reason
+that the slaves are not present with which to do it. Women have
+freedom and cannot be openly bought and sold even in marriage; women
+have self-reliance and self-respect in a Christian country; they have
+a clean, decent religion; women who worship the true God have His
+protecting arm to defend themselves, and through them other women
+who do not personally worship God share in the benefits. If free,
+independent women of God were as scarce in America as in Hong Kong the
+same moral conditions would prevail here, without regard to climate,
+for, _if women could be bought and sold and reduced by force to
+prostitution, there are libertines enough, and they have propensities
+strong enough to enter at once upon the business, even in America_.
+That which has elevated women above this slave condition is the
+development of a self-respect and dignity born of the Christian faith.
+But let us take warning. If the women of America have not the decent
+self-respect to refuse to tolerate the Oriental slave-prostitute in
+this country, the balance will be lost, libertines will have their own
+way through the introduction into our social fabric of their slaves,
+and Christian womanhood will fall before it. "Ye have not proclaimed
+liberty every one to his fellow, therefore I proclaim liberty to you,
+saith the Lord, to the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence."
+
+Having yielded before counsels of despair, those who should have stood
+shoulder to shoulder with statesmen like Sir John Pope Hennessy and
+Sir John Smale in their efforts to exterminate slavery, rather, by
+their indifference and ignorance, greatly added to the obstacles put
+in their way by unworthy officials.
+
+The story we have to relate cannot in any fairness be used as an
+arraignment of British Christianity excepting as we have already
+indicated as to local conditions. The record that British Christian
+philanthropists have made, under the leadership of the now sainted
+Mrs. Josephine Butler, in their world-wide influence for purity, needs
+no eulogy from our pen. It is known to the world. May Americans strive
+with equal energy against conditions far more hopeful of amendment,
+and we will be content to leave the issue with God.
+
+It was our purpose when we undertook the task of writing a sketch
+which would enable Americans to understand the social conditions that
+are being introduced into our midst from the Orient, merely to make
+a concise, brief statement of social conditions in Hong Kong out of
+which these have grown, drawing our information from State Documents
+of the British Government that we have had for some time in our
+possession, and of which we have made a close study, as well as from
+our own observations of the conditions themselves as they exist at
+Hong Kong and Singapore. But almost at once we abandoned that attempt
+as unwise because likely to prove injurious rather than helpful to the
+object we have in view. The facts that we have to relate form one of
+the blackest chapters in the history of human slavery, and slavery
+brought up to the present time. Our statements if standing merely on
+our own word would be met at once with incredulity and challenged, and
+before we could defend them by producing the proof, a prejudice would
+be created that might prove disastrous to our hopes of arousing our
+country to the point of exterminating this horrible Oriental brothel
+slavery by means of which even American men are enriching themselves
+on the Pacific Coast.
+
+Therefore we have felt obliged to produce our proof at once and at
+first, and after that, if needed, we can write a more simple, concise
+account, in less official and less cumbersome form, more suitable for
+the general public to read,--not that the case could be stated in
+purer or cleaner language than that used in the quotations from
+official statements and letters, but the language might be more suited
+to public taste. But worth cannot be sacrificed to taste, and, as we
+have said, we feel compelled to publish the matter in its present form
+first of all.
+
+We send it forth, therefore, with the earnest prayer that, while
+the book itself may have a limited circulation, yet, through the
+providence of God, it may arouse some one to attempt that which seems
+beyond our powers and opportunity,--some one who will feel the call of
+God; who has the training and the ability; some one who has the spirit
+of devotion and self-denial; some one of keen moral perceptions and
+lofty faith in the ultimate triumph of justice, who will lead a
+crusade that will never halt until Oriental slavery is banished from
+our land, and it can no more be said, "The name of God is blasphemed
+among the heathen because of you."
+
+The documents from which we have quoted so extensively in this book
+are the following:
+
+"_Correspondence Relating to the Working of the Contagious Diseases
+Ordinances of the Colony of Hongkong_." August 1881. C.-3093.
+
+"_Copy of Report of the Commissioners Appointed by His Excellency,
+John Pope Hennessy ... to inquire Into the Working of the Contagious
+Diseases Ordinance, 1867_." March 11, 1880. H.C. 118.
+
+"_Correspondence Respecting the Alleged Existence of Chinese Slavery
+in Hongkong_." March, 1882. C.-3185.
+
+"_Return of all the British Colonies and Dependencies in Which by
+Ordinance or Otherwise Any System Involving the Principles of the Late
+Contagious Diseases Acts, 1866 and 1869, is in force, with Copies of
+Such Ordinances or Other Regulations_." June, 1886. H.C. 247.
+
+"_Copies of Correspondence or Extracts Therefrom Relating to the
+Repeal of Contagious Diseases Ordinances and Regulations in the Crown
+Colonies_." September, 1887. H.C. 347
+
+Same as above, in continuation, March, 1889. H.C. 59.
+
+Same as above, in continuation, June, 1890. H.C. 242.
+
+"_Copy of Correspondence which has taken place since that comprised
+in the Paper presented to the House of Commons in 1890_ (H.C. 242),"
+etc., June 4, 1894. H. C. 147.
+
+"_Copy of Correspondence Relative to Proposed Introduction of
+Contagious Diseases Regulations in Perak or Other Protected Malay
+States_." June 4, 1894. H.C. 146.
+
+May 1907
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Frontispiece
+
+Dedication
+
+Preface
+
+CHAPTER
+
+
+ 1 THE EARLY DAYS OF HONG KONG
+ 2 TREACHEROUS LEGISLATION
+ 3 HOW THE PROTECTOR PROTECTED
+ 4 MORE POWER DEMANDED AND OBTAINED
+ 5 HOUNDED TO DEATH
+ 6 THE PROTECTOR'S COURT AND SLAVERY
+ 7 OTHER DERELICT OFFICIALS
+ 8 JUSTICE FROM THE SUPREME BENCH
+ 9 THE CHINESE PETITION AND PROTEST
+10 NOT FALLEN--BUT ENSLAVED
+11 THE MAN FOR THE OCCASION
+12 THE CHIEF JUSTICE ANSWERS HIS OPPONENTS
+13 THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY
+14 NEW PROTECTIVE ORDINANCES
+15 "PROTECTION" AT SINGAPORE
+16 SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES
+17 STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM
+18 PERILS AND REMEDIES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 1.
+
+THE EARLY DAYS OF HONG KONG.
+
+
+Time was when so-called Christian civilization seemed able to send its
+vices abroad and keep its virtues at home. When men went by long
+sea voyages to the far East in sailing vessels, in the interests of
+conquest or commerce, and fell victims to their environments and weak
+wills, far removed from the restraints of religious influences, and
+from the possibility of exposure and disgrace in wrongdoing, they
+lived with the prospect before them, not always unfulfilled, of
+returning to home and to virtue to die.
+
+That day has passed forever. With the invention of steam as a
+locomotive power of great velocity, with the introduction of the
+cable, and later, the wireless telegraphy; with the mastery of these
+natural forces and their introduction in every part of the world, we
+see the old world being drawn nearer and nearer to us by ten thousand
+invisible cords of commercial interests, until shortly, probably
+within the lifetime of you and me, the once worn out and almost
+stranded wreck will be found quickened with new life and moored
+alongside us. The Orient is already feeling the thrill of renewed
+life. It is responding to the touch of the youth and vigor of the
+West and becoming rejuvenated; it is drawing closer and closer in its
+eagerness for the warmth of new interests. The West is no longer alone
+in seeking a union; the East is coming to the West. And that part of
+the East which first responds to the West is the old acquaintance; the
+one that knows most about us, our ways and our resources; the element
+with which the long sea-voyager mingled in the days when it seemed
+more difficult for man to be virtuous, because separated so far from
+family and friends and living in intense loneliness. The element which
+now draws closest to us is that portion of the Orient with which the
+adventurer warred and sinned long ago, and which bears the deep scars
+of sin and battle.
+
+As the old hulk is moored alongside, in order that the man of Western
+enterprise may cross with greater facility the gangplank and develop
+latent resources on the other side, the Easterner hurries across from
+his side to ours with no less eagerness, to pick up gold in a land
+where it seems so abundant to him. Almost unnoticed, the Orient is
+telescoping its way into the very heart of the Occident, and with
+fearful portent and peril, particularly to the Western woman.
+
+This is not what is desired, but it will be inevitable. Exclusion
+laws must finally give way before the pressure. Already the Orient is
+knocking vigorously at the door of the Occident, and unless admission
+is granted soon, measures of retaliation will be operated to force an
+entrance. How to administer them the Orient already knows, for has
+not the door to his domicile been already forced open by the Western
+trader? The Orient is fast arming for the conflict.
+
+The men of the days of sailing vessels, who went to the far East and
+made sport of and trampled upon the virtue of the women of a weaker
+nation, have not all died in peace, leaving their vices far off
+and gathering virtues about them to crown their old age with
+venerableness. Some have lived to see that whatsoever man soweth that
+shall he also reap. They have lived to see the tide setting in in the
+other direction, and the human wreckage of past vices swept by the
+current of immigration close to their own domicile. Their own children
+are in danger of being engulfed in the polluting flood of Oriental
+life in our midst. After many days vices come home. Man sowed the
+wind; the whirlwind must be reaped. The Oriental slave trader and the
+Oriental slave promise to become a terrible menace and scourge to our
+twentieth century civilization. Herein lies great peril to American
+womanhood. Whether we wish it to be so or not,--whether we perceive
+from the first that it is so or not, there is a solidarity of
+womanhood that men and women must reckon with. The man who wrongs
+another's daughter perceives afterwards that he wronged his own
+daughter thereby. We cannot, without sin against humanity, ask the
+scoffer's question, "Am I my sister's keeper?"--not even concerning
+the poorest and meanest foreign woman, for the reason that _she is
+our sister_. The conditions that surround the Hong Kong slave girl in
+California are bound in time to have their influence upon the social,
+legal and moral status of all California women, and later of all
+American womanhood.
+
+In considering the life history of the Chinese woman living in our
+Chinatowns in America, therefore, we are studying matters of vital
+importance to us. And in order to a clear understanding of the matter,
+we must go back to the beginning of the slave-trade which has brought
+these women to the West.
+
+Four points on the south coast of China are of especial interest to
+us, being the sources of supply of this slave-trade. These are Macao,
+Canton, Kowloon and Hong Kong, and the women coming to the West from
+this region all pass through Hong Kong, remaining there a longer or
+shorter time, the latter place being the emporium and thoroughfare of
+all the surrounding ports.
+
+The south coast of China is split by a Y-shaped gap, at about its
+middle, where the Canton river bursts the confines of its banks and
+plunges into the sea. The lips of this mouth of the river are everted
+like those of an aboriginal African, and like a pendant from the
+eastern lip hangs the Island of Hong Kong, separated from the mainland
+by water only one-fourth of a mile wide. From the opposite or western
+lip hangs another pendant, a small island upon which is situated the
+Portuguese city of Macao. The mainland adjoining Hong Kong is the
+peninsula of Kowloon, ceded to the British with the island of Hong
+Kong. Well up in the mouth of the river on its western bank, some
+eighty miles from Hong Kong, is the city of Canton.
+
+Let us imagine for a moment that the on-coming civilization of our
+country pushed the American Indians not westward but southward toward
+the Gulf of Mexico and along the banks of the Mississippi, and
+compressed them on every side until at last they were obliged to take
+to boats in the mouth of the Mississippi and live there perpetually,
+seldom stepping foot on land.
+
+Now we are the better able to understand exactly what took place with
+an aboriginal tribe in China. These aborigines were, centuries ago,
+pushed southward by an on-coming civilization until at last, by
+imperial decree, they were forbidden to live anywhere except on boats
+in the mouth of the Canton river, floating up and down that stream,
+and sailing about Hong Kong and Macao in the more open sea.
+
+They must have been always a hardy people, for the river population
+about Canton numbers today nearly 200,000 souls. In 1730, the severity
+of the laws regulating their lives was relaxed somewhat by imperial
+decree, and since then some of them have dwelt in villages along the
+river bank. But to the present day these people, known as the Tanka
+Tribe, or the "saltwater" people, by the natives, may not inter-marry
+with other Chinese, nor are they ever allowed to attain to official
+honors.
+
+Living always on boats near the river's mouth, these were the first
+Chinese to come in contact with foreign sailing vessels which
+approached China in the earliest days. They sold their wares to the
+foreigners; they piloted their boats into port; they did the laundry
+work for the ships. In many ways they showed friendliness to the
+foreigners while as yet the landsman viewed the new-comers with
+suspicion. Their women were grossly corrupted by contact with the
+foreign voyagers and sailors.
+
+Hong Kong was a long way off at the beginning of the nineteenth
+century, when Great Britain began to send Government-manufactured
+opium from India to China, and when China prohibited the trade the
+drug was smuggled in. When Chinese officials at last rose up to check
+this invasion by foreign trade, wars followed in which China was
+worsted, and the island of Hong Kong, together with the Kowloon
+peninsula, became a British possession as war indemnity. Hong Kong
+is a "mere dot in the ocean less than twenty-seven miles in
+circumference," and when Great Britain took possession its inhabitants
+were limited to "a few fishermen and cottagers."
+
+The Tankas helped the British in many ways in waging these wars, and
+when peace was established went to live with them on the island. This
+action on the part of these "river people" is significant as showing
+as much or more attachment to the foreigner than to the other classes
+of Chinese. There seems always to be less conscience in wronging
+an alien people than in injuring a people to whom one is closely
+attached, and this sense of estrangement from other Chinese may
+account to some extent for the facility with which this aboriginal
+people engaged, a little later, in the trade in women and girls
+brought from the mainland to meet the demands of profligate
+foreigners.
+
+Sir Charles Elliott, Governor of Hong Kong, wishing to attract Chinese
+immigration to the island, issued, on February 1st and 2nd, 1841, two
+proclamations in the name of the Queen, to the effect that there would
+be no interference with the free exercise on the part of the Chinese
+of their religious rites, ceremonies and social customs, "pending Her
+Majesty's pleasure."
+
+Following the custom of all Oriental people, to whom marriage is a
+trade in the persons of women, when the Tankas saw that the foreigners
+had come to that distant part almost universally without wife or
+family, they offered to sell them women and girls, and the British
+seem to have purchased them at first, but afterwards they modified the
+practice to merely paying a monthly stipend. All slavery throughout
+British possessions had been prohibited only a few years before the
+settlement of Hong Kong, in 1833, when 20,000,000 pounds had been
+distributed by England as a boon to slave-holders.
+
+Hong Kong's first Legislative Council was held in 1844, and its first
+ordinance was an anti-slavery measure in the form of an attempt to
+define the law relating to slavery. It was a long process in those
+days for the Colony to get the Queen's approval of its legislative
+measures, so that a year had elapsed before a dispatch was returned
+from the Home Government disallowing the Ordinance as superfluous,
+slavery being already forbidden, and slave-dealing indictable by law.
+On the same day, January 24th, 1845, the following proclamation was
+made: "Whereas, the Acts of the British Parliament for the abolition
+of the slave trade, and for the abolition of slavery, extend by their
+own proper force and authority to Hong Kong: This is to apprise all
+persons of the same, and to give notice that these Acts will be
+enforced by all Her Majesty's officers, civil and military, within
+this Colony."
+
+The "foreigners," by which name, according to a custom which prevails
+to this day in the East, we shall call persons of British, European or
+American birth,--called a native mistress a "protected woman," and her
+"protector" set her up in an establishment by herself, apart from
+his abode, and here children were born to the foreigner, some to be
+educated in missionary schools and elsewhere by their illegitimate
+fathers and afterwards become useful men and women, but probably the
+majority, more neglected, to become useless and profligate,--if girls,
+mistresses to foreigners, or, as the large number of half-castes in
+the immoral houses at Hong Kong at the present time demonstrates, to
+fall to the lowest depths of degradation.
+
+These "protected women," enriched beyond anything they had even known
+before the foreigner came to that part of the world, with the usual
+thrift of the Chinese temperament, sought for a way to invest their
+earnings, and quite naturally, could think of nothing so profitable
+as securing women and girls to meet the demands of the foreigners.
+Marriage having always been, to the Oriental mind, scarcely anything
+beyond the mere trade in the persons of women, it was but a step from
+that attitude of mind to the selling of girls to the foreigner, and
+the rearing of them for that object. The "protected women," being of
+the Tanka tribe, were well situated for this purpose, for they had
+many relations of kindred and friendship all up and down the Canton
+river, and the business of the preparation of slave girls for the
+foreigners and for foreign markets (as the trade expanded) gradually
+extended backwards up the Canton river, until many of its boats were
+almost given over to it. "Flower-boats" were probably never unknown to
+this river, but, besides their use as brothels, they became stocked
+with little girls under training for vice, under the incitement of an
+ever-growing slave trade. These little girls were bought, stolen or
+enticed from the mainland by these river people, to swell the number
+of their own children destined to the infamous slave trade. Chinese
+law forbids this kind of slavery, but, as we have seen, the Tanka
+people were sort of outlaws, the river life facilitated such a
+business, and Hong Kong was near at hand.
+
+In later years Dr. Eitel, Chinese interpreter to the Governor, stated:
+
+"Almost every so-called 'protected woman,' i.e. kept mistress of
+foreigners here, belongs to the Tanka tribe, looked down upon and kept
+at a distance by all the other Chinese classes. It is among these
+Tanka women, and especially under the protection of these 'protected'
+Tanka women, that private prostitution and the sale of girls for
+concubinage flourishes, being looked upon as a legitimate profession.
+Consequently, almost every 'protected woman' keeps a nursery of
+purchased children or a few servant girls who are being reared with
+a view to their eventual disposal, according to their personal
+qualifications, either among foreigners here as kept women, or among
+Chinese residents as their concubines, or to be sold for export to
+Singapore, San Francisco, or Australia. Those 'protected women,'
+moreover, generally act as 'protectors' each to a few other Tanka
+women who live by sly prostitution."
+
+When once a man enters the service of Satan he is generally pressed
+along into it to lengths he did not at first intend to go. So it
+proved in the case of many foreigners at Hong Kong. The foreigner
+extended his "protection" to a native mistress. That "protected woman"
+extended his name as "protector" over the inmates of her secret
+brothel; and into that house protected largely from official
+interference, purchased and kidnaped girls were introduced and reared
+for the trade in women. The sensitive point seems to have been that
+an enforcement of the anti-slavery laws would have interfered in many
+instances with the illicit relations of the foreigner, exposing him
+to ignominy and sending the mother of his children to prison. It was
+sufficient for the "protected" woman to say, when the officer of the
+law rapped at her door, "This is not a brothel, but the private
+family residence of Mr. So-and-So," naming some foreigner,--perhaps
+a high-placed official,--and the officer's search would proceed no
+further.
+
+It was claimed that this slavery, and also domestic slavery, which
+sprang up so suddenly after the settlement of Hong Kong by the
+British, was the outgrowth of Chinese customs, and could not be
+suppressed but with the greatest difficulty, and their suppression
+was an unwarrantable interference with Chinese customs, Sir Charles
+Elliott having given promise from the first that such customs should
+not be interfered with. But, as we have shown, that promise was only
+made, "pending Her Majesty's pleasure," which had been very plainly
+and pointedly expressed later as opposed to slavery.
+
+As to the matter of "custom," Sir John Smale, Chief Justice of
+Hong Kong, said, in 1879, in the Supreme Court, on the occasion of
+sentencing prisoners for slave trading and kidnaping:
+
+    "Can Chinese slavery, as it _de facto_ exists in Hong Kong, be
+    considered a Chinese custom which can be brought within the intent
+    and meaning of either of the proclamations of 1841 so as to be
+    sanctioned by the proclamations? I assert that it cannot.... A
+    custom is 'such a usage as by common consent and uniform practice
+    has become a law.' In 1841 there could have been no custom of
+    slavery in Hong Kong as now set up, for, save a few fishermen and
+    cottagers, the island was uninhabited; and between 1841 and 1844,
+    the date of the Ordinance expressly prohibiting slavery, there was
+    no time for such a custom to have grown up; and slavery in
+    every form having been by express law prohibited by the Royal
+    proclamation of the Queen in 1845, no custom contrary to that law
+    could, after that date, grow up, because the thing was by express
+    law illegal. I go further, and I find that the penal law of China,
+    whilst it facilitates the adoption of children into a family to
+    keep up its succession, prohibits by section 78 the receiving into
+    his house by any one of a person of a different surname, declaring
+    him guilty of 'confounding family distinctions,' and punishing him
+    with 60 blows; the father of the son who shall 'give away' ... his
+    son is to be subject to the same punishment. Again, section 79
+    enacts that whosoever shall receive and detain the strayed or lost
+    child of a respectable person, and, instead of taking it before
+    the magistrate, sell such child as a slave, shall be punished by
+    100 blows and three years' banishment. Whosoever shall sell such
+    child for marriage or adoption into any family as son or grandson
+    shall be punished with 90 blows and banishment for two years and
+    a half. Whosoever shall dispose of a strayed or lost slave shall
+    suffer the punishment provided by the law reduced one degree. If
+    any person shall receive or detain a fugitive child, and, instead
+    of taking it before the magistrate, sell such child for a slave,
+    he shall be punished by 90 blows and banishment for two years and
+    a half. Whosoever shall sell any such fugitive child for marriage
+    or adoption shall suffer the punishment of 80 blows and two years'
+    banishment.... Whosoever shall detain for his own use as a slave,
+    wife, or child, any such lost, strayed or fugitive child or slave,
+    shall be equally liable to be punished as above mentioned, but if
+    only guilty of detaining the same for a short time the punishment
+    shall not exceed 80 blows. When the purchaser or the negotiator of
+    the purchase shall be aware of the unlawfulness of the transaction
+    he shall suffer punishment one degree less than that inflicted on
+    the seller, and the amount of the pecuniary consideration shall
+    he forfeited to Government, but when he or they are foun
+    have been unacquainted therewith they shall not be liable to
+    punishment, and the money shall be restored to the party from whom
+    it had been received." The Chief Justice continues: "After reading
+    these extracts from the Penal Code of China--an old Code revised
+    from time to time ... I cannot see how it can be maintained that
+    any form of slavery was ever tolerated by law in Hong Kong, as it
+    _de facto_ exists here, or how the words of the two proclamations
+    of 1841 could be said to bear the color of tolerating slavery
+    under the British flag in Hong Kong. It is clear to me that the
+    Queen's proclamation of 1845, which I have already quoted at full,
+    declares slavery absolutely illegal here."
+
+The truth, then, seems to be that a great demand had arisen for
+Chinese women at Hong Kong, the most direct cause being the irregular
+conduct of foreigners--officials, private individuals, soldiers and
+sailors--who gathered there at the time of the opium wars, and settled
+there in large numbers when Hong Kong became a British possession.
+This demand was responded to from the native side, for it was said:
+"When the colony of Hong Kong was first established in 1842, it
+was forthwith invaded by brothel keepers and prostitutes from the
+adjoining districts of the mainland of China, who brought with them
+the national Chinese system of prostitution, and have ever since
+labored to carry it into effect in all its details."[A] The demand
+that brought this supply was further added to from two sources, first,
+Chinese residents attracted to Hong Kong had made money there rapidly,
+and had fallen into profligate and luxurious manners of life,
+and second, Chinese going abroad to Australia, Singapore and San
+Francisco, created a demand for immoral women in these foreign lands
+which called for supplies from Hong Kong, and at Singapore the demand
+came also from the class of foreigners who resided there.
+
+[Footnote A: Hong Kong was occupied by the British in 1841, but not
+ceded until 1842.]
+
+The system of management of prostitution was originally Chinese, and
+differs much from anything known under Western civilization, in that
+the women are never what we speak of as "fallen women," because not
+the victims of seduction nor of base propensities that have led to the
+choice of such a life. They are either slaves trained for or sold into
+shame, or women temporarily held for debt by a sort of mortgage. To
+this Chinese system of prostitution, however, there was soon applied
+at Hong Kong a Government system of regulation or license under
+surveillance. This modified the system, intensified the slavery, and
+was the cause of reducing many women from the respectable ranks
+of Chinese life at once and arbitrarily to the lowest depths of
+degradation, as we shall explain and demonstrate in subsequent
+chapters.
+
+The native woman, rented for a monthly stipend from her owners was
+called "protected" at Hong Kong. What charm this word "protection,"
+and the title "Protector" has held for certain persons, as applied
+to the male sex! "Man, the natural protector of woman." Forsooth, to
+protect her from what? Rattlesnakes, buffalo, lions, wildcats no more
+overrun the country, and why is this relation of "protector" still
+claimed? Why, to protect woman from rudeness, and insult and sometimes
+even worse. But from whence comes that danger of rudeness and insult
+or worse from which man is to protect woman? From man, of course.
+Man is, then, woman's natural protector to protect her from man, her
+natural protector. He is to set himself the task of defending her
+from his injury of her, and he is charmed with the avocation. He will
+protect her as Abraham protected Sarah when he took her into Egypt.
+"Do so-and-so," said Abraham to Sarah, "that it may be well with
+me,--for thy sake." The history of the Chinese slave woman as she came
+in contact with the foreigner at Hong Kong and at Singapore proceeds
+all along a pathway labelled "protection," down to the last ditch of
+human degradation. "Well with me," was the motive in the mind of the
+"protector." "For thy sake," the argument for the thing as put before
+the woman and before the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.
+
+TREACHEROUS LEGISLATION.
+
+
+In 1849 a man whose name is known the world over as a writer of
+Christian hymns, went to Canton as British Consul and Superintendent
+of trade. After a few years he returned to England, and in 1854 was
+knighted and sent out to govern the new colony of Hong Kong. It is he
+who wrote that beautiful hymn, among others, "Watchman, tell us of
+the night." He also wrote, "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." One is
+tempted to ask, in which Cross?--the kind made of gilded tin which
+holds itself aloft in pride on the top of the church steeple, or
+the Cross proclaimed in the challenge of the great Cross-bearer,
+"Whosoever doth not bear his Cross, and come after Me, cannot be my
+disciple"? The Cross is the emblem of self-sacrifice for the salvation
+of the world. Oh, that men really gloried in such self-sacrifice, and
+held it forth as the worthiest principle of life! Did Sir John Bowring
+hold aloft such a Cross as this, and, with his Master, recommend it
+to the world as the means of its elevation and emancipation from the
+blight of sin? We shall not judge him individually. His example should
+be a warning to the fact that even the most religious men can too
+often hold very different views of life according to whether they are
+embodied in religious sentiments or in one's politics. But nowhere are
+right moral conceptions more needed (not in hymn-book nor in church),
+as in the enactments by which one's fellow-beings are governed. Other
+religious men not so conspicuous as Sir John Bowring, but of more
+enlightened days than his, have died and left on earth a testimony to
+strangely divergent views and principles, according to whether they
+were crystallized in religious sentiments, or in the laws of the land,
+and according to whether they legislated for men or for women.
+
+On May 2nd, 1856, Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong, wrote to
+the Secretary of State for the Colonies at London submitting a draft
+of an Ordinance which was desired at Hong Kong because of certain
+conditions prevailing at Hong Kong which were described in the
+enclosures in his despatch. Mr. Labouchere, the Secretary of State for
+the Colonies at the time, replied to the Governor's representations
+in the following language: "The Colonial Government has not, I think,
+attached sufficient weight to the very grave fact that in a British
+Colony large numbers of women should be held in practical slavery for
+the purposes of prostitution, and allowed in some cases to perish
+miserably of disease in the prosecution of their employment, and for
+the gain of those to whom they suppose themselves to belong. A class
+of persons who by no choice of their own are subjected to such
+treatment have an urgent claim on the active protection of
+Government."
+
+Hong Kong, the British colony, had existed but fourteen years when
+this was written. Only a handful of fishermen and cottagers were on
+the island before the British occupation. Its Chinese population had
+come from a country where, as we have seen, laws against the buying
+and selling, detaining and kidnaping human beings were not unfamiliar.
+Only eleven years had elapsed since the Queen's proclamation against
+slavery in that colony had been published to its inhabitants, and yet,
+during that time, slavery had so advanced at Hong Kong, against
+both Chinese and British law, as to receive this recognition and
+acknowledgment on the part of the Secretary of State at London:
+
+    1st, That it is a "grave fact that" at Hong Kong "large numbers of
+    women" are "held in practical slavery."
+
+    2nd, That this slavery is "for the gain of those to whom they
+    suppose themselves to belong."
+
+    3rd, That it is so cruel that "in some cases" they "perish
+    miserably ... in the prosecution of their employment."
+
+    4th, That it is "by no choice of their own" that they prosecute
+    their employment, and "are subjected to such treatment."
+
+    5th, That they have "an urgent claim upon the active protection of
+    Government."
+
+    6th, That the service to which these slaves are doomed, through
+    "no choice of their own," is the most degraded to which a slave
+    could possibly be reduced, i.e., "prostitution."
+
+When Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin," she sounded
+the note of doom for slavery in the United States. After that, slavery
+became intolerable. Many have remarked on the fact that the book
+should have so stirred the conscience of the Christian world, when
+there are depicted in it so many even engaging features and admirable
+persons, woven into the story of wrong. Her pen did not seem to make
+slavery appear always and altogether black. But there was the fate of
+"Uncle Tom," and the picture of "Cassie," captive of "Legree." It was
+not what slavery always was, but _what it might be_--the terrible
+possibilities, that aroused the conscience of Christendom, and made
+the perpetuation of African slavery an impossibility to Americans.
+The master _might_ choose to use his power over the slave for the
+indulgence of his own basest propensities.
+
+Almost at the same time of these stirring events connected with
+slavery in the United States, Mr. Labouchere penned the above words,
+admitting that slavery at Hong Kong had descended to that lowest
+level. Infamy instead of industry was the lot of these, engaged in the
+"prosecution of their employment," through "no choice of their own."
+
+Can we anticipate what legal measures would be asked for at Hong Kong,
+and granted in London in order to relieve this horrible condition.
+It seems at once obvious that the following would be some of them at
+least:
+
+    1st, A clear announcement that this slavery was prohibited by
+    the Queen's Anti-Slavery Proclamation of 1845, and would not be
+    permitted.
+
+    2nd, Women who "supposed themselves to belong" to masters would be
+    at once told that they were free agents and belonged to no one.
+
+    3rd, The master who dared claim the ownership of a former slave
+    would be prosecuted and suitably punished.
+
+    4th, Any slave perishing miserably from disease would not only be
+    healed at public expense, but placed where there was no further
+    risk of contagion.
+
+    5th, Since such slaves had "an urgent claim on the _active_
+    protection of the Government," they would be treated as wards of
+    the State until safe from like treatment a second time.
+
+    6th, Since this slavery had sprung up in defiance of law, any
+    official who at a future time connived at such crime would be
+    liable to impeachment.
+
+The Ordinance sent home for sanction, and approved of by Mr.
+Labouchere as needed for the "protection" of slave women, was
+proclaimed as Ordinance 12, 1857, after some slight modifications, and
+an official appointed a few months before, called the "Protector of
+Chinese," was charged with the task of its enforcement. This official
+is also called the Registrar General at Hong Kong, but the former name
+was given him at the first, and the official at Singapore charged
+with the same duties is always, to this day, called the "Protector of
+Chinese."
+
+The new Ordinance embodied the following features:
+
+    1st, The registration of immoral houses.
+
+    2nd, Their confinement to certain localities.
+
+    3rd, The payment of registration fees to the Government.
+
+    4th, A periodical, compulsory, indecent examination of every woman
+    slave.
+
+    5th, The imprisonment of the slave in the Lock Hospital until
+    cured, and then a return to her master and the exact conditions
+    under which she was "from no choice of her own," exposed to
+    contagion, with the expectation that she would be shortly returned
+    again infected.
+
+    6th, The punishment by imprisonment of the slave when any man was
+    found infected from consorting with her, through "no choice of her
+    own."
+
+    7th, The punishment by fine and imprisonment of all persons
+    keeping slaves in an _un_registered house (which was not a source
+    of profit to the Government).
+
+This was the only sort of "active protection" that the Government
+of Hong Kong at that time provided to the slave. The matter of
+"protection" which concerned the "Protector of Chinese," related to
+keeping the women from becoming incapacitated in the prosecution of
+their employment, and to seeing that the hopelessly diseased were
+eliminated from the herd of slaves. The rest of the "protection"
+looked to the physical well-being of another portion of the
+community--the fornicators. If physical harm came to them from wilful
+sin, the Chinese women would be punished by imprisonment for it,
+though their sin was forced upon them. This was "protection" from the
+official standpoint.
+
+Mr. Labouchere had replied with his approval of this Ordinance dealing
+with contagious diseases due to vice, as though the application for
+the measure had been made in behalf of the slaves of Hong Kong. Such
+was not the case. The enclosures in Sir John Bowring's despatch had
+been a sensational description of the urgent need of vicious men for
+the active protection of the Government from the consequences of
+their vices. Later, a Commission of Inquiry into the working of this
+Ordinance comments upon official statements as to the satisfactory
+consequences of the enactment of the measure in the checking of
+disease. The Commission demonstrates that in many instances their
+statements were absolute falsehoods, as proved by statements made by
+the same officials elsewhere. Since these officials are proved to have
+been so untruthful after the passing of the Ordinance, we can put no
+reliance on their statements previous to its enactments, and the
+more so because the statistics for Hong Kong in its early days are
+hopelessly confused with the general statistics for all China,
+wherever British soldiers or sailors were to be found. Therefore they
+are unavailable for citation. But as to statements made after the
+passage of the Ordinance, we append a compilation, as set forth by Dr.
+Birkbeck Nevins of Liverpool, England.
+
+    SHAMELESS AND YET OFFICIALLY-SANCTIONED FALSEHOOD IN PUBLISHING
+    OFFICIALLY UTTERLY UNTRUE STATISTICS IN FAVOUR OF THE C.D. ACTS IN
+    THE BRITISH COLONY OF HONG KONG WITH THE SANCTION AND AUTHORITY OF
+    THE COLONIAL GOVERNOR.
+
+    "Referring to the Colonial Surgeon's Department, we feel bound
+    to point out that those portions of the _Annual Medical Reports_
+    which refer to the subject of the Lock Hospital _have, in too many
+    instances, been altogether misleading_." (Report of Commission, p.
+    2, parag. 2.)
+
+    "In 1862 (five years after the Act had been in force) Dr. Murray
+    was '_completely satisfied_ with the _incalculable_ benefit that
+    had resulted to the colony from the Ordinance of 1857'"[A]
+
+    [Footnote A: An extreme form of C.D. Acts, without parallel in any
+    other place under British rule.]
+
+    "In 1865 (after eight years' experience) he wrote, 'the _good_ the
+    Ordinance does _is undoubted_; but the good it might do, were all
+    the unlicensed brothels suppressed, was incalculable.'"
+
+    "In 1867 (after ten years' experience) the _public_ was informed
+    that the Ordinance had been 'on trial for nearly ten years, and
+    _had done singular service_.'"
+
+    _Yet in this very same year_--1867, April 19th--"Dr. Murray stated
+    in an _Official Report not intended for publication_, but found
+    by the Commission among other Government papers, and
+    published,--'That venereal disease has been _on the increase_,
+    in spite of all that has been done to check it, _is no new
+    discovery_; it has already been brought before the notice of His
+    Excellency.'" (Report, p. 35, pars. 4 and 5.)
+
+    What is to be thought of the character of such reports for the
+    _Public_, and such an _Official Report_, "not _intended_ to be
+    _published_"?
+
+    This same Dr. Murray's Annual Report for the _Public_ for
+    1867, was _actually put in evidence before the House of Lords'
+    Committee_ on venereal diseases--1868, page 135. "Venereal disease
+    here has now become of _comparatively rare occurrence_." Yet the
+    _Army_ Report for the previous year (1866, page 115) states that
+    "the admissions to hospital for venereal disease were 281 per 1000
+    men;" i.e., more than one man in four of the whole soldiery had
+    been in hospital for this "comparatively rare" disease.
+
+    As regards the Navy, Dr. Murray says, "the evidence of Dr.
+    Bernard, the Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets, is
+    even more satisfactory. He writes (Jan. 27), 'I am enabled to say
+    that true syphilis is now rarely contracted by our men in Hong
+    Kong.'" Yet the "China station," in which Hong Kong occupies so
+    important a position, had at the time 25 per cent. more _secondary
+    (true) syphilis than any other naval station in the world, except
+    one (the S.E. American_); it had 101 of _primary (true) against
+    68 in the North American_, 31 in the S.E. American, and 22 in the
+    Australian stations (_all unprotected_); and _gonorrhoea_ was
+    _higher than in any other naval station in the world_. This
+    _official_ misleading feature is to be found in other quarters
+    than Dr. Murray's Reports; for in the _Navy_ Report for 1873
+    (p. 282), Staff Surgeon Bennett, medical officer of the ship
+    permanently stationed in Hong Kong, says--"Owing to the excellent
+    working of the Contagious Diseases Acts, venereal complaints in
+    the colony are reduced _to a minimum_. The _few cases_ of syphilis
+    are chiefly due to private prostitutes not known to the police."
+
+In a representation made to the Secretary of State by W.H. Sloggett,
+Inspector of Certified Hospitals, October 7, 1879, we get an exact
+account of what led to the passage of the Contagious Diseases
+Ordinance of 1857. He says: "In 1857, owing to the very strong
+representations which had been made to the Governor during the
+previous three years, by different naval officers in command of the
+China Station, of the prevalence and severity of venereal disease at
+Hong Kong, a Colonial Ordinance for checking these diseases was passed
+in November of that year."
+
+When Lord Kimberley was Secretary of State he wrote (on September 29,
+1880) Governor Hennessy of Hong Kong in defence of the Ordinance of
+1857,--at least as to the motive expressed by Mr. Labouchere for
+consenting to the passing of the Ordinance: "These humane intentions
+of Mr. Labouchere have been frustrated by various causes, among which
+must be included that the police have from the first been allowed to
+look upon this branch of their work as beneath their dignity,
+while the sanitary regulation of the brothels appears from recent
+correspondence to have been almost entirely disregarded." To this
+Governor Hennessy replied: "On the general question of the Government
+system of licensing brothels, your Lordship seems to think that I have
+not sufficiently recognized that the establishment of the system was
+a police measure, intended to give the Hong Kong Government some hold
+upon the brothels, in hope of improving the condition of the inmates,
+and of checking the odious species of slavery to which they are
+subjected. I can, however, assure your Lordship, whatever good
+intentions may have been entertained and expressed by Her Majesty's
+Government when the licensing system was established, that it has been
+worked for a different purpose." ... "The real purpose of the brothel
+legislation here has been, in the odious words so often used, the
+provision of clean Chinese women for the use of the British soldiers
+and sailors of the Royal Navy in this Colony."
+
+The real object of the Ordinance, commended by the Secretary of State
+as answering to "an urgent claim" on the part of slaves "upon the
+active protection of the Government," the operation of which was
+placed in the hands of the so-called Protector of Chinese, was plainly
+described in the preamble of the Ordinance as making "provisions for
+checking the spread of venereal diseases within this Colony." No other
+object was stated.
+
+The intention of the Government was that the Ordinance should be
+worked by the aid of the whole police force; but as early as 1860 we
+find the Protector, or Registrar General, D.R. Caldwell, reporting
+to the Colonial Secretary that "upon the first promulgation of the
+Ordinance, the Superintendent of Police manifested an indisposition
+to interfere in the working of the Ordinance, from a belief that it
+opened a door to corruption to the members of the force under him."
+Later, Mr. May, the superintendent of police alluded to, said before
+the Commission of Inquiry: "That he would not have permitted the
+police to have anything to do with the control or supervision of
+brothels under the Ordinance, being apart from the general objects
+of police duties, and from the great probability of its leading to
+corruption." Let this be told to Mr. May's lasting credit. Whereupon,
+on the Registrar General's application, the office of Inspector of
+Brothels was created.
+
+We have referred several times to a certain Commission which was
+appointed to inquire into the working of the Contagious Diseases
+Ordinances of Hong Kong. This Commission was appointed by Governor
+Hennessy on November 12th, 1877, and was composed of William Keswick,
+unofficial member of the Legislative Council, Thomas Child Hallyer,
+Esq., "one of Her Majesty's Counsel for the Colony," and Ernest John
+Eitel, M.A., Ph.D., Chinese Interpreter to the Governor. We shall have
+frequent cause to quote from this Commission's report, and as it is
+the only Commission we shall quote, we shall henceforth speak of it
+merely as "the Commission." This report says, concerning inspectors of
+brothels: "These posts, although fairly lucrative, do not seem to be
+coveted by men of very high class." For instance, we find in a report
+dated December 11, 1873, by the captain superintendent of police, Mr.
+Dean, and the acting Registrar General, Mr. Tonnochy, that they were
+not prepared to recommend anyone for an appointment to a vacancy which
+had just occurred, owing to the reluctance of the police inspectors to
+accept "the office of Inspector of Brothels." Mr. Creagh says, that
+the post is not one "which any of our inspectors would take. They look
+down on the post." "They are a class very inferior to those who
+would be inspectors with us. I don't believe anyone wishes it, but
+constables, or perhaps sergeants, would take the post for the pay."
+Mr. Dean would also "object to its being made a part of the duty of
+the general police to enforce the Contagious Diseases Acts." "My
+inspectors and sergeants," he says, "would so strongly object to
+taking the office that I should be unable to get anyone on whom I
+could rely.... The Inspector of Police looks down on the Inspector of
+Brothels." Dr. Ayres tells us: "You cannot get men fitted for the work
+at present salaries, and you have to put tremendous powers into the
+hands of men like those we have."
+
+Yet into the hands of men lower in character than the lowest of the
+police force was committed, in large part, the operation of Ordinance
+12, 1857, recommended by Mr. Labouchere as a sort of benevolent scheme
+for the defense of poor Chinese slaves under the British flag, who had
+"an urgent claim on the protection of Government."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 3.
+
+HOW THE PROTECTOR PROTECTED.
+
+
+Dr. Bridges, the Acting Attorney General at Hong Kong, who had framed
+the Contagious Diseases Ordinance of 1857, had given an assurance
+concerning it expressed in the following words: "There will be less
+difficulty in dealing with prostitution in this Colony than with the
+same in any other part of the world, as I believe the prostitutes here
+to be almost, without exception, Chinese who would be thankful to
+be placed under medical control of any kind; that few if any of the
+prostitutes are free agents, having been brought up for the purposes
+of prostitution by the keepers of brothels, and that whether as
+regards the unfortunate creatures themselves, the persons who obtain
+a living by these prostitutes, or the Chinese inhabitants in general,
+there are fewer rights to be interfered with here, less grounds for
+complaint by the parties controlled, and fewer prejudices on the
+subject to be shocked among the more respectable part of the community
+than could be found elsewhere." Mr. D.R. Caldwell, Protector,
+confirmed these views. But the views of the Chinese themselves had
+never been elicited, and immediately such prejudice was aroused among
+them that it was considered wise to subject only those houses resorted
+to by foreigners and their inmates, to medical surveillance. Says the
+report of the Commission: "So great has been the detestation of the
+Chinese of the system of personal examination, that it has been
+found practically impossible to apply it to purely Chinese houses of
+ill-fame [that is, places resorted to by Chinese only], to the present
+day." At once, then, the business of the Ordinance, as far as disease
+was concerned, became restricted to a fancied "protection" of foreign
+men given over to the practice of vice. But, as we show elsewhere
+on the statements of the officials who operated the Ordinance (made
+confidentially, but not intended for publication), that object was not
+realized, and in the very nature of things, never will be, by such
+measures. When the State guarantees the service of "clean women" to
+men of vicious habits, it actively encourages those vicious habits;
+and since these diseases are the direct outcome of such vice, the
+more the vice itself is encouraged the more the diseases resulting
+therefrom will increase in frequency.
+
+The treachery and perfidy of the profession that this Ordinance was
+in large measure one intended to "protect" poor slaves, is clearly
+exposed in this letter of Dr. Bridges. "There will be less difficulty"
+in operating the measure because the women are not "free agents!" The
+very success of the measure, their own language betrays, depended
+upon their servitude. Then were they likely to strike a blow at that
+slavery? Their measure would, then, of course, lead to an increase and
+not to a mitigation of the hardships of servitude. They had "fewer
+rights to be interfered with" in Hong Kong "than could he found
+elsewhere." Away with a measure of "protection" which finds its chief
+source of gratulation in the curtailed rights of the "protected!"
+
+The much-vaunted "protection" of the slaves, through medical
+surveillance, became limited at once to a certain class who associated
+with foreigners, whose interests were supposed to be "protected" by
+that surveillance. Nevertheless from that time almost to the present
+hour whenever it has been proposed to discontinue the compulsory
+medical examination, officials have raised a cry of pity for the poor
+slave-girls who would be left without "protection."
+
+Since each registered house was to pay a fee to the Colonial
+Government, which was turned into the fund to meet general expenses
+(although the express reading of the Ordinance was against this
+practice), this gave additional reason for registering all immoral
+houses, beyond their being listed for the compulsory examinations,
+hence all houses of prostitution were registered whether for
+foreigners or for Chinese.
+
+The Commission's report says: "This Ordinance seems to have been
+worked with energy by all concerned. Dr. Murray, who assumed charge of
+the Lock Hospital on the 1st of May, 1857,... discharged his duty with
+undoubted zeal. The Magistrates certainly threw no obstruction in the
+way of the working of the Ordinance; and the Government having, at a
+very early stage, determined that its efficacy 'should have a fair
+trial,' it doubtless received it at all hands."
+
+During the ten years this law was in operation, there were 411
+prosecutions, of which 140 were convictions for keeping unregistered
+houses, or houses outside the prescribed bounds. Fines were inflicted
+for these offenses and others, adding considerably to the amount
+collected regularly each month from each registered house. The
+Superintendent of Police, having refused to allow his force to operate
+as inspectors of brothels, in 1860 the first inspector was appointed,
+and he engaged an English policeman named Barnes to render services as
+an informer. This man brought charges in two cases, as to unlicensed
+(unregistered) brothels. The second case ended in acquittal,
+manifestly on the ground that the charges were trumped up. In the same
+year another inspector, Williams, acted as informer, and secured a
+conviction against a woman. Later, an inspector by the name of Peam,
+who succeeded Williams, employed police constables as informers, and
+lent them money for the purpose. All these performed their tasks in
+"plain clothes," as was the practice through subsequent years. In
+1861, constables (Europeans) acted frequently as informers, and in
+one instance the Acting Registrar General,--in other words, the
+"Protector,"--played the role of informer. He took a European
+constable with him to a native house and caused him to commit adultery
+there, and on this evidence prosecuted the woman for keeping an
+unregistered brothel. During this year, an inspector named Johnson
+presented a woman with a counterfeit dollar, and because she accepted
+the money she was condemned as a keeper of an unregistered house, and
+fined twenty-five dollars. This sum she would be less able to pay than
+the average American woman ten times as much, so low are wages in that
+country.
+
+In 1862, an inspector of brothels, a policeman, and the Bailiff of
+the Supreme Court, acted as informers; also in eleven cases European
+constables in plain clothes, and on two occasions a master of a ship.
+In 1863 the sworn belief alone of the inspector secured convictions in
+10 cases. In 1864, as far as the records show, public money was first
+used by informers to induce women to commit adultery with them, in
+order to secure their conviction, fine them, and enroll their abodes
+as registered brothels. Inspector Jones and Police Sergeant Daly,
+having spent ten dollars in self-indulgence in native houses, the
+Government reimbursed them and punished the women.
+
+In 1865, on three separate occasions, the "Protector," (Acting
+Registrar General Deane), "declared" houses, nine in number. Soon any
+sort of testimony was gladly welcomed, and Malays, East Indians and
+Chinese all turned informers, and money was not only given them with
+which to open the way for debauchery, but awards upon conviction of
+the women with whom they consorted. "The Chinese used for this work
+were chiefly Lokongs, [native police constables], Inspector Peterson's
+servant and a cook at No. 8 Police Station. The depositions show
+that in at least five cases the police and their informers received
+rewards. Three times their exertions were remunerated by sums of
+twenty dollars, although in one of these instances the evidence was
+apparently volunteered. Arch and Collins [Europeans] once got five
+dollars each, and Chinese constables received similar amounts." In
+many of these cases the immorality on the part of the informers who
+brought the charges seems to have been unblushingly stated. "The
+zeal of inspectors of brothels and informers had been stimulated by
+occasional solid rewards from the Bench, and the numerous prosecutions
+commenced seldom failed to end in conviction and substantial
+punishment."
+
+Ten years after the Ordinance of 1857 had been in operation, the
+Registrar General, C.C. Smith, wrote:
+
+    "There is another matter connected with the brothels, licensed
+    and unlicensed, in Hong Kong, which almost daily assumes a graver
+    aspect. I refer to what is no less than the trafficking in human
+    flesh between the brothel-keepers and the vagabonds of the Colony.
+    Women are bought and sold in nearly every brothel in the place.
+    They are induced by specious pretexts to come to Hong Kong, and
+    then, after they are admitted into the brothels, such a system of
+    espionage is kept over them, and so frightened do they get, as to
+    prevent any application to the police. They have no relatives, no
+    friends to assist them, and their life is such that, unless goaded
+    into unusual excitement by a long course of ill-treatment, they
+    sink down under the style of life they are forced to adopt, and
+    submit patiently to their masters. But cases have occurred where
+    they have run away, and placed themselves in the hands of the
+    police; who, however, can do nothing whatever toward punishing the
+    offenders for the lack of evidence, the women being afraid to
+    tell their tale in open court. Women have, it is true, willingly
+    allowed themselves to be sold for some temporary gain; but that
+    brothel-keepers should be allowed to enter into such transactions
+    is of serious moment. I have myself tried to fix such a case on
+    more than one brothel-keeper, but failed to do so, though there
+    was no doubt of the transaction, as I held the bill of sale. The
+    only mode of action I had under the circumstances was to cancel
+    the license of the house. In the interest of humanity, too, it
+    might be enacted that any brothel-keeper should be liable to a
+    fine for having on his or her premises any child under 15 years of
+    age."
+
+This statement as to the increase of slavery under this Ordinance is
+just what might have been expected, but it is especially valuable as
+made by the Registrar General who knew most about the matter, and it
+contains most damaging admissions against himself, for as the Colonial
+Secretary, W.T. Mercer, states in a foot-note in the State document
+printing the Registrar General's statement: "Surely the bill of sale
+here would have been sufficient evidence." It is plainly to be seen
+from such statements that after a few efforts to take advantage of
+anti-slavery laws at Hong Kong, after a few appeals to the police for
+protection and liberty, slave girls would learn by terrible experience
+to cease all such efforts. Think of the fate of a girl when thrust
+back into the hands of her cruel master or mistress, by the heartless
+indifference of the "Protector," after having ventured to go to the
+length of producing her bill of sale into slavery. We should remember
+these things, when we hear of American officials going through
+Chinatown and asking the girls if they wish to come away, and in case
+they do not at once declare they wish it, reporting that there are no
+slave girls in Chinatown. These poor creatures have been trained in a
+hard school, and have no reason to believe that any foreign officials
+have the least interest in helping to obtain their liberty. And if
+they cannot secure protection by complaint, far better never admit
+that there is reason for complaint.
+
+Note the calm admission of the Registrar General that nothing was
+being done to prevent the rearing of children in these registered
+brothels, where every detail was subject to Government surveillance.
+"It might be enacted," says the "Protector," that such a
+brothel-keeper should be "liable to a fine!" But why, in the face of
+such frank acknowledgement of the existence of slavery, were not the
+Queen's proclamation against slavery, and the many other enactments of
+the same sort, enforced? Listen, and we will tell why. These officials
+believed _vice was necessary_, and as there was no class of "fallen
+women," in our understanding of the term, the Oriental prostitute
+being a literal slave, then _slavery was necessary_ when it ministered
+to the vices of men. Hence the Government-registered brothels were
+filled with women slaves. As to the unregistered brothels, the
+"protected woman" protected that, and also the nursery of purchased
+and stolen children being brought up and trained for the slave market,
+excepting those children which, as we have seen, were being trained in
+the registered houses. If an officer attempted to enter the house of
+a "protected woman," he was told: "This is not a brothel. This is the
+private family residence of Mr. So and So," mentioning the name of
+some foreigner. Thus the foreigners who kept Chinese mistresses
+furnished, in effect, that protection to slavery that led the Chinese
+to go forward so boldly in their business of buying and kidnaping
+children. Even when women were brought into court for keeping
+unregistered brothels, and although they were keeping them, yet if
+they could show that they were "protected women," they had a fair show
+of being acquitted.
+
+Legislative enactments directed to the object of making the practice
+of vice healthy for men are called, in popular language, "Contagious
+Diseases Acts," because that was the first name given them. But of
+late years all such laws have met with such bitter opposition, that,
+like an old criminal, the measures seek to hide themselves under all
+sorts of _aliases_. Mrs. Josephine Butler describes such legislation
+in general in the following simple, lucid manner:
+
+    "By this law, policemen,--not the local police, but special
+    Government police, in plain clothes,--are employed to look after
+    all the poor women and girls in a town and its neighborhood. These
+    police spies have power to take up any woman they please, on
+    _suspicion_ that she is not a moral woman, and to register her
+    name on a shameful register as a prostitute. She is then forced to
+    submit to the horrible ordeal of a personal examination of a kind
+    which cannot be described here. It is an act on the part of the
+    Government doctor such as would be called an indecent or criminal
+    assault if any other man were to force it upon a woman. And it is
+    the _State_ which forces this indecent assault on the persons of
+    the helpless daughters of the poor.
+
+    "If a woman refuses to submit to it, she is punished by
+    imprisonment, with or without hard labor, _until_ she does submit.
+
+    "If, after she has endured this torture, she is found to be healthy
+    and well, she is set free, with a certificate that she is _fit
+    to practice prostitution_; but observe, she is never more a free
+    woman, for her name is on the register of Government prostitutes,
+    and she is strictly under the eye of the police, and is bound to
+    come up periodically,--it may be weekly or fortnightly,--to be
+    again outraged.
+
+    "If she is found to have signs of disease, she is sent to a
+    hospital, which is practically a prison, where she is kept as
+    long as the doctors please. She may be kept for weeks or months,
+    without any choice of her own. When cured, she is again set free
+    with her certificate. During the first years of this law, a
+    certificate on paper was given to every woman who had passed
+    through this cruel ordeal; on this paper was the name of the
+    woman, and the date of the last examination. The Abolitionist
+    party, however, represented so strongly the shame of the whole
+    proceeding, that the Government ordered that the piece of paper
+    or ticket should not be given to the women any longer. But this
+    change made no real difference, for it was well known that
+    the women were forced to submit to the outrage of enforced
+    examination.... You know that every criminal,--murderer, or thief,
+    or any other,--has the benefit of the law; he or she is allowed an
+    open trial, at which witnesses are called, and a legal advocate
+    appears for the defense of the accused. But these State slaves
+    are allowed no trial. It is enough that the police suspects and
+    accuses them; then they are treated as criminals.... It will be
+    clear to you that this law is not for simple healing, as Christ
+    would have us to heal, caring for all, whatever their character
+    or whatever their disease. This law is invented to _provide
+    beforehand_ that men may be able to sin without bodily injury (if
+    that were possible, which it is not). If a burglar, who had broken
+    into my house and stolen my goods, were to fall and be hurt, I
+    would be glad to get him into a hospital and have him nursed and
+    cured; but I would not put a ladder up against my window at night
+    and leave the windows open in order that he might steal my goods
+    without danger of breaking his neck.
+
+    "You will see clearly, also, the cowardliness and unmanliness of
+    this law, inasmuch as it sacrifices women to men, the weak to the
+    strong; that it deprives the woman of all that she has in life, of
+    liberty, character, law, even of life itself (for it is a process
+    of slow murder to which she is subjected), for the supposed
+    benefit of men who are mean enough to avail themselves of this
+    provision of lust.
+
+    "Besides being grossly unjust, as between men and women, this law
+    is a piece of class legislation of an extreme kind. The position
+    and wealth of men of the upper classes place the women belonging
+    to them above any chance of being accused of prostitution. Ladies
+    who ride in carriages through the street at night are in no danger
+    of being molested. But what about working women? what about the
+    daughters, sisters and wives of working men, out, it may be, on
+    an errand of mercy at night? and what, most of all, of that girl
+    whose father, mother, friends are dead or far away, who is
+    struggling hard, in a hard world, to live uprightly and justly
+    by the work of her own hands,--is she in no danger of this law?
+    Lonely and friendless, and poor, is she in no danger of a false
+    accusation from malice or from error? especially since under this
+    law _homeless_ girls are particularly marked out as just subjects
+    for its operation; and if she is accused, what has she to rely on,
+    under God, except that of which this law deprives her, the appeal
+    to be tried 'by God and my country,' by which it is understood
+    that she claims the judicial means of defense to which the law of
+    the land entitles her?
+
+    "I will only add that this law has a fatally corrupting influence
+    over the male youth of every country where it is in force. It
+    warps the conscience, and confuses the sense of right and wrong.
+    When the State raises this immoral traffic into the position of a
+    lawful industry, superintended by Government officials, what are
+    the young and ignorant to think? They cannot believe that that
+    which the Government of the country allows, and makes rules for,
+    and superintends, is really wrong."
+
+Such measures as these have acquired a foothold in the United States
+more than once, but have been driven out again. They are proposed
+every year almost, at some State Legislature, and often have been
+proposed at several different legislatures during a single year. They
+are in operation, to some extent at least, under the United States
+flag at Hawaii, in the Philippines, and at Porto Rico. The enforcement
+of the Acts must depend to a large extent upon the co-operation of the
+male fornicator with the police and officers of the law, and places
+good women and girls terribly in the power of malicious or designing
+libertines.
+
+It appears from official records, that in Hong Kong, during six months
+in 1886-7, out of 139 women denounced by British soldiers and sailors
+as having communicated contagion, 102 were on examination found free
+from disease, and only 37 to be diseased; and during a similar
+period in 1887-8, out of 103 women that were denounced, 101 were on
+examination found free from disease and only two diseased. We can
+judge from this of both the worthlessness of the measure for tracing
+diseased women, and the mischievousness of the measure as an aid to
+libertines in getting girls they are endeavoring to seduce so injured
+in reputation that they can easily capture their prey.
+
+As a sanitary measure, the Acts have invariably proved a failure, as
+shown by honestly handled statistics. There have, to be sure, been
+many doctors, some of high scientific qualifications, who have
+produced statistics strongly tending to prove the sanitary benefits
+of such measures on superficial survey. But these statistics have
+afterwards been shown to be mistakenly handled or designedly
+manipulated to make such a showing. This is not a medical book, and
+any extended treatment of figures as to disease would be entirely out
+of place in it, so we will content ourselves by saying that during
+late years physicians of prominence from every part of the world have
+assembled twice at Brussels for Conferences in regard to this matter.
+These physicians are in large numbers Continental doctors, the very
+ones who have had most to do in enforcing such measures. Each time
+the number of opponents to the Contagious Diseases Acts has rapidly
+increased, after listening to the testimony from all sides as to
+their inutility; in fact, the whole force of opinion at each of these
+Conferences, in 1899 and 1902, was against State Regulation, though
+there was a division of opinion as to the substitute for it.
+
+In 1903, the Minister of the Interior of France, the country where
+these Acts originated, nominated an extra-Parliamentary Commission to
+go thoroughly into these questions. This Commission held its numerous
+sittings in 1905, and in the end by almost a two-thirds' majority
+condemned the existing system of regulation in France, and furthermore
+rejected the alternative proposal of notification with compulsory
+treatment, by sixteen votes to one. In reporting on the Conferences
+held in Brussels, the _Independence Belge_ said, in a leading article:
+"Regulation is visibly decaying, and the fact is the more striking
+because the country that instituted it (France) is at present the one
+that meets it with the most ardent hostility."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 4.
+
+MORE POWER DEMANDED AND OBTAINED.
+
+
+In 1866 the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell,
+determined upon the repeal of Ordinance 12, 1857, in order to
+inaugurate "a more vigorous policy of coercion," (says the
+Commission's report): "The key note of the new regime was struck by
+the Governor's first minute on the subject, dated 20th October, 1866,
+in which he wrote he was 'anxious early to introduce to the Council an
+amended Brothel Ordinance, conferring _necessarily_ almost despotic
+powers on the Registrar General." ... Be it said to the honor of
+Attorney General (now Sir Julian) Pauncefote, that in the face of this
+he urges the most weighty objections to the policy of "subjecting
+persons to fine and imprisonment without the safeguards which surround
+the administration of justice in a public and open court." But these
+objections were not allowed to prevail.
+
+It appears that some hesitation was felt on the part of the home
+authorities in giving approval to the new ordinance. It may have been
+the warning given by Attorney General Pauncefote, it may have been
+something else. Whatever it was, the Commission informs us: "The
+Ordinance 10 of 1867 received its final sanction when the conclusion
+arrived at by the Colonial Government was before the home authorities,
+showing that in the event of the ordinance becoming law, _revenue
+would be derived_ from the tainted source of prostitution among the
+Chinese." (The italics are the authors').
+
+Ordinance 10, 1867 now came into operation, with the following
+additional powers in the hands of the "Protector" of Chinese, the
+Registrar General:
+
+    1st, Not only were keepers of unregistered houses to be fined or
+    sent to prison, but the women--"held in practical slavery for the
+    purposes of prostitution"--when found in unregistered houses were
+    also subject to fine and imprisonment.
+
+    2nd, The Registrar-General, otherwise the "Protector" of Chinese,
+    could break into any house suspected of being a brothel, and
+    arrest the keeper thereof without warrant. And he could authorize
+    his underlings to do the same.
+
+    3rd, The Registrar General could exercise both judicial and
+    executive powers in the prosecution of the duties of his office.
+
+    4th, All outdoor prostitutes could be arrested without warrant,
+    fined and imprisoned.
+
+    The new law possessed one virtue over the old. It frankly, and
+    more honestly, employed the word "licensed," where the old law
+    said "registered," brothels.
+
+The report of the Commission says:
+
+    "Although the new Ordinance conferred such extensive and unusual
+    powers on the Registrar General and Superintendent of Police as to
+    breaking into and entering houses and arresting keepers without
+    warrant, no serious difficulty whatever, so far as the records
+    show,--and we have paid special attention to the point,--seems to
+    have been experienced under the previous enactments in bringing
+    the keepers of such houses before the court.... Nor can we in
+    the second place find among the foregoing records proof of the
+    necessity of the transfer to the Registrar General of the judicial
+    powers.... As a matter of fact, witnesses do not seem to have been
+    at all squeamish in divulging repulsive details in open Court,
+    nor, on the other hand, do the magistrates ever seem to have shown
+    too exacting a disposition as to the nature or amount of the
+    evidence they required to sustain convictions; and the astonishing
+    system of detection which had grown up had met, so far as we can
+    see, with neither discouragement nor remonstrance."
+
+We pause to lift our hearts to God in prayer before venturing to lift
+the curtain and disclose even a faint outline of the reign of terror
+now instituted over poor, horror-stricken Chinese women of the humbler
+ranks of life at Hong Kong. But, in order that we may understand the
+conditions under which the slave women coming to our Pacific Coast
+have lived in times past, the recital is necessary. Happy for us if we
+never needed to know any of these dark chapters of human history and
+human wrongs! Sad indeed for the thoughtless, and bringing only harm,
+if such an account as we have to give should be read merely out of
+curiosity or for entertainment. There is either ennoblement or injury
+in what we have to say, according to the spirit brought to the task
+of reading it. Think quietly, then, dear reader, for one moment. From
+what motive will you read our recital? We do not write what is lawful
+to the merely inquisitive. Then, will you continue to read from a
+worthier motive? If not, we pray you, close the book, and pass it on
+to someone more serious minded. Our message is only for those who will
+hear with the desire to help. But do not say: "I am too ignorant as to
+what to do, I am too weak, or I am too lowly, and without talents or
+influence." No, you are not. There is a place for you to help. God
+will show it to you, if this book does not suggest a practicable plan
+for you. What we wish to accomplish, and what we must accomplish, if
+at all, by just such aid as you can give, sums itself up in this: We
+must make our officers of the law understand that _the question of
+slavery has been settled once for all_ in the United States, by
+the Civil War, and we will have none of it again. It will never be
+tolerated under the Stars and Stripes; and when you can think of
+nothing else to do, you can always go aside and cry to the Judge of
+all the earth to "execute righteousness and judgment for all that are
+oppressed," as He has promised to do, if we but call upon Him.
+
+Now read on with a heart full of courage, not caring for the haunting
+pain that will be left when you lay the book aside. What others have
+had to suffer, you can at least endure to hear about, in order to put
+a check upon like suffering in the future, and in our own land, too.
+A country bathed in blood as ours has once been has met already its
+terrible judgment for not throttling the monster, Slavery, in its
+infancy, before it cost so much blood and treasure. We will be wiser
+another time, and refuse to trifle with such great wrongs. We cannot
+brave the Omnipotent wrath in a second judgment for the same offense,
+lest He say to us: "Ye have not hearkened unto Me, in proclaiming
+liberty, everyone to his brother, and every man to his neighbor;
+behold, I proclaim a liberty unto you, saith the Lord, to the sword
+and to the pestilence and to the famine."
+
+From the first days of the enactment of this measure, and all the way
+through until 1877, the inspectors of brothels had standing orders to
+enter any native house that they suspected of containing any women
+of loose character, and arrest its inmates in accordance with the
+following plan: The inspector would secure an accomplice, called an
+informer, or often more than one. The accomplice would enter a native
+house plentifully supplied with marked money out of the Secret Service
+Fund. This accomplice was often a friend or relative of the family he
+called upon. He would often offer them a feast and drinks, and send
+to a near-by restaurant and procure them at Government expense. After
+feasting and drinking, he would try to induce some woman of the house
+to consort with him, showing her a sufficient sum of money to fairly
+dazzle her eyes. This he could well afford to do, for the Government
+put the money in his hands to offer, and if the woman accepted, it
+would not be a loss to the Government, for it would be taken back
+again afterwards. Perhaps some poor half-starved creature would yield
+to the tempter; perhaps some heathen man would press his wife to
+accept the offer, in his greed for the money; perhaps some foolish
+young girl would think she had suddenly come into great fortune in
+having a man of such great wealth proposing marriage to her. It must
+not be forgotten that the poorest people in China often marry in
+a manner which is _almost devoid of all ceremony_, and yet it is
+considered perfectly right and honorable, and the couple remain
+faithful to each other afterwards. It is not unlikely, then, a young
+woman might, with the consent of her parents, look upon such a
+proposal as this as about to eventuate in real marriage, if it were so
+put before her. No such thing as courting ever takes place in China,
+previous to marriage. In other cases, doubtless, the informer who had
+thus intruded himself for the basest reasons into a native house,
+might really find a woman of loose character there. It were certainly
+more to the credit of such a woman that she was in hiding, and
+preferred it to flaunting her shame in a licensed house of infamy.
+What business have Governments hounding down these women, tearing away
+their last shred of decency and obliging them if inclining to go wrong
+to sink at once to the lowest depths of infamy? But that is what the
+attempt to localize vice in one section of a town, or to legalize it
+always means. When the informer at Hong Kong had insinuated himself
+into a native house and by means of the bait of "marked money" caught
+a victim and sinned with her, at once he threw open the window and
+summoned the Inspector, who was in waiting outside, who would rush
+in and arrest all the women and girls in the house, down to children
+often only 13 or 14 years old. This was not all according to law, but
+it seems to have been the regular practice. Says Mr. Lister, who was
+Registrar General for the first year after the Ordinance of 1867 came
+into operation: "As a general rule, the first thing I knew of a case
+of an unlicensed brothel coming before me was the finding of a string
+of women in my office in the morning." "Almost despotic powers" had
+been put into the hands of the "Registrar General," and these were
+some of the results. The "marked money" that had caught the victim
+would now be sanctimoniously taken away from her and restored to the
+Secret Service Fund. The woman would be fined or imprisoned, and the
+other inmates of the house put through trial as accused of being
+"common prostitutes" and inmates of an unlicensed brothel, and if the
+Registrar General so decided, the house from which they came declared
+in the Government Gazette as a licensed house of prostitution. The
+keepers of licensed brothels, slave-dealers, procurers and such
+characters hung around the court room to help these women pay their
+fines, and so get them under bonds to work off these fines by
+prostitution. Sometimes the women sold their children instead of
+themselves. If boys, for "adoption," as it is called; a form of
+slavery which is permitted in Hong Kong. If girls, into domestic
+slavery or worse, probably with the thought that they could buy them
+back soon, but if the mother herself went the daughter would be sure
+to be caught by kidnapers, or fall into prostitution anyway, as the
+only means she would have of getting along without her mother's
+protection. Mr. Lister said before the Commission: "I became
+suspicious of the whole system of convictions against houses for
+Chinese. I was certain that the informers could not be depended on
+for one moment. My inspector employed his own boatmen as informers.
+I became convinced that _I could lock up the whole Chinese female
+population by this machinery_." Married men were often knowingly hired
+on Government money to commit adultery with native women, then the
+money would be taken away from the woman and she could not even have
+that toward her fine, while the man would be given a further reward
+for hunting down an "unlicensed woman." Quickly, strong organizations
+of brothel-keepers were formed, and the whole infernal system from
+that day to this of brothel slavery passed under the secret management
+of "capitalists"--Chinese merchants of large means.
+
+We have made a general statement as to abuses; now for some specified
+details. Sometimes the inspectors took their turn as informers, and
+often men of higher official rank did so, even to the Registrar
+General himself. In 1868, Inspectors Peterson and Jamieson visited
+houses as informers, dressed in plain clothes. Jamieson went once
+disguised as a soldier. Inspectors Burns, Sieir and Deane were also
+employed as informers, this year. In one case, a woman escaped the
+persecution of an informer who had intruded into her house by means of
+ladder; in another case, a woman risked her life getting out of the
+window upon a flimsy shade adjusted to keep the sun out; in another,
+a woman managed to escape to the roof; one poor creature let herself
+down to the ground from an upper window by means of a spout. When
+women were ready to take such risks as these (and undoubtedly the
+official records would mention only a few such cases out of the many)
+rather than be compelled to keep open houses of prostitution, one
+would have thought it would have counted as some proof of the
+respectable character of the women,--but it does not seem to have been
+reckoned so. The women were generally driven into the business of
+keeping an open house of prostitution anyway, and the Government
+benefited in cash by just so much more.
+
+"It may be mentioned here," says the report of the Commission, from
+which we cull these cases, "that from this date (July 6th, 1868) the
+practice has apparently prevailed of apprehending all the women found
+in unlicensed brothels" (in more correct language, those houses
+penetrated into by informers and reported to the Registrar as
+brothels). These accusations were not always true, by any means. Seven
+women were apprehended at one time during this year, on the charge of
+a watchman, that they kept and were inmates of an unlicensed brothel,
+"the chief witness being a child 10 years old ... five of the women
+were married, and two, children of 13 and 14 years old, are described
+as unmarried." They were all, even the children, convicted, and
+sent to the Lock Hospital for the indecent examination, in order to
+determine if they were in proper health to practice vice. Afterwards
+the Registrar concluded that the case had been got up by the watchman
+to extort money from the women. But the establishment of their
+innocence did not put them right again. Think of the horrible ordeal
+and the dirty court details through which these young girls had been
+put, on the testimony of a child of ten, and of a watchman determined
+that they should learn to give him money when he demanded it, or he
+would drive them into prostitution. One wonders how many hundreds of
+respectable families were thus bled of their small incomes by the vile
+informers who were being rewarded by Government for their extortion.
+Imagine the terror that respectable Chinese women suffered, knowing
+that any man might denounce them, out of malice, and thereby reduce
+them to the very worst conceivable form of slavery! Within a few
+years, nearly all the respectable Chinese women had disappeared from
+Hong Kong. Chief Inspector Whitehead testified before the Commission:
+"When an unlicensed brothel [i.e., a native house accused of being
+such] is broken up, the women have to resort to prostitution in most
+cases for a living." During 1869, one poor woman signed a bond to
+deport herself for five years rather than be taken to the Lock
+Hospital. But the "protected women," with their nursery of children
+they were raising for brothel slavery, being the mistresses of
+foreigners, were not persecuted in this manner, so, by a kind of mad
+infatuation the Government seemed bent on encouraging and developing
+immoral women and driving decent women either into prostitution, or,
+by the reign of terror, out of the Colony. In 1869, five women
+were charged before the Registrar General, and three of them were
+discharged as innocent. Then the Registrar General decided _to make
+the punishment of the first of the remaining two depend upon the state
+of health of the second_. This second was examined and found diseased,
+and in consequence of that fact, the first one was fined fifty dollars
+or two months' imprisonment! The Commission speaks of this as a
+"somewhat curious" case. We wonder how the punished woman described
+it. Afterwards, the case was reopened, and "evidence was given
+calculated to throw the gravest doubts on the credibility of the
+informers" against these five women. What was then done? Were the
+informers punished for giving false evidence designed to work
+incalculable injury to five innocent women? Not at all. A few days
+later the same informers were employed again as witnesses, and secured
+the conviction of three more women. In one case, in 1870, it was
+proved that an informer had entered a house and made an indecent
+assault upon a woman, doubtless expecting to get his reward as usual.
+But he was fined ten pounds instead. But how many others may have
+done the same thing under circumstances where a sufficient number of
+witnesses to the assault could not be produced. And then, the man
+would be rewarded and the woman forced at once to take up her
+residence in a licensed house of shame. The Acting Registrar General
+played the part of informer during 1870, and punished as judge the
+woman he accused before himself,--for the law, as we have said, that
+came into force in 1867 gave the Registrar General both prosecuting
+and judicial powers. He probably also induced the woman on Government
+money to commit adultery with him. Then as the judge he would
+confiscate the money again, and give her a fine of fifty dollars
+instead. We wonder if he likewise gave himself a "substantial award
+from the bench," as the Registrar General was accustomed to give other
+informers when they succeeded in getting evidence sufficient for
+conviction. It is noticed by the Commission that one woman this same
+year escaped by the roof at the peril of her life. No one knows how
+many more may have done the same.
+
+An inspector, Peterson, and a constable, Rylands, each induced women
+on the street to accept money of them, and these women were punished
+as prostitutes in hiding and not registered. Two prosecutions during
+this same year are mentioned as having been instituted from malice.
+One woman jumped from her window and severely injured herself, trying
+to escape Inspector Douglass. One woman dared to assault an informer
+who was after her, and was punished by ten days' imprisonment, with
+hard labor. Inspector Jamieson brought charges against three women
+for obstructing him in the discharge of his official duties, and was
+himself found guilty of illegal conduct.
+
+In the records of 1871 is the case of two men who had a falling out,
+Alfred Flarey and Police Constable Charles Christy, for some reason
+not mentioned. Each of these men kept a private mistress. Flarey
+went to an inspector, and obtained money to be used in tempting the
+mistress of Christy. He then accused her before the courts, she was
+condemned, and paid a fine of ten dollars. On the following day,
+Christy appeared in court against the mistress of Flarey, with two
+fellow-policemen, to describe their own vileness in order to get
+revenge on Flarey by depriving him of his mistress and reducing her to
+the level of a common prostitute. The woman was discharged, indicating
+that it was a trumped up case. The Commission's report, in describing
+the details declares: "The law, in these two instances, was put in
+motion obviously for the vilest of purposes."
+
+In 1872, Inspector Lee, who had become an inspector in 1870, and
+of whom we shall have more to say, acted himself as informer, and
+employed his boy twice in the same capacity. Inspector Horton acted as
+informer eleven times, and Inspector King four times. During this year
+the Registrar General so far forgot that there was even a sanitary
+pretext for the Ordinance for the law he was set to operate as
+to employ as an informer one Vincent Greaves, whom he knew to be
+diseased. From about this time on, many cases of conviction were
+secured against women where it was evident the matter had gone no
+further than that they had accepted the marked money of the informers,
+or, as was actually proved in some cases, this marked Government money
+had been secreted by the informers in the rooms occupied by women.
+Inspector Lee in one instance found the money on a table in a room
+into which an informer had insinuated himself. The woman denied having
+ever accepted it of him, yet she was convicted on that evidence alone.
+With rewards offered to men of the lowest character, who would secure
+the conviction of women so that the latter could be forced into the
+life of open prostitution, all the presumptive evidence should have
+turned such a case as this against the informer. Many similar cases
+of the conviction of women of being keepers and inmates of secret
+brothels, were secured on this sort of evidence. One young girl of 14
+was entrapped by marked money being found in her toilet table. The
+court records showed that this was the second time she had been
+entrapped in this manner. This second time she was convicted and sent
+to the Lock Hospital where, upon examination, exceptional conditions
+demonstrated beyond doubt that she was still a virgin. But what of the
+many young girls with whom exceptional conditions did not exist, when
+_they_ were brought to the examination table?
+
+During the year 1873, two women were severely injured by jumping out
+of their windows to escape the informers. One fractured her leg.
+
+The cook of Inspector King testified in the Registrar General's court:
+"Yesterday I received orders of Mr. King to go to Wanchai, and see if
+I could catch some unlicensed prostitutes." This man was employed,
+and his employer orders him off to this wicked business, and he must
+either obey or take his discharge. A Chinese servant ordered to go
+commit adultery by the man who employed him as his cook. These things
+were constantly done by employers of Chinese men. Yet these native
+servants are all married men, for they marry so young in the Orient.
+And Government money was furnished them besides to pay for the
+debauchery, and if they brought in a good case for prosecution they
+got a reward in money besides. So this cook is ordered off by his
+master to "catch some unlicensed prostitutes," with the same _sang
+froid_ as though ordered to go catch some fish for dinner. The cook
+seemed to know where to get the most ardent assistance for the task
+his employer had set him, for he says: "I got the assistance of a man
+who is master of a licensed brothel in Wanchai." To be sure; who would
+be so interested in capturing women and getting them condemned to go
+and live in a house licensed by the Government as the man in the town
+at the head of the licensed house? The cook was given a dollar as
+bait, with which to catch the woman. Inspector Lee, who followed up
+the men to make sure of the capture, found the dollar given by King
+to his cook "lying on the bed" in the room occupied by the women,
+and they were convicted on no other evidence than this and Lee's
+"suspicions."
+
+Private Michael Smith of the 80th Regiment was given four dollars by
+Inspector Morton and instructed to go to a certain Mrs. Wright at
+her quarters, and try to debauch her; he drank brandy with her [at
+Government expense?] from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., but failed in his
+errand. Why did she not turn him out of the house? Women were
+frequently fined for daring to resent the aggressions of these
+informers. In one case a man was struck for trying to obstruct the
+arrest of a girl of 14, and later was punished. This girl was proved
+to be a virgin afterwards. Many women and girls, against whom there
+was no sufficient evidence, were sent to the Lock Hospital for
+examination in order to determine in that manner their character. In
+half-a-dozen cases or so, it is recorded that the result determined
+the virginity of the person. But such a test as this rests upon the
+accidental presence of an exceptional condition among even virgins,
+and what became of those who did not answer to the exceptional test,
+and yet were as pure as the rest? They would everyone of them be
+consigned to the fate of a brothel slave.
+
+One informer, "with the assistance of public money, and in the
+interests of justice," according to the Commission's report, sinned
+with a child of fifteen in order to get her name on the register.
+Inspector Horton bargained for the deflowering of a virgin of 15, "in
+the interests of justice," with the owner of the slave child. The
+child as well as the owner were then taken to the Lock Hospital, where
+the latter was proved to be a virgin. A Chinese informer consorted
+with a girl named Tai-Yau "against her will, which led to his being
+rewarded, and to her being fined one hundred dollars." She was unable
+to pay the fine, and sold her little boy in part payment for it, in
+order to escape a life of prostitution.
+
+But need we go into further painful details? There are hundreds more
+of such cases of cruel wrong on record, and God alone knows how many
+thousands of cases there are that have never been put on record. We
+only aim to give a case here and there in illustration of the many
+forms of cruelty practiced upon innocent women in order to force them
+into prostitution, and to demonstrate that brothel slavery at Hong
+Kong cannot truthfully be represented as the outcome of Chinese
+customs which foreign officials have found difficulty in altering.
+
+But why should Americans be called upon to acquaint themselves with
+such loathsome details? In order that Americans may have some just
+conception of their duty toward the large number of these poor,
+unhappy slaves who have been brought from Hong Kong to their own
+country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 5.
+
+HOUNDED TO DEATH.
+
+
+Sir John Pope Hennessy went to Hong Kong as Governor of the Colony in
+the early Spring of 1877. In the following October a tragedy occurred,
+which drew his attention to the administration of the Registrar
+General, and he set himself to the task of trying to right some of the
+wrongs of the Chinese women.
+
+The case last mentioned in the previous chapter related to a woman
+by the name of Tai-Yau, whom an informer humbled "against her will,"
+which led to his being rewarded and her being fined $100, to pay which
+she sold her little boy. This seems to have been the only way open for
+her to escape a life of prostitution. To make this point clear, we
+will here insert the explanation of conditions given by Dr. Eitel in
+a communication for the information of Governor Hennessy at a little
+later period than the incident we are about to relate. He speaks of
+Chinese women who secretly practiced prostitution [but, as we have
+shown, many respectable Chinese women suffered also], as
+
+    "preyed upon by informers paid with Government money, who would
+    first debauch such women and then turn against them, charging them
+    before the magistrate under the Ordinance 10, 1867, before the
+    Registrar General as keepers of unlicensed brothels in which case
+    a heavy fine would be inflicted, to pay which these women used to
+    sell their children, or sell themselves into bondage worse than
+    ordinary slavery, to the keepers of brothels licensed by the
+    Government. Whenever a so-called sly brothel was broken up these
+    keepers would crowd the shroff's office [money exchanger's office]
+    of the police court or the visiting room of the Government Lock
+    Hospital to drive their heartless bargains, _which were
+    invariably enforced with the weighty support of the inspectors of
+    brothels_,[A] appointed by Government under the Contagious
+    Diseases Ordinance. The more this Ordinance was enforced, the more
+    this buying and selling of human flesh went on at the very doors
+    of Government offices."
+
+[Footnote A: We italicise this to call attention to the active part
+officials took in encouraging slavery.]
+
+We can then readily imagine Tai-Yau as sentenced to pay her fine of
+one hundred dollars, and nothing to pay with. The money exchanger's
+office next the court room was crowded with slave-dealers, waiting to
+offer to pay the fines of such unhappy creatures, and she probably
+turned to them. If she were sent to jail what would become of her
+little boy? And if she sold herself to the licensed brothel-keepers,
+as the inspectors of brothels were urging her to do, the fate of her
+boy would be even worse. She could see a hope that if she sold the boy
+for "adoption," a form of slavery the Hong Kong Government permitted,
+of which we will tell more,--then if she had her freedom she could at
+least hope to redeem him some time. So the little fellow was sold
+for about forty dollars, and she went away sixty dollars in
+debt,--probably to the brothel-keepers, who would never let her out
+of their sight until, through the debt and the interest thereon, they
+would in time be enabled to seize her as their slave. But she went out
+hoping for some honest way of earning the money, or else she would
+have bargained with them at once to work off the debt by prostitution.
+But what could a Chinese woman do in the face of such a debt? A
+painter's wages at Hong Kong at this time were five dollars a month. A
+woman's wages at any respectable occupation would not have been more
+than half that amount. Ten cents a day would be a fair computation.
+And all the time she would be trying to earn the money the debt would
+be increasing by the interest on it; and her little boy would increase
+more rapidly in value than in years.
+
+All this occurred in November, 1876. About the first of October, 1877,
+nearly a year later, she engaged a single room for herself and a
+servant[A] at 42 Peel street, of a woman named Lau-a Yee. Mrs. Lau,
+the landlady, had the top floor of a little house. Another family
+had the first floor, and the street door leading up to Mrs. Lau's
+apartments ended in a trap door which was shut down at night. There
+were also folding doors half way up the stairway, not reaching to the
+ceiling, however, that could be locked at night to make the place
+doubly secure from intruders. The little upper flat consisted of only
+three rooms. Mrs. Lau occupied the front room, and her servant woman
+slept on the floor in the passage-way, and took care of Mrs. Lau's
+little child. This servant woman had a friend come over from Canton to
+spend the night with her and seek for employment. The middle room
+was occupied by Tai Yau, the woman who had sold her little boy into
+slavery, and her servant. The back room was vacant. Tai Yau was about
+twenty-six years old, and her servant nearly sixty.
+
+[Footnote A: The evidence does not make it clear how so poor a woman
+should have a servant. Might she not in reality have been acting the
+part of "pocket-mother" to the girl?]
+
+On the evening of October 16th, 1877, Inspector Lee gave ten one
+dollar bills to his interpreter, telling him to go out and use it in
+catching unlicensed women. The interpreter found two friends and gave
+one three dollars and the other seven dollars to help him in his
+errand. Think of it! The man to whom the three dollars were given was
+a worthless fellow who in his own words, lived "on his friends." When
+he worked he earned about 14 cents a day. The other man to whom was
+given seven dollars for a night of pleasure, earned five dollars a
+month when he worked at his trade--painting.
+
+These men went to an opium shop where they found a pander. Apparently
+they did not know where to find unlicensed women without his help. Two
+other men joined them, and they all went to No. 9 Lyndhurst Terrace,
+the interpreter lingering about in waiting somewhere outside. When
+two of the men learned that they had been brought with the purpose
+of using their testimony against the women they withdrew. There were
+three women in the house. One was of loose morals, or at any rate she
+trifled with temptation; the other two managed to withdraw. A supper
+of fowls, stuffed pigs' feet, sausages, eggs, and plenty of native
+wine was brought in, and they feasted, the men getting under the
+influence of drink. A-Nam, the pander, went out and hunted up two
+more girls for the feast. Perhaps these suspected a plot, for they
+withdrew. Then A-Nam went again, and returned with Tai-Yau.
+
+It was about nine o'clock when A-Nam came to 42 Peel street and called
+Tai Yau out. Mrs. Lau saw her go out with him, but was not uneasy, for
+she had seen him there before as a friend of Tai Yau. Is it not quite
+likely it was from him she borrowed the money? He was the kind of man
+whose profession would lead him to hang around the Registrar's court
+in order to get on the track of unlicensed women and to get them in
+his power. If such were the case, and she owed him money, she would be
+terribly in his power.[A] She went away with him to the feast near
+by at No. 9 Lyndhurst Terrace, and at twelve o'clock she returned in
+company with A-Nam and a strange man. Mrs. Lau was up and worshipping
+in her room. She came and said to Tai Yau: "Who is this?" seeing the
+strange man sitting on a chair. "What is this strange man doing here?"
+Tai Yau replied, "Oh, he is a shopman and is my husband."
+
+[Footnote A: Chief Inspector Whitehead testified before the
+Commission: "When an unlicensed brothel is broken up the women have to
+resort in most cases to prostitution for a living." Though the wrong
+done Tai Yau had been "against her will," yet it had brought her into
+court upon the charge of being a "common prostitute," and thrown her
+heavily into debt. It is not unlikely she now found it almost beyond
+her power to resist becoming enslaved as a prostitute.]
+
+The name of the man with A-Nam was A-Kan, and A-Kan had been a witness
+against her when she had been condemned before and fined $100. Now he
+was here in her room again at this time of night, with the man who had
+brought them together.
+
+Meanwhile Inspector Lee and the interpreter who had given this A-Kan
+seven dollars to entrap an unlicensed woman, were hunting along the
+street below to trace the house into which A-Kan had managed to get an
+entrance. They began to call "A-Kan! A-Kan!" Someone, probably quite
+innocently said, "I think the man you are looking for went into the
+house opposite. I saw some one enter there." This was all the clue
+they had, yet on that evidence alone, Inspector Lee began to pound
+on the street door of the house, No. 42. A woman on the first floor
+looked out, and the Inspector ordered her to open the street door. If
+she recognized him as an officer she would not have dared refuse. The
+inspector and the interpreter went up the stairs, but encountered
+folding doors half way up, locked across the stairs. The Inspector
+managed to get over them and unlock them from the inside, and on they
+went, and paused to listen beneath the trap door. They did not hear
+A-Kan's voice, and did not know whether he was there. They had only
+the conjecture of the woman across the street to proceed upon,
+nevertheless they had forced their way into this private abode
+occupied by women, knowing nothing whatever about the place, whether
+it was respectable or not. At this moment Mrs. Lau heard voices of men
+on her stairs, and said in alarm to A-Kan, "The inspector is coming,
+looking for you, isn't he?" A-Kan said "Yes." Then Tai Yau threw
+herself at the feet of A-Kan and begged for mercy, saying: "I was
+arrested before and fined a hundred dollars. I sold my son to pay the
+fine, and you must not say anything now." He sanctimoniously shook his
+head, as though weighing his responsibility, saying: "I don't know, I
+don't know." She did not recognize him, but he was the very man who
+had before informed against her and secured her conviction, when she
+was humbled "against her will." He now opened the trap door to let the
+inspector and his interpreter in. Tai Yau exclaimed to Mrs. Lau, "He
+is coming to arrest women for keeping an unlicensed brothel, let us
+flee!" Tai-Yau ran up a ladder through a scuttle out upon the flat
+roof of the house, her old servant following and Mrs. Lau behind. The
+inspector and interpreter followed, while the informer escaped from
+the house. Mrs. Lau managed to reach the hatch of the next house, No.
+44, and ran down that into the street, hotly chased by the inspector.
+He said in his testimony: "I pursued the woman down the trap, and
+followed her right into the street. I pursued and she ran up the
+steps of Peel street and up to Staunton street, and a Lokong [Chinese
+constable] caught her about ten yards from Aberdeen street." Then the
+occupants of the ground floor of 44 Peel street called to Inspector
+Lee and told him that some people had fallen from the roof into their
+cook-house, and Inspector Lee said in his testimony: "I went into the
+cook-house and saw the deceased [the old servant of Tai Yau] lying on
+the granite on her face, with her head close to an earthenware chatty
+[water-bottle] which I pointed out, and the bundle of clothing with a
+Chinese rule lying on the top of her head, or on the back of the neck.
+Close beside her was another woman lying on the other side of the
+chatty with her feet against the wall and her head out toward the
+cook-house door. I had a Chinese candle. I took up the bundle of
+clothes off deceased's head, and turned her on her back, and there
+were no signs of life apparent. The other woman was bleeding from the
+face, and her face and neck were covered with blood. She was moving as
+if in great pain. I sent for the ambulance at once, and by this time
+the whole street was aroused." The two women, Tai Yau and the old
+servant, had fallen through a smoke-hole in the roof.
+
+Tai Yau had a fractured jaw and left thigh, besides internal injuries.
+She lived but ten days. The verdict rendered in each of these cases
+was nearly the same. That of Tai Yau's calamity reads in part:
+
+    "Mok Tai-Yau, on the morning of the 17th of October, in the year
+    aforesaid, being on the roof of a house, known as 44, Peel Street,
+    Victoria, and having fled there in consequence of the entry of an
+    Inspector of Brothels into the house known as 42, Peel Street,
+    where she lived, accidentally and by misfortune fell down an open
+    area, known as a smoke-hole, unto the granite pavement beneath,
+    and by means thereof did receive mortal bruises, fractures and
+    contusions, of which she died.... The jury aforesaid are further
+    of opinion that Inspector Lee, the aforesaid Inspector of
+    Brothels, exceeded his powers by entering the house, No. 42,
+    Peel Street, without a warrant, or any direct authority from the
+    Registrar General or the Superintendent of Police, and would
+    strongly recommend that the whole system of obtaining convictions
+    against keepers of unlicensed brothels be thoroughly revised,
+    as the present practice is, in our opinion, both illegal and
+    immoral."[A]
+
+[Footnote A: Inspector Lee testified on this occasion that he
+sometimes had chased women over the roofs of as many as twenty
+contiguous houses.]
+
+On Nov. 1st, 1877, Governor Hennessy wrote to the Colonial Office,
+London:
+
+    "I have taken the responsibility of putting a stop to a practice
+    which has existed in this Colony since September, 1868, when Sir
+    Richard MacDonnell sanctioned the appropriation of Government
+    money for the pay of informers who might induce Chinese women to
+    prostitute themselves, and thus bring them under the penal clauses
+    of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance. For many years past this
+    branch of the Registrar General's office has led to grave abuses.
+    It has been a fruitful source of extortion, but what is far worse,
+    a department of the State, as one of the local papers now points
+    out, which is supposed to be constituted for the protection of the
+    Chinese, has been employing a dangerously loose system, whereby
+    the sanctity of native households may be seriously compromised.
+    I had no idea that the Secret Service Fund was used for this
+    loathsome purpose until my attention was drawn to an inquest on
+    the bodies of two Chinese women who were killed by falling from
+    a house in which one of the informers employed by the Registrar
+    General was pursuing his avocations.... I am taking steps to
+    institute a searching inquiry into the whole subject. The European
+    community are ashamed at the revelations that have been made at
+    the inquest, and amongst the Chinese the practice that has been
+    brought to light is, viewed with abhorrence."
+
+This was the incident which led to the appointment of the Commission
+of Inquiry into the working of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance, the
+report of which Commission we have already had occasion to quote from
+more than once.
+
+Later, Governor Hennessy wrote to the Colonial Office:
+
+    "Whilst the Attorney General is of opinion that, strictly
+    speaking, there is a _prima facie_ case of manslaughter made out
+    against Inspector Lee, and that possibly a conviction might be
+    obtained, he advises against a prosecution. I do not concur with
+    the Attorney General in the reasons he gives for not instituting a
+    prosecution in this case."
+
+During the year previous, 1876, Ordinance No. 2 had been passed,
+depriving the Registrar General of the much-abused judicial powers
+he had exercised since 1867, and transferring them to the police
+magistrates.
+
+Speaking of the incident of Tai Yau having sold her boy to pay her
+fine, Governor Hennessy wrote the Colonial Office, under date of
+December 6th, 1877:
+
+    "I am now informed that the Commissioners have obtained from the
+    records of the Registrar General's department and from Mr. Smith's
+    evidence the clearest proof that this practice of selling human
+    beings in Hong Kong was well known to the department. One of the
+    records has been shown to me in which a witness swears, 'I bought
+    the girl Chan Tsoi Lin and placed her in a brothel in Hong Kong';
+    and on that particular piece of evidence no action was taken by
+    the department."
+
+Lord Carnarvon was Secretary of State for the Colonies at this time,
+and his replies to Sir John Pope Hennessy were small encouragement to
+the course the Governor had taken. He criticises his "somewhat unusual
+course" in the appointment of a Commission "composed of private
+persons to inquire into the administration of an important department
+of the Government." He says: "I am unable to concur in the suggestion
+made in your despatch as to the advisability of prosecuting Inspector
+Lee." He implies that in his opinion "Inspector Lee was acting
+strictly within his powers on this unfortunate occasion." "It is
+quite possible," Lord Carnarvon continues, "that there may be abuses
+connected with the Contagious Diseases Ordinance which ought to
+be removed; but I would point out that such abuses arise from the
+imperfections in the system as established by law.... While ready
+to give consideration to the subject of amending the system, if
+necessary, I fail at present to observe wherein the officers ... have
+exceeded the duty imposed upon them by law."
+
+From such responses as these we readily learn that it was not alone in
+Hong Kong that these outrageous abuses of every principle of justice
+in dealing with Chinese women failed to arouse more than a lukewarm
+interest in their behalf, and all the way through Sir John Pope
+Hennessy, with one or two notable exceptions, so far as the records
+go, was shown but scant sympathy in his efforts to correct these
+abuses.
+
+On April 2nd, 1878, Sir Harcourt Johnstone asked in the House of
+Commons the Secretary of State for the Colonies, "whether his
+attention has been directed to a recent outrage committed ... at Hong
+Kong, which is now forming the subject of inquiry by a Commission
+appointed by the Governor. And if he will cause special investigation
+to be made as to the manner in which the revenue derived from
+licensing houses of ill-fame is raised and expended for the service of
+the Colony."
+
+In answer to this question, the Commission reported that, "the monies
+raised both by the licenses from houses of ill-fame, and from the
+fines inflicted under the provisions of these Ordinances, have been
+expended in the general services of the Colony; and that the actual
+revenue derived from this source, since and including 1857 down to
+the end of 1877, amounted to $187,508, to which must be added the
+Admiralty allowance from 1870 to 1877, amounting to $28,860, and fines
+estimated at $5,000, making a total of $221,368.00."
+
+After July 1st, 1878, the fund derived from brothels was used for the
+operation of the provisions of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance only.
+
+Later, on July 28, 1882, Governor Hennessy received in London a large
+deputation of gentlemen interested in the abolition of the Contagious
+Diseases Ordinance of Hong Kong. To these he addressed the following
+words descriptive of the condition of things at Hong Kong unearthed by
+the Commission:
+
+    "I saw in the Colony abuses existing which have effect far beyond
+    the range of Hong Kong. Let me instance one or two only. We get
+    from Great Britain some European police. They are men selected
+    with care for good conduct, and they are sometimes married men;
+    their passages and their wives' passages have been paid to Hong
+    Kong, where married police quarters are provided. But what
+    transpired when that Commission was held? The Registrar General
+    had recorded in his book, morning after morning, the evidence of
+    informers _selected from that police force_, whom _he had employed
+    to commit adultery_ with unlicensed Chinese women; and borne of
+    these men were married police, whose wives were brought to Hong
+    Kong; so that in point of fact, he was _not only encouraging
+    adultery but paying for it with the money of the State_. Well, I
+    stopped that, of course.... At the head of the Registrar General's
+    Department in Hong Kong, we appoint an officer, as we believe, of
+    the highest character. One of the gentlemen so employed puts on a
+    false beard and moustache, he takes marked money in his waistcoat
+    pocket, and proceeds to the back lanes of the Colony, knocks at
+    various doors, and, at length, gains admission to a house. He
+    addresses the woman who opens the door and tells her he wants a
+    Chinese girl. There is an argument as to the price, and he agrees
+    to give four dollars. He is shown up to the room, and gives her
+    the money. What I am now telling you is the gentleman's own
+    evidence. He records how he flung up the window and put out his
+    head and whistled. The police whom he had in attendance in the
+    street, broke open the door and arrested the girl. She is brought
+    up the next day to be tried for the offence; but, before whom?
+    Before the Acting Registrar General--before the same gentleman
+    who had the beard and moustache the night before. He tries her
+    himself, and on the books of the Registrar General's office (I
+    have turned to them and read his own evidence recorded in his
+    own handwriting) there is his own conviction of the girl, of the
+    offence, and his sentence, that she be fined fifty dollars and
+    some months' imprisonment! I mention this for this reason--that
+    the officer who did this was appointed because he was supposed to
+    be a man of exceptionally high moral tone, and good conduct and
+    demeanour. But what would be the effect on any man having to
+    administer such an Ordinance? There was laid before my Legislative
+    Council a case of one of the European Inspectors of brothels, and
+    I was struck by this fact in his evidence. He says: 'I took the
+    marked money from the Registrar General's office, and followed a
+    woman, and consorted with her, and gave her the money; and the
+    moment I had done so, I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out
+    the badge of office, and pointed to the Crown, and arrested the
+    woman.' She was henceforth 'a Queen's woman'."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 6.
+
+THE PROTECTOR'S COURT AND SLAVERY.
+
+
+The justification for the passage of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance
+at the beginning, as set forth in Mr. Labouchere's dispatch on the
+27th of August, 1856, to Sir John Bowring was, that the "women" "held
+in practical slavery" "through no choice of their own," "have an
+urgent claim on the _active protection_ of Government." It has been
+claimed again and again by officials at Hong Kong and Singapore that
+protection is in large part the object and aim of the Ordinance. For
+instance: In 1877, Administrator W.H. Marsh, of Hong Kong, learning
+that there was a likelihood of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance being
+disallowed by the Home Government, wrote to the Secretary of State for
+the Colonies:
+
+    "It is the unanimous opinion of the Executive Council that the
+    laws now in existence have had, when they have been properly
+    worked, a most beneficial effect in this Colony ... in putting the
+    only practical check on a system of brothel slavery, under which
+    children were either sold by their parents, or more frequently
+    were kidnaped and sold to the proprietors of brothels. These
+    unfortunate girls were so fully convinced that they were the goods
+    and chattels of their purchasers, or were so terrified by
+    threats, that they rarely if ever made any complaints even when
+    interrogated. It was very seldom that sufficient evidence could be
+    obtained to punish such nefarious traffickers."
+
+A document enclosed in this letter to the Colonial Secretary at
+London, signed by the Acting Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong, the
+Colonial Surgeon, and the Registrar General, states: "Perhaps the
+strongest argument in favor of the Ordinances is the means they place
+in the hands of the Government for coping with _brothel slavery_."
+From the moment Mr. Labouchere put this false claim to the front
+it has been the chief argument advanced by officials eager for the
+Contagious Diseases Ordinance as a method of providing "clean women,"
+in order to win to their side the benevolent-minded.
+
+On this point the Commission reported: "In regard to the only result
+worthy of a moment's consideration, viz., that referred to by Mr.
+Labouchere's dispatch, of putting down the virtual slavery of women
+in brothels, the conclusions of those in the best position to form
+trustworthy opinions is not encouraging." Mr. Smith, who took over
+charge of the Registrar General's office in October, 1864, and who had
+many years of experience in that position, is quoted as saying: "I
+think it is useless to try and deal with the question of the freedom
+of Chinese prostitutes by law or by any Government regulation. From
+all the surroundings the thing is impracticable." Mr. Lister, another
+Registrar General, says: "I don't think the new Ordinance had any real
+effect, or could have had any effect upon the sale of women. I don't
+think any good is done by preventing women emigrating to San Francisco
+or other places, as their fate is just the same whether they go or
+not."
+
+The Commissioners state:
+
+    "The well-meant system devised by the Registrar General's
+    Department which requires every woman personally to appear before
+    an Inspector at the office, and declare her willingness to enter
+    a licensed brothel, and that she does so without coercion, before
+    she can be registered, may probably act as some check upon glaring
+    cases of kidnaping, so far as the licensed brothels are concerned.
+    But it seems clear that for the supply of such establishments,
+    there is no need to resort to kidnaping, in the ordinary
+    acceptance of the term. There can be no doubt that, with the
+    exception of a comparatively few who have been driven by adversity
+    to adopt a life of prostitution, when arrived at a mature age, the
+    bulk of the girls, in entering brothels, are merely fulfilling
+    the career for which they have been brought up, and even if they
+    resent it, a few minutes' conversation with a foreigner, probably
+    the first many of them have ever been brought into communication
+    with, is but little likely to lead them to stultify the results of
+    education, according to whose teachings they are the property of
+    others and under the necessity of obeying their directions. The
+    idea that they are at liberty not to enter a brothel unless they
+    wish it, must, to girls so brought up, be unintelligible. To what
+    other source indeed could they turn for a livelihood? Who can
+    tell, moreover, what hopes or aspirations have been instilled into
+    the minds of these girls? The life on which she is about to enter
+    has probably not been painted to her in its true colors. Why
+    should they shrink from it? As a matter of fact they never do....
+    Mr. Smith, however, thinks, with regard to these women, Government
+    supervision does ameliorate their condition somewhat. The women
+    are periodically seen in their houses by the inspectors, and the
+    cleanliness and comfort of the houses is carefully looked after.'
+    With the internal cleanliness and comfort of brothels, we think
+    the Government has little to do. But the amelioration of the
+    inmates is a matter which certainly stands on a different footing,
+    and is one in which the Government has a deep interest."
+
+The Report goes on to state that the Commissioners do not endorse the
+views of Mr. Smith as to the amelioration of the condition of
+the inmates of brothels, through Governmental registration and
+supervision, and states:
+
+    "Young girls, virgins of 13 or 14 years of age, are brought from
+    Canton or elsewhere and deflowered according to bargain, and, as
+    a regular business, for large sums of money, which go to their
+    owners.... The regular earnings of the girls go to the same
+    quarters, and the unfortunate creatures obviously form subjects
+    of speculation to regular traders in this kind of business, who
+    reside beyond our jurisdiction. In most of the regular houses, the
+    inmates are more or less in debt to the keepers, and though such
+    debts are not legally enforceable, a custom stronger than law
+    forbids the woman to leave the brothel until her debts are
+    liquidated, and it is only in rare cases that she does so." "As to
+    the brothel-keepers, there is nothing known against them, and they
+    are supported by capitalists. Mr. Lister speaks of them as 'a
+    horrible race of cruel women, cruel to the last degree, who use an
+    ingenious form of torture, which they call prevention of sleep,'
+    which he describes in detail.... It seems that although the
+    Brothel Ordinances did not call into being this 'horrible,'
+    'cruel,' and 'haughty' race of women, they have armed them with
+    obvious powers, which they would not otherwise have possessed,
+    and there is consequently reason to apprehend that Government
+    supervision accentuates in some respects rather than relieves the
+    hardships of the servitude of the inmates."
+
+The records furnish many instances to prove that the Registrar
+General's Department was not operated with the least idea of relieving
+the slave from her bondage. These are culled from the court records.
+We will condense some of them.
+
+    1. Three sisters were brought by their foster-mother from Macao
+    to Hong Kong, on the promise of a feast; they were taken to the
+    house of an old brothel-keeper, to whom the foster-mother sold the
+    girls, receiving ten dollars apiece for them, to bind the bargain,
+    and she went away, leaving the girls with this old woman, who
+    began immediately to urge them to become prostitutes; they cried
+    and refused, asking to be allowed to go to their foster-mother who
+    had brought them up,--not suspecting that they had been already
+    sold by her into shameful slavery. The old woman locked them up,
+    and beat one of the girls, who had resisted her cruel fate. Their
+    meals were all taken into the room where they were kept close
+    prisoners from that time. Brought into court, the foster-mother
+    was set at liberty, although the history was fully set forth, and
+    the old woman declared: "She pledged the girls in my house, by
+    receiving thirty dollars from me.... I have a witness who saw the
+    money paid." The brothel-keeper was convicted only of assault for
+    beating the girl, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment with
+    hard labor. No reference was made to her own admissions as
+    to buying these girls, and endeavoring to force them into
+    prostitution. Ten days later, her case was brought up again, and
+    the remaining portion of her sentence was remitted, and she was
+    fined twenty-five dollars. No record is made as to what became of
+    these hapless girls; it is to be assumed that they were sent back
+    to the brothel.
+
+    2. Two girls brought before the Registrar General, both of whom
+    pleaded for protection against their owner, stating that she
+    intended to sell them to go to California. One of these had been
+    bought by this woman for eighty dollars; the girl saw the price
+    paid for her; the other said her mother was very poor, and sold
+    her for twenty dollars. Each declared she had been living under
+    the "protection" of a foreigner until recently, and that she had
+    not "acted as a prostitute"; they now feared being "sold into
+    California" by the woman in charge. The Inspector said: "There has
+    been at times a number of women residing in the house, and I do
+    not know what has become of them. I believe that they have been
+    sent to California by the defendant." One of the girls being
+    recalled, and seeming to have gained courage, witnessed that she
+    had been in the house when several women had been brought there
+    and after some time had been sent away to California. She had been
+    present when bargains were struck for the women, the price being
+    various; bought here, the women cost from fifty to one hundred
+    and fifty dollars, and when sold in California they were to be
+    disposed of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty
+    each.[A] She said the woman had "made a great deal of money. She
+    has told me so." She also said some were unwilling to go, but were
+    afraid to resist. She said between ten and twenty women had passed
+    through the woman's hands, to her knowledge. The brothel-keeper's
+    reply was, that the last witness owed her money, and had taken
+    some ornaments which belonged to her--together with a denial that
+    she had bought anybody or sent anyone to California. What was the
+    outcome of this dreadful arraignment of crimes against Chinese
+    girls? The woman was "ordered to find security (two sureties of
+    $250 each) for her appearance in any court, for any purpose and at
+    any time within twelve months." No record as to the fate of the
+    two girls who had sought "protection" of the authorities.
+
+    [Footnote A: The market price of a Chinese girl at the present
+    time (1907) in California is $3000.]
+
+    3. Two young girls were found in a licensed house of shame, whose
+    names were not on the list, the keeper and a woman, Ho-a-ying,
+    who had brought the girls from Canton to Hong Kong, were summoned
+    before the Registrar General. Ho-a-ying represented the girls
+    as sisters, and that she visited them in Canton and found their
+    mother dead, and that she brought them to Hong Kong because of
+    their appeal to her to find them work, and that she put them into
+    defendant's brothel. She contradicted herself in her testimony
+    as to the name and house of the girls' mother, and the girls
+    themselves declared that they were not sisters, and had never seen
+    each other until they met on the steamer at Canton the day before.
+    One of the girls declared: "I was sold by Ho-a-ying to the
+    mistress of the brothel. I heard them talking about it, and so I
+    know it. Ho-a-Ying also told me that I had been sold. I do not
+    know for what sum." The brothel-keeper stated that Ho-a-Ying came
+    and asked if she wanted two girls, as she had two who had come
+    from Canton. "The girls were brought, and after being in the house
+    a short time the Inspector came. I purposed having their names
+    entered on the following morning." The brothel-keeper was fined
+    five dollars for keeping an incorrect list of inmates. Ho-a-Ying
+    was convicted of giving false testimony, and fined fifty dollars;
+    in default, three months' imprisonment. No information as to the
+    disposal of the girls, and no punishment for this bargaining in
+    human flesh.
+
+    4. Six Chinese persons from licensed brothel No. 71, Wellington
+    Street, were arraigned before the Registrar General, charged with
+    buying and selling girls for evil purposes, and also with selling
+    girls to go to California, and with disturbing the peace. The
+    Inspector described the house thus: "I found all the defendants
+    on the first floor. I found six girls in the house and three
+    children. The floor was very crowded ... four of the girls were
+    in a room by themselves at the back of the house. They were all
+    huddled up together, and seemed frightened. The defendants were
+    in the front part of the house. The girls at the back part of the
+    house could not have got out without passing through the room
+    where the defendants were. This house has been known to me for a
+    long time as one where young girls were kept to be shipped off to
+    California."
+
+    A watch-repairer and jeweler who had resided opposite this place
+    for three or four years declared that he knew the first defendant,
+    A-Neung, and that she had lived there some years, on the first
+    floor; that he had seen a number of girls going in and out of
+    the house, seeming to arrive by steamer, some in chairs and some
+    walking, and that he knew from what he had seen of her and the
+    girls that she was a buyer and seller of girls. A carpenter living
+    below in the same house deposed: "I have always seen a number of
+    young girls being taken in and out of the house. The age of the
+    girls ranged from 10 to 20 years. There was always a great deal of
+    crying and groaning amongst the girls up-stairs. I have not heard
+    any beating, but the girls were constantly crying. The crying was
+    annoying to me and the other people in the shop. The people living
+    in the neighborhood have, together with myself, suspected that the
+    girls were bought and sold to go to California." Another neighbor
+    deposed to knowing the third defendant as "in the habit last year
+    of taking young girls of various ages, from 10 to 20, about the
+    Colony for sale. I knew this defendant wanted to sell the girls,
+    as she asked me if I knew any woman who wanted to buy them. She
+    comes from Canton." A girl from Wong-Po found in No. 71 brothel,
+    told of being taken to Canton at eleven years of age and sold by
+    her sister as a servant to the Lam family. After being in this
+    family three or four years, her mistress and the second defendant,
+    Tai-Ku, a relation of her mistress and daughter to the first
+    defendant (A-Neung, keeper of the brothel), took her to a
+    "flower-boat," and the next day by steamer to Hong Kong, and she
+    was taken to the house of A-Neung. Her mistress stayed in the
+    house three days, and sold her to the first and second defendants
+    (mother and daughter) for $120. She added: "This was in the tenth
+    month last year.... I was never allowed to go out. I have never
+    been out of the house since I came to Hong Kong [nearly six
+    months]. First, second and third defendants never went out of the
+    house together [some one always being on guard]. Last year Tai-Ku
+    and A-Neung told me that I should have to go to San Francisco.
+    This year I was again told that I was going to San Francisco. I
+    said I did not want to go. Tai-Ku then beat me." Another girl
+    only 19 years old, married about four years, declared that in
+    consequence of a quarrel between herself and another wife of her
+    husband, he sold her to Sz-Shan, fifth defendant, for $81, who
+    brought her from Tamshui by steamer to Hong Kong, and took her to
+    A-Neung's house, where she was being held for sale. She finished
+    her testimony thus: "Several men have been up to the house to see
+    me. They were going to buy me if they liked me." A letter was
+    produced by the Inspector, which he found in A-Neung's house, from
+    Canton to the writer's sister-in-law in Hong Kong, urging that as
+    the owner had lost money on the "present cargoes," a higher price
+    must be set on them and the sale hastened, as soon as the letter
+    should arrive, and word returned that they had been disposed of;
+    also directing that "after the transaction, one cue-tassel and one
+    shirting trouser" were to be taken back and sent to Canton by the
+    hand of a friend at first opportunity. (This as a pledge of good
+    faith.)
+
+    A-Neung, first defendant, declared that she was "a widow,
+    supported by her son-in-law now in California. Mine is a family
+    house. The girls are visitors at my house." The second defendant,
+    Tai-Ku, daughter of the preceding, declared herself to be a
+    married woman, and that her husband was in California, on a
+    steamer; that the girls were not hers, and that she was "not in
+    the habit of sending girls to California." The third defendant
+    deposed that she came from Canton to ask A-Neung for some money,
+    and added: "I never buy and sell girls." Fourth defendant claimed
+    to be utterly ignorant of the girls being sent to California, and
+    said she was supported by Tai-Ku; the fifth defendant declared she
+    knew nothing of the buying and selling of girls; and the sixth
+    defendant claimed she had gone to the house to obtain the payment
+    of a debt; she was discharged.
+
+    The sentence was:--First, second, third, fourth and fifth
+    defendants to find two securities, householders, in $500 each,
+    to appear at any time within the next six months, to answer any
+    charge in any court in the Colony.
+
+    Whether the girls were sent to California to swell the number of
+    wretched slaves on the Pacific Coast, or remained in slavery in
+    Hong Kong, there is no record to be found; nor, even with abundant
+    evidence concerning this licensed brothel which the Inspector
+    himself declared he was long familiar with as a place "where young
+    girls were kept to be shipped off to California," and with the
+    evident collusion between A-Neung and Tai-Ku with the son-in-law
+    and husband respectively of the two women, situated most favorably
+    on a steamer for managing this wicked business at the California
+    end of the line, and with all the testimony of the neighbors and
+    the girls, yet no effort was made by the Registrar-General to
+    punish these people for trafficking in human flesh.
+
+    5. An old man complained before the Registrar-General, that his
+    granddaughter, A-Ho, had got into debt because of sickness, and in
+    order to pay the money, she was induced by an uncle of Su-a-Kiu to
+    apply to the latter for help. Su-a-Kiu promised to advance her the
+    money, $52, if A-Ho would serve her eight months in a brothel kept
+    by a "friend" of the woman in Singapore. A-Ho's stress was so
+    great that she entered into these hard terms, the woman paying her
+    $52 at the steamer, as it was going, and A-Ho handed it to her
+    grandfather to pay her debt. A-Ho left on the "26th of the 8th
+    moon" for Singapore. On the evening of "the fourth day of the 10th
+    moon" he received a letter from A-Ho to the effect that she had
+    been sold for $250, to another party. When the grandfather went
+    to Su-a-Kiu and asked her why she had sold his granddaughter, she
+    cajoled him by promising to take him to Singapore to see A-Ho.
+    Later, the man who lived with Su-a-Kiu, came and threatened to
+    accuse him of extortion, acknowledging of himself that he "lived
+    by selling women into brothels of Singapore." The grandfather
+    reported the case to the Registrar-General. The woman
+    Su-a-Kiu stated: "I took A-Ho to Singapore. I took her to the
+    "Sai-Shing-Tong Brothel" in Macao Street. She is still in that
+    brothel." The Registrar-General ordered her to find security in
+    the sum of $100 to appear to answer any charge within the next
+    three months. The grandfather was also ordered to find similar
+    security in the sum of $70.
+
+    The girl A-Ho, in seeking to pay her debt contracted through
+    sickness, by servitude for eight months, was entrapped and sold as
+    a slave for life, and the Registrar-General, when acquainted
+    with the facts, seems to have taken no steps to punish this
+    slave-trader. Governor Hennessey, in calling the attention of the
+    Home Government to these, out of many similar ones, says: "The
+    accompanying extracts from the printed evidence [taken by the
+    Commission] show that the Registrar-General's Department was not
+    ignorant of the fact that Chinese women were purchased for Hong
+    Kong brothels, and that the head of the Department thought it
+    useless to try to deal with the question of the freedom of such
+    women.... That the buying and selling was not confined to places
+    outside the Colony is clear from the evidence of other witnesses,
+    and from the notes of cases taken by the Registrar-General
+    himself. It will also be seen that where the persons guilty of
+    such offences were sometimes punished, it was generally for some
+    minor offence, such as not keeping a correct list of inmates, or
+    for an assault."
+
+    Doubtless slavery would spring into prominence in almost any land
+    when once it became known that in places actually licensed by
+    Government, such as were the houses of ill-fame at Hong Kong,
+    where the inspectors made almost daily visits, slaves could be
+    held with impunity, and that when slave girls made a complaint,
+    and their cases were actually brought into court, charging the
+    buying and selling of human beings, the officers of the law would
+    ignore the complaints.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 7.
+
+OTHER DERELICT OFFICIALS.
+
+
+The Registrar General was not the only official at Hong Kong who did
+not believe in the extermination of slavery, as we shall proceed
+to show, although the Governor had strong sympathy from the Chief
+Justice.
+
+On May 30th, 1879, Sir John Smale, Chief Justice of the Colony of Hong
+Kong, wrote a letter for the information of the Governor, Sir John
+Pope Hennessy, to the effect that he had sentenced, on the previous
+day, two poor women to imprisonment with hard labor, for detaining
+a boy 13 years old. The women sold the little boy to a druggist for
+$17.50. The relatives traced their lost boy, came from Canton and
+claimed him, but the druggist refused to give him up, producing a
+bill of sale, and the boy was not given up until they appeared in the
+police court. The Chief Justice adds:
+
+    "I am satisfied from the evidence that the great criminal is this
+    druggist, and that it is an opprobrium to the administration of
+    justice to punish these poor women as I have done, and allow the
+    druggist to escape. I therefore ask His Excellency to direct that
+    proceedings be forthwith taken against the man, and that the case
+    be conducted at the magistracy by the Crown Solicitor, so that he
+    may be committed for trial before the Supreme Court."
+
+He then speaks of a case of a woman whom he sentenced on May 6th,
+1879, to two years' imprisonment with hard labor for stealing a female
+child. He adds:
+
+    "The woman was merely a middle woman, and received a small sum,
+    but it came out in the evidence that Leung A-Luk had bought the
+    child for $53, and was actually confining her in a room where
+    the child was discovered. She was the great criminal. It is an
+    opprobrium to justice to punish this poor woman, and to allow
+    Leung A-Luk to go unpunished. I am aware that, according to
+    precedents here and at home, it is within the province of the
+    presiding judge to direct prosecutions such as these to be
+    instituted, but I think it more convenient to ask His Excellency,
+    as the head of the Executive (whose province it especially is to
+    originate criminal proceedings) to direct prosecution. To let
+    these chief offenders go unprosecuted, and to punish such
+    miserable creatures, exposes the court to the contempt of the
+    community, and tends to destroy all respect for the administration
+    of justice in the Chinese community."
+
+Accordingly the Governor forwarded this request on the part of the
+Chief Justice to the Attorney General, saying: "It is clear from the
+evidence and from documents published by the Contagious Diseases
+Commission that practices of this kind have prevailed unchecked, or
+almost unchecked, for many years past in this Colony." The Governor
+then referred to a case in point that he had submitted to the former
+Attorney General, but he "did not seem disposed to enforce the rights
+of the father, on the ground that he had sold the child." The Governor
+concludes: "I did not agree with his view of the law."
+
+The last case was referred back to the Acting Police Magistrate to
+know why the woman, Leung A-Luk, was allowed to go unprosecuted. The
+Police Magistrate replied: "It appeared to me that 4th defendant
+(Leung A-Luk) being a well-to-do woman, and having no children of her
+own, had purchased the girl with a view to adopting her." He adds:
+"When Acting Superintendent of Police last year, I wished to prosecute
+a man for detaining a child ... but as it was shown that the boy had
+been sold by his father some months previously, the Attorney General
+considered the purchaser was _in loco parentis_, [in the place of a
+parent] and could not be purchased."
+
+On the two cases to which the attention of the Governor had been
+brought, the Attorney General reported:
+
+    "With the greatest respect for the Chief Justice, I doubt the
+    policy of prosecuting the woman he refers to, having regard to the
+    fact that the magistrate had discharged her for want of testimony,
+    and looking to his further report. The magistrate should always be
+    supported if possible; and if he discharged the woman, and put her
+    at the bar as a witness, and she was used again at the Supreme
+    Court, it might look like a breach of good faith to treat her now
+    as a criminal.... As to the druggist's case, I think that the only
+    thing that can be said is that it would look to be a breach of
+    faith to proceed against him now."
+
+When the case was referred to the Crown Solicitor, he said:
+
+    "As to the druggist the parties had now left the Colony, and there
+    were no witnesses against him. The purchase by Chinese of young
+    orphans, and indeed of others whose parents are too poor to keep
+    them, is a social custom amongst the natives, and is of constant
+    occurrence in Hong Kong. These 'pocket-children,' as they are
+    usually termed, are often treated with great affection, and are
+    far better off than they were previous to their being so bought."
+
+It was the 30th of May when the Chief Justice called the Governor's
+attention to these cases. It was July before the Attorney General and
+the Crown Solicitor seem to have paid any attention to the cases. It
+was no wonder, then, that some of the witnesses could not be found.
+Meanwhile the Governor had left the Colony for a trip to Japan, and
+W.H. Marsh was acting in his place. On July 16th, he returned answer
+to the Chief Justice that he had now received a report on the cases
+from the Attorney General, the committing magistrate and the Crown
+Solicitor, and
+
+    "I regret to inform you that ... I do not see my way to directing
+    the prosecutions of the two persons indicated by you; first ...
+    because I do not agree with you in looking upon them as the
+    principal criminals; and, secondly, because I think that after
+    the evidence of these persons has been taken both before the
+    committing magistrate and the Supreme Court without any warning
+    having been given them that their evidence might be used against
+    them, it would appear like a breach of faith to treat them now as
+    criminals." "Should the prosecution of these persons result in
+    their acquittal, which seems to me not improbable, I fear that the
+    good effect produced by the severe reprimand, which I understand
+    that your Honor administered publicly to all the parties concerned
+    in these two cases, might be to a great extent neutralized." (!)
+
+On September 29th, 1879, the Chief Justice sentenced more criminals
+for trafficking in children. A Japanese girl, Sui Ahing, eleven years
+old, was brought to the Colony by a Chinaman who had bought the child
+in Japan of its parents. Needing money to go on to his native place,
+this Chinaman borrowed $50 of a native resident at Hong Kong, and
+left the child as security for the debt. The wife of the man in whose
+custody the child was left beat the child severely and she ran out of
+the house. She was found wandering on the street late at night,
+and the finder took her and sold her to another Chinese party, who
+threatened to send her to Singapore as a prostitute. It was plain the
+last purchaser intended either to send her to Singapore or keep her at
+Hong Kong for vile purposes. This case illustrates well the frequency
+with which children are sold and re-sold in that country. The parties
+to the last transaction, the finder of the child and the purchaser of
+the child from the finder, were both found guilty, one of selling,
+the other of buying a child for the purposes of prostitution. His
+Lordship, the Chief Justice, said:
+
+    "I will call upon the prisoners at another time. This is a case
+    of far larger proportions than the guilt or innocence of the two
+    prisoners at the bar. I take shame to myself that the appalling
+    extent of kidnaping, buying and selling slaves for what I may
+    call ordinary servile purposes, and the buying and selling young
+    females for worse than ordinary slavery, has not presented itself
+    before to me in the light it ought. It seems to me that it has
+    been recognized and accepted as an ordinary out-turn of Chinese
+    habits, and thus that until special attention has been excited it
+    has escaped public notice. But recently the abomination has forced
+    itself on my notice. In some cases convictions have been had; in
+    two notable instances, although I called for prosecution, the
+    criminals escaped. They were Chinese in respectable positions,
+    and I was given to understand that buying children by respectable
+    Chinamen as servants was according to Chinese customs, and that to
+    attempt to put it down would be to arouse the prejudices of the
+    Chinese. The practice is on the increase. It is in this port,
+    and in this Colony especially, that the so-called Chinese custom
+    prevails. Under the English flag, slavery, it has been said, does
+    not, cannot ever be. Under that flag it does exist in this Colony,
+    and is, I believe, at this moment more openly practiced than at
+    any former period of its history. Cyprus has been under our rule
+    for about a year, and already, both in the House of Commons and in
+    the House of Lords, questions have been asked, and the Members
+    of the present Ministry have assured the country that slavery in
+    every form shall be speedily put down there. Humanity is of no
+    party, and personal liberty is held to be the right of every human
+    being under English law, by, I believe, every man of note in
+    England. My recent pleasant personal experience in England assures
+    me of that. But here in Hong Kong, I believe that domestic slavery
+    exists in fact to a great extent. Whatever the law of China may
+    be, the law of England must prevail here. If Chinamen are willing
+    to submit to the law, they may remain, but on condition of obeying
+    the law, whether it accords with their notions of right or wrong
+    or not; and, if remaining they act contrary to the law, they must
+    take the consequences.... I shall deal with these people when I
+    shall have more fully considered the case."
+
+During the proceedings of the trial of these two prisoners, the
+Attorney General had declared his intention not to call the former
+owners of the child, Wai Alan, the woman who beat the child, or Pao
+Chee Wan, her husband. The Chief Justice now said:
+
+    "I now direct you, Mr. Attorney General, to prosecute these two
+    people, Pao Chee Wan and Wai Alan." Attorney General:--"My Lord,
+    I intimated before that this matter was under consideration; I do
+    not think I am at liberty to say under whose consideration."
+    His Lordship:--"I direct the prosecution, and will take the
+    responsibility. It is the course in England and I will pursue it
+    here." The Attorney General:--"You have publicly directed it;
+    and I will report it to the proper quarter." His Lordship:--"The
+    Attorney General at home is constantly ordered by the Court to
+    prosecute. On my responsibility alone I do this." The Attorney
+    General:--"May I ask your Lordship to say on what charge?" His
+    Lordship:--"Under Sections 50 and 51 of No. 4 of 1865, and also
+    for assault." The Attorney General continued to raise objections,
+    when the Chief Justice said: "I have said as much as I choose to
+    say, and I will not be put to question by the Attorney General. If
+    you have any difficulty, come to the Court in Chambers."
+
+Governor Hennessy, in reporting the incident to the Secretary of State
+at London, adds: "I sent a note to the Attorney General, saying I
+thought that the prosecution suggested by the Chief Justice should
+take place; but it was found that the accused parties were not in the
+Colony." After this manner many cases brought to the attention of the
+officers of the law by parents or guardians of children of kidnaping
+and trading in girls and children failed to secure the attention they
+deserved. It seems to us not at all amazing, when one reads this past
+history, that by the time Chinese girls have seen and learned all that
+they must in the Colony of Hong Kong, when brought to this country
+they are utterly incredulous as to the good faith of police and other
+officials. They must enter a complaint at the risk of their lives, and
+if the officer of the law will not prosecute the case in spite of all
+its difficulties (which are largely imaginary on the part of lukewarm
+officials), then the girl must be returned to the master she has
+informed against, to be in his power for him to vent his wrath upon
+her. A case in point occurred in Oakland only a few months ago, and we
+had a chance to interview the girl. The Captain of Police went through
+the brothels of Oakland's Chinatown, accompanied by some missionary
+ladies, in order to discover if possible any girls who would
+acknowledge that they wished to come away. Every girl was questioned,
+in the absence of the keepers, and not one, or perhaps only one, said
+she wished to come away. There were some one hundred and fifty Chinese
+slave girls in Oakland at this time, and one might say they all had a
+chance to escape, and of their own will chose to remain. But was that
+the truth? Not at all; the result did not prove at all that one, and
+only one wished to come away. It proved merely that only one was
+inspired with sufficient confidence and courage, after her long,
+hard experience with foreigners, to _say what she wished._ It is the
+universal testimony of all the girls who have been rescued, so we have
+been told, by those who have been engaged in this rescue work for many
+years--that every slave in Chinatown plans and dreams of nothing else
+but of the day when, having served long enough to buy her freedom,
+she will be granted it by her master or mistress, and then she can be
+honorably married. But unless her freedom is purchased for her by some
+lover, the cases are rare, indeed, that a girl is allowed to earn her
+own freedom, though they are kept submissive by constant promises that
+the goal is just ahead of them. A few days after the Oakland papers
+had triumphantly asserted that it had been demonstrated that there was
+not a single slave girl in Chinatown--a statement that everyone
+who had any intelligence on the subject, including the newspapers
+themselves, knew to be false--a lady in mission work received a
+cautious hint in a round-about way that one of the girls she had seen
+when the rounds were made desired to be set at liberty. "How did you
+learn this?" we eagerly and quite naturally asked the missionary.
+She replied that on no account could she tell a human being how the
+intelligence was conveyed to her, as it might cost others very dearly,
+even to the sacrifice of life, if the knowledge leaked out. "But," she
+said, "I will show you the girl and you may talk with her yourselves."
+We gathered from the girl that she was a respectable widow, the mother
+of two children, living with her parents not far from Hong Kong on the
+mainland. As they were very poor, she went to Hong Kong to work at
+sewing to help support the family. An acquaintance there told her
+that she could earn as much as thirty dollars a month at sewing in
+California, and he could secure her passage for her at economical
+cost. She returned to her home and consulted her parents, and they
+thought the chance a good one, so bidding her little ones good bye,
+she returned to Hong Kong and paid for the ticket, being instructed
+that a certain woman would meet her at the wharf at San Francisco whom
+she must claim as her "mother," since the immigration laws were so
+strict that she must pass herself off as the daughter of this woman
+(for this daughter, who was now in China, having lived in the United
+States was entitled to return to her mother). Reader, have you ever
+traveled on another's ticket? If so, or if you have known a professing
+Christian to have done so, do not be too harsh in your judgment of
+this heathen, and declare she deserved the terrible fate that overtook
+her. The "mother" met the sewing-woman, brought her to Oakland, and
+imprisoned her in a horrible den to earn money for her. With utmost
+caution our missionary friend rescued her. The Captain of Police and
+other officers were at hand to help the missionary, and when the girl
+was taken, she struggled frantically and called for help as though
+being kidnaped. Had the policemen been there alone they would have let
+the captors have their slave, believing they had made a mistake. But
+they had not; the missionary knew that; the girl was only thinking
+ahead of the possibility of the plot failing and of falling back into
+the hands of her captors. She must never betray to them, until safely
+out of their clutches, that she _wished_ to come away. She must make
+it appear that she was dragged away against her will. And this is free
+America! Do you wonder that these girls do not tell everybody who asks
+them that they are unwilling captives? Doubtless they would if our
+officers of the law showed their good faith by laying hold of these
+slave dealers. Nothing was done or attempted to punish the horrible
+creatures who captured this girl. They are going on unmolested
+with their nefarious business, though many of them could be easily
+punished. This part of the work--punishing slave-dealers--has never
+been taken up seriously here on the Pacific Coast. And until these
+terrible criminals are immured in prison, most certainly these Chinese
+slave girls will not declare their desire for freedom, for if it were
+granted them they would not be safe--at least they have no reason to
+believe they would be, though there are missions where they would be
+protected. But what reason have they for believing this is the case,
+after the years of training they have had in the perfidy of all those
+with whom they come in contact! Many girls have been rescued on this
+Pacific Coast, by brave missionary workers. But it is to the lasting
+shame of our country that such wicked creatures are allowed to exist
+here to import these slaves. Imprison the importers, and the slaves
+are rescued. That is the short road to freedom. But that was not the
+path pursued by officials in general at Hong Kong, nor is that course
+being pursued in the United States. This sewing woman has been
+returned to her home. Many another woman has at equal peril to herself
+made her complaint and it has fallen upon the deaf ears of officials,
+and the poor slave has had to settle with her masters for her
+fool-hardiness.
+
+Now we will return to Hong Kong, and to past history. We will cite
+just one more case to show something of the reluctance of officials
+there to prosecute the traffickers in human flesh. A Chinaman, Tsang
+San-Fat, petitioned the Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong in regard to
+the custody of his little daughter, whom, "under stress of poverty,"
+he had given away to a man named Leung A-Tsit, the October previous,
+the understanding being that the latter should find her a husband when
+she grew up, and should not send her away to other ports. In May the
+parents learned from A-Sin, employed by Leung A-Tsit, that the latter
+was going to take away the little girl to another place. After taxing
+the man with this, and receiving only excuses in reply, the father
+petitioned that Leung A-Tsit should be prevented from carrying out
+his design. Leung A-Tsit filed a counter-petition, stating that Tsang
+San-Fat, being unable to support a family, handed over to him his
+little daughter, aged six years; that the little girl was to become
+his daughter and to be brought up by him, he paying $23 to the
+parents. He accused the father of trying to extort money from him, and
+appealed for "protection" from "impending calamities." Later, further
+facts came out, showing that the father of the child had borrowed $5
+three years before from Leung A-Tsit, which, with interest at ten
+cents per month for every dollar, now amounted to $23. The September
+before, his creditor came and demanded payment, and when the father
+told him he had no money, and found it very difficult to provide
+for his family, Leung A-Tsit said: "Very well, you can give me your
+daughter instead, and when she is grown up I will find her a husband."
+It was finally agreed that he should have the little girl for $25,
+viz., the $23 already owing, and $2 to the mother as "tea-money." The
+$2 were paid and he took the child away. The mother said: "I was very
+sorry about it and cried." (But mothers have little to say as to the
+disposal of the children they bear in the Orient). The Governor, Sir
+John Pope Hennessy, took a deep interest in this case, when he heard
+of it, regarding it as "an illegal transaction," and urged upon the
+Attorney General, Mr. G. Phillipo, to prosecute, on his behalf, the
+purchaser of the girl, and that both the father of the child and
+Leung A-Tsit be notified that the father was entitled to the child by
+British law, and referring the father to the police magistrate.
+The police magistrate requested of the Colonial Secretary that
+the Attorney General's opinion be obtained, as to what course the
+magistrate should pursue. The final outcome of the case is told by
+Governor Hennessy in a despatch to the Secretary of State for the
+Colonies.
+
+    "I made a minute on the petitions, directing them to be sent to
+    the Attorney General, as 'the parties appear to acknowledge being
+    concerned in an illegal transaction.' In a few days the papers
+    were returned to me with the following opinion of the Attorney
+    General: 'The transaction referred to would not be recognized in
+    our laws as giving any rights, except perhaps as to guardianship,
+    but I am unable to say there is anything illegal in the matter
+    beyond that. I do not think it a criminal offence if it goes no
+    further than the adoption of a child and the payment of money to
+    its parents for the privilege.'"
+
+Later, when His Excellency was calling the attention of Acting
+Attorney General Russell to a somewhat similar case, he states, in
+reference to this above-described case:
+
+    "Mr. Phillipo, before whom the papers were laid, did not seem
+    disposed to enforce the rights of the father, on the ground that
+    he had sold the child. I did not agree with Mr. Phillipo's view of
+    the law."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 8.
+
+JUSTICE FROM THE SUPREME BENCH.
+
+
+On October 6th, 1879, Sir John Smale, the Hon. Chief Justice for Hong
+Kong, passed judgment in three cases on prisoners convicted of various
+degrees of crime connected with the enticing, detaining, buying and
+selling of children. Governor Hennessy, in reporting the remarks made
+by the Chief Justice on that occasion to the Secretary of State for
+the Colonies, pronounced it "an able and elaborate judgment on the
+existence of slavery at Hong Kong."
+
+Said Sir John Smale:
+
+    "Various causes have occasioned delay in passing sentence, of
+    which I will only refer to one: The gravity of the fact that these
+    and other cases have recently brought so prominently to the notice
+    of the Court that two specific classes of slavery exist in this
+    Colony to a very great extent, viz., so-called domestic slavery,
+    and slavery for the purposes of prostitution. The three cases now
+    awaiting the sentence of the Court are specially provided for by
+    Ordinances of 1865 and 1872, prohibiting kidnaping and illegally
+    detaining men, women, and children; and no difficulty ever arose
+    in my mind as to the crimes of which these prisoners are severally
+    convicted, or as to the sentences due to such crimes; and there is
+    no question as to crimes or punishment of cases where women are
+    smuggled into brothels, some licensed and others unlicensed, or
+    otherwise dedicated to immoral purposes. But the enormous extent
+    to which slavery in this Colony has grown up has called into
+    existence a greatly increasing traffic, especially in women and
+    children. The number of Chinamen in this Colony has increased and
+    is increasing rapidly, whilst their great increase in wealth has
+    fostered licentious habits, notably in buying women for purposes
+    sanctioned neither by the laws nor customs on the mainland. I hold
+    in my hand a placard in Chinese, torn down from the wall of the
+    Central School, Cough Street steps, in this city. The translation
+    appears at length in the Hong Kong _Daily Press of_ August
+    15th, 1879. The purport of that translation is shortly that the
+    advertiser, one Cheong, has lost a purchased slave girl named Tai
+    Ho, aged 13 years. After a full description of the girl a reward
+    is offered in these terms:--'If there is in either of the four
+    quarters any worthy man who knows where she is gone to, and will
+    send a letter, he will be rewarded with four full weight dollars,
+    and the person detaining the slave will be rewarded with fifteen
+    full weight dollars.' These words are subsequently added:--'This
+    is firm, and the words will not be eaten.' I recently spoke in
+    reprobation of slavery from this Bench, and in consequence of my
+    remarks a gentleman who tore down this placard gave it to the
+    editor of the _Daily Press_, and in a letter in that paper he
+    stated that such placards are common, and that he had torn down a
+    hundred such placards. Has Cuba or has Peru ever exhibited more
+    palpable, more public evidence of the existence of generally
+    recognized slavery in these hotbeds of slavery, than such placards
+    as the one I now hold in my hand, to prove that slavery exists
+    in this Colony? The notices have been posted in a most populous
+    neighborhood, and have been in all probability read--they ought
+    to have been, they must have been read--by scores of our Chinese
+    policemen.
+
+    "Important as this Colony is, politically and commercially, it is
+    but a dot in the ocean; its area is about half that of the county
+    of Rutland; the circumference of this island is calculated at
+    about 27 miles, whilst that of the Isle of Wight is about 56
+    miles. The cultivated land on this island may be to the barren
+    waste about one-half per cent, and there is no agrarian slavery
+    here in nearly the total absence of farms, and on this dot in the
+    ocean it is estimated that the slave population has reached ten
+    thousand souls! I first became fully alive to the existence of
+    so-called domestic slavery in this Colony at the Criminal Sessions
+    in May last, on the trial of two cases.... But it is said that
+    what is called domestic slavery, as it exists in Hong Kong, is
+    mild, and it is said to be the opinion of a gentleman of great
+    experience in Chinese, that, as it exists here, it is not contrary
+    to the Christian religion, and that it is as general a fashion
+    for Chinese ladies in Hong Kong to purchase one or more girls to
+    attend on them as it is for English ladies to hire ladies'
+    maids, and that the custom is so general that it would be highly
+    impolitic, if not impossible, to put down the system. It may be
+    that slavery as it exists in the houses of the better classes
+    in Hong Kong is mild, and that custom among the better classes
+    renders servitude to them a boon as long as it lasts. It is, I
+    believe, an admitted duty that when the young girl grows up and
+    becomes marriageable she is married; but then it is the custom
+    that the husband buys her, and her master receives the price
+    always paid for a wife, whilst he has received the girl's services
+    for simple maintenance; so that, according to the marriageable
+    excess in the price of the bride over the price he paid for the
+    girl, he is a gainer, and the purchase of the child produces a
+    good return. But the picture has another aspect. What, if the
+    master is brutal, or the mistress jealous, becomes of the poor
+    girl? Certain recent cases show that she is sold to become a
+    prostitute here or at Singapore or in California, a fate often
+    worse than death to the girl, at a highly remunerative price to
+    the brute, the master. It seems to me that all slavery, domestic,
+    agrarian, or for immoral purposes, comes within one and the same
+    category."
+
+Every word uttered on this occasion by Sir John Smale, Chief Justice,
+has value, but it is impossible for us to quote it all. Referring to
+the purchase of kidnaped children from the kidnapers by well-to-do
+Chinese residents of Hong Kong, without effort on the part of these
+purchasers to ascertain from whence the children came, he says:
+
+    "In each of these cases I requested the prosecution of these
+    well-to-do persons, purchasers of these human chattels, who had
+    bought these children, whose money had occasioned the kidnaping,
+    just as a receiver of stolen goods buys stolen property without
+    due or any inquiry to verify the patent lies of the vendors. I
+    have reason to believe that H.E. the Governor was desirous that my
+    request should, if proper, be complied with; but on reference to
+    former cases it appeared that a former Attorney-General had found
+    that the system had been almost if not altogether unchecked for
+    many years past, and that in particular, when His Excellency had
+    desired to enforce the rights of a father to recover his child, he
+    was not disposed to enforce that right because the father had sold
+    that child."
+
+He relates the details of yet another case concerning which he says:
+"I took the responsibility to direct the Acting Attorney General to
+prosecute this man and his wife." But the Attorney General, it seems,
+did not.
+
+"Is it possible that such a being as man can, according to law ...
+become a slave even by his own consent?" asks the Chief Justice.
+"I say it is impossible in law, as Sir R. Phillimore, 1 Phill.,
+International Law, vol. 1, p. 316, has said in a passage I read with
+the most respectful concurrence, but too long for full quotation." "It
+is unnecessary for me to trace how it became the Common Law of England
+that whosoever breathes the air of England cannot be a slave." After
+reference to notable decisions on the part of England's highest
+authorities as to the unlawfulness of slavery; to the claim that
+slavery was secured to the Chinese residents by the promise not to
+interfere with their customs, and reminding his hearers that the
+promise was made only "pending Her Majesty's pleasure"; after quoting
+the Queen's proclamation against slavery at Hong Kong, and the
+assurance in that proclamation that "these Acts will be enforced by
+all Her Majesty's officers, civil and military, within this Colony,"
+he asks:
+
+    "Have all Her Majesty's officers, civil and military, enforced
+    these Acts within this Colony? I think they have not; I confess I
+    have not. Our excuse has been in the difficulty of enforcing these
+    Acts, but mainly in our ignorance of the extent of the evil. What
+    is our duty, now that we know that slavery in its worst as in its
+    best form exists in this dot in the ocean to the extent of say
+    10,000 slaves,--a number probably unexceeded within the same space
+    at any time under the British Crown, and, so far as I believe, the
+    only spot where British law prevails in which slavery in any form
+    exists at the present time?"
+
+Then he deals with the pretext that this slavery is Chinese custom,
+in words we have already quoted in the first chapter of this book. He
+passes on to consider and affirm the propriety of the Chief Justice
+directing the Attorney General to prosecute these cases, and answers
+some of the objections raised by the latter officer, concluding this
+portion of his remarks with the words: "What I have said has been
+said to meet arguments, doubts, and difficulties which have paralyzed
+public opinion and public action here; which arguments, doubts and
+difficulties are the less easy to combat because they have been rather
+hinted at than avowed."
+
+The Chief Justice then sentenced several prisoners for enticing,
+kidnaping or detaining children with intent to sell them into slavery,
+to penal servitude for terms ranging from 18 months to 2 years.
+
+On October 20th, Sir John Smale wrote the Governor:
+
+    "I cannot understand why such classes should as classes increase
+    in this Colony at all, unless it be that (in addition to the
+    Chinese demand for domestic servants and brothels) there be an
+    increased foreign element increasing the demand. I fear that a
+    high premium is obtained by persons who kidnap girls in the high
+    prices which they realize on sale to foreigners as kept women.[A]
+    No one can walk through some of the bye-streets in this Colony
+    without seeing well dressed China girls in great numbers whose
+    occupations are self-proclaimed; or pass those streets, or go into
+    the schools in this Colony, without counting beautiful children
+    by the hundred whose Eurasian origin is self-declared. If the
+    Government would inquire into the present condition of these
+    classes, and still more, into what has become of these women and
+    their children of the past, I believe that it will be found that
+    in the great majority of cases the women have sunk into misery,
+    and that of the children the girls that have survived have been
+    sold to the profession of their mothers, and that, if boys, they
+    have been lost sight of or have sunk into the condition of the
+    mean whites of the late slave-holding states of America. The more
+    I penetrate below the polished surface of our civilization the
+    more convinced am I that the broad undercurrent of life here is
+    more like that in the Southern States of America, when slavery
+    was dominant, than it resembles the all-pervading civilization of
+    England." "My suggestion that the mild intervention of the law
+    should be invoked was ignored. It was also met by the assertion
+    that custom had so sanctioned the evils in this Colony as that
+    they are above the reach of the law, and that by custom the
+    slavery was mild."
+
+[Footnote A: Rather, it would seem in later years, by renting them for
+a monthly stipend.]
+
+The Governor, in a letter to the Colonial Secretary at London about
+this time, informs the Colonial Secretary of his own failure also to
+induce the Attorney General to prosecute cases to which His Excellency
+had called his attention, and furthermore he explains that other
+of his principal executive officers held to the same views as the
+Attorney General.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 9.
+
+THE CHINESE PETITION AND PROTEST.
+
+
+We get additional and valuable light on social conditions at Hong
+Kong, through statements drawn up by prominent Chinese men and laid
+before the Governor. As a representation from the Chinese standpoint
+it has peculiar value at all points excepting where self-interest
+might afford a motive for coloring the truth.
+
+The occasion of these statements was as follows: On November 9, 1878,
+a month before the report of the Commission was published, certain
+Chinese merchants had petitioned the Governor to be allowed to form
+themselves into a society for suppressing kidnaping and trafficking
+in human beings. This petition states that the worst kidnapers are
+"go-betweens and old women who have houses for the detention of
+kidnaped people." They declare that these
+
+    "inveigle virtuous women or girls to come to Hong Kong, at first
+    deceiving them by the promise of finding them employment (as
+    domestic servants), and then proceeding to compel them by force
+    to become prostitutes, or exporting them to a foreign port, or
+    distribute them by sale over the different ports of China, boys
+    being sold to become adopted children, girls being sold to be
+    trained for prostitution." "Your petitioners are of opinion
+    that such wicked people are to be found belonging to any of the
+    [neighboring] districts, but in our district of Tung Kun such
+    cases of kidnaping are comparatively frequent, and all the
+    merchants of Hong Kong, without exception, are expressing their
+    annoyance."
+
+Accompanying the petition was a statement of the situation:
+
+    "Hong Kong is the emporium and thoroughfare of all the neighboring
+    ports. Therefore these kidnapers frequent Hong Kong much, it being
+    a place where it is easy to buy and to sell, and where effective
+    means are at hand to make good a speedy escape. Now, the laws
+    of Hong Kong being based on the principle of the liberty of the
+    person, the kidnapers take advantage of this to further their own
+    plans. Thus they use with their victims honeyed speeches, and give
+    them trifling profits, or they use threats and stern words, all in
+    order to induce them to say they are willing to do so and so. Even
+    if they are confronted with witnesses it is difficult to show up
+    their wicked game.... Kidnaping is a crime to be found everwhere,
+    but there is no place where it is more rife than at Hong Kong....
+    Now it is proposed to publish everywhere offers of reward to track
+    such kidnapers and have them arrested.... The crimes of kidnaping
+    are increasing from day to day."
+
+This proposal on the part of Chinese merchants to form such a society
+was cordially accepted by officials, and the Governor requested that
+two police magistrates, whom he named, the Captain Superintendent of
+Police and Dr. Eitel, should draw up a scheme to check kidnaping, in
+concert with the Chinese petitioners. This committee met, and decided
+that the objects of the "Chinese Society for the Protection of Women
+and Children" should he as follows:
+
+    1. The detection and suppression of kidnapers and kidnaping. 2.
+    The restoration to their homes of women and children decoyed
+    or kidnaped for prostitution, emigration, or slavery. 3. The
+    maintenance of women and children pending investigation and
+    restoration to their homes. 4. Undertaking to marry or set out in
+    life women and children who could not safely be returned home.
+
+At a subsequent meeting of these gentlemen, Mr. Francis, Acting Police
+Magistrate, asked the Chinese merchants present, "If there was of late
+any special _modus operandi_ observed in the proceedings of kidnapers
+differing from what had been observed and known formerly?" To this
+the Chinese gentlemen present replied that "there was indeed a marked
+difference observable in the proceedings of kidnapers of late, because
+they had become acquainted with the loopholes British law leaves open,
+also with the principle of personal freedom jealously guarded by
+British law, and that through this knowledge their proceedings had
+not only become less tangible for the police to deal with, but
+the kidnapers had been emboldened to give themselves a definite
+organization, following a regular system adapted to the peculiarities
+of British and Chinese law, and using regular resorts and depots in
+the suburbs of Hong Kong." In support of this, Mr. Fung Ming-shan laid
+on the table two documents written in Chinese. One of these contained
+a list of 38 different houses in the neighborhood of Sai-ying-pim and
+Tai-ping-shan used by professional kidnapers, whose names are given,
+but whose residence could not be ascertained. The other document
+consists of a list of 41 professional kidnapers whose personalia have
+been satisfactorily ascertained.
+
+The foreign Magistrates present then pointed out to the Chinese
+members of the meeting that one great difficulty the Government
+frequently met in dealing with such cases was the question, what to do
+with women or children found to have been unlawfully sold or kidnaped;
+how to restore them to their lawful guardians in the interior of
+China; how to provide for them in case such women or children had
+actually been sold by their very guardians, who, if the woman or child
+in question were restored to them, would but seek another purchaser;
+how to deal with persons absolutely friendless, etc. The Chinese
+members of the meeting replied that they were prepared to undertake
+this duty. They would employ trustworthy detectives to ascertain the
+family relations of any kidnaped person, who would see to such persons
+being restored to their families upon guarantee being given for proper
+treatment; and in cases where restoration was impossible or not
+advisable, they would take charge of such kidnaped persons, maintain
+them, and eventually see them respectably married. It was then decided
+that the Magistrates present should draw up a succinct statement of
+the provisions of the British law forbidding the sale of persons and
+guaranteeing the liberty of the subject, which should be translated
+into Chinese, and circulated freely in the neighboring districts.
+
+Although the action on the part of the Chinese merchants in forming
+themselves into an organization to put down kidnaping was received
+with much appreciation by the Governor and Secretary of State at
+London, as well as by many of the officials at Hon' Kong, there were
+those who from the first doubted whether the motives of the Chinese in
+thus uniting were wholly disinterested on the part of the majority.
+Such were confirmed in their doubts by the action of these same
+Chinese as soon as Sir John Smale set to work in earnest to
+exterminate slavery, and declared in his court a year later than the
+formation of this Chinese Society:
+
+    "I was given to understand that buying children by respectable
+    Chinamen as servants was according to Chinese customs, and that to
+    attempt to put it down would be to arouse the prejudices of the
+    Chinese.... Humanity is of no party, and personal liberty is to be
+    held the right of every human being under British law.... Whatever
+    the law of China may be, the law of England must prevail here. If
+    Chinamen are willing to submit to the law, they may remain, but
+    on condition of obeying the law, whether it accords with their
+    notions of right or wrong or not; and if remaining they act
+    contrary to the law, they must take the consequences."
+
+Sir John Smale's utterance created intense feeling among these Chinese
+merchants, who at once called upon the Governor to represent their
+views and to protest. The Governor informed them that "slavery in any
+form could not be allowed in the Colony." They protested that their
+system of adoption and of obtaining girls for domestic purposes was
+not slavery; "and they referred to the more immoral practice of buying
+girls for the Hong Kong brothels, which, they alleged, Government
+departments had connived at, though it was a practice most hateful to
+the respectable Chinese." The Governor then asked them for their views
+in writing, and they sent them to him in the form of a memorial,
+containing the following words:
+
+    "Your petitioners are informed that his Lordship, the Chief
+    Justice, after the trial of a case of purchasing free persons for
+    prostitution, said, in the course of his judgment, that buying
+    and selling of girls for domestic servitude was an indictable
+    offense;--which put all native residents of Hong Kong in a state
+    of extreme terror; all great merchants and wealthy residents in
+    the first instance being afraid lest they might incur the risk of
+    being found guilty of a statutory offence, whilst the poor and low
+    class people, in the second instance, feared being deprived of a
+    means to preserve their lives (by selling children to be domestic
+    servants)."
+
+These petitioners claimed:
+
+    That the buying of boys for "adoption" and of girls for domestic
+    servitude, "widely differs from the above-mentioned wicked
+    practices" of kidnaping and buying and selling of girls into
+    brothels.
+
+    That the domestic slaves "are allowed to take their ease and have
+    no hard work to perform," and when they grow up, "they have to be
+    given in marriage."
+
+    That all former Governors had let them alone in the exercise of
+    their "social customs."
+
+    That Governor Elliott had promised them freedom in the exercise of
+    their native customs.
+
+    That infanticide "would be extremely increased if it were entirely
+    forbidden to dispose of children by buying and selling;" parents
+    deprived of the means of keeping off starvation by selling their
+    children would "drift into thiefdom and brigandage."
+
+Following the petition was an elaborate statement on the subject,
+full of subtle arguments, misstatements and perversions, together, of
+course, with some well-put statements, forming ten propositions in
+favor of domestic slavery. Their first claim is not exactly true, as
+even Dr. Eitel, who defended domestic servitude, was bound to declare,
+namely, That Chinese law does not forbid adoption and domestic
+servitude. We have already quoted Sir John Smale's statement of the
+Chinese law, which restricted the adoption of boys to the taking of
+one with the same surname as the family. And as to the buying of girls
+for domestic servitude, though largely _practiced_ in China, yet these
+Chinese merchants could hardly have been ignorant of the fact that it
+was an _illegality_ before the Chinese law. "The reason of this," says
+the Chinese protest, "is the excessive increase of population, and
+the wide extent of poverty and distress." But there was neither
+over-population nor distress at Hong Kong which should necessitate the
+introduction of the practice into that Colony. "If all those practices
+were forbidden, poor and distressed people would have no means left
+to save their lives, but would be compelled to sit down and wait for
+death." In other words, these men would claim that their motives were
+wholly, or largely benevolent in purchasing the children of the poor!
+And what better could the poor do for a living than to beget children
+and sell them into slavery to the rich!
+
+"Whilst all those practices, therefore, may be classed together
+as buying and selling (of free persons), it is yet requisite to
+distinguish carefully the good or wicked purposes which each class of
+practice serve, and accordingly apply discriminately either punishment
+or non-punishment." But anti-slavery legislation has never done this,
+and never will. The question is not to any large extent the comfort or
+misery of the chattel, but the forbidding that one human being should
+be allowed to deal with another _as a chattel_ at all.
+
+This attitude of the Chinese merchants who allied themselves with the
+British officials for the Protection of Women and Children gave no
+omen of good from the very first. Yet from that day to the present
+these men have had a large share in the government of the native
+women of Hong Kong and Singapore, rendering it very difficult ever
+to elevate the standard of womanhood, or to educate Chinese women in
+principles that should be the common inheritance of all who live in a
+so called free country.
+
+The statement continues:
+
+    "Since the last few years many Chinese have brought their
+    property, wives and families to the place, supposing they would
+    be able to live here in peace, and to rejoice in their property.
+    ...Chinese residents of Hong Kong have, therefore, been in
+    the habit of following all native customs which were not a
+    contravention of Chinese statute law [but it seems _this sort_ of
+    buying and selling of human beings is contrary to Chinese law.
+    This is a misrepresentation]. It is said that the whole increase
+    and prosperity of the Colony from its first foundation to the
+    present day is all based on the strength of that invitation which
+    Sir Charles Elliott gave to intending settlers, and that this
+    present intention of applying, all of a sudden, the repressive
+    force of the law to both the practice of buying or selling boys or
+    girls for purposes of adoption or for domestic servitude is not
+    only a violation of the rule of Sir Charles Elliott, but moreover
+    will, it is to be feared, not fail to trouble the people."
+
+They speak of infanticide as an evil that
+
+    "must be classed with evils almost unavoidable. Now if the buying
+    of adoptive children and of servant girls is to be uniformly
+    abolished, it is to be feared that henceforth the practice of
+    infanticide will extremely increase beyond what it ever was. The
+    heinousness of the violation of the great Creator's benevolence,
+    which constitutes infanticide, is beyond comparison with the
+    indulgence granted to the system of buying and selling children to
+    prolong their existence."
+
+As though these benevolent persons only bought slaves for this one
+laudable purpose, to preserve their lives! "As regards the buyers,
+they look upon themselves as affording relief to distressed people,
+and consider the matter as an act akin to charity," etc.
+
+A flood of light is let in upon the matter of the reluctance of
+British officials to move in the putting down of domestic slavery and
+the buying and selling of boys among the natives, in the following
+well-deserved thrust at the weak point in the armor of the British
+officials:
+
+    "The office of the Registrar-General was charged with the
+    superintendence of prostitutes and the licensing of brothels
+    and similar affairs. But _from 80 to 90 per cent of all these
+    prostitutes in Hong Kong were brought into these brothels by
+    purchase, as is well known to everybody_. If buying and selling is
+    a matter of a criminal character, the proper thing would be, first
+    of all, to abolish this evil (brothel slavery). But how comes
+    it that since the first establishment of the Colony down to the
+    present day the same old practice prevails in these licensed
+    brothels, and has never been forbidden or abolished?"
+
+This was a center shot, and calculated to weaken the hands of at
+least the guilty officials. What could they say? Were the officials
+prepared, since the report of the Commission a few months before had
+made public the scandals connected with the licensing and inspection
+of brothels, to set about reforming the abuses by radical measures?
+Certainly the Chief Justice was. He did everything in his power to
+abolish slavery _as slavery_, not simply to abolish slavery when
+unconnected with brothels. But subsequent history seems to indicate
+that, from this point on, the British officials were ready to
+compromise with the Chinese merchants, and the testimony from this
+time forward was well-nigh universal in Hong Kong circles that
+domestic slavery, or "domestic servitude," as Dr. Eitel recommended
+that it should be called instead (since a weed by another name
+may help the imagination to think it a rose), was very "mild" and
+"harmless," and that the adoption of purchased boys was a "religious"
+duty, or at least, had a religious flavor about it, as practiced by
+the Chinese. But as we have already said, that adoption in order to be
+lawful in China must be the adoption of one of the same surname.
+
+On October 27th, 1879, the Chief Justice, at an adjourned sitting
+of the Court for the purpose, sentenced two more offenders, one for
+kidnaping a boy, and the other for detaining a girl with intent to
+sell her. In the first case the Judge said:
+
+    "Received as you had been into the father's house in charity, you
+    availed yourself of the opportunity to steal his child, and tried
+    to sell the child openly, probably having hawked him from door to
+    door. The sentence of the Court on you, Tang Atim, is that you be
+    imprisoned and kept to hard labor for two years, and that you be
+    kept in solitary confinement for a period of one week in every two
+    months of your imprisonment."
+
+Chan Achit, an old woman, convicted of having unlawfully detained a
+female child of 11 years of age, with intent to sell her, was next
+placed in the dock. His Lordship said:
+
+    "The evidence in this case has shown the extraordinary extent to
+    which, under cloak of China custom, the iniquity of dealing in
+    children has extended. From the evidence, I have no doubt that a
+    vagabond clansman to whom the father had occasionally given out of
+    his penury had originated the crime in enticing the child away,
+    and it seems to me to be clear that the prisoner was as well known
+    as a 'broker of mankind' as a receiver of stolen children, to sell
+    them on commission, as receivers of old iron and marine stores
+    could be found in this Colony to dispose of stolen property. The
+    little girl bought and sold, aged 11 years, is a very intelligent
+    child, and described the negotiations for her sale with great
+    clearness."
+
+The Chief Justice then went on to repeat the little girl's testimony
+as to these "brokers of mankind," and the child's knowledge, from
+personal observation of these purchases and sales, to which he adds:
+
+    "Let me here ask, Is the trade, or rather profession, 'broker of
+    mankind,' also a sacred China custom? I will not ask the queries
+    which would naturally arise in case the question were answered in
+    the affirmative. At present, however, I must say that, custom
+    or no custom, the practice of this profession is prohibited by
+    statute, and it is my duty to meet its exercise by punishment."
+
+The prisoner was sentenced to two years' penal servitude. The Chief
+Justice concluded his remarks on that occasion by replying to the
+statements made in the Chinese petition.
+
+He called attention to the Chinese resting their claim on the
+temporary promise of Governor Elliott in 1841; of the fact that
+they ignored the proclamation of the Queen in 1845. He said that
+infanticide was also a Chinese custom in the same sense that slavery
+was, on the words of the petition:
+
+    "Amongst the Chinese there has hitherto been the custom of
+    drowning their daughters. The Chinese threaten the increase of
+    this 'custom' of drowning children if their sale is put down....
+    I can only say that in case father, mother, or relative were
+    convicted of infanticide, Chinese custom would be no protection,
+    and, unless I am grievously mistaken, the presiding judge would
+    have no alternative but to sentence the perpetrator to death ...
+    the one custom is tolerated just as the other custom is tolerated,
+    and both alike or neither must be claimed as sanctioned by
+    Governor Elliott's proclamation. All remedies which ever existed
+    by common law or by statute in England up to 1845 against
+    ownership of human beings, against every form of slavery, extend
+    by their own proper force and authority to Hong Kong; and, if
+    that were not enough, all English laws applicable to Hong Kong,
+    including those against ownership in human beings, were by express
+    Ordinances 6 of 1845, and 12 of 1873, embodied into the laws
+    of Hong Kong, whilst the worst forms of slavery are especially
+    punished by Ordinance 4 of 1865, and 2 of 1875. I am bound by
+    my most solemn obligations to enforce all these laws. I must,
+    therefore, without fear, favour or affection, discharge this duty
+    to the best of my ability."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 10.
+
+NOT FALLEN--BUT ENSLAVED.
+
+
+The Report of the Commission affords the following instructive
+account of the difference in the moral and social status between the
+prostitute of the East and West:
+
+    "In approaching the subject of prostitution, as it is found in
+    Hong Kong at the present day, it is absolutely necessary for a
+    full and just comprehension of it, to keep in mind two distinct
+    considerations. One is the almost total identity of the whole
+    system of prostitution, which since times immemorial is an
+    established institution all over the large empire of China. The
+    other point to be kept in mind is the radical difference
+    which distinguishes the personal character, the life and the
+    surroundings of Chinese prostitutes from all that is
+    characteristic of the prostitutes of Europe." ... "At the present
+    day the Chinese prostitutes of Hong Kong have but very little to
+    distinguish them, either in the past, present, or future of their
+    personal lives, or in their position and surroundings, from
+    the prostitutes of the 18 provinces of China.... Those of the
+    prostitutes of Hong Kong who are inmates of brothels licensed for
+    foreigners only, or who live in sly brothels for foreigners,
+    have adopted a different style of dress, but are otherwise in no
+    essential point differently situated from prostitutes in China,
+    except that the inmates of brothels licensed for foreigners are
+    subject to compulsory medical examination, and consequently far
+    more despised by their countrymen and even other prostitutes."
+
+    "Prostitutes in Europe are, as a general rule, fallen women,
+    the victims of seduction, or possibly of innate vice. Being the
+    outcasts of society, and having little, if any, prospect of being
+    again admitted into decent and respectable circles of life,
+    deprived also of their own self-respect as well as the regards
+    of their relatives, occasionally even troubled with qualms of
+    conscience, they mostly dread thinking of their future, and seek
+    oblivion in excesses of boisterous dissipation. The Chinese
+    prostitutes of Hong Kong are an entirely different set of
+    people.... Very few of them can be called fallen women; scarcely
+    any of them are the victims of seduction, according to the English
+    sense of the term, refined or unrefined. The great majority of
+    them are owned by professional brothel-keepers or traders in women
+    in Canton or Macao, have been brought up for the profession, and
+    trained in various accomplishments suited to brothel life.... They
+    frequently know neither father nor mother, except what they call
+    a 'pocket-mother,' that is, the woman who bought them from
+    others.... They feel of course that they are the bought property
+    of their pocket-mother or keeper, but they know also that this is
+    the feeling of almost every other woman in China, liable as each
+    is to be sold, by her own parents or relatives, to be the wife or
+    concubine of a man she never sets eyes on before the wedding day,
+    or liable, as the case may be, to be pledged or sold, by her
+    parents or relatives, to serve as a domestic slave in a strange
+    family.... They have the chance, if they are pretty and
+    accomplished, of being wooed ... and they may look forward with
+    tolerable certainty to being made the second, or third, or fourth,
+    or at any rate the favorite wife of some wealthy gentleman. If
+    not possessed of special attractions or wealthy lovers, they look
+    forward to being taken out of the brothel by an honest devoted man
+    to share the lot of a poor man's wife. Or they may endeavor to
+    save money by singing, music and prostitution combined, and not
+    only to purchase their freedom, but to set up for themselves,
+    buying, rearing, and selling girls to act as servants or
+    concubines or prostitutes, or they may finally come to keep
+    brothels as managers for wealthy capitalists or speculators. There
+    is further a certain proportion of prostitutes in Hong Kong who
+    have, by the hand of their own parents or husbands, been mortgaged
+    or sold into temporary servitude as prostitutes, or who of their
+    own will and accord act as prostitutes under personal agreement
+    with a brothel-keeper, for a definite advance of a sum of money,
+    required to rescue the family, or some member of it, from some
+    great calamity or permanent ruin."
+
+    "There is, however, one class of women in Hong Kong who can
+    scarcely be called prostitutes, and who have no parallel either in
+    China, outside the Treaty Ports, or in Europe. They are generally
+    called 'protected women.' They may originally have come forth from
+    one or other of the above-mentioned classes of prostitutes, or may
+    be the offspring of protected women...."
+
+The Report describes the situation of the "protected woman" in the
+following terms:
+
+    "She resides in a house rented by her protector, who lives
+    generally in another part of the town; she receives a fixed salary
+    from her protector, and sublets every available room to individual
+    sly prostitutes, or to women keeping a sly brothel, no visitor
+    being admitted unless he have some introduction or secret
+    pass-words. If an inspector of brothels attempts to enter, he
+    is quietly informed that this is not a brothel, but the private
+    family residence of Mr. So and So.... This system makes the
+    suppression of sly brothels an impossibility.... The principal
+    points of difference between the various classes of Chinese
+    prostitutes of Hong Kong and the prostitutes of Europe amount
+    therefore to this, that Chinese prostitution is essentially
+    a bargain in money and based on a national system of female
+    slavery."
+
+    "It must not be supposed, however, from what is said above, that
+    the Chinese, as a people, view prostitution as a matter of moral
+    indifference. On the contrary, the literature, the religions,
+    the laws and the public opinion of China, all join in condemning
+    prostitution as immoral, and in co-operation to keep it under a
+    certain check. The literature of the Confucianists, which, as
+    regards purity and utter absence of immoral suggestions, stands
+    unrivalled by any other nation in the world, does not countenance
+    prostitution in any form.... The laws and public opinion ... agree
+    in keeping prostitution rigidly out of sight. Although the Chinese
+    are a Pagan nation, they have no deification of vice in their
+    temples, no indecent shows in their theatres, no orgies in their
+    houses of public entertainment, no parading of lewd women in their
+    streets.... In short, as far as outward and public observation
+    goes, China presents a more virtuous appearance than most European
+    countries."
+
+The report goes on to show that nevertheless the practice of polygamy,
+
+    "leaving the childless concubines liable to be sold or sent adrift
+    at any moment, the law of inheritance neglecting daughters in
+    favour of sons," and "the universal practice of buying and selling
+    females combined with the system of domestic servitude," makes
+    the suppression of prostitution difficult. "This intermixture of
+    female slavery with prostitution has been noticed in Hong Kong at
+    the very time when the Legislature first attempted to deal with
+    Chinese prostitution."
+
+We now understand the nature of this wretched form of slavery as
+carried on at Hong Kong. There did not exist a class of women brought
+to the pitiable plight of prostitution by the wiles of the seducer, or
+through the mishap of a lapse from virtue, after which all doors
+to reform are practically closed against such, as in Western
+civilization, nor were there those known to have fallen through innate
+perversity; but such as existed among the Chinese were literal
+slaves, in the full sense of that word. From the standpoint of these
+officials, for the most part, prostitution was necessary. This was
+plainly declared in many official documents. The fact that they
+licensed brothels proves also that prostitution was considered
+necessary. And since necessary, if the means failed whereby brothels
+in the Occident are maintained, then they must be maintained by
+Oriental means,--which was slavery. Under such circumstances, to
+license prostitution meant, from the very nature of the case, to
+license slavery. To encourage prostitution, as it always is encouraged
+by the Contagious Diseases Acts, meant to encourage slavery. Hence
+they reasoned, and declared--to use the language of the Registrar
+General, Cecil C. Smith--that it was "useless to try and deal with
+the question of the freedom of Chinese prostitutes by law or by
+any Government regulation. From all the surroundings the thing is
+impracticable."
+
+It must be admitted that the conditions at Hong Kong favored the
+development of social impurity. From the moment of British occupation,
+and before, in fact, there were at that place large numbers of
+unmarried soldiers and sailors, many of very loose morals; also
+many men in civil and military positions as officials, and numerous
+merchants, etc., most of them separated far from their families and
+the restraints that surrounded them at home. On the Chinese side,
+there were men accustomed to deal with their women as chattels,
+willing to sell them to the foreigners.
+
+But we need to inquire a little further into the matter before
+conceding that because a thing will almost inevitably take place,
+therefore it is best to license it in order to keep it within bounds.
+The superficial sophist says: "Prostitution always has existed and
+always will exist. Painful as the fact is, such is the frailty of
+human nature. You cannot make men moral by act of parliament, and it
+is foolish to try. We will have to license the thing, and thus control
+it as best we can. That is the only practical way to deal with this
+evil." Such reasoning as this exhibits the most confused notions as to
+the nature of law.
+
+No law is ever enacted except with the expectation that an offense
+against it will take place. Law anticipates transgression as much as
+license; but law provides a _check_ upon offenses and license provides
+an _incitement_ to them. "The law was not made for a righteous man,
+but for the lawless and disobedient." Have not murder and stealing
+always existed? Are they not likely to exist in spite of laws against
+them, so long as human nature remains so frail? Then why not license
+_them_ in order to keep _them_ under control? It is perfectly apparent
+to all that to license murder and stealing; would be the surest way of
+allowing them to get quickly beyond control. "But you cannot make men
+moral by act of parliament, and it is foolish to try; to put a man in
+jail will not change him from a thief into an honest man." "But," you
+reply, "we do not punish men for stealing and for murder for their own
+good, but for the good of the community at large." Certainly. Then
+what becomes of the argument that because men will not become pure by
+act of parliament they are to be allowed to commit their depredations
+unmolested? The primary object of law is not reformatory but
+protective,--for the victims of lawlessness.
+
+Our great Law-Giver, Jesus Christ, admitted a certain necessity of
+evil, but He did not say, "therefore license it, to keep it within
+bounds." He said, "It _must needs be_ that offenses come." But His
+remedy for keeping the offenses within bounds was, "woe to that man by
+whom the offense cometh." As inevitably as the offense was committed
+so invariably must the punishment fall on the offender's head. That
+is the only way to keep any evil within bounds. This is the principle
+that underlies all law.
+
+These Hong Kong officials who believed in the licensing of brothel
+slavery and brought it about, have much to say about the "unfortunate
+creatures" who were the victims of men. But if the advocate of license
+is self-deceived in his attitude toward this social evil, we need not
+be deceived in him. One does not propose a license as a remedy for an
+evil, except as led to that view by secret sympathy with the evil.
+A license of an evil is never proposed excepting upon the mental
+acquiescence in that evil.
+
+British officials who licensed immoral houses at Hong Kong did not
+wish the libertine to be disturbed in his depredations. The Chinese
+merchants were able to see this fact if those officials were not ready
+to admit it even to themselves. They knew how to throw a stone that
+would secure their own glass houses. Hence they said in their memorial
+to the Governor:
+
+    "From 80 to 90 per cent of all these prostitutes in Hong Kong were
+    brought into these [licensed] brothels by purchase, as is well
+    known to everybody. If buying and selling is a matter of criminal
+    character the proper thing would be first of all, to abolish this
+    evil (connected with the brothels). But how comes it that since
+    the first establishment of the Colony down to the present day the
+    same old practice prevails in these licensed brothels, and has
+    never been forbidden or abolished?"
+
+It is to be noted that none of the officials at Hong Kong accused the
+Chinese merchants of slander in saying that from 80 to 90 per cent of
+the thousands of prostitutes in the Colony were absolute slaves. The
+Government was placed in a very awkward position by this challenge on
+the part of the Chinese. How could a Government that held slaves in
+its licensed brothels forbid Chinese residents holding slaves in their
+homes? But the Governor did not propose to be compromised. He wrote to
+the Secretary of State at London: "I believe I only anticipate your
+instructions, in giving orders that the law, whatever may be the
+consequences to the brothel system, should be strictly enforced so as
+to secure the freedom of the women." But he reckoned without his host.
+The Secretary of State did not stand by the Governor. So far as the
+records show, the Governor and Chief Justice stood alone, his entire
+Executive Council taking the opposing side. What was to be done?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 11.
+
+THE MAN FOR THE OCCASION.
+
+
+Consistency demanded that either the brothel system at Hong Kong
+should be abolished, or domestic slavery and so-called "adoption"
+should be tolerated. No other courses were open. In his perplexity,
+the Governor asked his learned Chinese interpreter, Dr. Eitel, to give
+him further light as to this domestic slavery and "adoption" prevalent
+among the Chinese. This request was granted in a document entitled
+"Domestic servitude in relation to slavery." Dr. Eitel's main points
+were:
+
+    Slavery as known to the Westerner "has always been an incident of
+    race." "Slavery, therefore, has such a peculiar meaning ... that
+    one ought to hesitate before applying the term rashly" to Chinese
+    domestic slavery. Slavery in China grows out of the fact that the
+    father has all power, even to death, over his family. The father,
+    on the other hand, "has many duties as well as rights." Therefore
+    his power over his family "is not a mark of tyranny, but of
+    religious unity." "Few foreigners have comprehended the extent of
+    social equality, ... the amount of influence which woman, bought
+    and sold as she is, really has in China,... the depth of domestic
+    affection, of filial piety, of paternal care." "To deal justly
+    with the slavery of China, we ought to invent another name for
+    it." "The law, although sanctioning the sale of children for
+    purposes of adoption within each clan, and even without, is here
+    in advance of public opinion, as it expressly allows, by an edict,
+    ... the sale of children only to extremely poor people in times
+    of famine, and forbids even in that case re-sale of a child once
+    bought."
+
+This last admission on the part of Dr. Eitel, a fact already pointed
+out by Sir John Smale, seems to us to clearly demonstrate that a
+pretext was now being sought to justify at Hong Kong a state of things
+as to slavery that the laws of China forbade and which in no wise
+could be justified as Chinese "custom." "The reason for this immense
+demand for young female domestics lies in the system of polygamy which
+obtains all over the empire, and which has a religious basis." By this
+he means that it is from the Chinese standpoint a religious duty for
+a father to leave a son, upon his death, to continue the family
+sacrifices. Therefore if the father has no son by his first wife, he
+will "take a second or third or fourth wife until he procures a son."
+"A family being in urgent distress, and requiring immediately a
+certain sum of money, take one of their female children, say five
+years old ... to a wealthy family, where the child becomes a member of
+the family, and has, perhaps, to look after a baby.... But the child
+may be sold out and out. In that case invariably a deed is drawn up."
+And this is the state of things concerning which Dr. Eitel says: "Few
+foreigners have comprehended the extent of social equality ... the
+amount of influence which woman, bought and sold as she is, really
+has in China ... the depth of domestic affection, of filial piety, of
+parental care," etc.
+
+He adds:
+
+    "Considering the deep hold which this system has on the Chinese
+    people, it is not to be wondered at that Chinese can scarcely
+    comprehend how an English judge could come to designate this
+    species of domestic servitude as 'slavery.' On the contrary,
+    intelligent Chinese look upon this system as the necessary and
+    indispensable complement of polygamy, as an excellent counter
+    remedy for the deplorably wide-spread system of infanticide, and
+    as the natural consequence of the chronic occurrence of famines,
+    inundations, and rebellions in an over-populated country. But the
+    abuses to which this system of buying and selling female children
+    is liable, in the hands of unscrupulous parents and buyers, and
+    the support it lends to public prostitution, are too patent facts
+    to require pointing out."
+
+    "The moment we examine closely into Chinese slavery and
+    servitude," declares Dr. Eitel, "from the standpoint of history
+    and sociology, we find that slavery and servitude have, with
+    the exception of the system of eunuchs, lost all barbaric and
+    revolting features." (!) "As this organism has had its certain
+    natural evolution, it will as certainly undergo in due time a
+    natural dissolution, which in fact has at more than one point
+    already set in. But no legislative or executive measures taken in
+    Hong Kong will hasten this process, which follows its own course
+    and its own laws laid down by a wise Providence which happily
+    overrules for the good all that is evil in the world."
+
+There was, indeed, a certain justice in defending the Chinese as
+against the foreigner, on Dr. Eitel's part. But two wrongs do not make
+a right. From this time onward, the word of sophistry is put in
+the mouth of the advocate of domestic slavery, just as the word of
+sophistry had been put in the mouth of the advocate of the Contagious
+Diseases Ordinance. Mr. Labouchere had spoken of the latter as a means
+of protection' for the poor slaves, and the expression, 'protection,'
+has been kept prominently to the front ever since Dr. Eitel suggested,
+likewise, not a change in the conditions, but a change in the name by
+which they were known. Let it be called 'domestic _servitude_' instead
+of 'domestic _slavery_.' All the advocates of this domestic slavery
+from that time have called the noxious weed by the sweeter name.
+
+Governor Hennessey asked the opinion of others of his officials. One
+Acting Police Magistrate replied 'When the servant girls (or slaves
+girls, as some prefer to term them) in the families in this Colony are
+contented with their lot, and their parents do not claim them, the
+police cannot be expected to interfere.' Another said 'Buying and
+selling children by the Chinese has been considered a harmless
+proceeding, its only effect being to place the purchaser under a legal
+and moral obligation to provide for the child until the seller chose
+to repudiate the bargain, which he could always do under English law.'
+
+The Attorney General, Mr. O'Malley, when asked (at a later period) his
+opinion as to the utterances Sir John Smale had made from time to time
+on the subject of slavery, replied to the Governor
+
+    "With regard to Sir John Smale's observation, I know that
+    difficulties national, social, official and financial beset the
+    Government in reference to the special questions I have raised,
+    I have only to observe that I have never heard of those
+    difficulties. My own impression is that the respectable parts
+    of the community, Chinese as well as European, including the
+    Government and the police, are fully alive to the brothel and
+    domestic servitude systems, and as well informed as Sir John Smale
+    himself as to the real facts. One would suppose from the tone
+    of his pamphlet that he stood alone in his perception and
+    denunciation of evil. But I believe the fact is that the Executive
+    and the community generally are quite as anxious is he is to
+    insist upon practical precautions necessary to prevent the abuses,
+    and to diminish the evils naturally connected with these systems,
+    but they look for this to practical securities and not to
+    declamation. The obvious line of practical suggestions to take is
+    that of careful registration and constant inspection of brothels,
+    so that full and frequent opportunity may be given to all persons
+    whose freedom may be open to suspicion to know their legal
+    position, and to assert their liberty if they like ...
+    Particularly it might be thought right to create a system of
+    registration applicable to domestic servants and strangers in
+    family houses. It would be a good thing if Sir John Smale would
+    place at the disposal of the Government (as I believe he has never
+    yet done) any facts connected with the brothel system or the
+    domestic servitude of which he possesses any real knowledge."
+
+This letter gives us some conception of the almost insuperable
+difficulties Sir John Smale had to encounter in his endeavor to put
+down slavery, for not a case could come up in the Superior Court for
+conviction on the Judge's information, of course, for that would
+be assuming both prosecuting and judicial powers, and the men who
+occupied in turn that office, during Sir John Smale's incumbency,
+refused to act in unison with him, and this Attorney General's
+language betrays hot prejudice, lack of candor as regarded the facts,
+and insolence toward Sir John Smale.
+
+The Attorney General has a fling at the Chief Justice as
+"impracticable," yet the only practical suggestion that the former
+makes in his letter as to how to meet the conditions he seems to have
+taken from Sir John Smale's own words upon which he was asked to
+express an opinion. The Chief Justice had said:
+
+    "I think the evils complained of might be lessened,--(1) By a
+    better registration of the inmates of brothels, and by frequently
+    bringing them before persons to whom they might freely speak as to
+    their position and wishes, and by such authoritative interference
+    with the brothel-keepers as should keep them well in fear of
+    exercising acts of tyranny. (2) By a stringently enforced register
+    of all inmates of Chinese dwelling-houses, &c., (at least of all
+    servants) with full inquiry into the conditions of servitude, and
+    an authoritative restoration of unwilling servants to freedom from
+    servitude. This would apply to 10,000 (according to Dr. Eitel
+    20,000) bond servants in Hong Kong."
+
+The injustice of the attack of the Attorney General upon Sir John
+Smale was not ignored by Governor Hennessy, when he forwarded Mr.
+O'Malley's letter to London. He said:
+
+    "The apparent difference between Mr. O'Malley's views on brothel
+    slavery and the views of Sir John Smale is due to the fact that
+    Sir John Smale knew that the real brothel slavery exists in the
+    brothels where Chinese women are provided for European soldiers
+    and sailors, whereas Mr. O'Malley, in discarding the use of the
+    word slavery, does so on the assumption that all the Hong Kong
+    brothels form a part of the Chinese social system, and that the
+    girls naturally and willingly take to that mode of earning a
+    livelihood. This is a misconception of the actual facts, for
+    though the Hong Kong brothels, where Chinese women meet Chinese
+    only, may seem to provide for such women what Mr. O'Malley calls
+    'a natural and suitable manner of life' consistent with a part of
+    the Chinese social system, it is absolutely the reverse in those
+    Hong Kong brothels where Chinese women have to meet foreigners
+    only. Such brothels are unknown in the social system of China. The
+    Chinese girls who are registered by the Government for the use of
+    Europeans and Americans, detest the life they are compelled
+    to lead. They have a dread and abhorrence of foreigners, and
+    especially of the foreign soldiers and sailors. _Such girls are
+    the real slaves in Hong Kong._"
+
+We underscore the last sentence as a most painful fact in the history
+of the dealings of the British officials with the native women of
+China, set forth on the authority of the Governor of Hong Kong, who,
+with the help of Sir John Smale, the Chief Justice, waged such a
+fearless warfare against slavery under the British flag, with such
+unworthy misrepresentation and opposition on the part of the other
+officials equally responsible with them in preserving the good name of
+their country, and in defending rather than trampling upon its laws.
+Governor Hennessy continues
+
+    "To drive Chinese girls into such brothels [i.e., those for the
+    use of foreigners] was the object of the system of informers which
+    Mr. C. C. Smith for so many years conducted in this Colony,
+    and which in his evidence before the Commission on the 3rd of
+    December, 1877, he defended on the ground of its necessity in
+    detecting unlicensed houses, but which your Lordship [Lord
+    Kimberley, Secretary of State for the Colonies] has now justly
+    stigmatized as a revolting abuse. On another point the Attorney
+    General also seems not to appreciate fully what he must have heard
+    Sir John Smale saying from the Bench in the Supreme Court. It
+    would be a mistake to think that the Chief Justice had not before
+    he left the Colony, realized the public opinion of the Chinese
+    community on the subject of kidnaping. In sentencing a prisoner
+    for kidnaping, on the 10th of March, 1881, Sir John Smale said he
+    was bound to declare from the Bench that, to the credit of the
+    Chinese, a right public opinion had been growing up, and on the
+    25th of March, 1881, (the last occasion when Sir John Smale spoke
+    in the Supreme Court of Hong Kong), he said, in a case in
+    which the kidnapers had been convicted--This case presents two
+    satisfactory facts first, that a Chinese boat woman handed one of
+    these prisoners to the police, and that afterward an agent of the
+    Chinese Society to suppress this class of crime caused the arrest
+    and conviction of these prisoners. These facts are indicative of
+    the public mind tending to treat kidnaping as a crime against
+    society, calling for active suppression. On the same occasion, in
+    sentencing a woman who had severely beaten an adopted child, Sir
+    John Smale said, 'In finally disposing of these three cases, with
+    all their enormity, sources of satisfaction present themselves in
+    the fact that, in each of these cases, it has been owing to the
+    spontaneous indignation of Chinese men and women that these crimes
+    have been brought to the knowledge of the police.' The Governor
+    closes his letter with the statement, 'It is only due to Sir John
+    Smale to add that his own action has greatly contributed to foster
+    the "healthy" public opinion of the native community, which
+    induced him, when quitting the Supreme Court, to take a hopeful
+    view of the future of this important subject.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 12.
+
+THE CHIEF JUSTICE ANSWERS HIS OPPONENTS.
+
+
+The Acting Attorney General at the time of Sir John Smale's first
+pronouncement against slavery had suggested to Governor Hennessy that
+Sir John Smale's statements should be sent to London to the Secretary
+of State for the Colonies; and he and other advisers recommended that
+no prosecutions in connection with "adoption" and "domestic servitude"
+should be instituted, pending the receipt of instructions from the
+Home Government. The Chief Justice concurred in these views, and also
+suggested that the Chinese be told that no prosecutions as to the past
+should take place, but that in future, in every case where _buying and
+selling_ occurred in connection with adoption or domestic service, the
+Government would undoubtedly prosecute.
+
+The replies that came from the Secretary of State indicated scant
+sympathy with Sir John Smale's position. His action was likely to
+disturb the system of regulation of vice at Hong Kong, and these
+health measures were in high repute with that official at London. He
+could not sympathize with the Governor's view that laws securing the
+freedom of the women were to be executed, whatever the result to the
+brothel system. He wrote in reply as though Sir John Smale had said
+many things that had not been put in the same light, demanded to know
+what law could be put into operation to improve conditions, and wished
+to know if Sir John Smale accepted Dr. Eitel's views on "domestic
+servitude," and later he wrote pronouncing the views expressed in the
+insolent attack of Mr. O'Malley upon Sir John Smale's anti-slavery
+pronouncements as "well considered and convincing." He also referred
+to the "humane intentions" of Mr. Labouchere in the passing of the
+Contagious Diseases Ordinance of Sir John Bowring's time, which "were
+intended to ameliorate the condition of the women." But it does not so
+much concern us what the officials in London did and said, excepting
+at the one point, namely, that they did not at this time back the
+noble efforts of the Governor and of Sir John Smale to put down
+slavery, and so rendered it practically impossible for them to
+accomplish what they wished to do. The replies from Sir John Smale
+are, however, of much value to us, as throwing light upon social
+conditions at Hong Kong. On August 26, 1880, Sir John Smale replied in
+a letter meant for the Secretary of State at London, but sent in due
+form to the Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong for forwarding:
+
+    "My observations in Court arose out of cases of kidnaping;
+    and, according to the practices of judges in England, in their
+    addresses to the Grand Juries, and on sentencing prisoners, I did
+    as I thought it my duty to do. I traced the cause of the kidnaping
+    to the demand for domestic bond servants, as Dr. Eitel calls them,
+    and for brothels ... I said on the 7th of October I expressly
+    indicate these two, and these two only, as the specific classes of
+    slavery in Hong Kong as then rapidly increasing ... I cannot find
+    a sentence in it which indicates any attempt by the Court to reach
+    criminally cases of concubines."
+
+    "All that I contended for in what I then said beyond punishing
+    kidnapers was to bring within the cognizance of the law those
+    who bought from such kidnapers,--the receivers of such stolen
+    'chattels,'--leaving such buyers to set up and prove a
+    justification if they could."
+
+    "On the 31st of March, 1880, prisoners in four cases of
+    kidnaping,--one most harrowing,--were sentenced. I there lamented,
+    and I am sure every right-minded man will concur with me, that
+    it was the fact that the very poor were punished and the rich
+    escaped. In that case it clearly appeared that one Leong Ming
+    Aseng, apparently a respectable tradesman, at all events a man of
+    means, had given $60 for a young girl aged 13 years, to one of the
+    kidnapers, and he took her away beyond the reach of her distracted
+    mother under circumstances from which he must have known that the
+    child had been kidnaped. But although the facts were known at the
+    Police Court, and this man remained exceeding ten days afterward
+    in the Colony, no charge was ever made against him. After passing
+    sentences at this time, I made some observations on the '_patria
+    potestas_' [power of the father] theory. Dr. Eitel having painted
+    this condition in China in what I thought too favorable colors,
+    I quoted from Doolittle's 'Social Life in China,' unquestioned
+    testimony as to what _patria potestas_ was in China before the
+    controversy now raised, and from Mr. Parker, Her Britannic
+    Majesty's Consul at Canton, as to its present state in China.
+    After these quotations, I simply asked, Can greater tyranny, more
+    unchecked caprice, be described or even conceived as inexcusable
+    over wife, concubine, child, or purchased or inherited
+    slave?'--the quotations I made being up to this time undisputed
+    ... what I said was necessary to introduce the expression of my
+    conviction ... that none of the elements of the system of _patria
+    potestas_ exist in Hong Kong, including of course adoption. It is
+    to this conviction that I point as the moral ground for enforcing
+    English law against kidnaping and buying and selling human beings.
+    The gravamen of all my complaints is, that the pauper kidnapers
+    and sellers are punished, while the rich buyers go free. No case
+    can come on for trial in this Court except upon an information by
+    the Attorney-General. I have called on the Attorney-General of the
+    day to prosecute a man against whom there was evidence that the
+    boy he was keeping as a servant had been bought by him direct from
+    a kidnaper. The then Attorney-General exercised his discretion,
+    and did not prosecute." "There are no difficulties in the way of
+    carrying out the punishment of kidnaping, and sellers and buyers
+    of children, or of keeping children by the purchasers, or in
+    selling and buying of women for brothels, or in dealing with
+    cases of brutal bondage." "I have spoken from criminal facts and
+    circumstances deposed to in Court; the Chinese and Dr. Eitel have
+    spoken from the favorable surroundings of respectable domestic
+    life in China. The conflicting views thus presented are but a
+    reproduction of conflicting testimony in reference to negro
+    slavery in the West Indies, and more lately in the United States.
+    Very benevolent persons, some my own friends, looking at facts
+    from the respectable standpoint, thought that such slavery was
+    based on human nature, and conduced to the spread of Christianity.
+    But the contrary view prevailed. I am quite satisfied that the
+    right view on this question will ultimately prevail. As a man I
+    have very decided views on these subjects, but as a judge I feel
+    it is not for me further to debate them. I expressly retired from
+    doing so on the 27th of October, 1879, although I thought it
+    necessary in March last to comment on what I thought to be an
+    erroneous view of the _patria potestas_."
+
+Later, in response to a suggestion on the part of the Governor, for a
+more explicit statement as to wherein his views differ from those of
+the Chinese and of Dr. Eitel, the Chief Justice says, among other
+things:
+
+    "I do not admit the statements of Dr. Eitel. They do not apply
+    to Hong Kong, but they may, and probably do, apply to certain
+    respectable classes in China proper, where China family life
+    proper exists. What I assert is that family life does not, in the
+    proper Chinese sense, exist in Hong Kong, and that although, under
+    certain very restricted conditions, the buying and selling, and
+    adopting and taking as concubines, boys and girls in China proper,
+    is permitted as exceptions to the penalties inflicted by Chinese
+    law in China proper, these conditions do not exist in Hong Kong;
+    and that the conditions necessary to these exceptions in their
+    favor in the Chinese Criminal Code do not exist in Hong Kong,
+    and that the penalties would apply, if in China, to all such
+    transactions as I have denounced in Hong Kong, of that I have no
+    doubt. Dr. Eitel's vindication is of a system as recognized in an
+    express exception to the Penal Code in China proper, which may,
+    for aught I know, work well in China. What I have said is that the
+    practices in Hong Kong do not come within the cases which are only
+    the exception to the penal enactments in the Chinese Code against
+    all such bondage in China. I have never said ... that all buying
+    and selling of children for adoption or domestic service is
+    contrary to Chinese law. What I have said is that all such buying
+    and selling of children as has come within my cognizance in Hong
+    Kong is contrary to Chinese law; but I do think that buying and
+    selling even for adoption and domestic servitude under the best
+    circumstances, constitutes slavery; legal according to Chinese
+    law, but illegal according to British law. Reference is made to
+    Chinese gentlemen; I believe that not one of them has his 'house'
+    in Hong Kong; the wife (small-footed) is kept at the family home
+    in China. Each of them has his harem only in Hong Kong. There may
+    be an exception to this rule, but I have never heard of any such
+    exception. (I know of only one, of a Chinese gentleman, who, for
+    certain reasons, was afraid to return to China.) ... I have not
+    known a single case of adoption by a Chinaman in Hong Kong. They
+    may exist in China proper, and possibly in Hong Kong ... They are
+    not in China proper a sacred religious obligation, except in
+    rare cases indeed, in which the conditions of clanship and other
+    stringent conditions are precisely complied with; and they have
+    as much to do with the necessities of the poor, and no more, than
+    would be the case in England or Ireland in the time of a famine.
+    These Chinese gentlemen say that the children are well cared for.
+    If girls eligible for marriage or concubinage, they are sold for
+    that, and form a profitable investment to a Chinese gentleman.
+    If not so eligible, they are sold for any, even the worst
+    purpose,--brothels, according to my experience in the Criminal
+    Courts of Hong Kong. If the former, it may be that they do well;
+    but if the latter, no slavery is worse. This as to females. And
+    as to males, the purchaser holds them until they can redeem
+    themselves, and, according to my experience, generally never.
+    Again, the Chinese gentlemen allege that if the adoptive parent or
+    master does not do his duty the actual parents have their remedy.
+    The answer is, so far as Hong Kong is concerned, the far greater
+    number of actual parents are far away in China, have entirely lost
+    sight of the child, and are far too poor to seek a remedy in Hong
+    Kong. They would have a remedy, if they were present and knew it,
+    but they do not know that there is a remedy. They had their remedy
+    from the first in China proper. Well, a remedy in the Mandarin
+    Court, where the longest purse prevails, and into which a poor man
+    seldom dares to enter a complaint."
+
+    "Lastly, it is said that the lot of these children is far happier
+    than if they had been left to their ordinary fate. So say these
+    Chinese gentlemen; so said the noble and wealthy, the much
+    respected slave trader and holder, a century ago in England. The
+    answer to him then is the only answer for these Chinese gentlemen.
+    It is a long one which presents itself to everyone who has studied
+    the slavery and the slave-trade question. Besides this long
+    argumentative answer, one question must be answered:--Is it right
+    to do or sanction wrong that good may come?"
+
+    "A very long time has elapsed since I received your letter
+    forwarding that dispatch [containing the request of the Secretary
+    of State for the Chief Justice to state his views as to Dr.
+    Eitel's representations], in June last; but the delay has been
+    advantageous, as it has enabled me to obtain a memorandum on the
+    subject by Mr. Francis, barrister here, and for a year Acting
+    Puisne Judge ... I write on this subject from an experience in
+    Hong Kong since early in 1861; Mr. Francis from a very extensive
+    experience in both China proper and in this Colony since some
+    years previously." He then enters into history to show that "Mr.
+    Francis of necessity studied ... the whole law on the subject of
+    slavery or bondage in every form here."
+
+Mr. Francis first reviews all the legislative measures existent at
+Hong Kong concerning slavery, in the clearest manner possible, leaving
+no doubts in the mind of any fair-minded person that laws were not
+wanting to put down slavery:
+
+    First: Hong Kong, being a Crown Colony, "the power of the
+    Sovereign in respect of legislation is absolute."
+
+    Second: The proclamation of Sir Charles Elliott, of tolerance
+    of native customs was "pending Her Majesty's pleasure," and no
+    longer.
+
+    Third: Her Majesty's pleasure was declared at Hong Kong: (a) By
+    the Proclamation of 1845; (b) "By Ordinance 6 of 1845, 2 of 1846,
+    and 12 of 1873, by the combined operation of which the law of
+    England, common and statute, as it existed on the 5th day of
+    April, 1843, became the law of Hong Kong."
+
+    Says Mr. Francis of Ordinance 6 of 1845, "The relations of husband
+    and wife, parent and child, guardian and ward, master and servant,
+    whatever they may have been when Hong Kong was Chinese, became
+    from the date of that Ordinance what English law made them, and
+    nothing more or less."
+
+    "But in addition to the declarations of the Common Law," declares
+    Mr. Francis, the following are in full force at Hong Kong: "The
+    Act of the 5th George IV. c. 113, the Act of the 3rd and 4th
+    William IV. c. 73, and the Act 6th and 7th Victoria c. 98, which
+    have in the widest terms abolished slavery throughout the British
+    dominions." "These Acts declare it unlawful for anyone owing
+    allegiance to the British Crown, whether within or without the
+    dominions of the Crown, to hold or in any way deal in slaves, or
+    to participate in any way in such dealing, or to do any act which
+    would contribute in any way to enable others to hold or deal in
+    slaves. This simple declaration, if it stood alone, would make
+    every act of slave-holding a misdemeanour, but the Acts themselves
+    make it piracy, felony, or misdemeanour, as the case may be, to
+    do any of the acts declared to be unlawful. These Acts further
+    declare that persons holden in servitude as pledges or pawns for
+    debt shall, for the purpose of the Slave Trade Acts, be deemed and
+    construed to be slaves, or persons intended to be dealt with as
+    slaves. Hundreds of persons are held in such servitude as pledged
+    or pawned in Hong Kong, and not one of the parties to such
+    transactions has ever been proceeded against under these Acts."
+
+    "In addition to the above-mentioned Acts of George, William and
+    Victoria, there is also the Imperial Act, entitled The Slave
+    Trade Act, 1873, which consolidates the laws for the suppression
+    of the Slave Trade, and which is in force in Hong Kong by its own
+    authority. We have also the provisions of the Local Ordinance 4 of
+    1865, sections 50 and 51, and 2 of 1875."
+
+    "Offenses against the provisions of these Ordinances, so far as
+    they relate to women or children, are still very common, and
+    are growing more numerous every day, and until the system of
+    prostitution which prevails in this Colony, and the system of
+    breeding up young girls from their infancy to supply the brothels
+    of Hong Kong, Singapore, and San Francisco, _is declared to be
+    slavery_, and is treated and punished as such in Hong Kong, no
+    stop will ever be put to the kidnaping of women and the buying and
+    selling of female children in Hong Kong. This buying and selling
+    is only an effect of which the existing system of Chinese
+    prostitution is the cause. Get rid of that, and there is an end of
+    kidnaping."
+
+Again the nail had been struck on the head. _Licensed brothel
+slavery_, as it exists at Hong Kong, was put forward by the Chinese
+merchants as something to be dealt with before British officials
+could consistently lay violent hands on the more trivial offenses of
+_domestic slavery and so-called "adoption." Brothel slavery_, says
+Mr. Francis, must be dealt with _as slavery_ before the practice of
+_kidnaping_ can be put under control. This lesson was learned long
+ago. What did all the laws against man-stealing and slave-trading ever
+accomplish so long as the slave owner was allowed to keep his slave?
+As soon as slave-holding was declared impossible in the United States,
+there was no more trouble with slave-traders. Traders go to a market
+where they can dispose of their goods, not to a place where their kind
+of goods are a drug on the market.
+
+Says Mr. Francis bluntly: "The Chinese custom of adoption, whether of
+boys for continuing the family and worship of ancestors, or of girls
+for the ordinary purposes of domestic service, is not the foundation
+of all this buying and selling of women and girls; it is only the
+pretext and excuse." Mr. Francis states that the buying and selling of
+boys is rare as compared with the buying and selling of girls. That
+there are few Chinese families in Hong Kong.
+
+    "The better class Chinese leave their wives in China. The
+    transaction of purchase of these boys takes place at the home of
+    the fathers of them in China. Seldom is it necessary to buy a son,
+    as the usual custom when a wife has no son is to take another
+    wife, not to buy a boy for a son,--hence such buying of boys is
+    for servitude and for ransom, at Hong Kong." "Girls are not bought
+    and sold in Hong Kong for domestic servitude under Chinese custom.
+    They are bought and sold for the purpose of prostitution, here and
+    elsewhere, and instead of being apprenticed to the domesticities,
+    and of being brought up to be good wives and mothers, they
+    are bought and sold,--brought up and trained for a life of
+    prostitution, a life of the most abject and degrading slavery....
+    By the last census [this was written in 1880], there were in Hong
+    Kong 24,387 Chinese women to 81,025 men. Of these 24,387 women
+    the late Mr. May [Superintendent of Police] was of opinion that
+    20,000, or five-sixths, come under the denomination of prostitutes
+    ... A Chinese doctor of large experience fixed the number of
+    quasi-respectable women at one-fourth the whole number, or say
+    6,000, leaving 18,000 prostitutes. These opinions were taken and
+    adopted by the Commission of 1877-1879 ... Who and what are these
+    prostitutes who form by far the greater bulk of the Chinese female
+    population of Hong Kong? The Report of the Commission answers the
+    question: 'The great majority of them are owned by professional
+    brothel-keepers or traders in women in Canton or Macao; they
+    have been brought up for the profession, and trained in various
+    accomplishments suited to their life ... They frequently
+    know neither father nor mother, except what they call a
+    pocket-mother,--that is, the woman who bought them from others ...
+    They are owned in Macao and Canton. They are bought as infants.
+    They come to Hong Kong at 13 or 14, and are deflowered at a
+    special price which goes to the owners. The owner gets the whole
+    of their earnings, and even gets presents given to the girls, who
+    are allowed three or four dollars a month pocket-money. When some
+    of the girls are sent away on account of age, new ones are got
+    from Canton. If these girls are not slaves in every sense of the
+    word, there is no such thing as slavery in existence. If this
+    buying and selling for the purpose of training female children up
+    for this life is not slave-dealing, then never was such a thing
+    as slave-dealing in this world. There are 18,000 to 20,000
+    prostitutes in Hong Kong to 4,000 or 5,000 respectable Chinese
+    women.... Once in five years the stock has to be renewed. It is
+    for this purpose, and not for the legitimate or quasi-legitimate
+    purposes of Chinese adoption and Chinese family life, that
+    children and women are kidnaped and bought and sold ... Until
+    this slave-holding and slave-dealing are entirely suppressed, the
+    grosser abuses arising out of it and incidental to it (kidnaping
+    of women and children) can never be put an end to."
+
+It was on May 20th, 1880, that the Secretary of State asked for the
+first statement of Sir John Smale's views as to kidnaping and domestic
+slavery. His reply is dated August 26th, and in it he refers to
+reasons for his delay in replying, of which the Governor is "well
+aware." His supplementary letter enclosing the Memorandum of slavery
+by Mr. Francis, was dated Nov. 24th, 1880. On April 2nd, 1881, he
+wrote a third time to the Colonial Secretary, from which we gather
+that even up to that time his explanations had not been forwarded to
+Lord Kimberley, Secretary of State. Said he:
+
+    "I had hoped that these letters would have been forwarded
+    last year, in the belief that they might have induced a less
+    unfavorable view by Lord Kimberley of my judicial action as to
+    these matters, and with the more important object of presenting
+    what appears to me to be the great gravity of the evils I have
+    denounced, as they affect the moral status of the Colony, in order
+    that some remedy may be applied to them.... I am informed that His
+    Excellency the Governor has been unable to obtain the opinion of
+    the Attorney-General on the points raised." ...
+
+It is impossible not to feel that this neglect on the part of someone
+at Hong Kong to forward the Chief Justice's letters until the first of
+these was a year old (for they were actually sent in August, 1881),
+was a designed obstruction of his endeavors to set himself in the
+correct light, and to enlighten the Christian public of Great Britain
+as to the abuses existing at Hong Kong.
+
+In this letter expressing regret at the delay of his letters, he
+speaks of convictions of eight more cases of kidnaping, and "almost
+unprecedented brutal assaults on bought children." "Considering the
+special waste of life in brothel life, and the general want of new
+importations to keep up the bondage class of 20,000 in this Colony,
+the cases of kidnaping detected cannot be one-half of one per cent of
+the children and women kidnaped."
+
+    "Two cases of brutal treatment of young girls by purchasers, their
+    pocket-mothers, one little girl having had her leg broken by
+    beating her, and the other having been shockingly and indecently
+    burnt,--both probably weakened for life,--illustrate the cruel
+    passions which ownership in human beings engenders here, as it
+    ever has done elsewhere. In a case now before the magistrate, the
+    evidence tends to show that a girl thirteen years old was
+    bought by a brothel-keeper for $200, and forced, by beating and
+    ill-treatment, into that course of life in a brothel licensed by
+    law. Subject to such surveillance as these houses are by law, it
+    seems to me such slavery is easy of suppression."
+
+At this time the official career of Sir John Smale at Hong Kong
+terminated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 13.
+
+THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY TO THE STRAITS SETTLEMENT.
+
+
+We have traced the development of slavery from State-protected brothel
+slavery to State-tolerated domestic slavery and "adoption" of boys.
+Now we turn to Singapore, to find that all these forms of slavery
+exist there under the British flag, with the addition of a
+coolie-traffic dangerously like slavery, also, and they are all
+under the management of the Registrar General, or "Protector of the
+Chinese," as he is always called at the Straits. For the general
+description of conditions in the Straits Settlements, more especially
+at Singapore, we give in full a paper read by an Englishman, a
+resident of Singapore for many years, at the Annual Conference of
+American Methodist Missionaries, held in Singapore in 1894,--a paper
+which was endorsed by that body:
+
+    It has come to be almost universally acknowledged that Singapore
+    is indebted as much to Chinese as to British enterprise for its
+    present commercial prosperity, and therefore the subject of
+    Chinese labour which is vexing America and Australia, assumes a
+    very different aspect in the Straits Settlements, and the fact
+    that Chinese immigration has increased 50 per cent in the last ten
+    years is looked upon as an unmitigated blessing. The magnitude of
+    the Singapore labour trade will be understood when it is known
+    that the number of Chinese who came to this port last year, either
+    as genuine immigrants or for transshipment to other ports, was
+    122,029, which is actually more than the entire Chinese population
+    of the town. In connection with the immigration of this multitude
+    of men and women, speaking many dialects of a language which is
+    wholly unknown to the officials of the British Government in the
+    Straits, with the exception of perhaps half a dozen persons, it
+    cannot be wondered at that many abuses arise, and the suspicion
+    has gained ground and is frequently given expression to, in the
+    public press and elsewhere, that many of the immigrants do not
+    come to Singapore of their free will. Moreover, it cannot be
+    denied that the circumstances under which the Chinese come to
+    Singapore and are forwarded to their destination lend colour to
+    this suspicion, so that it may fairly be inquired whether the
+    efforts made by the Government of the Straits Settlements to
+    control the Chinese coolie traffic and to prevent a secret form
+    of slavery have been attended with any success, or are at all
+    adequate to the requirements of the case.
+
+    The Annual Report for the year 1892 on the Chinese Protectorate in
+    the Straits Settlements which is the department charged with the
+    control of immigration, was published on the 5th of May, 1893, and
+    states that of the 122,029 Chinese deck passengers who arrived in
+    Singapore from China during the year, 111,164 were males, 6,867
+    women and 3,998 children. The circumstances under which the men
+    and the women are brought to Singapore are in many respects the
+    same, but inasmuch as a large number of the women and some of
+    the children are imported for immoral purposes, this part of the
+    subject will be dealt with separately. Turning then to the above
+    mentioned Report, we find as regards male immigration, that out of
+    the 111,164 who arrived in Singapore 23,647 proceeded direct to
+    Penang, and 1,798 to Malacca, Bangkok and Mauritius, leaving
+    85,719 remaining in Singapore, of whom 76,601 are classed as
+    'paid passengers,' and 9,118 as "unpaid passengers received into
+    depots." With the former class the Chinese Protectorate has
+    nothing more to do, unless they come to the Protector to sign a
+    Government labour contract with planters or other employers
+    of labor, but with the 'unpaid passengers' the case is very
+    different. These men are brought to the Straits to the number of
+    about 15,000 a year, under what is spoken of in the Report as
+    "the much objurgated depot and broker system," and the facts as
+    presented below will speak for themselves as to whether the
+    objurgations are warranted or not. The brokers are all China men,
+    and are admitted to be men of the worst character. They have their
+    assistants or partners in the chief ports of China, who scout
+    the country round in search of men and are known to be not very
+    particular as to the means they employ in obtaining them. Nothing
+    is required of the recruit except a willingness to hand himself
+    over with his scanty outfit to the tender mercies of the broker,
+    who pays his passage and provides him with food and such things as
+    he considers needful. While the vessels, however, with their decks
+    crowded with emigrants, are leaving the Chinese ports, it is a
+    common occurrence for the cry of "man overboard" to be raised, so
+    common indeed that few Captains now take the trouble to stop their
+    ships, leaving the fugitive coolie to his fate or to be picked up
+    by one of the native craft which are usually close at hand. The
+    readiness of the Chinese emigrant thus to risk his life for the
+    purpose of regaining his freedom, is explained by the advocates of
+    the depot and broker system as arising from a desire on his part
+    to outwit the broker and perhaps obtain another bonus by offering
+    himself a second time as a candidate for the honour of a free
+    passage, but it seems quite as likely that nothing less than
+    kidnaping or forcible detention would induce men to run so great
+    a risk. On arrival at Singapore the broker is again on the _qui
+    vive_ to see that his captives do not jump into the sea, and as
+    each coolie ship arrives at the wharf, a small force of police
+    is in waiting to keep a space clear and prevent any attempt at
+    escape, while the officers of the Protectorate board the ship,
+    accompanied by a further force of marine police, for the purpose
+    of inspecting the coolies. When permission is given to disembark,
+    the unpaid passengers are made up into small parties and marched
+    through the town to the depots under the escort of the brokers and
+    several of their assistants, with much yelling and good deal of
+    rough handling, and an occasional halt while a straggler or a
+    would be runaway is brought back to the party. That the coolies
+    are frequently successful in their attempts to escape is shown
+    in the Report of the Chinese Protectorate, 160 being returned as
+    'absconded either when landing or at depot' in Singapore, and 101
+    at Penang, or about 1-3/4 per cent of the "unpaid passengers". On
+    arrival at the depot, the coolies are probably surprised to find
+    themselves securely confined in houses which look uncomfortably
+    like prisons, and the passer-by may see the dirty and unkempt
+    _sin-khehs_ or "new men," as these emigrants are called, peering
+    out between the thick wooden bars of the windows. The coolies
+    are thus forcibly detained at the depots until the brokers are
+    successful in finding employers who are prepared to pay the price
+    per head which they demand, a sum of about £10. In the meanwhile
+    however, it appears from the Report that nearly 4-1/2 per cent of
+    the inmates of the depots are discovered and redeemed by their
+    friends, the numbers being 414 at Singapore, and 278 at Penang,
+    and a further 1-3/4 per cent, or 236 at Singapore, and 55 at
+    Penang, are shown under the headings "released and returned to
+    China," having presumably been discovered to have been kidnaped.
+    Of the total number of "unpaid passengers" arriving at Singapore
+    and Penang, about 91 per cent eventually sign contracts and are
+    made over to their employers or their agents, the majority of
+    these being shipped off, under escort as before to the Native
+    States of the Malay Peninsula or other neighboring countries, to
+    labour for a fixed term of years after which the coolie is free to
+    return to his native land or to seek such other employment as he
+    may see fit.
+
+    Such are the circumstances under which thousands of our fellow
+    beings are annually brought to the labour market at Singapore, and
+    it must be admitted that, to say the least of it, the system does
+    not seem worthy of Western nineteenth century civilization. At the
+    same time the extreme difficulty of controlling the 'depot and
+    broker system,' or even of providing an efficient substitute for
+    it, must be freely admitted. The system of Government contracts
+    and inspection of immigrants has already done something toward
+    ameliorating the condition of the coolie, and guarding him against
+    illegal detention after his arrival at Singapore or Penang. Much
+    more, however, remains to be done before the coolie trade will
+    cease to be a reproach to the Straits Settlements, and it is
+    doubtful whether any satisfactory reforms will be accomplished
+    until the Chinese Government is moved in the matter with a view to
+    checking the evil at the fountain head. Failing this, it would be
+    worth considering whether the system of "unpaid passengers" might
+    not advantageously be abolished, especially as this class of
+    immigrant represents only 11 per cent of the total immigration,
+    and more than one-third of the labor contracts last year were
+    voluntarily signed by "paid passengers." It seems probable that if
+    the "unpaid passenger" system were abolished, and the market thus
+    thrown open to free competition, a much larger number of "paid
+    passengers" would offer for contracts. But, even if this plan
+    should appear to involve too great a risk of diminishing the flow
+    of Chinese coolies to Singapore, it surely would not too severely
+    tax the ingenuity of the Straits Government to devise a system of
+    State-aided immigration, closely resembling that which has for
+    many years been working in Canada, and more in accord with the
+    dictates of ordinary humanity and English ideas of the liberty of
+    the subject.
+
+    Among the Chinese at Singapore the women number less than
+    one-fifth of the population, and at Penang the proportion between
+    males and females is practically the same. In the immigration
+    returns the disparity is even more marked, for there is only
+    one female immigrant to every eighteen men. This extraordinary
+    preponderance of males in the Chinese population of these towns
+    has given rise to, and is made the standing excuse for, a
+    wholesale system of prostitution to which it would be difficult
+    to find a parallel. Government registration and protection have
+    favored the growth of this diabolical plague spot, for, strange to
+    say, this gigantic system of debauchery is under the direction
+    of the department which is euphemistically entitled "The Chinese
+    Protectorate," the "Protector of Chinese" at Singapore being also
+    the Inspector of over 200 brothels, and the Registrar of about
+    1,800 prostitutes. Many streets of well built three-story houses,
+    chiefly in one particular quarter of the town, are devoted to this
+    nefarious traffic, and are thronged every night with Chinamen who
+    loaf about and gaze into the front rooms and verandahs of the
+    brothels, for these front rooms open on the street and there
+    the women and girls are assembled in their best attire for the
+    inspection of the passers-by. Anything more ostentatiously and
+    revoltingly public could hardly have been devised, and it is
+    painful to reflect that the whole arrangement is the product of
+    Western civilization, such scenes being utterly unknown in China
+    except in the treaty ports, where public prostitution has also
+    been introduced by Europeans.
+
+    Taking Singapore as a sample of the working of this system of
+    regulated vice in the Straits Settlements, we will now proceed
+    to inquire into the means by which this army of prostitutes is
+    recruited. Out of the total of 1,800 prostitutes in Singapore the
+    Chinese women number on the average 1,600, and last year (1892) no
+    less than 621 women entered brothels from China and Hong Kong, in
+    spite of which the number of inmates fell from 1,657 in January
+    to 1,601 in December, so that it may fairly be inferred that more
+    than 650 women are required annually to fill up the vacancies
+    which occur. In order to explain the manner in which this large
+    number of girls and young women are obtained each year, it must be
+    stated that all the affairs connected with the inmates of houses
+    of ill-fame in the Straits Settlements are in the hands of
+    the brothel-keepers. These persons in Penang have formed a
+    "Brothel-keepers' Guild," which appears in the Report of the
+    Chinese Protectorate as one of the registered societies of that
+    town and boasts of 297 members. The brothel-keepers of Singapore
+    are probably banded together in the same way, and in proportion to
+    the number of brothels should be more than twice as numerous as
+    those in Penang. These brothel-keepers have their confederates in
+    China, who search for girls and young women in the same way that
+    the coolie-brokers search for the men, and these unfortunate young
+    persons are brought to Singapore in batches under escort in the
+    same way as the men, but are taken from the ships in closed
+    carriages instead of being driven through the town like sheep, as
+    the men are. All these young women and girls, who are brought
+    to Singapore for immoral purposes, with the full knowledge and
+    consent of the Government, are taken direct from the ships to the
+    office of the Protector of Chinese, to be questioned as to their
+    willingness to lead a life of shame; but the value of this
+    interrogation may be inferred from the fact that the subordinate
+    officer to whom this duty is generally assigned is not acquainted
+    with the language spoken by the women. As a further precaution
+    against the illegal detention of women and girls in brothels, a
+    Government notice is posted in each of these houses, to the effect
+    that the inmates are perfectly at liberty to leave whenever they
+    like, but this is of little use, as hardly any of them can read,
+    and it would be more to the purpose if the Government ordered the
+    removal of the bars from the doors and windows of the brothels.
+    The fact is that these precautions against illegal detention are
+    practically useless, and this is admitted even by the editor of
+    such a paper as the _Hong Kong Daily Press_, who some time ago
+    discussed the question _apropos_ of the suicide of a Hong Kong
+    prostitute who was desirous of being married. The man who wished
+    to marry her offered the pocket-mother a sum of $2,000, but she
+    demanded $2,300 and refused to part with the woman for less;
+    whereupon she hung herself. The following comments on this case
+    are from the _Hong Kong Daily Press_:
+
+    "It would appear on the face of it that the efforts of the
+    Government are absolutely impotent, the notices so much waste
+    paper, and the 'rights of liberty' mere empty phrases of no
+    meaning or significance to the Chinese mind ... A Chinawoman would
+    never dream of effecting her escape for the purpose of evading the
+    blood money. Of course such transactions are absolutely illegal,
+    there is no tittle of reason why the man should pay a cent for the
+    girl, but it is nevertheless an indubitable fact that the custom
+    is widely prevalent, and that Hong Kong is a market for the buying
+    and selling of women which the Government is powerless to touch.
+    Exeter Hall in possession of these facts would indeed have a theme
+    for pious lucubrations."
+
+Commenting upon the same case the _Singapore Free Press_ says:
+
+    "A recent investigation into a case of suicide in Hong Kong brings
+    into strong prominence what is really a system of slavery of the
+    worst kind, and which is not unknown in Singapore."
+
+    Such testimony is valuable from papers which have consistently
+    supported the Contagious Diseases Ordinances and vilified the
+    opponents of the State regulation of vice. There can be little
+    doubt that a large proportion of the girls and young women who are
+    brought to the Straits Settlements for immoral purposes have been
+    sold in China to the brothel-keepers' confederates. In many cases
+    girls are thus sold by their parents for the payment of gambling
+    and other debts, and sometimes, alas, to provide money for the
+    purchase of opium. Surely it is a burning shame that British
+    Colonies should have become the market for the sale of Chinese
+    women into this diabolical form of slavery.
+
+    This article cannot be closed without a brief reference to another
+    and more subtle form of slavery which is well known to exist in
+    the Straits. The last Report of the Chinese Protectorate reveals
+    the fact that during last year (1892) in Singapore alone 426
+    prostitutes left brothels and went into private houses, and in
+    the same period 148 left private houses and entered brothels. The
+    wealthy Chinese in the Straits Settlements keep up very large
+    establishments, and the uninitiated visitor cannot fail to be
+    surprised at the number of young women in the quarter assigned
+    to the servants. They are employed on house work, and keep the
+    magnificent furniture and wardrobes in splendid order, and in many
+    cases they make cakes and sweetmeats which are sold on the streets
+    by their own offspring. The question naturally arises,--Are these
+    women and girls free agents? It is very difficult to say with
+    certainty whether they are free or not, but it is generally
+    admitted that a subtle form of domestic slavery does exist in the
+    Straits, and that boys as well as girls are bought and sold with
+    impunity.
+
+    This account in no way exaggerates conditions, as official
+    documents plainly show. We will confine our thoughts, however,
+    to the women. In a plea for the continuance of the Contagious
+    Diseases Ordinance at Singapore, Mr. Pickering, "Protector,"
+    describes two classes of prostitutes, a proportion of free women
+    "who come down here to gain a livelihood, and girls purchased when
+    very young.... These are absolutely the property of their owners,
+    chiefly women whom the girl calls 'mother,' and whom they regard
+    as such.... The mistress brings her girls down to the Straits, and
+    either sells them, or takes them from place to place, lodging them
+    in licensed brothels where she resides, nominally a servant, but
+    receiving the earnings of her girls, and paying a commission to
+    the licensed keeper. In case of sale, the so-called 'mother'
+    receives the price paid for her 'daughter,' and the 'daughter'
+    signs a promissory note for the amount, with heavy interest; the
+    former owner returns to China, and the victim is bound to serve
+    the Straits mistress; at the same time, the girl is comparatively
+    (!) fortunate in that, coming here under the protection we can
+    give through the Contagious Diseases Ordinances, she has some
+    chance of becoming a free woman."
+
+Now listen, reader, to the wonderful chances of becoming a free woman
+under the British flag, this "Protector" holds out to the slave girls
+who are placed in his officially managed brothels:
+
+    "The girls with their promissory notes are passed from hand to
+    hand in sale, or as pledges for loans; and in one brothel I found
+    two girls, who had, on arrival in Singapore from China some six
+    years previous, signed a note for $300 each, of which every cent
+    had been received and taken back to China by the person who had
+    disposed of them. During the six years they had been the property
+    of two or three successive owners, and when I found them in Penang
+    they were still being detained with the original promissory note
+    hanging over them, though the sum had been paid over and over
+    again. On my insisting on accounts being produced by the
+    brothel-keeper, I discovered that for three years the girls had
+    been earning from 20 to 30 dollars each per month, all of which
+    went to the master, who was surprised when the girls were released
+    and himself threatened with the law." (!)
+
+From this we discover that Mr. Pickering intends that we shall think
+that the reason why he has a salary from the British Government,
+is, among other things, to see that slave girls only need to redeem
+themselves by hard earned money through unspeakable humiliation from
+one, or two, or more owners, and then there is an end to the patience
+of the "Protector" with the slave-trader, who will be surprised to
+find himself "threatened"--not punished--with the law! But Cecil C.
+Smith, formerly Protector of Chinese (Registrar General) at Hong Kong,
+was knighted and made Governor at Singapore, and about a year later
+than this, says, in reference to this very representation: "The
+Protector of Chinese has no efficient means of dealing with the
+accounts of the inmates of brothels, nor has he ever dealt with them.
+The Government should hold itself entirely aloof from interfering with
+such matters." We see, then, of how much account the representations
+of Mr. Pickering were as to the usefulness of the "Protector" to the
+women at this point, but incidentally he has revealed a shocking state
+of slavery perfectly known and not in the least interfered with by the
+"Protector."
+
+Mr. Pickering continues: "At that time the majority of inmates of
+brothels were in the same condition; besides this, they were subject
+to great cruelty and restraint." He professes a great improvement,
+since then, but we may take his word for what it is worth on such
+a point. "We, indeed ... have asked for, and trust to get, more
+legislation to enable us to rescue the numbers of small children who,
+purchased in China, are brought down here and trained for a life of
+prostitution." Nothing of the sort. He knew perfectly well, as did
+every Englishman in the Colony, that the Common Law alone of Great
+Britain, if there were nothing more, was quite sufficient to deliver
+every one of these children, as well as every slave girl, in the
+country. If more legislation were desired it was for some other
+purpose than to empty the brothels of their slaves. He goes on to
+state that children born in brothels "in case of free women belong
+to the mother, but when prostitutes, their issue is claimed by their
+owners, unless their mothers complain to the Registrar," which of
+course, he knew, they would never venture to do. "We know well that
+even now there is a deal of traffic in young girls going on, and
+that a number of inmates of brothels are really slaves.... The only
+Europeans I have heard object to the Contagious Diseases Ordinance are
+those who, in their well-meant zeal, would abolish prostitution, and
+punish all parties engaged as criminals." Precisely! Sir John Smale
+at Hong Kong had undertaken to "punish all parties engaged" in this
+nefarious slave business, and his methods were declared unwise and
+unpractical, simply because his methods endangered prostitution in the
+form of brothel-slavery. Says Mr. Pickering in conclusion:
+
+"I myself profess to be a Christian, and endeavor according to my
+light, and as far as my nature will allow, to conform my conduct
+to the standards of my religion; while holding these principles, I
+certainly feel that I should not be acting in accordance with the
+wishes of my Master, were I not to advocate most strongly that healing
+should be extended to the poor, the helpless, and afflicted, whether
+they be harlots or any other kind of sinners, who; unless the
+Government assist them by forced examinations, will suffer and often
+die in misery from the want of medical assistance." Perhaps the most
+charitable view to take of this creature is that suggested by himself.
+He was a Christian, he claims, "as far as my nature will allow." Had
+his nature only allowed him to see further, he would have perceived
+a distance as wide as heaven is from hell between the conduct of the
+Divine Master who "went about healing all that were oppressed," and
+the man who prostitutes the healing art to the service of libertines,
+in making it healthier, if possible, for them to defy the commandments
+of that same Divine Master. Such doctors are the offscouring of the
+medical profession.
+
+A Chinaman one day entered Mr. Pickering's office at the Protectorate
+in Singapore, accused him of selling his brother into slavery, and
+tried to brain him with an axe. The blow was not fatal, but the
+"Protector," if living, is still in a mad house.
+
+The attitude of the average official mind in this part of the world,
+among the British, as betrayed by innumerable expressions in their own
+documents, is perhaps most precisely put by Mr. Swettenham. British
+Resident at Perak. Speaking of measures adopted to make vice more
+healthy, he says: "As to the Chinese, the only question in the minds
+of members (of the Council) was whether such an Order would not drive
+the women from the state," and then he declares the measures were
+introduced cautiously and gradually ... "The steps already taken have
+been with the object of protecting Chinese women from ill treatment
+and oppression in a state of life ... where the labour required is
+compulsory prostitution for the benefit of unscrupulous masters ...
+and secondly, in the interest of public order and decency ..." "always
+remembering that where the males so enormously outnumber the females,
+the prostitute is a necessary evil," "I have avoided any reference to
+the moral question," continues Mr. Swettenham, "Morality is dependent
+on the influence of climate, religious belief, education, and the
+feeling of society. All these conditions differ in different parts of
+the world."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 14.
+
+PROTECTIVE ORDINANCES.
+
+
+After eighteen years' hard struggle, the British Abolitionists
+succeeded in getting Parliament to repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts
+in force in certain military stations in England, and in force in
+other parts of the British Empire. It now became the duty of the
+Secretary of State for the Colonies to see that all the Crown
+Colonies, such as Hong Kong and Singapore followed suit. This was in
+1886, and the Contagious Diseases Ordinances for these two places were
+not replaced by other legislation until 1888 at Singapore, and 1890 at
+Hong Kong. From what we have seen of the spirit of these officials
+in general it seems needless to say that the old Contagious Diseases
+Ordinances were repealed amid a storm of protests. One of the
+Municipal Commissioners of Singapore "said that the repeal of the
+Contagious Diseases Ordinance was the most cruel and merciless act
+which had ever been done." A statement from the unofficial members
+of the Legislative Council at Hong Kong declared: "In England abuses
+might have arisen under the recent law, but here it is impossible,"
+and very much more of the same false nature. The new Ordinances are
+excellent reading, and in the hands of the right sort of officials
+would do incalculable good. _But laws were not needed in the Colonies
+to put down slavery._ Mr. Francis' Memorandum, and Sir John Smale's
+pronouncements have clearly demonstrated that fact, but the right sort
+of men were needed to enforce the laws already in existence, in the
+same disinterested manner in which Sir John Smale had wrought so
+effectually. The new law was, however, put in each case under the
+administration of the "Protector" and his staff of officials, and the
+result has been, and could but be unsatisfactory, to the present day.
+
+For instance, in 1893, Mr. H.E. Wodehouse, Police Magistrate at
+Hong Kong, in reporting on a case of suicide of a slave girl to the
+Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong, to be transmitted for the information
+of Lord Ripon, Secretary of State for the Colonies, who had asked for
+the information, goes quite fully into a description of conditions at
+this time, three years after the passage of the Protective Ordinance.
+He says:
+
+    "The name of the deceased was Chan Ngan-Kin.... She was registered
+    as a prostitute in this brothel on the 23rd of December, 1890.
+    When registering her name she said she had no pocket-mother, that
+    her parents were both dead, and that she became a prostitute
+    of her own free will. The inspector said that that was the
+    description of themselves that nearly all prostitutes give, and
+    that it was very rarely that it was true. The further evidence
+    went to prove that she and a young man were mutually attached to
+    each other, and he was anxious to redeem her, and that she was
+    desirous of being redeemed, but that the price asked, two thousand
+    three hundred dollars, was more than he was willing to give,
+    though he was willing to give two thousand dollars.... There is
+    little doubt that his inability to redeem her caused her to commit
+    suicide.... The pocket-mother was not produced [at the inquest],
+    and there was a general disposition on the part of the Chinese
+    witnesses to withhold information."
+
+Lord Ripon said in his letter of inquiry: "If the facts were as stated
+in the above-mentioned paper, it would seem to prove that it is not
+generally understood in the Colony that a brothel keeper has no legal
+right to demand any redemption money for the release of one of the
+inmates." To this the Magistrate replies, in explanation:
+
+    "It is not quite correct to speak of the brothel-keeper as
+    demanding redemption money. The person whose property the
+    prostitute is is the pocket-mother, that is to say, the purchaser
+    of the girl. Nearly every prostitute has her own pocket-mother,
+    and she it is who has sole control over the prostitute's
+    movements. All the earnings go to her, and the redemption money
+    when redemption takes place. The 'brothel-keeper' is a creation
+    of the Government, and the term has, I think, led to some
+    misappreciation of the actual state of things. It is true that,
+    being registered by the Government, she becomes in a manner
+    responsible for the proper conduct of the establishment, but the
+    property in the girl does not rest in her, except in the case of
+    the two or three girls to whom she may herself be pocket-mother,
+    that is to say, whom she may herself have purchased. The
+    pocket-mothers are the real proprietresses of their purchases, and
+    a brothel-keeper would not regard herself as in any way connected
+    with such girls, beyond the obligation devolving upon her of
+    registering the inmates of the house of which she, as tenant or
+    owner, was the proprietress. A Chinese brothel is in fact merely
+    a collection under one roof of several different establishments,
+    consisting of the pocket-mothers and their purchases, the
+    pocket-mothers for the most part being the body-servants of their
+    charges, and administering to their daily wants, though in reality
+    their mistresses and their absolute owners."
+
+The document scarcely needs comment. It illustrates the fact that one
+may have most ideal laws, but laws never operate automatically, and in
+the absence of any desire to "let the oppressed go free," but rather
+an eager desire to hold them in subjection to the base propensities of
+profligate men, as all the State documents representing the situation
+tend to show, there is small proof that the "Women and Girls'
+Protective Ordinance of 1889" has had any appreciable effect in
+altering the slave conditions at Hong Kong. The same old notorious
+inspector, John Lee, who, Governor Hennessy thought, ought to have
+been prosecuted for manslaughter, after he hounded those native women
+to their death, was Chief Inspector of Brothels at Hong Kong in 1894,
+when we made investigations in that Colony, and personally interviewed
+many of these slave girls, and heard their stories.
+
+The most recent official documents relating to the matter have been
+commented upon in _The Shield_ (organ of the British Committee of the
+International Purity Federation), in its issue dated London, June,
+1906, as follows:
+
+    "One of the most important parliamentary papers of recent years on
+    our question has just been issued in response to questions put in
+    the House of Commons by Mr. Henry J. Wilson, M.P., on March 8th
+    last. The title is, 'Further Correspondence relating to Measures
+    Adopted for Checking the Spread of Venereal Disease' (Cd. 2903),
+    and relates to enactments in the Straits Settlements, Hong Kong,
+    and Gibraltar, during the period in which the Rt. Hon. Joseph
+    Chamberlain was at the head of the Colonial office.
+
+    "The correspondence in question further reveals the existence and
+    extent of a 'Yellow Slave Trade' in the East of large dimensions.
+    The girls in question are stated to be 'bought when young,' and
+    'believe themselves bound body and soul to the brothel-keepers.'
+    Nine hundred and sixty-eight Chinese women, presumably of this
+    kind, are reported at Penang, and 62 Japanese women. There were
+    176 admissions of Japanese women, and 141 admissions of Chinese
+    women in 1899 to the public hospital at Singapore, besides numbers
+    of other cases to private hospitals maintained by the keepers of
+    the houses of ill-fame.
+
+    "Many passages in the correspondence give evidence of a continual
+    import traffic going on, which the head of the Regulation
+    Department, the 'Protector of Chinese,' at Singapore, seems to
+    have made some effort to counteract. He speaks of ten girls
+    between 9 and 15 that he attempted to rescue from sale to
+    a traveling dealer, but who were returned to their former
+    surroundings on a writ of _habeas corpus_ by the Supreme Court;
+    but upon information in regard to this case reaching the Colonial
+    office in London, correspondence ensued which resulted in Mr.
+    Chamberlain directing an alteration of the law to meet the case of
+    the prosecution which had so lamentably failed.
+
+    "The Protector of Chinese also tells of 'girls under ten years of
+    age who are bought and sold in the colony,' 'brought from China
+    for purposes of sale,' 'generally sold to inmates of brothels,'
+    and of women who are 'in the habit of arriving from China with
+    relays of babies' for the same purpose. The Straits Settlements
+    Government thus attempts to cut off a twig here and there of the
+    tree of this evil traffic, whilst leaving untouched the root and
+    trunk of the tree itself, the State protection of vice, by which
+    it is made practicable safely to invest large capital in this most
+    nefarious but lucrative traffic.
+
+    "Page 4 of this Correspondence shows that an ordinance was passed
+    in 1899, imposing very heavy fines and imprisonment on any keeper
+    of a brothel who allowed any of the inmates suffering from
+    contagious disease to remain in the house. This has led to a
+    system of private arrangements with medical men for the periodical
+    sanitary inspection and treatment of the inmates.
+
+    "At page 19 the Acting Colonial Surgeon says: 'A large number of
+    Japanese houses had some time before made private arrangements
+    with my partner, Dr. Mugliston and myself, for medical attendance,
+    and the rumor regarding the intended legislation induced most
+    of the remainder to follow their example during the month of
+    September. The increase of Japanese inmates (of the hospital) for
+    this month, therefore, was caused by our sending in those cases
+    of disease then found among these fresh houses.' Paragraph 4, the
+    same page, says: 'With regard to the Chinese women we already had
+    long had a number of Chinese brothels to attend professionally;
+    during September of 1899 a large proportion of the remainder made
+    similar arrangements with us.'
+
+    "It is difficult to say positively what the precise nature of
+    these transactions is, but it is only too evident that the
+    acting Colonial surgeon, with his professional partner, was most
+    improperly mixed up with the business arrangements of the
+    brothel-keepers. These people, indeed, figure so that they must
+    have constituted a very good, and perhaps the most lucrative
+    portion of the practice of these doctors.
+
+    "To cope with the extra business brought in by these arrangements,
+    section 2 of paragraph 4, page 19, says: 'In September, 1899, four
+    private lock hospitals were organized, one in each of the four
+    main sections of brothels, by the keepers under our direction.'
+    Paragraph 6 says: 'We make frequent periodic inspections of the
+    Chinese brothels, seeing each inmate, and visit our private
+    hospitals daily.' Here, again, it may be asked what are the
+    precise relations of the acting Colonial surgeon to 'our private
+    hospitals?' It is satisfactory to know that inquiries are being
+    made by our Parliamentary friends in regard to this peculiar, if
+    not suspicious, circumstance.
+
+    "Mr. Chamberlain, with all the foregoing facts before his eyes,
+    says on page 21: 'I am glad to find that the Protector of Chinese
+    and the acting Colonial surgeon have, so far, been able to give
+    such a satisfactory report of the working of the ordinance.'
+
+    "At Hong Kong, 'the keepers of Chinese and Japanese brothels
+    frequented by Europeans have retained private practitioners as
+    their medical advisers, and a small private lock-hospital has been
+    instituted for Japanese women.' This followed on 33 prosecutions
+    instituted by the police in respect of 89 complaints made by
+    soldiers and sailors of the British forces. Page 35 and elsewhere
+    show that prosecutions have taken place of 'sly brothels,'
+    competing with the 'regular professed brothels.'
+
+    "It is to be hoped that this Blue-book will, with facts now
+    being published in various parts of Europe and in America, draw
+    attention to the necessity of a new movement (supplementary to the
+    great movement now on foot for the suppression of the 'White Slave
+    Trade'), for the suppression of the 'Yellow Slave Trade,' which is
+    becoming almost world-wide in character."
+
+As the supply of girls both in Singapore and Hong Kong comes very
+largely from Canton, let us first describe the conditions we found
+there. Our Journal of February 14th, 1894, reads as follows:
+
+    "We went in company with a missionary and a native, both of
+    whom could talk both English and Chinese, and visited some
+    'flower-boats' on the river. Many of these boats are quite
+    pretentious, with their rich wood-carving, fine furniture,
+    and gaudy display of tinsel. There were whole streets of
+    them,--floating houses moored together; we walked along the length
+    of the street on one side, stepping from the bow of one boat to
+    the next, the bows of the boats constituting front verandahs. We
+    called at almost every place, but a description of one will do for
+    all. First, as we entered, was a couch for opium smoking; just
+    beyond this a reception room, very gaudy, with dozens of hanging
+    lamps, and at one end a shrine for the gods, and offerings before
+    it. In a room back of the reception room, and also upstairs,
+    there were girls in large numbers. A hard-featured old woman came
+    forward from the back room, who, our interpreter said, was as good
+    a specimen as we could possibly have seen of an old brothel-keeper
+    of Canton, one who had been in the business for many years of
+    buying or otherwise obtaining babies and girls, and training them
+    for prostitution. The girls came crowding to the door of the back
+    room, and looked in upon us with eager curiosity. Our interpreter
+    called our attention to the manner of dressing the hair,--like
+    married women,--as indicating their bad life. The interpreter said
+    they were inducted usually at about thirteen years of age. They
+    were all dressed very showily, and heavily powdered and painted,
+    excepting some mere babies who were plainly dressed. Troops of
+    little girls, from four to five years of age, swarmed out of the
+    neighboring 'flower-boats' and gathered around us, screaming and
+    scrambling, falling, laughing, and following us the full length of
+    the street, which was made up of about twenty such boats on either
+    side. And none of these innocent little things at all realized the
+    fate in store for them. In one place we saw two very old women in
+    the front room. In another, a woman knelt before the idolatrous
+    shrine engaged in her devotions. At one point there was a very
+    large boat brilliantly fitted up for music, dancing, smoking
+    opium, and feasting. At the far end of the street was a
+    'kitchen-boat,' from which supplies of food, ready cooked,
+    could be bought. All the way along we saw little girls with the
+    unmistakable signs of their destiny upon them. Our interpreter
+    said the girls were usually made to stay upstairs during the day
+    time, but at night the whole place was illuminated and alive; then
+    they were brought down and to the front. Occasionally we would see
+    one of these huge house boats full of painted girls, floating down
+    the middle of the stream, for they move about from place to place
+    at will.
+
+    "At Canton, February 18th, 1894, we met and conversed with a
+    missionary lady who had just come from a station in the interior.
+    She had travelled from her station on a Chinese boat, which had
+    been chartered by her adopted son for his use going up, and for
+    hers coming down the river. When she was about to embark, she
+    required that the men should search the boat, and down below, in
+    the very bottom, were a lot of little girls--_child slaves_--being
+    smuggled to Canton for the trade of a vile life. She made the men
+    take the children off the boat, but with great difficulty. They
+    resisted, but she stood courageously, and saw her commands
+    executed. After she had accomplished this, and started down the
+    river, all alone, so far as any English-speaking person was
+    concerned, the men, who were still deeply enraged at being
+    defeated in their plans, greatly annoyed her by intruding on her
+    constantly, and finally they threatened to kill her; but she
+    presented as brave a front as possible, and at last took hold
+    of one man who was especially insolent, by the shoulder, in an
+    authoritative manner, bidding him to go out of her presence. He
+    went away cowed, and they all said, as was reported to her by one
+    of her attendants, 'She is not afraid'; they then became very
+    superstitious at the idea of a woman taking hold of them, and
+    troubled her no more.
+
+    "The five or six Christian friends where we were staying in Canton
+    all agreed that it was the most common occurrence for little girls
+    to be bought and sold for immoral purposes. One of the group
+    has often heard the wretched blind girls singing just under her
+    window, on the river bank, and under conduct of the old
+    brothel-keeper, their owner, thus attracting custom. The
+    proportion of blind people in Oriental countries is much greater,
+    owing to the prevalence of eye diseases and the poverty and
+    ignorance of the people in coping with these, than in the West;
+    and as blind girls do not bring much money when disposed of as
+    wives, so they are sold in large numbers into a life of shame.
+    Poor little slaves! Because they are deprived of the natural light
+    of day, so they are destined never to see a ray of moral light
+    enter their miserable existence! We saw three or four little blind
+    girls who had been rescued, by these Christian workers, from their
+    terrible fate; but these are only a few rare exceptions out of the
+    thousands that are borne on into the tide of shame and anguish
+    continually."
+
+Of the many girls we interviewed at Hong Kong the story of the
+following seems typical of her class, so we extract it from our
+journal:
+
+    "At the first place we called there were six inmates--four of whom
+    were present at the interview. The keeper went out of the room as
+    we entered, and did not return. The girls were very friendly, and
+    one of them talked a little English. This one told us that she
+    came from Canton, and, in broken English, said that she had 'no
+    father, no mother, no brother; a poor man took her when a _very_
+    little child and raised her to sell. By and by a woman came and
+    offered to buy poor man's little girl, and as he had but little
+    food, he asks, 'How much?' then she buys the little girl and
+    brings her to Hong Kong. Then woman take her to Englishman and
+    say, 'She first-class girl,' and he say, 'I make her my wife,' but
+    he not good; he no husband; he go away to his house--England.'
+    Thus she described in a few simple words the tragedy of her life
+    with tears in her eyes; her training for vice; her sale; her hopes
+    of marriage; her desertion; the outcome, her consignment to a
+    Government-licensed brothel. She was but one of the tens of
+    thousands at Hong Kong. We asked, 'How would a girl have to do in
+    order to live in this house?' They said, 'She must be registered
+    at the Lock. Hospital, and would have to go to the Court and Mr.
+    Lockhart (the Registrar-General) would ask her questions; whether
+    she had a father and mother; how old she was; _where the money
+    went to that was paid for her_; and whether she wanted to be a
+    prostitute or not.' We asked, 'If a girl should say that she _did
+    not_ want to be a prostitute what would be done?' They answered,
+    'No girl would _dare_ to say this _when she had been bought_.' We
+    asked the girl who talked English over again about this, and she
+    said the same.
+
+    "All the places of infamy reserved for the use of Europeans which
+    we visited in Hong Kong, were within three minutes' walk of
+    Victoria Hotel, in the very busiest part of the city. Close by our
+    hotel were such world-famed shops as 'Watson and Co.,' 'Kelly and
+    Walsh,' etc.; a short distance down the street were the Postoffice
+    and the Supreme Court buildings. The respectable English residents
+    of Hong Kong cannot go about the streets of the city without
+    seeing these places; there are draper-shops and other places
+    visited daily and hourly by respectable foreigners and natives,
+    occupying the ground floor of these brothels. The fine new
+    building of the Girls' High School, under the management of the
+    Government, is within five minutes' walk; yet all these brothels
+    are glaringly numbered, as registered by the city, in huge figures
+    eight or ten inches high, of red on a white background, painted
+    on the doors of the stairways leading to the second story of the
+    buildings occupied by these shops. The school children cannot pass
+    by without noting these officially numbered houses, and seeing
+    the girls sitting at all hours of the day and into the night
+    conspicuously in the balconies over the shops of drapers, grocers,
+    tailors, silk-merchants, shoe-dealers, &c., &c., and often hearing
+    them calling to each other from house to house, and to the men in
+    the public streets below. Mrs. Andrew, when in the street, March
+    2nd, saw a group of these slave-women calling down to three
+    policemen, who were looking up and laughing at them. These are
+    daily sights."
+
+The unblushing parade of forms of vice, which have been manufactured
+in the Orient especially to meet the demands of renegade members of
+Christian civilization, can be seen in a peculiarly painful and brazen
+form in the city of Hong Kong.
+
+While we were at Hong Kong, there occured a great celebration in honor
+of the repair and rededication of an important Buddhist temple.
+There was a grand procession, and many thousands of Chinese from the
+mainland came over to witness the celebration. The parade formed in
+the early morning and went at once to the residence of the Governor to
+do him honor, after which it marched through the principal streets of
+the city. It was a curious, interesting, and withal a painful sight,
+in some regards not unlike industrial parades in our own country. At
+night we saw something totally unique and difficult to describe to
+those who have not witnessed the same in China. Men bore aloft great
+dragons and fishes innumerable, of all sizes and shapes, (but very
+true to life), given a natural color and lighted up within, like
+Chinese lanterns. These were held aloft on the ends of long poles, and
+as the men who carried them were invisible, because of the darkness,
+and trod noiselessly because of bare, or merely sandaled feet, the
+impression was of an immense train of these creatures floating or
+swimming silently through the air.
+
+The procession was made up of men of all sorts and kinds. Great fat
+men with enormous fans panted along, and little boys ran by their side
+with stools upon which they gravely seated themselves whenever
+the line of march was halted for a moment. Little boys progressed
+painfully along with the rest, walking on their hands, with their feet
+thrown up into the air, or spinning along on all fours like wheels,
+or going through various other antics. And, contrary to anything that
+could have happened away from the open ports of China, there were many
+women in the parade, and girls too. They were on horseback, in sedan
+chairs, borne on wheeled platforms, like our "Goddess of Liberty"
+representations on the Fourth of July; walking, and sometimes riding
+on bullocks. We counted 150 women in all. These were dressed and
+painted up in such a style that a single glance showed they belonged
+to the disreputable class, and their old "pocket-mothers," were to
+be seen walking along close to them and keeping a sharp lookout over
+their gaudily dressed slaves. Yet more painful was the sight of
+the little girls, bound to heavy wires and placed in all manner of
+contortions. Here was a girl about sixteen, standing cross-legged on a
+moving platform, holding a spear in each hand, the spears crossed in
+front of her breast, and a little girl dangling from each spear-point.
+So it appeared, but in fact all were well wired into the distressing
+shape they occupied, and it was said that none of them could have
+endured the position for a moment but for plentiful doses of opium.
+Next passed a girl standing on the moving platform, holding a spear at
+arm's length, and a three-year-old girl standing on its point. Then a
+little boy holding a long rod from which was suspended a tiny child. A
+girl passed sitting on a stool and holding a sword by its point with
+a child of four suspended from its handle, and next a girl holding a
+sword by its handle, and the child suspended from its point. One
+girl sat playing a flute held up high in the air, and a girl of six
+appeared to be suspended from it. One poor little thing was borne high
+up in the air, astride a turning-pole, with legs well crossed beneath
+the pole. And then there came along a little girl swaying about on the
+end of a long pole carried by men in the procession. We were on the
+second floor of a great verandah of the hotel, and the child swung so
+close to us, that we started forward toward her with a cry of pity.
+Great tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she seemed to look
+straight into our eyes, and attempted a sickly smile at our
+expressions of pity.
+
+Later, after the procession of fishes, we sat in company with two
+Chinese ministers of the Gospel who came to call upon us, and
+discussed in sadness the scenes of the day. They said, if we had
+understood the native language and joined in the procession, as they
+did at times, we would have heard the old "pocket-mothers" and other
+owners of these girls driving bargains for their sale, temporarily
+or permanently, with the men of the crowds. These native Christians
+marvelled that Englishmen and American men who called themselves
+"Christians" could have joined in these festivities in honor of a
+heathen temple, and that the Governor should have made a speech of
+congratulation, with no rebuke of these scenes of inhuman torture of
+women and child slaves, when the procession paused at his door. These
+parades continued two or three days, always accompanied by the great
+paper dragons, whether in the daytime or at night, by the noise of
+deafening tom-toms, and the sickening sight of tortured slave-girls.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 15.
+
+"PROTECTION" AT SINGAPORE.
+
+
+"Ladies, I wish to introduce to you Mr. ---- He is eager to meet you,
+and I am sure you will be glad to meet him. You are working along much
+the same lines. Mr. ---- I assure you, is, in fact, interested in
+every good thing that is done in this City, and in every good thing
+that comes this way. We all count on his sympathies. I am glad to have
+the privilege of bringing you together." With this our friend of many
+years, the good Doctor, withdrew to speak to another group, and we
+entered into a short conversation with the white-headed old man to
+whom we had been introduced. He was profuse in his expressions of
+sympathy for our purity work, but somehow, we could hardly have
+defined why, we were not interested in him, and soon turned away.
+The occasion that gave the opportunity for his introduction, was a
+missionary conference at Singapore. The man in question had explained
+to us that he was not of the same denomination as the church that had
+called together the reception of that evening, but that he seldom
+failed to attend all such gatherings, no matter of what denomination,
+because of his interest in every part of the "Father's Kingdom".
+
+Although we were very weary, and the air was intensely close,
+Singapore being only about seventy-five miles from the Equator, we
+spent most of that night and of several others in company with a
+Christian friend and interpreter, in the worst parts of the city; and
+this, with visits to various regions during the day, gave us a pretty
+clear understanding of the situation as to the matter of enforcement
+or non-enforcement of the Protective Ordinance.
+
+    "On the night of February 1st, 1894, we went to Tringanu street,
+    and ascended to the third story of a large building. The front
+    windows of this upper floor were gaily lighted up by many colored
+    lamps, and could be seen far down the street. There was a small
+    opium den at the foot of the stairway, on the ground floor. On
+    reaching the head of the stairs, and turning, we entered a large
+    front room. There were bedrooms at the back of the house, to be
+    let to patrons of the establishment. At the opposite end of the
+    front room from the windows was the ever-present idolatrous
+    shrine. On either side of the room were elegantly-carved ebony
+    chairs, with marble or agate panels. Rich Chinese pictures
+    decorated the walls. Toward the back of the room hung the sign,
+    '283 Licensed Eating House.' There was a large table in the
+    centre of the room. Toward the front, on either side, in alcoves,
+    partitioned off in part from the remainder of the room, were
+    opium couches, with pipes and lamps ready for use. We give this
+    description in full, as it applies, almost without variation, to
+    all the others which we visited in the immediate neighborhood.
+    Food was furnished on order, intoxicating drinks, and opium. At
+    the second place, on the opposite corner of the same block, the
+    men told us that the place was used for the same purposes. We
+    asked where the women were, and they answered that it was too late
+    to see them, but if we would come earlier we would find them. When
+    asked where the women came from, they pointed down to the street
+    below, to the open brothels, and said there were a great number of
+    degraded women who lived close by; said the brothel-keepers sent
+    them. They said that white men as well as Chinese came to their
+    place. After this we walked the length of the several streets and
+    side-streets, in the near vicinity, and proved the truth of what
+    the men had told us as to the swarming numbers of degraded girls
+    and women.
+
+    "The next night we went to the same neighborhood, and revisited
+    the two places already mentioned, and others also. As we reached
+    the top of the stairway and passed into the front room of the
+    place where they had invited us to return, there was quite a
+    flutter of excitement, and we instantly saw that there was
+    a number of girls present, all very young, and several mere
+    children. On our left a fat, middle-aged Chinese man sat, with two
+    or three little girls, one in his lap and one on either side of
+    him, in his arms; two more were throwing something that resembled
+    dice on a table within the front alcove, and the rest were sitting
+    on the opium couches. There were ten girls in all; the two
+    youngest could not possibly have been more than eight years old;
+    only one, out of the ten, claimed to be over sixteen; we
+    all doubted her claim, because of her extreme immaturity of
+    appearance. The two youngest children were immediately sent away
+    by order of the fat man, who was evidently in authority. The men
+    explained that these girls belonged to different women who were
+    not their own mothers; that they came to sing and dance, and pour
+    wine for the patrons who came to the place. They also explained
+    that all these girls were brought from the brothels, and were
+    either already living a bad life or were being trained up for
+    prostitution. They were powdered heavily, had flowers and
+    ornaments in their hair, the upper part of the forehead made bare,
+    and the hair dressed elaborately, like married women (even the
+    very youngest children); of course they were not married, for they
+    were declared to be the property of the brothel-keepers, and this
+    manner of dress must, therefore, have been an advertisement of
+    their shame.
+
+    "A curious musical instrument was brought--somewhat like a
+    dulcimer--on which two of the girls played in succession, singing
+    in a high, monotonous way.
+
+    "From here we went to the first place visited the night previous,
+    on the opposite corner of the same block. There was quite an
+    excitement here when we came in. Two men and two girls were
+    playing on native instruments--one of the men on a sort of fiddle,
+    and the other on a rude guitar; the girls, one striking, in sharp
+    staccato fashion, a wooden perforated bowl inverted on a standard
+    or post, and the other a kind of cymbal; they were singing in the
+    same shrill, monotonous way we had heard before. We counted eight
+    girls here. There was a piece of unpainted tin or zinc, about
+    eight by twelve inches, set upon the table toward one end, with
+    a list of fifty names on it, and a Chinese man, who talked fair
+    English, explained it thus: 'These are the names of singing and
+    dancing girls who come here; a man looks over the list and calls
+    for a girl to sing or dance; then he chooses his girl.'
+
+    "We then went to a third place on the same side of the street.
+    Here there was a wild confusion as we reached the top of the
+    second flight of stairs and entered the front room, and several
+    young girls were hustled out through the other door and into the
+    little back rooms, and the list of girls' names was hurried out
+    of sight. The Chinese men were evidently much frightened. A bold
+    little girl, very smartly dressed, was put forward, who answered
+    our questions in a loud, brazen manner. One of our party asking
+    her if she could sing, she thought the statement was made that she
+    was not 'sixteen' (the age under which girls are supposed to be
+    'protected' from going into prostitution by British rule), and
+    shouted, 'I am _seventeen_.' We stayed only a few minutes, but
+    were informed that they provided opium and intoxicating liquors
+    here."
+
+We told our hostess one day that we desired jinrikshas that we might
+be conveyed to the Protectorate to interview the Chief Inspector,
+having heard that he desired an interview. As we were leaving the
+house she detained us a moment to say, timidly: "Ladies, do pardon me,
+but I feel I must caution you that that man has a very violent temper,
+and it will not do in case you see anything, to criticise,--no matter
+what you think. I don't wish to seem to intrude, but I know the man's
+reputation as to temper, and I cannot bear to think of his having a
+chance to treat you rudely." We thanked her heartily, and promised to
+be doubly careful.
+
+We knew the place. A very imposing Government building standing apart
+by itself, upon which much money had been expended to give it a fine
+appearance. We were soon ushered into the presence of the man who held
+the same relation to the work at Singapore that John Lee holds, or at
+least held the last we knew, at Hong Kong. Will you believe us, when
+we tell you that to our amazement it was that same white-haired old
+man to whom we had been introduced at the church gathering as such an
+active Christian, "working along much the same lines as ourselves, and
+at the head and front of every good work in the Colony?" To be sure we
+had heard the name of this Inspector, but we had never in our remotest
+conception connected it with the man the Doctor had introduced to us.
+Concealing our surprise we sat down for a few moment's interview. The
+man knew his lesson "like a book." We could have prompted him, had he
+made a mistake in reciting it, from the State documents which we had
+with us,--the same from which we have compiled the chapters of this
+little book. "The work of the Protectorate is really rescue work, _and
+that only_." He had lived in Singapore nearly thirty years. He said he
+had disapproved of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance, when it was
+in existence, but a good thing had grown out of it in the matter of
+provisions for the "protection", of women. We asked, in reference to
+his remark that the Protectorate was a Rescue Society, if it did not
+look after men, too. He replied, "Oh yes, the coolies; all are brought
+here, but the men go to the other side of the building; the women come
+here." We asked if all the women came before him; he said, "Before the
+Protector; but in his absence before me." We pondered on the thought
+of this "rescue work" carried on by this particular Protector of whom
+we had heard that he had been almost unspeakably vile from boyhood
+up. He showed us a book which contained a list of all deck-passengers
+coming to Singapore, who had been passed under review at the
+Protectorate; they were listed by families. He then showed us a
+separate list of women and girls who came alone, without families. He
+had underscored with red ink the names of those in the list who had
+gone into brothels. He said that suspicious cases either went to the
+Protectorate Refuge, or those under whose charge they went to live
+were obliged to give bonds or securities, 500 Mexican dollars was the
+usual amount of the security in the cases recorded. He also showed us
+the form of these bonds, both blank forms and some that had been made
+out; these bonds required that the girls named therein should not be
+removed from Singapore, and that the girls should be produced from
+time to time at the Protectorate, upon demand of the Protector, and
+within twenty-four hours. The bond was good for a specified time named
+thereon. Then he showed us a book containing "_Warrants of Removal and
+Detention to the Chinese Refuge_" for girls under sixteen years of
+age. He also showed us little tickets (we had already seen them in a
+brothel) and said these contained the number and address of the
+girls, and if one of these tickets was sent back by a girl to the
+Protectorate, by any hand or in any manner, the Protectorate would
+immediately send for the girl and listen to her complaint. He showed
+us a book of cases, and read us the story of one girl in particular,
+Ah Moi, and congratulated himself on the Protectorate being at hand
+to rescue this girl. We will give this case in full further on. He
+repeated his assertion that he abominated the C.D. Ordinance, and said
+that there were now no compulsory examinations, and no Lock Hospital,
+and that the Government had nothing to do with examinations in any
+form. But we replied that we had already visited the Lock Hospital,
+and that there were about fifteen patients there, and asked him how
+they came to be there. He said anyone could go there; that it was a
+general hospital for women, and that all diseases would be treated
+there; that the patients could go away at any time they wished; the
+Colonial Surgeon was in charge of it. But we asked him how it happened
+that the degraded women knew enough to go there in such numbers; he
+said they might be ill, and any doctor in a private capacity would
+send them. He had sent them, and would like to send a good many more,
+when they were very ill. He told us of going over the records, for
+years back, and of finding that the average of time spent in the
+brothel by these girls was three years and a half, while, if they
+stayed in Canton, they would be life-long prostitutes. He made much
+of this point, and argued that it was better for them to come
+to Singapore in order to be set free by the Protectorate, but
+acknowledged that many of them became concubines (in "following a
+man," as the Chinese express it). He spoke of domestic slavery in
+Singapore, but declared it was slavery of a very mild sort. We asked
+who came with the Chinese girls when they came to the Protectorate.
+He answered, "Oh, a friend--the woman or 'mother' who owns them." We
+asked if nothing could be done against these traffickers in girls; he
+said they could not often get sufficient proof against them. We saw in
+one of the records something about "women traffickers," and pressed
+him to know why these could not be caught and banished by means of
+paid detectives watching the incoming boats. He replied that it was
+very hard to get evidence; the girls' own statements were not enough;
+the Protectorate needed more power. When asked what powers were
+further necessary, he suggested the power to punish the traffickers
+of girls by simply the statement of the girls who were brought to
+Singapore through fraud, or who were kidnaped. He then spoke of a drug
+which was used by the women traffickers to destroy the girls' wits; he
+believed in its existence and its use. He said of these cases of fraud
+and kidnaping, "We can usually do nothing." We asked if a woman was
+found bringing girls over and over again whether she could not be
+prosecuted: he answered that she might be. We then asked if the
+Protectorate had ever prosecuted: he replied, "Oh yes, a few times."
+But he grew uneasy under these questions; said no one could know or
+appreciate the present situation who did not know the conditions
+of the things in the past, but now he thought they had the best
+arrangement possible for protecting the women and girls, and
+exclaimed, "But if this ordinance were abolished I do not know what
+would become of them." He confessed at the close of our talk that he
+would like to speak freely to us about certain things connected with
+the work which could not be mentioned publicly, and said there were
+"perplexities--great perplexities." Yet at the beginning of the
+conversation, when speaking of the criticism passed upon the
+Protectorate's work, he had said, "Why do they not come here for
+information instead of going about criticising? our books are all
+open to public inspection." But we had noticed that throughout the
+interview he kept the books in his own hands, and only allowed us to
+see what he himself turned up for our inspection.
+
+Now as to some of this official's statements--we deal with them, not
+with the object of criticising his _personal_ opinions and views and
+statements, but as an _official_ representation to us of a Government
+institution.
+
+To begin with, he had told us two absolute falsehoods, at least. One
+was that there was no Lock Hospital at Singapore, whereas we had
+visited this Government institution and by careful inspection found it
+was used for _the one purpose only_, having no equipment for any other
+uses, and there were fifteen prostitutes there. When confronted with
+this knowledge, which, remembering our hostess' caution as to his
+temper, we expressed as gently as possible, he then declared it was
+a general hospital, which it was not. He declared there were no
+compulsory examinations, and that the Government had nothing to do
+with examinations in any form. We thought it wisest not to give him
+the information that we held at that time, and hold to the present
+day,--dozens of papers of committment to the Lock Hospital for
+compulsory examinations both in his own handwriting and in that of
+the Protector. And some of these cases, as the records we have copied
+show, were those of perfectly innocent girls, acknowledged to be
+virgins, until assaulted by these abominable medical officials and
+robbed of the fresh bloom of maidenly chastity.
+
+The official spoke of the work of the Protectorate as "Rescue work,
+and that only," in so far as it dealt with women. But it must be borne
+in mind that the "Protector" of women and girls was likewise the
+Registrar of brothels; and that the rules and regulations under the
+Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance provided, in both Singapore and
+Hong Kong, for every detail in the management of brothels, even to the
+granting of a permit to keep a brothel, and the description of the
+"duties" of brothel-keepers. Surely this part of the Protector's
+work cannot be called "Rescue work," as we are accustomed to use the
+phrase.
+
+According to the Annual Report of the Protectorate for 1893, 1,183
+women and girls entered brothels with the sanction of the Protector;
+and quite apart from any discussion of whether this sanction should
+have been given or not, it is quite apparent that this also was not
+"Rescue work."
+
+During the same year 1,034 women and girls left the brothels of
+Singapore, and it is apparent that we must look among these mainly for
+rescued cases. Of this 1,034 the following account is given:
+
+  Absconded                  63
+  Died                       21
+  Gone to "Private Houses"  346
+  Married                    69
+  To be accounted for       451
+
+We have an explanation in the Protector's own words of what is meant
+by a girl who has "absconded." "It is common now, when an owner
+notices one of her girls contracting a continued intimacy with a male
+visitor (and therefore to be suspected of an intention to apply to our
+office for release), for the owner to sell the girl away to another
+country. When this has been accomplished, the brothel keeper reports
+the prostitute has absconded, and, if we cannot prove the contrary, we
+are obliged to accept the story and strike the name off our books."
+What would we think in America of a "Rescue work, and that only," with
+all the advantages of Government backing; under constant surveillance;
+every girl registered; that permitted 63 girls in a year to be
+defeated in their desire to marry by being sold as slaves into foreign
+parts; that allowed 346 of the girls to "go to private houses," as
+domestic slaves or concubines; that did not account at all for 451
+girls; and saw only 69 married; and all this out of 1,034 cases it had
+absolutely within its control?
+
+The Inspector spoke of the _personal tickets_ given into the hands of
+each girl, which if sent to the Protectorate at any time, would secure
+a hearing for her before the Protectorate. It is also declared that
+notice is posted up in every brothel in a conspicuous place, that no
+girl can be detained against her will. We visited a place on Fraser
+Street the night of February 2nd; quoting from our journal:
+
+    "There was a middle-aged woman in charge, with a baby beside her
+    on the couch where she was sitting. There were six girls present,
+    the oldest barely sixteen years old in appearance, and one between
+    fourteen and fifteen--a thin, immature little creature. We asked
+    about this young girl, and one of our interpreters overheard the
+    keeper instruct her to say she had been in the house two years.
+    Then we asked the girl her name, and the keeper told her to tell
+    us a different name from the one she first gave us. We saw hanging
+    on the wall, a black bag, which we were allowed to take down and
+    examine. It contained a board eight by ten inches square, on which
+    was pasted a paper bearing a list of the inmates. The list was
+    headed by the keeper's name, Moo Lee, in writing. Then was printed
+    across the top in Chinese characters a statement that inmates
+    could not be confined against their will. (The question was
+    whether, in our absence, the girls would be allowed to take this
+    bag down, open it, and read the sentence of liberty inside.) We
+    showed this to the girls, and asked them if they could read the
+    Chinese written thereon, and they all, even to the brothel-keeper,
+    said they could not. We then asked them what was the _meaning_ of
+    the words, and none of them could tell. One girl said, 'We cannot
+    read them, but the great man at the Protectorate can read them.'
+    We asked them if they had tickets, and they showed us little
+    square pieces of paper exactly similar to one which we hold in
+    our possession. The tickets were all so blurred that the educated
+    Chinese gentleman who accompanied us tried in vain to make out its
+    full meaning. It is by means of these things, put in the hands of
+    Chinese women who are utterly unable to read a word of Chinese,
+    that their liberty is professedly given them."
+
+Now as to the case of Ah Moi, of whom the Inspector spoke as
+illustrating the beneficent work of the Protectorate. He had little
+idea how much we knew of the case or he would never have brought it
+up. There is at Singapore a Refuge for girls, managed by the Chinese
+Society, the Po Leung Kuk, organized originally at Hong Kong and
+Singapore to put down kidnaping. The Inspector one day, January 4th,
+1894, sent a girl of fifteen over to the Refuge with a note to the
+Matron, and on the following morning, ordered her sent to the
+Lock Hospital for examination. We saw the recorded result of that
+examination in the handwriting of the doctor at the hospital, and it
+was to the effect that the girl was suffering from disease due to
+vice. After that the Matron got a note from the Inspector saying: "Ah
+Moi can be written off your books, as she has been sent to hospital,
+and after she leaves hospital she intends going to a house of
+ill-fame."
+
+Now the rules forbade all religious instruction, or any sort of
+instruction in this Refuge, since the Chinese men who contributed
+to its support were opposed to women being taught anything. But the
+Matron had threatened to leave if she could not teach and train the
+girls. So she was allowed, out of her own slender salary, to hire a
+teacher on her own account, and this she did. The good Christian man
+whom she had hired came and told her he had learned that Ah Moi was
+a good girl, and was from a Mission School in Canton, and finally he
+brought the girl's own mother, who testified that this was true. We
+have not space to go into this story in detail, but we later visited
+the school at Canton from which the girl had been brought, talked with
+the teachers who had had her under their care for years, and it was
+literally true,--that she was a perfectly pure girl (and how could she
+have been suffering from such a disease?), who had been entrapped for
+such a dreadful fate. She would have been put into a life of shame by
+the Inspector, never to have escaped her terrible servitude, probably,
+but for the energetic efforts of this Chinese Christian man and the
+Refuge Matron, who rescued her from the Protectorate and its wicked
+business of assigning girls to brothels. And here sat the Inspector,
+telling us this story, of which we knew so much, (and learned more at
+Canton later), as an instance of the "rescue work" of his office!
+
+Almost the last day of our painful work at Singapore had come. We had
+gathered much evidence, and had good hope that something could be
+done with it in London. "This is my birth-day," one of us said to the
+other, as we spun along in our jinrikshas toward the Refuge. "I think
+we ought to have some unusual good fortune in gathering information
+today. At least we can get some of these little children taken out of
+their terrible peril in the brothels. The Matron of the Refuge says
+she _knows_ the officials are ignorant of their presence there. They
+have so often talked of their extreme care at that point. Will it not
+be good to see something actually done and at once about that matter?
+She was to interview the Inspector yesterday, and will report to us
+today." And so we chatted on, We had been horrified to encounter in a
+single night's work some thirty little girls playing about the rooms
+of brothels. That at least would never be allowed. We were so glad the
+law was so very strict, and we had been assured strictly enforced at
+that point. It read: "Any person who receives a girl under the age of
+sixteen into a brothel, or harbors any such girl in a brothel, shall
+(until the contrary be proved) be deemed to have obtained possession
+of such girl with the intent or knowledge in clause one of sub-section
+one mentioned." This clause reads: "with the intent that such girl
+shall be used for the purpose of prostitution," and the penalty,
+"liability to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to a
+fine not exceeding $500, or to both." If that law failed because of
+what would pass as proof to the contrary, at any rate there was the
+further provision that the children could be removed to places of
+safety, at least to the Refuge. "A girl found living in or frequenting
+a brothel shall be deemed to be a girl who is being trained for
+immoral purposes." And "The Protector, if on due inquiry he is
+satisfied that any girl is being ... trained for such purposes, and
+that such girl is under the age of sixteen years, may ... order such
+girl to be removed to a place of safety," etc., etc. The way seemed
+perfectly clear under such laws, to secure the safety of the children.
+
+At the door of the Refuge we were glad to escape from our jinrikshas
+into the cool shade of the house. The Matron seemed much troubled, and
+spoke of things that she had not understood previously, but now that
+she had learned many things from our investigations and from her own
+questioning of the girls, they had taken on a painful meaning to her.
+
+Our hearts grew heavier and heavier as we talked together. The
+Matron, said: "Why, I thought when I came here it was to do a regular
+Christian work for these girls. That was my purpose, but the more I
+inquire into the matter, and study over the things I am expected to do
+and ask no questions, such as sending girls over to the Lock Hospital
+at the Chief Inspector's request, the more I feel that I am being
+worked for purposes of which I cannot approve. I cannot stay here."
+
+At last we got to ask her about her talk with the Inspector. "What
+did he say when you told him what we discovered the other night--that
+little girls go freely to the Licensed Eating Houses, and live in the
+brothels?" "Is it really true that the authorities have been deceived,
+and did not know of this flagrant violation of the Ordinance to
+protect women and girls?"
+
+The Matron's face was sadly troubled. She gazed at us a moment
+quietly, and then said:
+
+"He told me, Why, of course he knew about those children. There were
+scores of them."
+
+"But will he do nothing about the matter?" we exclaimed.
+
+She replied: "He said: 'What can I do? I caught a whole handful
+of them once and sent them to the Lock Hospital, and had them all
+examined. The doctor pronounced them all virgins, so I could do
+nothing as yet, and I let them all go back.'"
+
+We uttered exclamations of horror.
+
+"A handful!"--did he think no more of them than of so many minnows!
+
+And they had gone through the horrible ordeal at the Lock Hospital!
+
+And he must leave them in the brothels yet for awhile,--until
+when?--until, Oh pitiful God!--until they were all "deflowered
+according to bargain." And then he might consider the advisability of
+doing something.
+
+The head reeled. We felt stilled. We must get out in the fresh morning
+breeze. Something broke somewhere about the heart. We went out and
+got into our jinrikshas, and went away home as in midnight darkness,
+calling upon the name of our God all the way. Life on this
+hell-scorched earth has never held the same happy delusions for us
+since, but there is a city out of sight "whose Builder and Maker is
+God." That we will seek.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 16.
+
+SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+
+During the incumbency of a certain Mayor of San Francisco a surprising
+condition of things was brought into existence. There was a large
+tract of land in the heart of Chinatown owned by an American family,
+relatives, it is declared, of said Mayor, the passages entering
+which were deliberately blocked by gates, so as to stop all entrance
+excepting to patrons of the place. This section lay between Dupont
+and Stockton, Jackson and Pacific streets, and included within its
+enclosure Baker and New World alleys, connecting Dupont street with
+Sullivan Place, which divided this tract in two. Gates were erected at
+the entrance of the two alleys on Dupont street, and two gates blocked
+the entrance to Sullivan Place, at the end opening upon Pacific
+street. Within this region, both above and below ground, were housed
+numbers of Chinese slave girls, particularly in Baker alley, where, it
+is said, were placed the young girls of tender years, generally about
+fifteen years old, when first brought over the water, or when first
+initiated into brothel slavery, having served their apprenticeship
+as domestic slaves. We are informed that fully seven-tenths of the
+domestic slave girls found in Chinese homes in America--and every
+well-to-do Chinese family (except Christians) keeps at least one or
+two slaves--end their lives in immorality. Some of them when they
+become old enough are seized by their masters as concubines, others
+are sent to the brothels. Reports of conditions at Hong Kong which we
+have already quoted, speak of the special celebration of the entrance
+of a virgin into prostitution, and the high prices paid by patrons for
+this initiation, but leave it obscure as to the nationality of the men
+who initiate girls into the life of a brothel slave. But Chinese in
+San Francisco do not hesitate to make the charge that Chinamen recoil,
+through moral sense or superstition, from deflowering a virgin, and
+that this horrible privilege is purchased at a special price by the
+white, not the yellow patrons of Chinese houses of ill-fame. Baker
+alley has probably been the scene of more terrible brutality of this
+sort than any other part of San Francisco. Before the rubbish was
+cleared away, in the oasis of a broad desert of ashes in the burned
+city, we visited this region, and found carpenters busy at the work
+of reconstructing brothels. The slave pen was existent again, and we
+entered the gateway leading to it and gazed upon the rapidly growing
+structures within. Two white men of a class called "Watch-dogs," in
+the days before the fire, occupied a sort of look-out and kept guard,
+more especially upon the entrance to Baker alley. This region,
+so largely of American manufacture, like other sections of San
+Francisco's Chinatown, was displayed, by means of Chinatown guides for
+pay to tourists, who were led to believe that they were looking upon
+_Chinese_ views of life. The truth is, as we have shown in previous
+chapters, a display of vice is practically unknown in regions of China
+uninfluenced by Western civilization. Almost any wicked man, any
+tourist who would pay well, man or woman, could enter this place.
+The "Watch-dogs" were kept merely to prevent the entrance of mission
+workers to rescue slaves, and these "Watch-dogs" were, and always are,
+American, or, at least European men, not Chinese.
+
+There were more "Watch-dogs" than those about Sullivan Place, before
+the earthquake in San Francisco,--they were to be found in many
+parts, always for the one purpose,--to resist interference with the
+enforcement of brothel slavery upon Chinese women. American men
+undertook this part of the business, because a certain timidity in
+the Chinese character when dealing with American women, and a fear of
+arousing race-prejudice, unfitted the Chinaman for coping with the
+American women,--Miss Culbertson, the pioneer, now sainted, Miss Lake,
+Miss Cameron and Miss Davis, who have fought their brave battles for
+many years, to deliver the captives from the hand of the spoilers,
+often at the risk of life, unaided for the most part, unappreciated
+and unsympathized with, by a guiltily ignorant Christian public, and
+too often persecuted by corrupt officials. Yet they have never stood
+alone, but have always had the presence of their Master, and the
+sympathetic co-operation of a few ardent supporters,--Christian women,
+lawyers, magistrates, and other officials.
+
+One of the "Watch-dogs" struck Miss Lake on one occasion. On another,
+a "Watch-dog" went boldly up to two policemen to whom a fugitive slave
+had appealed for help, seized his prey, and without resistance from
+the policemen, carried her bodily back to slavery along the public
+street, in view of many spectators. At another time several of them
+rushed in upon a scene of rescue, overcame the police officer, and
+hurled him down stairs, dealt in the same manner with some men in
+the rescue party, and then turned upon the missionary and would have
+subjected her to the same treatment. She said firmly: "Do not lay a
+hand upon me! I will go out by myself," and overawed, they allowed
+her to walk out untouched through their midst into fresh air and to
+safety. It is hardly necessary to add that the missionary did not, on
+this occasion, get the poor slave.
+
+We have already said, but it bears repeating, that white men as well
+as Chinese, resort to these slaves. One rescued girl told of another
+captive, bound by night to her bed and to her unwilling task. Think of
+the education of the youths of San Francisco in such schools of vice
+as this,--what a menace they must necessarily become to the women of
+their own family and acquaintance! A young woman managed to get a
+request for help sent to a rescue worker. The missionary responded
+by a carefully arranged plot for the identification of the girl. It
+included the understanding that when the rescuer with the officer
+should enter the place, she was to have in her hands, and to raise
+to her lips a handkerchief which the missionary had managed to get
+conveyed to her. They entered, saw her with the handkerchief held
+to her face, at the little soliciting window, but the poor girl had
+endured so much that at the sight of friends she lost her nerve and
+presence of mind, fluttered her handkerchief, and cried out, "Oh,
+teacher!" Alas! a locked door still separated her from her rescuers,
+and the plot was exposed. She was dragged back, and became lost to the
+rescue party. Other girls who escaped from the den afterwards told of
+the rest of the scene. Kick upon kick fell upon her poor little body,
+and the enraged owner of the brothel never ceased until she was dead
+and mashed almost to a jelly before the eyes of the other inmates, to
+teach them a lesson of warning against trying to escape. Let us not
+mourn. It was better so than to have been left alive unrescued. The
+pity is that the keepers and the "Watch-dogs" hold them alive to their
+task as long as they do. The angels of heaven, God's rescue party, are
+not far off from such victims, nor His angels of wrath and vengeance
+from such inhuman fiends. We wonder how many of the little slaves were
+lifted up into a better life than this by the merciful earthquake; and
+how many of their masters and outragers saw hell gape and themselves
+swallowed up in the horrible earthquake,--God's deliverance or God's
+judgment,--according to the character of the individual.
+
+When the missionary enters a den, and by means of some carefully
+devised scheme identifies the girl who has had conveyed to the
+missionary her desire to be rescued, and attempts to take the girl,
+she often screams for help, kicks, fights, bites, scratches, spits,
+and sometimes swears at her liberator, but often is secretly clutching
+with almost a death-grip the rescuer's hand. She will sometimes fight
+at being thrust through the doorway into the street, calling lustily
+for help, but whisper to the missionary, "Tell the officer to carry
+me out." When once, in spite of the feigned struggle, she is carried
+outside, and her pursuers are well behind in the chase, the ruse is
+cast aside, and it becomes a race for dear life between the rescuer
+and the rescued to make the city of refuge,--the mission home,--and
+generally the fugitive gets there first. Once a rescue worker found
+her girl secreted with four others in a loft, to which she had been
+removed because the brothel-keeper feared an attempt at rescue. She
+was so carefully guarded and watched that the poor thing dared not
+signify to the missionary that she was the one who wished to be taken,
+and all five struggled with equal apparent fierceness against rescue.
+What was the missionary to do! She lifted her heart in the despairing
+cry, "Oh, God, if ever you heard a human prayer and answered it, for
+Christ's sake hear me now! Tell me which one to take!" She instantly
+seized one of them, who fought savagely, and bit and scratched and
+swore. Out she went with her, and all the way to the mission the girl
+abused her terribly. But the instant the door closed behind them and
+they were safe inside the home, she fell to the floor, seized her
+deliverer's feet and bathed them with her tears, crying bitterly as
+she said: "Oh, forgive me, forgive me! You know I did not mean it,
+but it was the only way to do to be safe." God had guided aright. No
+mistake had been made in the choice. Do you believe God did that,
+reader? Try such heroic work for yourself, and you will find
+a miracle-working God who seldom reveals His identity to the
+self-indulgent. That rescued girl has turned out to be a wonder of
+grace and of natural gifts, and is pursuing a professional career now,
+after fine opportunities in training. It is worth while to save such
+material, even from a slave-pen; such as she enrich the community in
+which they live.
+
+This slave-trade could not go on between Hong Kong and the United
+States but for the white men who are in it, one way or another. White
+lawyers defend the traffickers in court, and secure the return of
+slaves by writ of habeas corpus, or by means of false accusations of
+various sorts, such as of stealing. It is significant that, with rare
+exceptions, the policemen seem not to have been trusted with definite
+information as to the place about to be searched or raided, when told
+off to accompany a rescue party, lest word be sent ahead, allowing a
+chance to spirit away the girl for whom search is instituted. American
+men are said to go all the way to Hong Kong to get girls and smuggle
+them into the country, as better able to cope with the strict
+immigration laws than Chinese. Sometimes they go a long way around to
+get a girl into San Francisco,--by Victoria, B.C., through Mexico
+and El Paso (Texas), and by other routes. But the price paid for the
+slaves assures a good profit to the traders. Since the laws against
+Chinese immigration became more stringent, the market price of these
+slaves has risen to three thousand dollars, while the more beautiful
+ones bring a much higher price. Judges, lawyers, seafaring men,
+hirelings of the Immigration Bureau, Chinatown guides, "Watch-dogs,"
+officials and policemen, have all been accused of having imbrued their
+hands at different times in the slaughter of the virtue of Chinese
+women through this wretched slave business, besides the white patrons
+of the Chinese slave-pens. But probably none are so guilty of
+complicity as the property-owners, who build the places for housing
+the slaves, and make enormous profits in the business.
+
+There seems to be a misapprehension as to the status of these Chinese
+prostitutes, to which the mind recurs again and again, in spite of
+careful explanations. Some imagine that only those who are rescued,
+or at least those who have managed to convey word to the missionaries
+that they desire to be rescued, are the literal slaves, and that those
+left behind are free. Such is not the case. We have already shown that
+nearly all the Chinese prostitutes at Singapore and at Hong Kong are
+literal slaves, the only exception being, in fact, a small percentage
+(estimated at 10 per cent by the Chinese merchants at Hong Kong),
+composed almost entirely of women who have mortgaged their own bodies,
+or who have been thus mortgaged by relatives, for a limited time
+in payment for a debt, and who, at the end of the stated time, are
+generally set free, though sometimes they find themselves in a trap
+from which there is no escape. It is through the misfortune of debt,
+and in countries where Chinese women are cheap, that this mortgaging
+of the person takes place. Such conditions do not surround Chinese
+women in America, so that this form of service in houses of ill-fame
+must be correspondingly rare, and this is according to the testimony
+of the missionaries. For this reason, therefore, we may rule out the
+temporary servitude, and assert without fear of contradiction from
+those who understand the situation, that practically all the Chinese
+prostitutes in the United States are literal slaves. Some are
+_willing_ slaves, some _unwilling_; and a small fraction of the
+unwilling slaves have managed by stroke of good fortune, and because
+of unusual courage, to get a request conveyed to a mission, and thus
+in some instances they have secured their freedom. But not all who
+have appealed for help have been rescued, for they cannot always be
+found upon search, and often, when they have been found and their
+cases brought up in court, they have been again consigned to the care
+of their former owners because courage has failed, and they have
+refused in open court to acknowledge that they wished to go free.
+One girl who desired to escape fell under suspicion, and her master
+decided to remove her to Watsonville, and so defeat her rescue. At the
+San Francisco Ferry Station she made a dash for liberty, pursued by
+the two men who had her in charge, and ran to a policeman, handing him
+a crumpled piece of paper, which proved to be a note that a missionary
+had placed in her hand when she landed in America. The officer could
+not read the note, in its old and crumpled condition, but divining its
+nature he hailed a cab and drove with the girl straight to the mission
+door, where she was welcomed.
+
+There were at least five hundred Chinese brothel slaves in San
+Francisco before its destruction, and none in Oakland up to that time.
+Since the calamity, there have been many in Oakland. They have been
+estimated at as high a figure as 300, and must have numbered until
+quite recently at least 150. The frontispiece represents a structure
+erected for their housing. This building is three stories high, and
+occupies every foot of one-half square. It contains more than 600
+rooms, and is built throughout of rough boards, one inch thick, on
+flimsy beams and studding. It is unlathed and unplastered, a veritable
+fire-trap, within four blocks of the County Court House. It could
+never have passed inspection had it been erected for _decent_
+purposes. When the photograph was taken the building was not
+completed. A row of shops has been added at the left, over which is a
+large Chinese theatre. A respectable Chinese man of literary pursuits
+informed us that the theatre was "to attract custom there." A very
+broad stairway, scarcely less imposing than the front entrance to the
+theatre, leads down into the alley, and to the brothel. The seats for
+women in the theatre are reached by a special door leading to this
+alley. The heart of this building is approached through "Washington
+Place," an alley, at the entrance of which one encounters a sign, "No
+White Men Admitted Here, Only Chinese." This notice, which has been
+put up at the entrance of Oriental brothels in Chinatown, has been
+ordered by the Chief of Police, it is claimed, to prohibit Americans
+associating with Orientals in vice, so as to prevent demoralization
+and race quarrels. We do not dispute the motive, but the _effect_
+is, that those who would work for the rescue of slaves are kept at a
+distance, and no one who is likely to make a complaint against abuses
+and law-breaking can approach the place without permission from
+the police, which gives ample opportunity for getting everything
+objectionable out of sight. As far as prevention of the commingling
+of the different races is concerned, that may be hindered at certain
+points, but American men are on the inside track here, as to making
+money through these slaves. The building has been erected and is
+owned by Americans, and one man of European name is a partner in the
+immediate management of the place. On our first visit to this building
+we were informed on reliable information that there were 125 Japanese
+and over 50 Chinese girls in the place, and 100 more were expected to
+arrive within a few days. Besides these, there are also Chinese slaves
+in almost every Chinese settlement throughout the United States. In
+California, they are to be found largely at San Francisco, Oakland,
+Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Bakersfield, San Jose, Watsonville,
+Monterey and Los Angeles. Willing or unwilling, the Chinese prostitute
+is none the less a slave, bought and sold at pleasure from one to
+another, earning wealth for others and never for herself. Recently,
+three girls who were taken from a den in San Francisco, declared that
+they had been sold for three thousand dollars apiece to the keeper,
+and that they were flogged when their earnings for the keeper fell
+below three hundred dollars each a month. If the prostitute were not
+willing to be a slave, that would not procure her liberty,--it would
+only procure her more abuse than the willing slave. On the ship
+coming over, the slaves are well drilled in their task on arrival, of
+swearing themselves into slavery, and well threatened if they dare
+to disobey. Then they are packed with stories as to the terrible
+character of Americans, particularly the rescue workers. One Chinese
+girl concluded she would take all the abuse of the rescue home rather
+than forego a chance for liberty, though she knew of no reason to
+disbelieve the fearful warnings she had received. On the first night
+of her arrival she did not undress nor go to bed when the other girls
+retired. Someone found her standing about, and asked her why she
+was not off for bed. She replied pathetically: "I am waiting for my
+beating." She had been informed that it was in that fashion all the
+girls were put to bed each night. At a very conservative estimate,
+there are not less than one thousand Chinese brothel slaves in
+California alone, besides those in the Chinese settlements all over
+the United States. When children are born to Chinese prostitutes, they
+are seized by the brothel keepers as their own property, the girls
+being sold into domestic slavery to be passed on into brothel
+slavery at the age of about 15, and the boy babies sold for a good
+price--several hundred dollars--to become "adopted" sons. Very many
+Chinese men of the United States secure their wives by purchase from
+brothels, and as a consequence often have no children by them, hence
+the high value of a child who can be purchased for a son. The real
+wife and family of the Chinese man generally remain in China, the
+matrimonial relations of the man in America being wholly spurious.
+This admixture of the brothel element with all Chinese home life in
+the United States makes this country very undesirable as a residence
+for virtuous Chinese women, and largely discourages the immigration of
+respectable Chinese wives, whose presence with their husbands might
+greatly tend to the uplifting of the entire Chinese community.
+
+There are probably as many domestic slaves as brothel slaves among the
+Chinese of the United States. Every well-to-do heathen Chinese family
+keeps a slave or two, and the rich Chinese keep a large number.
+Polygamy is practiced, as at Hong Kong, to a larger extent than
+prevails generally in China, and it is not uncommon to find a Chinese
+in California with from five to seven concubines. The Chinese man
+in the United States takes his domestic slave, if he wishes, for a
+concubine, or sells his concubines into brothel slavery, if displeased
+with them, or wishing to raise a sum of money. It is a burning
+disgrace to the United States that this polygamy is not stamped out.
+In one case related to us, a girl was taken from a rescue home by a
+writ of habeas corpus, and returned by the judge to her position as
+second wife of a Chinaman.
+
+During President Hayes' administration, Mr. D.H. Bailey, United States
+Consul-General at Shanghai, sent a message to him relating to Chinese
+slavery, and the menace to our country from it. He enclosed in his
+communication a translation of the Chinese laws relating to slavery,
+which is permitted under certain restrictions in that country. Nothing
+could exceed their stringency at the point of any resistance on the
+part of the slave to the condition of servitude. From that set of laws
+we quote the following:
+
+    "If a female slave deserts her master's house she shall be
+    punished with 80 blows." ... "Whosoever harbours a fugitive wife
+    or slave, knowing them to be fugitives, shall participate equally
+    in their punishment." ... "A slave guilty of addressing abusive
+    language to his master shall suffer death by being strangled....
+    If to his master's relations in the first degree he shall be
+    punished with 80 blows and two years' banishment. If to his
+    master's relations in the second degree, the punishment shall
+    be 80 blows. If in the third degree, 70 blows. If in the fourth
+    degree, 60 blows." "The master or the relations of a master of a
+    guilty slave may ... chastise such slave in any degree short of
+    death, without being liable to punishment. Nevertheless, if
+    a master or his aforesaid relations, in order to correct a
+    disobedient slave or hired servant, should chastise him in a
+    lawful manner on the back of the thighs or on the posteriors, and
+    such slave or hired servant should happen to die, or if he is
+    killed in any other manner accidentally, neither the master nor
+    his aforesaid relations shall be liable to any punishment in
+    consequence thereof."
+
+    "All slaves who are guilty of designedly striking their masters
+    shall, without making any distinctions between principals and
+    accessories, be beheaded.
+
+    "All slaves designedly killing their masters, or designedly
+    striking so as to kill their masters, shall suffer death by a slow
+    and painful execution.
+
+    "If accidentally killing their masters, they shall suffer death by
+    being strangled.
+
+    "If accidentally wounding, they shall suffer 100 blows and
+    perpetual banishment to the distance of 3,000 li (1,000 miles).
+
+    "Slaves who are guilty of striking their master's relations in the
+    first degree ... shall be strangled.... All slaves who strike so
+    as to wound such persons shall ... be beheaded."
+
+The "painful execution" which is the penalty of killing a master,
+means execution by slicing the criminal into 10,000 cuts. Foreigners
+who have witnessed it say it is too horrible to recite.
+
+It is under such slave laws as these that the young girl is trained
+as a brothel slave before she is brought to California. After such
+tuition, it seems hardly credible that girls do, in San Francisco,
+dare to escape from their masters, and flee to the missions for
+protection. Governor C.C. Smith, who was for years the Registrar
+General of Hong Kong, previous to being knighted and sent to Singapore
+as Governor of the Straits Settlements, replied to the Secretary of
+State for the Colonies, in reference to the freedom of prostitutes,
+"out of an experience of over a quarter of a century":
+
+    "There are no restrictive regulations on the part of the
+    Government which go to prevent or interfere with the entire
+    freedom of the inmates of brothels, and they can go abroad alone.
+    This statement will not, I hope, deceive you into believing that
+    as a consequence they are really free agents ... such is actually
+    not the case. A child who strikes its parent is liable to a death
+    sentence. The girls in brothels are in the position of daughters
+    to the keepers, and ... call them mother. There is no sense of
+    freedom, as we understand the term, possible in such a state of
+    affairs. The women are fearful of the unknown; of what should
+    happen to them if they should disobey their pocket-mothers, and
+    are terribly ignorant of everything connected with the Government
+    under which they nominally live. It is out of the question to
+    educate them up to the English standard of liberty of the subject.
+    They stay but a few short years in an English Colony, seeing
+    nothing but the worst phases of a life of vice and immorality, and
+    only know of the officers of Government as 'foreign devils' or
+    'barbarians'."
+
+This is all only too true as regards California also, excepting that
+the experiment of educating them by just treatment in the "English
+standard of the liberty of the subject," has certainly never been
+tried either in Singapore or America. The brothel keepers, however,
+have learned to understand that matter of "liberty of the subject"
+only too well, and take advantage of the habeas corpus act at every
+turn to capture a slave who is trying to escape their clutches.
+
+These words of Governor Smith should be borne in mind and brought to
+attention every time our law officers in California put brothel girls
+through the farce of asking them if they are desirous of liberty, and
+when they say no, proclaim triumphantly to the world that "there isn't
+a slave girl in Chinatown." These officers deceive others by these
+falsehoods, but they know too well the conditions to be themselves
+deceived.
+
+When certain Chinese girls appeared before a committee appointed to
+investigate conditions at San Francisco, the members of the committee
+were put under promise not to divulge their names or stories, as
+"their lives would not be safe for five years to come," if the
+brothel-keepers and their former owners knew that they had informed
+against them. It is a little difficult to describe the various secret
+societies of Chinatown in full, but for practical purposes and as
+relates to the welfare of Chinese women, it may be said that the
+secret society, or tong, is a sort of mutual benefit society and has
+generally a very commendable sort of name; but it exists to divide the
+profits of the trade in women, among other villainies. When anyone
+gives any evidence against such a society, or informs a rescue worker
+where a girl will be found who desires her liberty, then some one from
+the tong that has a special interest in the profits of that girl's
+slavery, deposits a sum of money in a place mutually arranged for, and
+the highbinder society undertakes for the sum paid to see that the
+informer is assassinated within twenty-four hours. That is the length
+of time usually claimed for the act. But sometimes years may pass
+before the marked victim can be traced and killed.
+
+We will next give a few cases from the records of the Presbyterian and
+Methodist Mission Rescue Homes of San Francisco, which will clearly
+show the similarity between the state of affairs in Hong Kong and
+California.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 17.
+
+STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM.
+
+
+A Chinese girl of 14 was brought to this country, and served six
+months as a domestic slave, and was then put into a brothel. She was
+rescued. Her Chinese master got out a writ of habeas corpus, went to
+the Mission with an officer and took the girl away at once to court
+before a corrupt judge. It was just at noon-time, and the missionary
+pleaded for a little time in which to summon a lawyer. The judge said:
+"I have no time to fool with this case." The lawyer arrived in haste
+and pleaded for a little time in which to prepare the defense. The
+judge said to the lawyer: "You shut up, or I'll have you imprisoned
+for contempt of Court." He awarded the slave to the care of her
+master.
+
+This and other such cases led to a valuable alteration of the law at
+the point of the protection of minors. We will explain the change in
+the words of Miss Cameron:
+
+    "In years past it was necessary in each case to in a way break
+    the _letter_ though not the _spirit_ of the law when we rescued a
+    Chinese child, for there was no written law to uphold us in
+    entering a house and carrying off a child--then, too, before
+    it was possible to carry out guardianship proceedings, the
+    ever-available writ of habeas corpus would in many cases deliver
+    the child back into the care of the Chinese, until the matter
+    could be settled in the Superior Court--in such instances we
+    seldom won our case. Our attorney saw wherein the difficulty lay,
+    and proposed an amendment to the law of the State in the matter of
+    the guardianship of minor children, which would give power to a
+    presiding judge to sign an order to the Sheriff, commanding him
+    immediately to take into custody the child whose name appeared
+    on the warrant and place her in the care of those applying for
+    guardianship, until such time as the hearing could be had."
+
+This means of protection for minors was secured by the combined
+efforts of mission workers and their friends. This explanation will
+prepare the way for a rehearsal of some cases of rescue which
+might puzzle the reader as being carried out by unusual methods of
+procedure.
+
+The following cases are from the records of the Methodist Home for
+Chinese Girls, located, since the earthquake, at Berkeley:
+
+    No. 1. Made the following statement: "I am 12 years old; born
+    in Canton; father a laborer; mother a nurse; parents very poor.
+    Mother fell sick, and in her need of money sold me. Took me to
+    Hong Kong and sold me to a woman; saw the money paid, but do not
+    know how much; it looked a great deal. This was 3 years ago. The
+    woman promised my mother to make me her own daughter, and little
+    did my mother know I was to be a slave, to be beaten and abused by
+    a cruel mistress. My mother cried when she left me; it was very
+    hard to part. The big ship, 'City of Pekin,' took me soon out of
+    sight. I have heard that she is now dead. On arriving we did not
+    come ashore immediately. I was landed after 4 days. There was
+    trouble in landing me. I had a red paper, bought at Hong Kong,
+    that they called a certificate, and there was trouble about it.
+    The woman who bought me had no trouble getting ashore because she
+    had lived in California before. She told me what I was to say when
+    I was questioned. She told me I must swear I was her own daughter.
+    The Judge asked, 'Is this your own mother?' and I said, 'Yes.'
+    This was a lie, but I did not know it was wrong to do as I was
+    told, and I was afraid of my mistress. The Judge said, 'Did this
+    woman give you birth?' and I said, 'Yes.' The Judge said, 'Did
+    anybody tell you to say all this?" and I said, 'No,' because my
+    mistress had instructed me how to answer this question, if it was
+    asked me. She taught me on ship-board what to say if I was taken
+    to court. My mistress was an opium smoker, and she and her husband
+    had awful quarrels, which made her bad-tempered, and then she
+    would beat me for no reason. I used to get so tired working hard,
+    and then she would beat me. She beat me with thick sticks of
+    fire-wood. She would lay me on the bench, lift my clothes, and
+    beat me on the back. Another day she would beat me thus with the
+    fire tongs. One day she took a hot flat-iron, removed my clothes,
+    and held it on my naked back until I howled with pain. (There
+    was a large scab on her back from this burn when she came to the
+    Mission.) The scars on my body are proof of my bad treatment. My
+    forehead is all scars caused by her throwing heavy pieces of wood
+    at my head. One cut a large gash, and the blood ran out. She
+    stopped the bleeding and hid me away. She beat my legs one day
+    until they were all swollen up. I thought I better get away before
+    she killed me. When she was having her hair washed and dressed I
+    ran away. I had heard of the Mission, and inquired the way and
+    came to it. A white man brought me here. I am very happy now."
+    While being brought to the Mission by this gentleman, she laid
+    hold of his coat, and would not let go until she was safely
+    inside. It is significant that in this case and the following,
+    methods of punishment allowed even unto death by Chinese law, are
+    administered by the mistresses of slaves in America.
+
+    No. 2. "One day I was playing in the street near my home in
+    Canton, and a man kidnaped me. He said: 'Come with me; your mother
+    told me to take you to buy something for her, and you are to take
+    it back.' I have never seen my father and mother since. In 3 or 4
+    days I was taken to the Hong Kong steamer. I dared not cry on the
+    street, but on board the steamer I cried very much. The kidnaper
+    said: 'Don't you cry, or you will have the policeman after you,
+    and they'll take you off to the foreign devils' prison.' At Hong
+    Kong he sold me to a woman, and after staying at her house a few
+    days she brought me to California. I had a yellow paper given me,
+    but I don't know what it was. The woman told me I must say I was
+    born in California. I came here last winter. I am 11 years old.
+    I don't remember the name of the steamer. The woman sold me to
+    another woman. I had to work as cook, and nurse her little
+    bound-footed child, who was strapped to my back to carry. The
+    child I carried was 9 years old; and I was 11. My mistress was
+    very cruel. Often she took off all my clothes, laid me on a bench
+    and beat me with a rattan until I was black all over. Then she
+    said: 'I will get rid of you and sell you.' The keeper of a
+    brothel came to buy me, and look me over to see how much I was
+    worth. A Chinaman living next door, knowing how I was treated and
+    that I was going to be put in a brothel, when I saw him in the
+    passageway, asked me if I wished to come to the Mission, and I
+    said 'Yes.' My mistress had gone out into the next room, leaving
+    her daughter and another slave girl in the room. I said I would go
+    at once, and he brought me. I am very glad to live here and lead a
+    good life."
+
+    No. 3. The rescuer was requested to meet a girl at the corner of
+    Stockton and Jackson streets. She did so. K---- Y---- was comely
+    and refined looking. She had been sold into a brothel at a tender
+    age. When about 22 she met a young Chinese man who wished to marry
+    her, and he paid down $600 for her, promising $1,400 more in time.
+    Another man objected to the sale, because the girl had mortgaged
+    herself to him for $600. Through the Mission the girl was released
+    from her bondage, and remained at the Mission one year and then
+    married the first man, and they left San Francisco and resided for
+    a time in an inland town. Here an effort was made to kill her in
+    her own garden one evening. Her husband brought her back to San
+    Francisco, and later she went back to China.
+
+    No. 4. Came from a brothel on Spofford alley. She was occasionally
+    allowed to attend the (Chinese) theatre. One evening when at the
+    theatre she had word conveyed to the Mission to come get her
+    immediately. The rescuer did so, and the girl promptly arose, when
+    the rescuer entered the room, from the front tier of seats, and
+    seizing the hand of the missionary in the presence of them
+    all climbed over the backs of two seats, regardless of their
+    occupants, and escaped. Later she was married and returned to
+    China.
+
+    No. 5. In a dark, dismal room where the sun never shone lay a poor
+    Chinese woman helpless with rheumatism. She had a baby girl 10
+    months old and was too sick to care for it. The invalid felt
+    forced to put the child in the hands of a friend she trusted, who
+    promised to care for it, and advanced money for the sick woman.
+    When the mother got better she worked two years and saved until
+    she had enough money to buy the child back, but the cruel woman
+    who had got possession of it refused to give it up unless paid
+    three times as much as was originally borrowed. The mother could
+    not do this, and finally, hearing of the Mission, reported the
+    case there. The baby was traced to a horrible den in Church alley,
+    where it was in the possession of a notorious brothel-keeper. The
+    mother secretly visited the Matron at the Mission, who had secured
+    the child, urging her to keep possession of the baby, saying she
+    would not dare testify against the woman on the witness stand, as
+    it would cost her her life. The case was a long time in court, but
+    after six months the Judge committed the child to the Home, and
+    the mother was made very happy.
+
+    No. 6. She ran into the Mission leading her little son. She was
+    chased to the very door of the Mission, but kept her pursuers
+    at bay, by means of a policeman's whistle which she held in her
+    mouth, walking backward and threatening to blow it if they dared
+    touch her child. She was a widow with this only child, and her
+    relatives were bound to sell her into an immoral life and take the
+    boy away. After being in the Mission a few months she became a
+    Christian. Her little boy was placed in an orphanage. Later the
+    widow married respectably.
+
+    No. 7. This girl was aged 14 when rescued, and had been placed in
+    a vile life four weeks before. Two days later she was taken to
+    court on a writ of habeas corpus. Her case was put off three
+    times, and finally came to trial. The Judge remanded the girl to
+    the custody of the M.E. Mission Home. He said, on dismissing the
+    case, that never in all his experience had he listened to such
+    perjury, and that the alleged mother should be punished to the
+    fullest extent of the law for her lying. The girl seemed very
+    happy and contented in the Home, but nine days after she was
+    committed to it she was again taken out on a writ of habeas
+    corpus and appeared before another Judge, who returned her to the
+    brothel-keeper. (This was before the new guardianship law came
+    into operation).
+
+No. 8 proves that the buying and selling of children takes place in
+America up to the present day. It is but one instance of this sort out
+of scores of others given by the missionary:
+
+    "She was sold when she was but four weeks and five days old. Her
+    parents being very poor and having several other children, she was
+    disposed of to a man who was a friend of the father. The wife,
+    however, was an inmate of an immoral house. Part of the time the
+    child was kept there and part of the time in a family house where
+    we often saw her in our rounds of visiting prior to the earthquake
+    and fire. We did not know but that she belonged to the family in
+    whose care we saw her.
+
+    "After the fire the man returned to China, leaving the woman and
+    child. The woman took to abusing the child, and word was brought
+    to us of the condition of things. We appeared on the scene one
+    morning about 10 o'clock with an officer. Leaving him outside, we
+    entered, and found the woman and child eating breakfast. Three
+    other women and two men soon came in. After talking for a while I
+    saw the woman was anxious to get the child away from the table, so
+    I informed her we had come to take her, and proceeded to do so,
+    catching the child up and darting into the street, leaving my
+    interpreter and the officer to follow. We ran several blocks,
+    followed by the irate woman. Finally hailing a man with a horse
+    and wagon, we sprang in and were driven away to where we could
+    take the street cars for home. The child did some screaming and
+    crying, at first. But once we were seated in the street car, her
+    tears were dried and her little tongue rattled along at a rapid
+    rate; she was delighted to get away.
+
+    "The case was in court for some weeks, but the woman was afraid
+    to appear, and had no one to assist her but the lawyer, and as he
+    could not prove any good reason why the child should remain with
+    an immoral woman, we were given the guardianship."
+
+    No. 9. A young girl came to San Francisco from China as a
+    merchant's wife, and missionaries used to visit her at her home in
+    Chinatown. Once when they went they were told that the wife had
+    gone to San Jose, but she could not be traced at the latter place,
+    and the missionary was suspicious. A year passed, and one night
+    the door bell at the Mission rang, and when it was opened
+    a Chinese girl fell in a faint from exhaustion, across the
+    threshold. A colored girl stood by her holding her by the cue.
+    The colored girl said she saw her running, and divined where she
+    wished to go, and seizing her by the hair to prevent her being
+    dragged back, rushed her to the Mission. It was the merchant's
+    young wife. She had been confined in a brothel not two blocks from
+    the Mission, and often saw the missionary pass by, but had no
+    means of attracting her attention. The merchant told her one day
+    that he wished to take her to a cousin to learn a different way of
+    dressing her hair, and he would leave her there a day or two while
+    he was away from town on business. The young wife went without
+    fear, but never to return to virtue until she escaped to the
+    Mission. She was tied to a window by day to attract custom, and at
+    night tied to a bed, for she was no willing slave. When rescued
+    she was horribly diseased. Three days before her rescue, the
+    Chief of Police and an interpreter had gone through the house
+    questioning every inmate as to whether they wished to lead a life
+    of shame or not. She was asked the question in the presence of the
+    brothel-keeper, the head mistress, and all the girls. She had been
+    told beforehand, "If you dare say you want to escape, we will kill
+    you." The Chief of Police had it announced in the papers that
+    he had made this investigation, and that no slaves existed in
+    Chinatown. Immediately after his visit, she was removed to a
+    family house, lest her rescue might be effected, and one man and
+    two women set to watch her day and night. She feigned willingness
+    to lead a bad life, and the two women, lulled into a sense of
+    security, turned aside to gossip, while the man dropped off
+    asleep. She suddenly rushed out of the house, and but for the
+    quick wit and good offices of the colored girl might have missed
+    the way to a safe harbor.
+
+The following are cases of rescue reported from the Mission Home of
+the Occidental Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church:
+
+    No. 1. Qui Que. This little girl was taken from a gambling den
+    at Isleton, a small town on the Sacramento river. The woman who
+    brought her from China died, and she was thus left to the care of
+    this gang of gamblers. When Miss Cameron and her escort arrived at
+    the house, the little girl of six or seven years sat on a table
+    rolling cigarettes for the men who sat around it gambling. They
+    were taken by surprise, and before they quite understood the
+    situation the rescuers were gone with the little girl. When they
+    discovered this, they fired several shots after the party, but no
+    harm was done. The officer, with one hand on his revolver, drove
+    rapidly for the boat landing, and Qui Que, safe in Miss Cameron's
+    arms, will probably never know the danger risked in securing her
+    freedom.
+
+    No. 2. Ngun Fah. This child was a domestic slave in the family of
+    a well-to-do merchant in Chinatown, but so cruelly was the child
+    overworked and abused that the matter was finally reported to the
+    Mission, and little Ngun Fah rescued. When found at the home of
+    her master, she was in a most pitiable condition. Weary from hard
+    work and worn out with crying, after the cruel punishment which
+    had just been administered, the lonely little girl crawled on to
+    the hard wooden shelf which served as a bed, and with no covering
+    but the dirty, forlorn garment worn through the day, had dropped
+    off to sleep. Thus she was easily captured and carried to the
+    Mission, where upon examination it was found that her head had
+    been severely cut from blows administered with a meat knife, the
+    hair was matted with blood and the child's whole body was covered
+    with filth, and showed signs of former punishments. After the
+    first fears of "being poisoned" were allayed, Ngun Fah expressed
+    herself as being very happy to be rescued from the suffering
+    and weariness of her life in Chinatown. Her master sent many
+    emissaries to the Home with offers of bribes, and many promises
+    of better treatment in the future, but all these overtures were
+    rejected, and when at length the matter of guardianship came up,
+    there was no one present to claim the child but her new friends at
+    the Mission Home.
+
+    No. 3. Suey Ying. Our dear baby was surely sent to dispel any
+    clouds of sadness which may be hovering round, for she takes all
+    of life as a huge joke. And where did Suey Ying come from? From a
+    part of Chinatown, dear friend, that you would not dare to enter,
+    and the strangest thing about her coming is that she was carried
+    to the Home by a fugitive slave woman, who was escaping to China.
+    Long ago this woman had spent a day or two in the Mission and was
+    impressed by the happy life of the children here and by the kind
+    treatment she herself received. Later on she purchased for $120
+    a little baby girl. She grew to love the tiny waif, and when at
+    length troubles of many kinds drove her to sudden flight across
+    the ocean, instead of selling the baby she brought it to this Home
+    of happy memory and asked that we keep it always.
+
+    No. 4. How Wan. A frail young girl with bound feet was brought to
+    this country to be the wife of a man who had died while she was
+    en route. Refused a landing, she was detained in the Mission by
+    immigration officials, while the young man's parents made frantic
+    efforts to secure her admission to the country. She remained here,
+    a prisoner, for two years. Thousands of dollars were expended
+    without avail, and How Wan was deported. Nothing daunted, they
+    accompanied her as far as Japan, and returned with her, secured a
+    license and landed her as a merchant's wife. She lived with
+    the family in a dark basement on Sacramento street, where the
+    mother-in-law abused her with such cruelty that, shrinking girl as
+    she is, she found courage to send word to us if we did not come
+    to her rescue she must relieve herself by suicide--the Chinese
+    woman's only hope. We began at once to plan to get her taken to
+    the steamer to hid good-bye to some friends, and rescued her
+    at the Pacific Mail dock. She is now a grateful member of our
+    household family, and is unbinding her feet.
+
+    No. 5. During the St. Louis Exposition a Chinese company brought
+    from China a large number of women for exhibition in the Fair.
+
+    Four of these, upon learning that they were not to be returned at
+    the close of the exposition, as agreed, but were destined to be
+    sold into houses of prostitution in San Francisco, refused to
+    land, and were brought to the Mission by the Commissioners of
+    Immigration.
+
+    These Chinese were arrested, the case tried in Federal Court,
+    these girls being the principal witnesses; yet twelve supposedly
+    good men dismissed the criminals, and the case was lost.
+
+    Surrounded by the genial environment of our Mission, the minds of
+    these four girls unfolded in a remarkable manner; fascinated with
+    their studies, they constantly begged us to intercede with the
+    authorities that they might remain in the Mission and obtain an
+    education; but, although every effort was made, they were deported
+    after a seven months' stay.
+
+    They had learned to love our Home life, had united with our
+    Christian Endeavor Society and had become interested in all our
+    work, and we would be quite unreconciled to their departure did we
+    not know that our missionaries in Shanghai stand ready to receive
+    and care for them when they arrive.
+
+    No. 6. Seen Fah. The first beams of the rising sun shone bright
+    and hopefully into a pleasant room in the Presbyterian Mission
+    Home one morning last autumn. It threw its cheerful radiance over
+    a group of three gathered there to plan an important undertaking,
+    lighting the bright, eager faces of two young Chinese girls, and
+    giving renewed courage to the anxious heart of the Superintendent.
+    What important event had to be discussed? What serious matter
+    decided? News had reached the Mission Home, a few hours before,
+    of a young Chinese girl just landed in San Francisco and sold for
+    three thousand dollars. Plans to save this helpless and innocent
+    child, before it was too late, were the subject of discussion at
+    that early morning meeting. In such a serious undertaking every
+    possibility of failure must be carefully guarded against. Each
+    possible device of the wily Highbinder slave-owner must he
+    conjectured and frustrated. So the three planned this campaign:
+    "When is Detective ---- coming?" asked Chan Yuen, as a step sounded
+    on the quiet street below. "At six he promised to be here with one
+    of his trustiest men. It is best to reach Chinatown early, that
+    our coming may not be signaled by those on the streets at a later
+    hour. If the alarm is given, every slave den will be doubly bolted
+    and barred; and perhaps little Seen Fah, whom we wish to save,
+    will be spirited away beyond reach of help." Well did the
+    questioner know the terrible truth of these words. A sympathetic
+    shade of sorrow and anxiety crossed her bright face. She, too, was
+    a rescued girl and had not forgotten the dark, mysterious ways
+    of Chinatown. The Superintendent rose to answer the summons of a
+    small electric bell. Two trusted detectives had arrived. After
+    a short conference, the rescuing party set forth on its strange
+    mission. One who had eagerly thought and planned for the success
+    of the undertaking felt her heart throbbing between hope and fear,
+    but was reassured when a slender hand slipped into hers and a
+    sweet, encouraging voice whispered: "I have faith to believe God
+    will give us the girl." Faith triumphed that day. Through two of
+    Chinatown's most desolate old tenements, upstairs and downstairs
+    in dark closets and unexpected corners, while Highbinders uttered
+    imprecations in the alleys below, the rescue party kept up a
+    diligent search for many hours. When at last the quest was about
+    to be abandoned as hopeless, suddenly a cry of success echoed
+    through every gloomy corner of the old building--Seen Fah was
+    found! A small, dark closet, overlooked in the earlier hours of
+    the search, was discovered. A lighted candle soon revealed a pile
+    of empty rice bags and broken boxes. Pulling these away, the
+    object of the long search was discovered, nearly smothered beneath
+    the debris. Dazed and terrified, but safe, Seen Fah was at last
+    in the hands of friends--and the slave ring had lost just three
+    thousand dollars. Later on, Seen Fah and her new friends were
+    haled into court. As usual, the sleek, well-paid attorney appeared
+    for the Chinese owners. But they and he were alike powerless to
+    drag back into slavery the rescued girl. There was but one course
+    for the court to pursue. _Finding that Seen Fah was over fourteen,
+    she was allowed to choose for herself_ between the life of
+    Chinatown and that offered by the Mission. She chose the Christian
+    Home; so to its care Judge Cook consigned her. To-day, a free
+    happy girl, Seen Fah joins gayly in the simple, wholesome life
+    of her new surroundings. Rescued before the blight of slavery
+    actually darkened her life, she will never fully understand from
+    how great a danger her guardian angel snatched her. But we who do
+    know thank daily the kind Providence who thus protects His own.
+
+    No. 7. Kum Ping. She was married in the American Consulate at Hong
+    Kong in the most approved European way. Her new husband had made
+    a good impression on the old aunt who was her guardian, and for a
+    small consideration in Mexican coin, Kum Ping became his property
+    according to Chinese custom, as well as his legal wife by
+    American law. When these arrangements were completed, passage was
+    immediately engaged on the Korea, bound for that harbor of
+    romance, San Francisco Bay. There was, however, to be little
+    romance in the life of our small Chinese heroine. The man who made
+    her his wife did so simply as a means toward an end, and that end
+    was to be a life of slavery and degradation in California. The
+    landing of slave girls in free America is prohibited by law, thus
+    the slave-dealers must resort to the best means at their command
+    to thwart or circumvent our laws. A witnessed marriage in China
+    gives an American-born Chinaman the right to land his wife in this
+    country, so many an innocent village girl crosses the ocean secure
+    in the belief that she is the honored wife of a respectable
+    husband. She is landed as such, and, alas! often finds out
+    when too late that she is merely the chattel of an evil and
+    unscrupulous Highbinder society, whose paid agent is the man to
+    whom she is bound. Soon after the Korea's arrival in port, on the
+    voyage in which we are interested, I visited the ship to interview
+    the Chinese women on board, and there for the first time met our
+    little dark-eyed friend, Kum Ping. She had been carefully coached
+    on the way as to the visits she might receive from foreign
+    missionaries, and the replies to all our questions showed a
+    guarded suspicion that seemed quite hopeless. Our cheerful
+    interpreter talked on, nevertheless, and finally won a quiet smile
+    and the offer of some roast duck (a great delicacy among Chinese).
+    All warnings about the dangers and wickedness of Chinatown
+    apparently fell on deaf ears. "I am a married woman, my husband
+    can take care of me. I do not need your protection!" was the
+    rather indignant response. So we presented some bright flowers as
+    a token of good will and friendship, and with them slipped into
+    the small, soft hand a talisman that might help her out of future
+    trouble. Just a slip of paper, but the magic of the name and
+    number written there many an escaped slave girl can bear witness
+    to. Some weeks passed by after our visit to Kum Ping on the
+    steamer. She had landed, and, like hundreds of others, had simply
+    disappeared from view in that place of many mysteries, old
+    Chinatown. One night perhaps a month later, I was called to the
+    reception room to see a strange visitor (Chinese) who refused to
+    divulge either name or business to any one else. On meeting this
+    messenger I noticed his great excitement and nervousness. Only
+    after the door was tightly shut did he tell his errand. We
+    listened with interest to his story of a young girl sold to a very
+    cruel master, who beat her daily and never allowed her to leave
+    the place in which she was closely guarded. Unless relief came
+    soon she must end her life. Would the Mission try to save this
+    poor girl? We gladly promised what help we could give, and our
+    visitor left as quickly and mysteriously as he came, only leaving
+    for our guidance a roughly sketched diagram of alley and house
+    where the little captive could be found. There followed much
+    planning and plotting. Our staunch friend, Sergeant Ross of the
+    Chinatown squad, was summoned and consulted. The place was a
+    difficult one to reach, but at last satisfactory plans were made,
+    the day and hour set. There were three officers and three Chinese
+    girls from the Mission. It was a good-sized rescue party and
+    divided into three companies, we guarded well the three exits from
+    the low-roofed house on Spofford alley. With Sergeant Ross leading
+    and our courageous young interpreter at our side, we stealthily
+    ascended the dark, narrow stairs to the second floor, where a
+    heavy door barred the way, but for such obstacles our good officer
+    was prepared. A few blows of his strong hammer made bolts and bars
+    yield. We passed through into a small dark passage. From there
+    could be heard on all sides sounds of excitement; light feet
+    running hither and thither to places of escape, only to be turned
+    back by the sight of our guards, who stood on watch. As we
+    cautiously felt our way further in we were met by the baffled and
+    angry keeper of the den--a woman, but not worthy the name. She
+    fiercely demanded our business--there was no need to tell it,
+    for she knew as well as we; but she wished to find some means of
+    hindering our search for her newest and most valuable slave. A
+    room was at length discovered in which we felt sure the treasure
+    was hidden. Again Sergeant Ross had to force open a door. As it
+    gave way, a small, dimly-lighted room opened before us. In the
+    center cowered a Chinese girl. It needed not a second look to
+    recognize in the frightened, anxious face before me Kum Ping of
+    the steamer. Our talisman had worked its charm. She had proved
+    to the depths the terrible truth of our warning, and now gladly
+    entrusted herself to our care, while her almost frantic owner
+    stormed, threatened and at last laid violent hands on the officer
+    who was helping us. As we led the trembling Kum Ping out, a
+    greatly excited crowd of chattering Chinese met us at the end of
+    the passage at Spofford alley, and the news passed from lip to
+    lip, "The Mission people have taken Woon Ha's new slave girl!" We
+    would be glad to end the story of our little friend's troubles and
+    safe escape with her arrival at last in the Mission Home that day.
+    But how few rescues ever do end in that peaceful and pleasant way!
+    There followed the usual train of lawyers and warrants. To avoid
+    these unpleasant experiences, Kum Ping had to change her place of
+    residence several times, the last time being the night before the
+    fatal eighteenth of April. A warrant was served at ten o'clock
+    that night, but being forewarned, the one named in it was with
+    friends at some distance from the city. The warrant summoned us to
+    court at two o'clock next day. God disposed of that case! No court
+    has ever passed judgment on it. Long after the excitement of these
+    days was over, Kum Ping returned to our Home; country air and a
+    free life are working their spell. It is hard to recognize in the
+    round, sun-tanned, happy face we see today, the unhappy slave girl
+    of Woon Ha's den on Spofford alley.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 18.
+
+PERILS AND REMEDIES.
+
+
+It is a matter of no small importance that the Christian public of
+America should realize that in the Oriental slavery of its Pacific
+Coast it faces a flood. One can gaze with indifference upon a little
+stream that trickles through a wall, so long as it is thought to be
+merely a natural spring of water; but when one is informed that this
+is the trickling of water through a dike which dams out the raging
+sea, the sensations are changed to a realizing sense of imminent
+peril. If some are disposed to criticise this book for leading its
+readers into past history and far distant countries, to tell them
+harrowing tales, let them know it is intended to take them for a view
+behind the dike,--that they may understand the source of the trickling
+stream of brothel slaves that, almost unobserved, flows steadily into
+our fair land, and know that the stream is the precursor of a flood.
+No mere wall of immigration restrictions will ever get control of the
+flow so long as men are permitted to hold slaves after they have once
+been landed. And for the further reason, that so soon as China and
+Japan have drilled a little longer with the fire-arms furnished them
+by Western nations, they will force a free entrance to America. The
+yellow flood is sure to come, and we must make ready for it. We must
+realize what may happen to American women if almond-eyed citizens,
+bent on exploiting women for gain, obtain the ballot in advance of
+educated American women. We must realize how impossible it is to
+throttle this monster, Oriental Brothel-Slavery, unless we take it
+in its infancy. For these reasons, we wish to sound the cry long and
+loud: "At once to arms! Not a moment to be lost! We cannot build a dam
+in the midst of the raging sea. The new dam must be finished before
+the old one bursts."
+
+And beside the peril arising directly from the flood of Orientals who
+are accustomed to dealing with women as chattels, there will be the
+peril from a debased American manhood. Men cannot live in the midst of
+such slavery as this, tolerate it, defend it, make gain through it,
+patronize it, without losing all respect for woman and regard for her
+rights.
+
+And then, the slave business is fast becoming a vested interest of
+large dimensions to American men as well as to Chinese. There are
+fully as many (probably more) Japanese slaves as Chinese in the United
+States, and at the moderate reckoning that they are worth three
+thousand dollars each, that represents six million dollars in capital;
+and at the present time the Japanese traffic is more threatening
+to the United States than the Chinese, with which alone this book
+deals.[A]
+
+[Footnote A: When we undertook the task of writing this book we
+intended to include in it also a representation of the Japanese
+slave-trade, but have been obliged to desist for want of space.]
+
+In these latter days, when everything in the business line tends to
+take on the form of trusts and combines, bent on defeating all law and
+exploiting the common people for gain, it casts a shadow of gloom over
+one's spirits to think of capitalists entering so largely upon the
+active culture and development of vice for pecuniary profit. This can
+no longer be looked upon as an evil due to the frailty of human nature
+and the strength of the sex appetite; it is rather the expression of a
+greed for gold, and should be actively combated as such. The owners
+of property, especially those who have a monopoly in the matter of
+housing vice because of municipal measures for its segregation, are
+most potent offenders against decency, and should be punished as such,
+instead of their being admitted, as too often they are, not only to
+good society, but to membership on the church roll.
+
+No individual can afford to be indifferent and ignorant as to the
+existence of social vice in the community. The only escape from moral
+blight and confusion is by active conflict with the forces of evil.
+The wrong training of youths who grow up in the presence of tolerated
+evils, cannot be overcome in a single generation, nor in a single
+century. There is a confusion of the moral sense in the presence of
+evil to which one has become accustomed, that is truly terrible.
+
+When it was first learned in England that such an official had been
+appointed at Singapore and Hong Kong as the inspector of brothels, the
+matter could scarcely gain credence. Mr. Benjamin Scott, Chamberlain
+of the City of London, in his valuable book, "A State Iniquity,"
+in mentioning this exclaims: "Her Majesty's Inspector of Brothels!
+Curiosity is aroused to inquire what were the attributes, duties, rank
+and status of this official. From the evidence taken by the Commission
+[at Hong Kong], we gather that he kept a register of 'Queen's Women,'
+and saw that their names were duly inscribed on the door-posts of the
+Government establishments, as lawyers' names are inscribed on nests of
+Chambers in the Temple, and those of merchants and traders are written
+on offices in the City. He comptrolled the receipt of the fees paid by
+the women into the Colonial Treasury.... But, what was the fashion of
+his uniform? Did he attend the receptions of His Excellency and
+the Port Admiral? Was he allowed precedence of chaplains, or how
+otherwise? and was he expected to dine with the Bishop? Was he
+decorated on the abolition of his office, and allowed a good service
+pension? or is he still in the service of 'our religious and gracious
+Queen?'" That officer still remains in the service of the Government,
+both at Singapore and at Hong Kong. By the ruse of denominating all
+the tasks connected with the Government management of immoral houses
+at Singapore "protection," the Chief Inspector of brothels in this
+place holds a more honored place in the community than at Hong Kong.
+As to Mr. Scott's ironical questions in regard to that officer's
+rank, we cannot answer, nor whether he is invited to the Governor's
+receptions; but Mr. Scott would have been astounded, indeed, had
+he, like ourselves, first met the Chief Inspector of brothels at a
+reception given to ministers of the Gospel and missionaries; had he,
+like ourselves, been introduced to the official by a minister of the
+Gospel than whom none stands higher in British India, and that in
+terms of eulogy of the Inspector's activity in Christian work. How
+can we explain such a state of affairs? Just as we would explain the
+religiousness of early days of America and England associated with the
+monstrous cruelty of the slave traffic. There is often in connection
+with great human wrong great moral confusion, and without judging the
+individuals living under such conditions, we can say emphatically,
+those conditions are most undesirable, and attended by moral peril,
+especially to the young. It is a truly lamentable thing when prolonged
+familiarity with vicious conditions leads to such lack of discernment
+as to a man's true character, even among the best portion of a
+community. We do not wish such a state of things as this in America.
+
+California does not lack in excellent laws (as they read, in the
+Statute Book), for the suppression of prostitution. There are laws
+against procuring; against trading in Oriental women for evil
+purposes; against buying or selling a female, with or without her
+consent, for prostitution; against a husband forcing or influencing a
+wife to lead an evil life; against a husband even consenting to his
+wife practicing prostitution; against keeping a house of ill-fame; and
+against knowingly renting a house for a place of prostitution. But all
+these laws, almost the world over, as well as in California, are weak
+at one point, namely, that they provide for imprisonment _or_ fine,
+whereas they should provide for imprisonment _and_ fine. This is not
+because the penalty would then be heavier, of necessity, but in order
+that the law may not be prostituted into license. The alternative of
+a fine instead of imprisonment defeats the object the public-spirited
+citizens have in demanding a law for the discouragement of vice, and
+places before the police officials a temptation to corruption. A mild
+sentence, which invariably puts the procurer or brothel-keeper in
+prison, is worth more than a heavy sentence by way of fine, which can
+be met by further oppression of his slaves. Besides, the heavier the
+sentence threatened, if there be an alternative fine, the more potent
+implement it furnishes for blackmail in the hands of corrupt police
+officials. Penalties by means of fines invariably tend to degenerate
+into a monthly squeeze to the police, in payment for toleration, and
+thus tend to make the police official a defender of social vice,
+rather than an exterminator.
+
+It has always been considered, among experienced workers, a most
+difficult thing to attack prostitution itself by means of penalties,
+for the reason that the punishment is invariably visited with greatest
+severity upon the head of the female partner in shame, who is often
+the mere victim, while the male partner goes free. But surely
+those men who make a business of cultivating vice and vicious
+practices,--who use every sort of device to corrupt the youth and
+develop the trade in women, can be reached by just and wholesome laws.
+We cannot make men moral by act of parliament, but we can restrict
+their depredations.
+
+It has long been our feeling that every form and kind of spurious
+marriage, such as bigamy, polygamy, illegal divorce and remarriage,
+seduction, adultery, and bastardy, besides constituting sometimes
+cause for civil action, might with good results be lifted into
+offenses against the State. National development depends not upon
+the individual but upon the _family unit_, and that family unit is
+non-existent outside the monogamous relation, or, at least, is so
+frail as to easily crumble. Nothing could be more vicious in moral
+education to the youth than the average suit for civil damages, in
+which the whole decision of the case is made to depend upon whether
+some young girl can or cannot be ruined in reputation by lawyers
+of the defense and by their client, concerning whom there is not a
+question as to their lack of a decent reputation. When the State rises
+to defend itself against counterfeit marriage, just as it defends
+itself against counterfeit coin, then the whole horizon of the life of
+a profligate woman will not be brought before the public gaze every
+time she comes into court, but will be kept in deserved obscurity, and
+the woman will be tried for a _single_ offense, just as the man is
+tried, and not for all the offenses and indiscretions of a life-time.
+The penalty for such wrong doing may not be placed at even so high a
+figure in the Statute Book as it now stands, while accounted a civil
+injury, but the dignity of the trial would give serious lessons
+in virtue to the youth. No nation can long exist that does not
+incessantly discourage the practice of every sort of offense against
+the sanctity of the marriage relation.
+
+But after all, there will be no success in attempting to cope with
+Oriental prostitution by means of laws against prostitution and
+kindred vices, for the reason that the evil is a far graver one than
+this. Innocent children are reared for vice, and at a certain age
+thrust into the life through no choice of theirs; and not infrequently
+perfectly respectable women of mature years are kidnaped for the vile
+service. The effect upon the moral character of a man who resorts to
+a _slave_ class of victims to his evil propensities, must be to make
+that man a menace to society wherever he goes, through deeds of
+violence which he is willing to commit, and accustomed to commit, of
+the worst imaginable sort.
+
+And an attack upon the slave _traffic_ alone will never prove
+adequate. The history of our country's dealing with negro slavery
+is instructive on this point. There were laws in abundance for the
+suppression of the _traffic_ between Africa and America; it was
+forbidden to bring slaves into the country, and devices were invented
+looking to an eventual liberation of all the slaves in certain
+regions; but what did all these amount to, so long as slavery could
+exist? There had to be one sweeping, general emancipation of slaves
+wherever they were found, under whatever circumstances, and when the
+state of slavery was abolished, the trade in slaves died a natural
+death. The words of Mr. Francis concerning conditions at Hong Kong
+bear directly on this point: "Until the system of prostitution which
+prevails in this Colony ... is declared to be _slavery_, and treated
+and punished as such in Hong Kong, no stop will ever be put to the
+kidnaping of women and the buying and selling of female children in
+Hong Kong. This buying and selling and kidnaping is only an effect, of
+which the existing system of Chinese prostitution is the cause."
+
+In 1880, Mr. Berry, a member of the House of Representatives from
+California, made use, in a debate in the House, of the argument that
+"if the British authorities had not been able to prevent slavery from
+being practiced in Hong Kong, there would be great danger that, if an
+unlimited immigration of Chinese were allowed, it would be followed by
+the prevalence of slavery in this country."
+
+It is perfectly true that immigration of Chinese, even though it has
+been greatly restricted, has been followed by the introduction of
+slavery into the United States, yet the premises laid down in this
+argument, may not pass unchallenged, for the following reasons: There
+was never any serious attempt to put down slavery at Hong Kong,
+excepting in the efforts of Sir John Smale and perhaps one or two
+others, whose efforts were opposed by others, and in large part
+defeated. The records go to show that there was at once a growth of
+healthy moral sentiment created among the Chinese, through Sir John
+Smale's endeavor, that promised much good for the future had his
+course of action been continued. This official planted his feet
+squarely upon the doctrine that all buying and selling of human beings
+was slavery, and that a human being cannot, in law, "become a slave,
+even by his own consent." And moreover this official, with Governor
+Hennessey's encouragement, prosecuted his cases without any tender
+consideration as to the demands of European libertines, who would be
+left with scant opportunities to be self-indulgent unless slaves were
+placed at their disposal. The truth is, from the foreign standpoint,
+the plea for brothel slavery was based upon the "necessity" of vice,
+and from the Chinese standpoint the plea for slavery was based upon
+so-called Chinese "custom." The Government was impressed that it must
+have consideration for the demands of libertines, and consideration
+for Chinese "custom." Neither of these arguments has any worth when
+applied to the slave conditions of California, and therefore the most
+serious, baffling obstacles to a removal of the evil are out of the
+way. Both pretexts, we maintain, were false. There is no necessity for
+furnishing vice to libertines; there was no lawful Chinese custom to
+be opposed in opposing brothel slavery. But even if these were claimed
+to be sufficient arguments across the water, they have no force in
+California. There are women, alas! willing to make a trade of their
+virtue for _their own gain_, without forcing Chinese women to make a
+trade of their virtue for _the gain of masters_. As to Chinese custom:
+America is not setting forth inducements for the Chinese to come and
+live in our midst, as did Sir Charles Elliott when he promised the
+Chinese the privilege of practicing their own social and religious
+rites and customs, "pending Her Majesty's pleasure." If Chinese or any
+other class of foreigners come to reside in the United States, it
+is with the understanding that they must conform to the laws of the
+country, whatever modification or radical alteration it obliges them
+to make in their native customs, and if they will not do this they
+must take the consequences.
+
+No class of people, taken as a whole, are possessed of a greater
+moral sense or can be reached more readily by moral suasion, than
+the Chinese. We believe that if a proper condition of public moral
+sentiment were maintained, by the enforcement of the laws of the
+United States in Chinese communities, no class of people would be more
+delighted than the respectable Chinese themselves, who are now left in
+a state of terror for their own lives from the highbinders, and who
+often dare not bring over their lawful wives from China, to live in
+the midst of this reign of terror, at the mercy of slave-traders
+and women-stealers. Then Chinese criminals would seek safer shelter
+elsewhere, and respectable Chinese family life would take the place,
+in our Chinatowns, of a combination of criminal men and slave women.
+And Chinese men of weak character, separated far from home influences,
+would not be met on every hand by temptations of the most potent sort.
+Such is the real worth of the sort of Chinese character that one meets
+in other parts of that country from those vitiated by familiar contact
+with foreign profligates, that the presence of such could not but be
+a benefit to us, and would afford peaceable, thrifty, useful Chinese
+settlements in our midst, of which we would feel justly proud.
+
+In order to see that the entrance of Chinese to our country from China
+is not made a cover for this dreadful slave trade, there is an urgent
+need of coöperation between rescue workers of the California coast
+and rescue workers in all the open ports of China. Chinese men are
+constantly returning to China to "marry," in duly prescribed form, and
+then return with their wives and reënter the United States, merely to
+put the women into the brothels. Any man who is willing to run the
+risk of detection can thus get a trip home to China to see his lawful
+wife and family, and make it a profitable business trip besides,--with
+all expenses more than paid by the importation, and sale of a slave.
+Chinese women are constantly returning to China to bring "daughters"
+to put in the slave pens. No woman (even lawfully married to a
+Chinaman), should be allowed to take a ticket at Hong Kong or any of
+the open ports of China for the United States, whose case has not been
+thoroughly investigated by days of acquaintance with a woman inspector
+in a house of detention, if necessary, on the other side. And no
+Chinese woman should be allowed to enter on this side of the water,
+until she has passed the second time under such surveillance in a
+house of detention. And such rescue workers should have the Government
+authority signified by a policeman's star.
+
+The evil to be combated should be met with the right remedy. "Fitches
+are not threshed with a thresher, neither is a cart wheel turned about
+upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the
+cummin with a rod." Much of the failure to control brothel slavery
+has grown out of the application of the wrong remedy, not out of a
+difficulty in controlling the Chinese. These cases of trading in human
+flesh have generally been treated in the courts as though coming under
+the laws against ordinary prostitution. To illustrate:
+
+Within the past month, three Chinese girls were captured by a rescue
+worker. They were cooped up, with a man who had charge of them, in
+a tiny closet scarcely sufficient to hold the four, which had been
+entered by a panel door which was securely nailed up and bags of rice
+piled against it. The rescuer pulled away the bags, pried open the
+door of the secret receptacle with her hatchet, and drew out the
+girls, dripping with perspiration and panting for breath, in
+consequence of the two hours' confinement, while the brothel was being
+searched for them. They were conveyed to the mission home, and were
+very happy, and expressed their eager wish to remain. A Chinese
+woman came to call at the mission home, in the absence of the
+superintendent, and, unfortunately, was allowed to get access to an
+acquaintance of these girls, and she conveyed to them a promise that
+if they would come back, in a very little while they would all be
+given their liberty. After that the girls said they wished to go, and
+for the following reasons: They could not dwell in safety among their
+Chinese people, if in debt to a brothel-keeper, for he would be always
+on their track, and if he could not capture them and they would
+not return, he would certainly secure their death at the hands of
+high-binders. The case came up in court. The girls told there all the
+details of their being recently smuggled into this country; that they
+were bought by their present owner for $3,030 each; that they were
+flogged when their earnings for their owner fell below $300 a month,
+and other similar details,--_but_ they also declared their wish to go
+back to the brothel and to their owner. To be sure, they had expressed
+elsewhere a contrary wish, and the wish to return had been begotten in
+their hearts by the threats and inducements conveyed to them by the
+woman who came to the home. The judge was one who could not be bought
+nor bribed, and who sincerely wished the good of the girls, but they
+said they chose a life of prostitution, and to that life they were
+returned.
+
+We do not pretend to understand as well as that judge the laws that
+were available, on which he rendered his decision, but this we do say:
+If California has not a law that will not permit the introduction
+of slavery into the state, even though Chinese women _consent_ to
+slavery, then it needs such a law at once. _Slavery is too formidable
+an evil for free Americans to allow its existence on the consent of
+enslaved Chinese women._ Age of consent legislation, as applied to the
+question of social vice, is one thing, and consent as applied to the
+question of slavery, quite another thing. Sir John Smale, in the
+Supreme Court of Hong Kong, quoting from Sir R. Phillimore on
+International law (vol. I, p. 316), declared that it was not possible
+for a human being legally to "become a slave _even by his own
+consent_." Had the matter of consent or non-consent of slaves been
+consulted as to negro slavery, we have no reason for believing that
+the negro would ever have had his freedom. Though prostitution is
+entangled with the conditions of servitude, under which Chinese women
+and girls groan in California, yet only about half the slaves are as
+yet prostitutes, and slavery looms up so large against the western
+sky, as compared with the mere consent or wish of a creature brought
+up from babyhood in familiarity with vice, that to consult the option
+of such an one in determining the existence or non-existence of
+_slavery_ in America, is a thing that ought not to be tolerated for a
+moment.
+
+We have shown how every Chinese girl who has escaped from her
+servitude to the city of refuge,--the mission home,--is received and
+welcomed. How the rescued and rescuer run the race for dear life, and
+the pursuers are obliged to turn back at the door. But what a state
+of things in this country which we call free! Should not the entire
+country be one great city of refuge? Do we not pretend that it is such
+to all who are oppressed? Why should not the pursuer be turned back at
+the Golden Gate, rather than at the door of an exceptional home in
+San Francisco? We are fond of saying that under the stars and stripes
+slavery cannot exist. We must make it good, or acknowledge, in dust
+and ashes of repentance, that we are hypocrites. Idle words will not
+do in place of deeds; we must make good our profession at any cost.
+Everyone of these Chinese women should be removed from the brothels,
+wherever these exist, consent or no consent, placed in houses of
+detention, instructed as to the condition of liberty of the person in
+which she _must_ live, and then, if she _prefers_ a slave's life,
+he deported to China,--a land in which slavery is permitted. Every
+Chinese man who attempts to interfere with this radical treatment of
+the situation, should be imprisoned or driven from the country. These
+"Watch-dogs," who are perfectly known to the police, both by name and
+by face, should be put behind bars and in stripes, for a long time to
+come. This is not prostitution, _merely_,--Oh, how tenderly men are
+inclined to deal with the male harlot! but for once the libertine
+has not a shadow of a shade of defense,--the patrons of _slaves_ are
+something worse than fornicators; they are guilty of as many offenses
+of criminal outrage as they are guilty of visits to the slave-pens
+stocked with Chinese girls, and they deserve a prison sentence for
+every such visit.
+
+Girls are afraid to come out of Chinese brothels until they have
+earned their freedom. This is because powerful Chinese societies have
+been formed that will either kidnap such a girl or kill her. So she
+declares in court that she consents freely to be returned to the
+brothel, and an extraordinary misconstruction of the doctrine of the
+"liberty of the person," leaves the judge with nothing to do but to
+deliver the girl over to compulsory voluntariness. Again, Chinese
+young men do not wish to marry liberated Chinese girls, but they go,
+rather, to the brothel and buy a wife; and for much the same reason.
+If a man marries the liberated slave of a brothel keeper, the
+high-binders will teach the lesson that he has stolen another man's
+property, by watching their chance and assassinating him. Why are not
+these societies broken up, root and branch? Cannot? Nonsense; the
+officers of the law have not made the attempt with any degree of
+earnestness as yet.
+
+For years, the "Protectors" at Singapore and at Hong Kong have
+summoned the slaves into their offices and informed them that they
+were free, and asked them if they freely consented to going into a
+life of shame, before putting them there? But to what purpose? Let the
+Police Magistrate, H.E. Wodehouse, reply, as he did concerning a
+case of suicide: "When registering her name she said she had no
+pocket-mother, that her parents were both dead, and that she became a
+prostitute of her own free will. The inspector said that that was the
+description of themselves that nearly all prostitutes gave, and that
+it was very rarely that it was true." Remember that, reader, when
+the columns of your morning paper inform you that all the girls of
+Chinatown have been interrogated, and that they all said they were
+there of their own free will? It is "very rarely that it is true."
+Referring to this case, which we describe on page 118, the Marquess
+of Ripon wrote to Hong Kong that the brothel-keeper who attempted to
+extort money from the young man before delivering up his captive to
+him for marriage, should have been prosecuted, and adds: "A single
+successful prosecution in a case of this kind would, in all
+probability, do more to show that the inmates of brothels are free to
+leave such places when they wish, than could ever be effected by the
+present system, under which efforts are indeed made to explain their
+positions to the inmates of brothels." This is a very clear statement
+of exactly what is needed in California. The public should refuse to
+be satisfied with visits of the police officials to the girls, to
+ascertain the girls' state of mind as to a sense of liberty, and
+demand to know the official's state of mind,--whether he is ready to
+_prove_ the freedom of the slave by hounding the slave dealers out of
+the community.
+
+There was recently a war of secret societies in Oakland's Chinatown.
+One of the "tongs" quarreled with another, and three or four Chinese
+men were shot on the streets of Oakland,--one fatally, named Lee Bock
+Dong, in his own house. Lee Bock Dong had a slave girl who saw the
+shooting, so she was taken into custody by police officers. But the
+Chinese got her out of jail by means of the usual writ of habeas
+corpus, and she was sent to Sacramento to another person, who had
+disputed her ownership with Lee Bock Dong. It seems, Lee Bock Dong had
+been holding the slave girl for a debt owed to him by her real owner
+in Sacramento, of $2,000. The Oakland _Enquirer, of_ Feb. 20th, 1907,
+informed its readers a few days after the affray as follows: "This
+girl's possession was one of the points in dispute between the two
+tongs, and it was this that was settled at yesterday's conference." It
+is interesting to note that other newspapers gave the information
+that police officials attended the conference of these tongs, to help
+settle the dispute. The report continues: "Lee Bock Dong's widow
+demands the return of the girl as security for the money, or the
+payment of the $2,000. This the Bing Gongs (one of the tongs) finally
+agreed to, and it was for them to determine the course they would
+pursue. The police say that this step is only preliminary to a
+settlement of the whole affair ... that peace will be declared, the
+complaint against the alleged murderers withdrawn, and the case
+dismissed ... it is now expected that within a few days the extra
+police force, which has been maintained in Chinatown ever since the
+night of the shooting affray, will be withdrawn and peace reign once
+more." This article is headed: "Warring Tongs Hold a Conference, and
+it is Agreed Chinese Maiden is to be Returned, or Equivalent in Cash."
+The _Enquirer_ of March 9th reported that the "Chinese tong men have
+been dismissed."
+
+"Equivalent in cash" for a Chinese maiden! Can it be possible that
+this is the United States of America, and the twentieth century! One
+actual murder, and two murderous assaults on the public streets, all
+dismissed by an understanding entered into with the police that they
+could now withdraw their extra force, since the Chinese girl had been
+passed over as security for a debt, until the "equivalent in cash"
+is paid! Have we spent hundreds of millions of dollars, and shed the
+blood of thousands of young men, and widowed and orphaned tens of
+of thousands besides, in a civil war to put down African slavery,
+introduced from the Atlantic Coast, merely to turn about and welcome
+Chinese slavery from the Pacific Coast?
+
+"Behold this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them
+snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a
+prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
+
+"Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for
+the time to come?"
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEATHEN SLAVES AND CHRISTIAN
+RULERS***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 12818-8.txt or 12818-8.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/8/1/12818
+
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
diff --git a/old/12818-8.zip b/old/12818-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14d115b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/12818-8.zip
diff --git a/old/12818.txt b/old/12818.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..770e28b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/12818.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7521 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Heathen Slaves and Christian Rulers, by
+Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew and Katharine Caroline Bushnell
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Heathen Slaves and Christian Rulers
+
+Author: Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew and Katharine Caroline Bushnell
+
+Release Date: July 5, 2004  [eBook #12818]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEATHEN SLAVES AND CHRISTIAN
+RULERS***
+
+
+E-text prepared by the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team
+
+
+
+HEATHEN SLAVES AND CHRISTIAN RULERS,
+
+BY
+
+ELIZABETH ANDREW AND KATHARINE BUSHNELL
+
+1907
+
+
+
+
+
+
+"_Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them_."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A Chinatown Slave Market and Den of Vice. (Built and
+owned by Americans.)]
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MISS MARGARET CULBERTSON MILITANT SAINT AND
+SAINTED WARRIOR
+
+WHO AT PERIL OF LIFE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT FOR THE RESCUE OF THE SLAVE
+GIRLS OF CALIFORNIA
+
+--AND TO--
+
+MISS LAKE, MISS CAMERON AND MISS DAVIS WHO BY PATHS MADE SOMEWHAT LESS
+DIFFICULT BY HER ACCOMPLISHMENT, HAVE NOT CEASED TO WAGE A HOLY WAR
+FOR THE DELIVERANCE OF THE CAPTIVES.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
+
+
+"Heathen slaves and Christian rulers." No injustice is done to
+Christians in the title given this book. The word "Christian" is
+capable of use in two senses, individual and political. We apply the
+words "Hindoo" and "Mahommedan" in these two senses also. A man who
+has been born and brought up in the environment of the Hindoo or
+Mahommedan religions, and who has not avowed some other form of faith,
+but has yielded at least an outward allegiance to these forms, we
+declare to be a man of one or the other faith. Moreover, we judge of
+his religion by the fruits of it in his moral character. Just so,
+every European or American who has not openly disavowed the Christian
+religion for some other faith is called a "Christian." Furthermore,
+such men, when they mingle with those of other religions, as in the
+Orient, call themselves "Christians," in distinction from those of
+other faith about them. They claim the word "Christian" as by right
+theirs in this political sense, and it is in this sense that we employ
+the word "Christian" in the title of this book. The word is used thus
+when reckoning the world's population according to religions.
+
+As we treat the Hindoo or Mohammedan so he treats us. Our Christianity
+is judged, and must ever be, in the Orient, by the moral character of
+the men who are called Christian; and the distinguishing vices of
+such men are regarded as characteristic of their religion. Official
+representatives of a Christian nation have gone to Hong Kong and to
+Singapore, and there, because of their social vices, elaborated a
+system, first of all of brothel slavery; and domestic slavery has
+sheltered itself under its wing, as it were; and lastly, at Singapore
+coolie labor is managed by the same set of officials. What these
+officials have done has been accepted by the Oriental people about
+them as done by the Christian civilization. It cannot be said that the
+evils mentioned above have been the outgrowth of Oriental conditions
+and customs, principally. It has been rather the misfortune of
+the Orient that there were brought to their borders by Western
+civilization elements calculated to induce their criminal classes to
+ally themselves with these aggressive and stronger "Christians" to
+destroy safeguards which had been heretofore sufficient, for the most
+part, to conserve Chinese social morality.
+
+Christian people, even as far back as Sir John Bowring, Governor
+of Hong Kong, and up to the present time, both at Hong Kong and
+Singapore, have acquiesced in the false teaching that vice cannot be
+put under check in the Orient, where, it is claimed, passion mounts
+higher than in the Occident, and that morality is, to a certain
+extent, a matter of climate; and in the presence of large numbers of
+unmarried soldiers and sailors it is simply "impracticable" to attempt
+repressive measures in dealing with social vice. These Christians
+have listened to counsels of despair,--the arguments of gross
+materialists,--and have shut their eyes to the plainly written THOU
+SHALT NOT of the finger of God in His Book.
+
+Had there been the same staunch standing true to principle in these
+Oriental countries as in Great Britain the state of immorality
+described in the pages of this book could never have developed to the
+extent it did. But Christians yielded before what they considered at
+least unavoidable, and, not abiding living protests, must take their
+share of blame for the state of matters. A higher moral public opinion
+_could_ have been created which would have made the existence of
+actual slavery an impossibility, with the amount of legislation that
+existed with which to put it down. There were a guilty silence and
+a guilty ignorance on the part of the better elements of Christian
+society at Singapore and Hong Kong, which could be played upon by
+treacherous, corrupt officials by the flimsy device of calling the
+ravishing of native women "protection," and the most brazen forms of
+slavery "servitude." To this extent the individual Christians of these
+colonies are in many cases guilty of compromise with slavery; and to
+this extent the title of this book applies to them.
+
+The vices of European and American men in the Orient have not been
+the development of climate but of opportunity. It is not so easy in
+Christian lands to stock immoral houses with slaves, for the reason
+that the slaves are not present with which to do it. Women have
+freedom and cannot be openly bought and sold even in marriage; women
+have self-reliance and self-respect in a Christian country; they have
+a clean, decent religion; women who worship the true God have His
+protecting arm to defend themselves, and through them other women
+who do not personally worship God share in the benefits. If free,
+independent women of God were as scarce in America as in Hong Kong the
+same moral conditions would prevail here, without regard to climate,
+for, _if women could be bought and sold and reduced by force to
+prostitution, there are libertines enough, and they have propensities
+strong enough to enter at once upon the business, even in America_.
+That which has elevated women above this slave condition is the
+development of a self-respect and dignity born of the Christian faith.
+But let us take warning. If the women of America have not the decent
+self-respect to refuse to tolerate the Oriental slave-prostitute in
+this country, the balance will be lost, libertines will have their own
+way through the introduction into our social fabric of their slaves,
+and Christian womanhood will fall before it. "Ye have not proclaimed
+liberty every one to his fellow, therefore I proclaim liberty to you,
+saith the Lord, to the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence."
+
+Having yielded before counsels of despair, those who should have stood
+shoulder to shoulder with statesmen like Sir John Pope Hennessy and
+Sir John Smale in their efforts to exterminate slavery, rather, by
+their indifference and ignorance, greatly added to the obstacles put
+in their way by unworthy officials.
+
+The story we have to relate cannot in any fairness be used as an
+arraignment of British Christianity excepting as we have already
+indicated as to local conditions. The record that British Christian
+philanthropists have made, under the leadership of the now sainted
+Mrs. Josephine Butler, in their world-wide influence for purity, needs
+no eulogy from our pen. It is known to the world. May Americans strive
+with equal energy against conditions far more hopeful of amendment,
+and we will be content to leave the issue with God.
+
+It was our purpose when we undertook the task of writing a sketch
+which would enable Americans to understand the social conditions that
+are being introduced into our midst from the Orient, merely to make
+a concise, brief statement of social conditions in Hong Kong out of
+which these have grown, drawing our information from State Documents
+of the British Government that we have had for some time in our
+possession, and of which we have made a close study, as well as from
+our own observations of the conditions themselves as they exist at
+Hong Kong and Singapore. But almost at once we abandoned that attempt
+as unwise because likely to prove injurious rather than helpful to the
+object we have in view. The facts that we have to relate form one of
+the blackest chapters in the history of human slavery, and slavery
+brought up to the present time. Our statements if standing merely on
+our own word would be met at once with incredulity and challenged, and
+before we could defend them by producing the proof, a prejudice would
+be created that might prove disastrous to our hopes of arousing our
+country to the point of exterminating this horrible Oriental brothel
+slavery by means of which even American men are enriching themselves
+on the Pacific Coast.
+
+Therefore we have felt obliged to produce our proof at once and at
+first, and after that, if needed, we can write a more simple, concise
+account, in less official and less cumbersome form, more suitable for
+the general public to read,--not that the case could be stated in
+purer or cleaner language than that used in the quotations from
+official statements and letters, but the language might be more suited
+to public taste. But worth cannot be sacrificed to taste, and, as we
+have said, we feel compelled to publish the matter in its present form
+first of all.
+
+We send it forth, therefore, with the earnest prayer that, while
+the book itself may have a limited circulation, yet, through the
+providence of God, it may arouse some one to attempt that which seems
+beyond our powers and opportunity,--some one who will feel the call of
+God; who has the training and the ability; some one who has the spirit
+of devotion and self-denial; some one of keen moral perceptions and
+lofty faith in the ultimate triumph of justice, who will lead a
+crusade that will never halt until Oriental slavery is banished from
+our land, and it can no more be said, "The name of God is blasphemed
+among the heathen because of you."
+
+The documents from which we have quoted so extensively in this book
+are the following:
+
+"_Correspondence Relating to the Working of the Contagious Diseases
+Ordinances of the Colony of Hongkong_." August 1881. C.-3093.
+
+"_Copy of Report of the Commissioners Appointed by His Excellency,
+John Pope Hennessy ... to inquire Into the Working of the Contagious
+Diseases Ordinance, 1867_." March 11, 1880. H.C. 118.
+
+"_Correspondence Respecting the Alleged Existence of Chinese Slavery
+in Hongkong_." March, 1882. C.-3185.
+
+"_Return of all the British Colonies and Dependencies in Which by
+Ordinance or Otherwise Any System Involving the Principles of the Late
+Contagious Diseases Acts, 1866 and 1869, is in force, with Copies of
+Such Ordinances or Other Regulations_." June, 1886. H.C. 247.
+
+"_Copies of Correspondence or Extracts Therefrom Relating to the
+Repeal of Contagious Diseases Ordinances and Regulations in the Crown
+Colonies_." September, 1887. H.C. 347
+
+Same as above, in continuation, March, 1889. H.C. 59.
+
+Same as above, in continuation, June, 1890. H.C. 242.
+
+"_Copy of Correspondence which has taken place since that comprised
+in the Paper presented to the House of Commons in 1890_ (H.C. 242),"
+etc., June 4, 1894. H. C. 147.
+
+"_Copy of Correspondence Relative to Proposed Introduction of
+Contagious Diseases Regulations in Perak or Other Protected Malay
+States_." June 4, 1894. H.C. 146.
+
+May 1907
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Frontispiece
+
+Dedication
+
+Preface
+
+CHAPTER
+
+
+ 1 THE EARLY DAYS OF HONG KONG
+ 2 TREACHEROUS LEGISLATION
+ 3 HOW THE PROTECTOR PROTECTED
+ 4 MORE POWER DEMANDED AND OBTAINED
+ 5 HOUNDED TO DEATH
+ 6 THE PROTECTOR'S COURT AND SLAVERY
+ 7 OTHER DERELICT OFFICIALS
+ 8 JUSTICE FROM THE SUPREME BENCH
+ 9 THE CHINESE PETITION AND PROTEST
+10 NOT FALLEN--BUT ENSLAVED
+11 THE MAN FOR THE OCCASION
+12 THE CHIEF JUSTICE ANSWERS HIS OPPONENTS
+13 THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY
+14 NEW PROTECTIVE ORDINANCES
+15 "PROTECTION" AT SINGAPORE
+16 SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES
+17 STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM
+18 PERILS AND REMEDIES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 1.
+
+THE EARLY DAYS OF HONG KONG.
+
+
+Time was when so-called Christian civilization seemed able to send its
+vices abroad and keep its virtues at home. When men went by long
+sea voyages to the far East in sailing vessels, in the interests of
+conquest or commerce, and fell victims to their environments and weak
+wills, far removed from the restraints of religious influences, and
+from the possibility of exposure and disgrace in wrongdoing, they
+lived with the prospect before them, not always unfulfilled, of
+returning to home and to virtue to die.
+
+That day has passed forever. With the invention of steam as a
+locomotive power of great velocity, with the introduction of the
+cable, and later, the wireless telegraphy; with the mastery of these
+natural forces and their introduction in every part of the world, we
+see the old world being drawn nearer and nearer to us by ten thousand
+invisible cords of commercial interests, until shortly, probably
+within the lifetime of you and me, the once worn out and almost
+stranded wreck will be found quickened with new life and moored
+alongside us. The Orient is already feeling the thrill of renewed
+life. It is responding to the touch of the youth and vigor of the
+West and becoming rejuvenated; it is drawing closer and closer in its
+eagerness for the warmth of new interests. The West is no longer alone
+in seeking a union; the East is coming to the West. And that part of
+the East which first responds to the West is the old acquaintance; the
+one that knows most about us, our ways and our resources; the element
+with which the long sea-voyager mingled in the days when it seemed
+more difficult for man to be virtuous, because separated so far from
+family and friends and living in intense loneliness. The element which
+now draws closest to us is that portion of the Orient with which the
+adventurer warred and sinned long ago, and which bears the deep scars
+of sin and battle.
+
+As the old hulk is moored alongside, in order that the man of Western
+enterprise may cross with greater facility the gangplank and develop
+latent resources on the other side, the Easterner hurries across from
+his side to ours with no less eagerness, to pick up gold in a land
+where it seems so abundant to him. Almost unnoticed, the Orient is
+telescoping its way into the very heart of the Occident, and with
+fearful portent and peril, particularly to the Western woman.
+
+This is not what is desired, but it will be inevitable. Exclusion
+laws must finally give way before the pressure. Already the Orient is
+knocking vigorously at the door of the Occident, and unless admission
+is granted soon, measures of retaliation will be operated to force an
+entrance. How to administer them the Orient already knows, for has
+not the door to his domicile been already forced open by the Western
+trader? The Orient is fast arming for the conflict.
+
+The men of the days of sailing vessels, who went to the far East and
+made sport of and trampled upon the virtue of the women of a weaker
+nation, have not all died in peace, leaving their vices far off
+and gathering virtues about them to crown their old age with
+venerableness. Some have lived to see that whatsoever man soweth that
+shall he also reap. They have lived to see the tide setting in in the
+other direction, and the human wreckage of past vices swept by the
+current of immigration close to their own domicile. Their own children
+are in danger of being engulfed in the polluting flood of Oriental
+life in our midst. After many days vices come home. Man sowed the
+wind; the whirlwind must be reaped. The Oriental slave trader and the
+Oriental slave promise to become a terrible menace and scourge to our
+twentieth century civilization. Herein lies great peril to American
+womanhood. Whether we wish it to be so or not,--whether we perceive
+from the first that it is so or not, there is a solidarity of
+womanhood that men and women must reckon with. The man who wrongs
+another's daughter perceives afterwards that he wronged his own
+daughter thereby. We cannot, without sin against humanity, ask the
+scoffer's question, "Am I my sister's keeper?"--not even concerning
+the poorest and meanest foreign woman, for the reason that _she is
+our sister_. The conditions that surround the Hong Kong slave girl in
+California are bound in time to have their influence upon the social,
+legal and moral status of all California women, and later of all
+American womanhood.
+
+In considering the life history of the Chinese woman living in our
+Chinatowns in America, therefore, we are studying matters of vital
+importance to us. And in order to a clear understanding of the matter,
+we must go back to the beginning of the slave-trade which has brought
+these women to the West.
+
+Four points on the south coast of China are of especial interest to
+us, being the sources of supply of this slave-trade. These are Macao,
+Canton, Kowloon and Hong Kong, and the women coming to the West from
+this region all pass through Hong Kong, remaining there a longer or
+shorter time, the latter place being the emporium and thoroughfare of
+all the surrounding ports.
+
+The south coast of China is split by a Y-shaped gap, at about its
+middle, where the Canton river bursts the confines of its banks and
+plunges into the sea. The lips of this mouth of the river are everted
+like those of an aboriginal African, and like a pendant from the
+eastern lip hangs the Island of Hong Kong, separated from the mainland
+by water only one-fourth of a mile wide. From the opposite or western
+lip hangs another pendant, a small island upon which is situated the
+Portuguese city of Macao. The mainland adjoining Hong Kong is the
+peninsula of Kowloon, ceded to the British with the island of Hong
+Kong. Well up in the mouth of the river on its western bank, some
+eighty miles from Hong Kong, is the city of Canton.
+
+Let us imagine for a moment that the on-coming civilization of our
+country pushed the American Indians not westward but southward toward
+the Gulf of Mexico and along the banks of the Mississippi, and
+compressed them on every side until at last they were obliged to take
+to boats in the mouth of the Mississippi and live there perpetually,
+seldom stepping foot on land.
+
+Now we are the better able to understand exactly what took place with
+an aboriginal tribe in China. These aborigines were, centuries ago,
+pushed southward by an on-coming civilization until at last, by
+imperial decree, they were forbidden to live anywhere except on boats
+in the mouth of the Canton river, floating up and down that stream,
+and sailing about Hong Kong and Macao in the more open sea.
+
+They must have been always a hardy people, for the river population
+about Canton numbers today nearly 200,000 souls. In 1730, the severity
+of the laws regulating their lives was relaxed somewhat by imperial
+decree, and since then some of them have dwelt in villages along the
+river bank. But to the present day these people, known as the Tanka
+Tribe, or the "saltwater" people, by the natives, may not inter-marry
+with other Chinese, nor are they ever allowed to attain to official
+honors.
+
+Living always on boats near the river's mouth, these were the first
+Chinese to come in contact with foreign sailing vessels which
+approached China in the earliest days. They sold their wares to the
+foreigners; they piloted their boats into port; they did the laundry
+work for the ships. In many ways they showed friendliness to the
+foreigners while as yet the landsman viewed the new-comers with
+suspicion. Their women were grossly corrupted by contact with the
+foreign voyagers and sailors.
+
+Hong Kong was a long way off at the beginning of the nineteenth
+century, when Great Britain began to send Government-manufactured
+opium from India to China, and when China prohibited the trade the
+drug was smuggled in. When Chinese officials at last rose up to check
+this invasion by foreign trade, wars followed in which China was
+worsted, and the island of Hong Kong, together with the Kowloon
+peninsula, became a British possession as war indemnity. Hong Kong
+is a "mere dot in the ocean less than twenty-seven miles in
+circumference," and when Great Britain took possession its inhabitants
+were limited to "a few fishermen and cottagers."
+
+The Tankas helped the British in many ways in waging these wars, and
+when peace was established went to live with them on the island. This
+action on the part of these "river people" is significant as showing
+as much or more attachment to the foreigner than to the other classes
+of Chinese. There seems always to be less conscience in wronging
+an alien people than in injuring a people to whom one is closely
+attached, and this sense of estrangement from other Chinese may
+account to some extent for the facility with which this aboriginal
+people engaged, a little later, in the trade in women and girls
+brought from the mainland to meet the demands of profligate
+foreigners.
+
+Sir Charles Elliott, Governor of Hong Kong, wishing to attract Chinese
+immigration to the island, issued, on February 1st and 2nd, 1841, two
+proclamations in the name of the Queen, to the effect that there would
+be no interference with the free exercise on the part of the Chinese
+of their religious rites, ceremonies and social customs, "pending Her
+Majesty's pleasure."
+
+Following the custom of all Oriental people, to whom marriage is a
+trade in the persons of women, when the Tankas saw that the foreigners
+had come to that distant part almost universally without wife or
+family, they offered to sell them women and girls, and the British
+seem to have purchased them at first, but afterwards they modified the
+practice to merely paying a monthly stipend. All slavery throughout
+British possessions had been prohibited only a few years before the
+settlement of Hong Kong, in 1833, when 20,000,000 pounds had been
+distributed by England as a boon to slave-holders.
+
+Hong Kong's first Legislative Council was held in 1844, and its first
+ordinance was an anti-slavery measure in the form of an attempt to
+define the law relating to slavery. It was a long process in those
+days for the Colony to get the Queen's approval of its legislative
+measures, so that a year had elapsed before a dispatch was returned
+from the Home Government disallowing the Ordinance as superfluous,
+slavery being already forbidden, and slave-dealing indictable by law.
+On the same day, January 24th, 1845, the following proclamation was
+made: "Whereas, the Acts of the British Parliament for the abolition
+of the slave trade, and for the abolition of slavery, extend by their
+own proper force and authority to Hong Kong: This is to apprise all
+persons of the same, and to give notice that these Acts will be
+enforced by all Her Majesty's officers, civil and military, within
+this Colony."
+
+The "foreigners," by which name, according to a custom which prevails
+to this day in the East, we shall call persons of British, European or
+American birth,--called a native mistress a "protected woman," and her
+"protector" set her up in an establishment by herself, apart from
+his abode, and here children were born to the foreigner, some to be
+educated in missionary schools and elsewhere by their illegitimate
+fathers and afterwards become useful men and women, but probably the
+majority, more neglected, to become useless and profligate,--if girls,
+mistresses to foreigners, or, as the large number of half-castes in
+the immoral houses at Hong Kong at the present time demonstrates, to
+fall to the lowest depths of degradation.
+
+These "protected women," enriched beyond anything they had even known
+before the foreigner came to that part of the world, with the usual
+thrift of the Chinese temperament, sought for a way to invest their
+earnings, and quite naturally, could think of nothing so profitable
+as securing women and girls to meet the demands of the foreigners.
+Marriage having always been, to the Oriental mind, scarcely anything
+beyond the mere trade in the persons of women, it was but a step from
+that attitude of mind to the selling of girls to the foreigner, and
+the rearing of them for that object. The "protected women," being of
+the Tanka tribe, were well situated for this purpose, for they had
+many relations of kindred and friendship all up and down the Canton
+river, and the business of the preparation of slave girls for the
+foreigners and for foreign markets (as the trade expanded) gradually
+extended backwards up the Canton river, until many of its boats were
+almost given over to it. "Flower-boats" were probably never unknown to
+this river, but, besides their use as brothels, they became stocked
+with little girls under training for vice, under the incitement of an
+ever-growing slave trade. These little girls were bought, stolen or
+enticed from the mainland by these river people, to swell the number
+of their own children destined to the infamous slave trade. Chinese
+law forbids this kind of slavery, but, as we have seen, the Tanka
+people were sort of outlaws, the river life facilitated such a
+business, and Hong Kong was near at hand.
+
+In later years Dr. Eitel, Chinese interpreter to the Governor, stated:
+
+"Almost every so-called 'protected woman,' i.e. kept mistress of
+foreigners here, belongs to the Tanka tribe, looked down upon and kept
+at a distance by all the other Chinese classes. It is among these
+Tanka women, and especially under the protection of these 'protected'
+Tanka women, that private prostitution and the sale of girls for
+concubinage flourishes, being looked upon as a legitimate profession.
+Consequently, almost every 'protected woman' keeps a nursery of
+purchased children or a few servant girls who are being reared with
+a view to their eventual disposal, according to their personal
+qualifications, either among foreigners here as kept women, or among
+Chinese residents as their concubines, or to be sold for export to
+Singapore, San Francisco, or Australia. Those 'protected women,'
+moreover, generally act as 'protectors' each to a few other Tanka
+women who live by sly prostitution."
+
+When once a man enters the service of Satan he is generally pressed
+along into it to lengths he did not at first intend to go. So it
+proved in the case of many foreigners at Hong Kong. The foreigner
+extended his "protection" to a native mistress. That "protected woman"
+extended his name as "protector" over the inmates of her secret
+brothel; and into that house protected largely from official
+interference, purchased and kidnaped girls were introduced and reared
+for the trade in women. The sensitive point seems to have been that
+an enforcement of the anti-slavery laws would have interfered in many
+instances with the illicit relations of the foreigner, exposing him
+to ignominy and sending the mother of his children to prison. It was
+sufficient for the "protected" woman to say, when the officer of the
+law rapped at her door, "This is not a brothel, but the private
+family residence of Mr. So-and-So," naming some foreigner,--perhaps
+a high-placed official,--and the officer's search would proceed no
+further.
+
+It was claimed that this slavery, and also domestic slavery, which
+sprang up so suddenly after the settlement of Hong Kong by the
+British, was the outgrowth of Chinese customs, and could not be
+suppressed but with the greatest difficulty, and their suppression
+was an unwarrantable interference with Chinese customs, Sir Charles
+Elliott having given promise from the first that such customs should
+not be interfered with. But, as we have shown, that promise was only
+made, "pending Her Majesty's pleasure," which had been very plainly
+and pointedly expressed later as opposed to slavery.
+
+As to the matter of "custom," Sir John Smale, Chief Justice of
+Hong Kong, said, in 1879, in the Supreme Court, on the occasion of
+sentencing prisoners for slave trading and kidnaping:
+
+    "Can Chinese slavery, as it _de facto_ exists in Hong Kong, be
+    considered a Chinese custom which can be brought within the intent
+    and meaning of either of the proclamations of 1841 so as to be
+    sanctioned by the proclamations? I assert that it cannot.... A
+    custom is 'such a usage as by common consent and uniform practice
+    has become a law.' In 1841 there could have been no custom of
+    slavery in Hong Kong as now set up, for, save a few fishermen and
+    cottagers, the island was uninhabited; and between 1841 and 1844,
+    the date of the Ordinance expressly prohibiting slavery, there was
+    no time for such a custom to have grown up; and slavery in
+    every form having been by express law prohibited by the Royal
+    proclamation of the Queen in 1845, no custom contrary to that law
+    could, after that date, grow up, because the thing was by express
+    law illegal. I go further, and I find that the penal law of China,
+    whilst it facilitates the adoption of children into a family to
+    keep up its succession, prohibits by section 78 the receiving into
+    his house by any one of a person of a different surname, declaring
+    him guilty of 'confounding family distinctions,' and punishing him
+    with 60 blows; the father of the son who shall 'give away' ... his
+    son is to be subject to the same punishment. Again, section 79
+    enacts that whosoever shall receive and detain the strayed or lost
+    child of a respectable person, and, instead of taking it before
+    the magistrate, sell such child as a slave, shall be punished by
+    100 blows and three years' banishment. Whosoever shall sell such
+    child for marriage or adoption into any family as son or grandson
+    shall be punished with 90 blows and banishment for two years and
+    a half. Whosoever shall dispose of a strayed or lost slave shall
+    suffer the punishment provided by the law reduced one degree. If
+    any person shall receive or detain a fugitive child, and, instead
+    of taking it before the magistrate, sell such child for a slave,
+    he shall be punished by 90 blows and banishment for two years and
+    a half. Whosoever shall sell any such fugitive child for marriage
+    or adoption shall suffer the punishment of 80 blows and two years'
+    banishment.... Whosoever shall detain for his own use as a slave,
+    wife, or child, any such lost, strayed or fugitive child or slave,
+    shall be equally liable to be punished as above mentioned, but if
+    only guilty of detaining the same for a short time the punishment
+    shall not exceed 80 blows. When the purchaser or the negotiator of
+    the purchase shall be aware of the unlawfulness of the transaction
+    he shall suffer punishment one degree less than that inflicted on
+    the seller, and the amount of the pecuniary consideration shall
+    he forfeited to Government, but when he or they are foun
+    have been unacquainted therewith they shall not be liable to
+    punishment, and the money shall be restored to the party from whom
+    it had been received." The Chief Justice continues: "After reading
+    these extracts from the Penal Code of China--an old Code revised
+    from time to time ... I cannot see how it can be maintained that
+    any form of slavery was ever tolerated by law in Hong Kong, as it
+    _de facto_ exists here, or how the words of the two proclamations
+    of 1841 could be said to bear the color of tolerating slavery
+    under the British flag in Hong Kong. It is clear to me that the
+    Queen's proclamation of 1845, which I have already quoted at full,
+    declares slavery absolutely illegal here."
+
+The truth, then, seems to be that a great demand had arisen for
+Chinese women at Hong Kong, the most direct cause being the irregular
+conduct of foreigners--officials, private individuals, soldiers and
+sailors--who gathered there at the time of the opium wars, and settled
+there in large numbers when Hong Kong became a British possession.
+This demand was responded to from the native side, for it was said:
+"When the colony of Hong Kong was first established in 1842, it
+was forthwith invaded by brothel keepers and prostitutes from the
+adjoining districts of the mainland of China, who brought with them
+the national Chinese system of prostitution, and have ever since
+labored to carry it into effect in all its details."[A] The demand
+that brought this supply was further added to from two sources, first,
+Chinese residents attracted to Hong Kong had made money there rapidly,
+and had fallen into profligate and luxurious manners of life,
+and second, Chinese going abroad to Australia, Singapore and San
+Francisco, created a demand for immoral women in these foreign lands
+which called for supplies from Hong Kong, and at Singapore the demand
+came also from the class of foreigners who resided there.
+
+[Footnote A: Hong Kong was occupied by the British in 1841, but not
+ceded until 1842.]
+
+The system of management of prostitution was originally Chinese, and
+differs much from anything known under Western civilization, in that
+the women are never what we speak of as "fallen women," because not
+the victims of seduction nor of base propensities that have led to the
+choice of such a life. They are either slaves trained for or sold into
+shame, or women temporarily held for debt by a sort of mortgage. To
+this Chinese system of prostitution, however, there was soon applied
+at Hong Kong a Government system of regulation or license under
+surveillance. This modified the system, intensified the slavery, and
+was the cause of reducing many women from the respectable ranks
+of Chinese life at once and arbitrarily to the lowest depths of
+degradation, as we shall explain and demonstrate in subsequent
+chapters.
+
+The native woman, rented for a monthly stipend from her owners was
+called "protected" at Hong Kong. What charm this word "protection,"
+and the title "Protector" has held for certain persons, as applied
+to the male sex! "Man, the natural protector of woman." Forsooth, to
+protect her from what? Rattlesnakes, buffalo, lions, wildcats no more
+overrun the country, and why is this relation of "protector" still
+claimed? Why, to protect woman from rudeness, and insult and sometimes
+even worse. But from whence comes that danger of rudeness and insult
+or worse from which man is to protect woman? From man, of course.
+Man is, then, woman's natural protector to protect her from man, her
+natural protector. He is to set himself the task of defending her
+from his injury of her, and he is charmed with the avocation. He will
+protect her as Abraham protected Sarah when he took her into Egypt.
+"Do so-and-so," said Abraham to Sarah, "that it may be well with
+me,--for thy sake." The history of the Chinese slave woman as she came
+in contact with the foreigner at Hong Kong and at Singapore proceeds
+all along a pathway labelled "protection," down to the last ditch of
+human degradation. "Well with me," was the motive in the mind of the
+"protector." "For thy sake," the argument for the thing as put before
+the woman and before the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 2.
+
+TREACHEROUS LEGISLATION.
+
+
+In 1849 a man whose name is known the world over as a writer of
+Christian hymns, went to Canton as British Consul and Superintendent
+of trade. After a few years he returned to England, and in 1854 was
+knighted and sent out to govern the new colony of Hong Kong. It is he
+who wrote that beautiful hymn, among others, "Watchman, tell us of
+the night." He also wrote, "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." One is
+tempted to ask, in which Cross?--the kind made of gilded tin which
+holds itself aloft in pride on the top of the church steeple, or
+the Cross proclaimed in the challenge of the great Cross-bearer,
+"Whosoever doth not bear his Cross, and come after Me, cannot be my
+disciple"? The Cross is the emblem of self-sacrifice for the salvation
+of the world. Oh, that men really gloried in such self-sacrifice, and
+held it forth as the worthiest principle of life! Did Sir John Bowring
+hold aloft such a Cross as this, and, with his Master, recommend it
+to the world as the means of its elevation and emancipation from the
+blight of sin? We shall not judge him individually. His example should
+be a warning to the fact that even the most religious men can too
+often hold very different views of life according to whether they are
+embodied in religious sentiments or in one's politics. But nowhere are
+right moral conceptions more needed (not in hymn-book nor in church),
+as in the enactments by which one's fellow-beings are governed. Other
+religious men not so conspicuous as Sir John Bowring, but of more
+enlightened days than his, have died and left on earth a testimony to
+strangely divergent views and principles, according to whether they
+were crystallized in religious sentiments, or in the laws of the land,
+and according to whether they legislated for men or for women.
+
+On May 2nd, 1856, Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong, wrote to
+the Secretary of State for the Colonies at London submitting a draft
+of an Ordinance which was desired at Hong Kong because of certain
+conditions prevailing at Hong Kong which were described in the
+enclosures in his despatch. Mr. Labouchere, the Secretary of State for
+the Colonies at the time, replied to the Governor's representations
+in the following language: "The Colonial Government has not, I think,
+attached sufficient weight to the very grave fact that in a British
+Colony large numbers of women should be held in practical slavery for
+the purposes of prostitution, and allowed in some cases to perish
+miserably of disease in the prosecution of their employment, and for
+the gain of those to whom they suppose themselves to belong. A class
+of persons who by no choice of their own are subjected to such
+treatment have an urgent claim on the active protection of
+Government."
+
+Hong Kong, the British colony, had existed but fourteen years when
+this was written. Only a handful of fishermen and cottagers were on
+the island before the British occupation. Its Chinese population had
+come from a country where, as we have seen, laws against the buying
+and selling, detaining and kidnaping human beings were not unfamiliar.
+Only eleven years had elapsed since the Queen's proclamation against
+slavery in that colony had been published to its inhabitants, and yet,
+during that time, slavery had so advanced at Hong Kong, against
+both Chinese and British law, as to receive this recognition and
+acknowledgment on the part of the Secretary of State at London:
+
+    1st, That it is a "grave fact that" at Hong Kong "large numbers of
+    women" are "held in practical slavery."
+
+    2nd, That this slavery is "for the gain of those to whom they
+    suppose themselves to belong."
+
+    3rd, That it is so cruel that "in some cases" they "perish
+    miserably ... in the prosecution of their employment."
+
+    4th, That it is "by no choice of their own" that they prosecute
+    their employment, and "are subjected to such treatment."
+
+    5th, That they have "an urgent claim upon the active protection of
+    Government."
+
+    6th, That the service to which these slaves are doomed, through
+    "no choice of their own," is the most degraded to which a slave
+    could possibly be reduced, i.e., "prostitution."
+
+When Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin," she sounded
+the note of doom for slavery in the United States. After that, slavery
+became intolerable. Many have remarked on the fact that the book
+should have so stirred the conscience of the Christian world, when
+there are depicted in it so many even engaging features and admirable
+persons, woven into the story of wrong. Her pen did not seem to make
+slavery appear always and altogether black. But there was the fate of
+"Uncle Tom," and the picture of "Cassie," captive of "Legree." It was
+not what slavery always was, but _what it might be_--the terrible
+possibilities, that aroused the conscience of Christendom, and made
+the perpetuation of African slavery an impossibility to Americans.
+The master _might_ choose to use his power over the slave for the
+indulgence of his own basest propensities.
+
+Almost at the same time of these stirring events connected with
+slavery in the United States, Mr. Labouchere penned the above words,
+admitting that slavery at Hong Kong had descended to that lowest
+level. Infamy instead of industry was the lot of these, engaged in the
+"prosecution of their employment," through "no choice of their own."
+
+Can we anticipate what legal measures would be asked for at Hong Kong,
+and granted in London in order to relieve this horrible condition.
+It seems at once obvious that the following would be some of them at
+least:
+
+    1st, A clear announcement that this slavery was prohibited by
+    the Queen's Anti-Slavery Proclamation of 1845, and would not be
+    permitted.
+
+    2nd, Women who "supposed themselves to belong" to masters would be
+    at once told that they were free agents and belonged to no one.
+
+    3rd, The master who dared claim the ownership of a former slave
+    would be prosecuted and suitably punished.
+
+    4th, Any slave perishing miserably from disease would not only be
+    healed at public expense, but placed where there was no further
+    risk of contagion.
+
+    5th, Since such slaves had "an urgent claim on the _active_
+    protection of the Government," they would be treated as wards of
+    the State until safe from like treatment a second time.
+
+    6th, Since this slavery had sprung up in defiance of law, any
+    official who at a future time connived at such crime would be
+    liable to impeachment.
+
+The Ordinance sent home for sanction, and approved of by Mr.
+Labouchere as needed for the "protection" of slave women, was
+proclaimed as Ordinance 12, 1857, after some slight modifications, and
+an official appointed a few months before, called the "Protector of
+Chinese," was charged with the task of its enforcement. This official
+is also called the Registrar General at Hong Kong, but the former name
+was given him at the first, and the official at Singapore charged
+with the same duties is always, to this day, called the "Protector of
+Chinese."
+
+The new Ordinance embodied the following features:
+
+    1st, The registration of immoral houses.
+
+    2nd, Their confinement to certain localities.
+
+    3rd, The payment of registration fees to the Government.
+
+    4th, A periodical, compulsory, indecent examination of every woman
+    slave.
+
+    5th, The imprisonment of the slave in the Lock Hospital until
+    cured, and then a return to her master and the exact conditions
+    under which she was "from no choice of her own," exposed to
+    contagion, with the expectation that she would be shortly returned
+    again infected.
+
+    6th, The punishment by imprisonment of the slave when any man was
+    found infected from consorting with her, through "no choice of her
+    own."
+
+    7th, The punishment by fine and imprisonment of all persons
+    keeping slaves in an _un_registered house (which was not a source
+    of profit to the Government).
+
+This was the only sort of "active protection" that the Government
+of Hong Kong at that time provided to the slave. The matter of
+"protection" which concerned the "Protector of Chinese," related to
+keeping the women from becoming incapacitated in the prosecution of
+their employment, and to seeing that the hopelessly diseased were
+eliminated from the herd of slaves. The rest of the "protection"
+looked to the physical well-being of another portion of the
+community--the fornicators. If physical harm came to them from wilful
+sin, the Chinese women would be punished by imprisonment for it,
+though their sin was forced upon them. This was "protection" from the
+official standpoint.
+
+Mr. Labouchere had replied with his approval of this Ordinance dealing
+with contagious diseases due to vice, as though the application for
+the measure had been made in behalf of the slaves of Hong Kong. Such
+was not the case. The enclosures in Sir John Bowring's despatch had
+been a sensational description of the urgent need of vicious men for
+the active protection of the Government from the consequences of
+their vices. Later, a Commission of Inquiry into the working of this
+Ordinance comments upon official statements as to the satisfactory
+consequences of the enactment of the measure in the checking of
+disease. The Commission demonstrates that in many instances their
+statements were absolute falsehoods, as proved by statements made by
+the same officials elsewhere. Since these officials are proved to have
+been so untruthful after the passing of the Ordinance, we can put no
+reliance on their statements previous to its enactments, and the
+more so because the statistics for Hong Kong in its early days are
+hopelessly confused with the general statistics for all China,
+wherever British soldiers or sailors were to be found. Therefore they
+are unavailable for citation. But as to statements made after the
+passage of the Ordinance, we append a compilation, as set forth by Dr.
+Birkbeck Nevins of Liverpool, England.
+
+    SHAMELESS AND YET OFFICIALLY-SANCTIONED FALSEHOOD IN PUBLISHING
+    OFFICIALLY UTTERLY UNTRUE STATISTICS IN FAVOUR OF THE C.D. ACTS IN
+    THE BRITISH COLONY OF HONG KONG WITH THE SANCTION AND AUTHORITY OF
+    THE COLONIAL GOVERNOR.
+
+    "Referring to the Colonial Surgeon's Department, we feel bound
+    to point out that those portions of the _Annual Medical Reports_
+    which refer to the subject of the Lock Hospital _have, in too many
+    instances, been altogether misleading_." (Report of Commission, p.
+    2, parag. 2.)
+
+    "In 1862 (five years after the Act had been in force) Dr. Murray
+    was '_completely satisfied_ with the _incalculable_ benefit that
+    had resulted to the colony from the Ordinance of 1857'"[A]
+
+    [Footnote A: An extreme form of C.D. Acts, without parallel in any
+    other place under British rule.]
+
+    "In 1865 (after eight years' experience) he wrote, 'the _good_ the
+    Ordinance does _is undoubted_; but the good it might do, were all
+    the unlicensed brothels suppressed, was incalculable.'"
+
+    "In 1867 (after ten years' experience) the _public_ was informed
+    that the Ordinance had been 'on trial for nearly ten years, and
+    _had done singular service_.'"
+
+    _Yet in this very same year_--1867, April 19th--"Dr. Murray stated
+    in an _Official Report not intended for publication_, but found
+    by the Commission among other Government papers, and
+    published,--'That venereal disease has been _on the increase_,
+    in spite of all that has been done to check it, _is no new
+    discovery_; it has already been brought before the notice of His
+    Excellency.'" (Report, p. 35, pars. 4 and 5.)
+
+    What is to be thought of the character of such reports for the
+    _Public_, and such an _Official Report_, "not _intended_ to be
+    _published_"?
+
+    This same Dr. Murray's Annual Report for the _Public_ for
+    1867, was _actually put in evidence before the House of Lords'
+    Committee_ on venereal diseases--1868, page 135. "Venereal disease
+    here has now become of _comparatively rare occurrence_." Yet the
+    _Army_ Report for the previous year (1866, page 115) states that
+    "the admissions to hospital for venereal disease were 281 per 1000
+    men;" i.e., more than one man in four of the whole soldiery had
+    been in hospital for this "comparatively rare" disease.
+
+    As regards the Navy, Dr. Murray says, "the evidence of Dr.
+    Bernard, the Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets, is
+    even more satisfactory. He writes (Jan. 27), 'I am enabled to say
+    that true syphilis is now rarely contracted by our men in Hong
+    Kong.'" Yet the "China station," in which Hong Kong occupies so
+    important a position, had at the time 25 per cent. more _secondary
+    (true) syphilis than any other naval station in the world, except
+    one (the S.E. American_); it had 101 of _primary (true) against
+    68 in the North American_, 31 in the S.E. American, and 22 in the
+    Australian stations (_all unprotected_); and _gonorrhoea_ was
+    _higher than in any other naval station in the world_. This
+    _official_ misleading feature is to be found in other quarters
+    than Dr. Murray's Reports; for in the _Navy_ Report for 1873
+    (p. 282), Staff Surgeon Bennett, medical officer of the ship
+    permanently stationed in Hong Kong, says--"Owing to the excellent
+    working of the Contagious Diseases Acts, venereal complaints in
+    the colony are reduced _to a minimum_. The _few cases_ of syphilis
+    are chiefly due to private prostitutes not known to the police."
+
+In a representation made to the Secretary of State by W.H. Sloggett,
+Inspector of Certified Hospitals, October 7, 1879, we get an exact
+account of what led to the passage of the Contagious Diseases
+Ordinance of 1857. He says: "In 1857, owing to the very strong
+representations which had been made to the Governor during the
+previous three years, by different naval officers in command of the
+China Station, of the prevalence and severity of venereal disease at
+Hong Kong, a Colonial Ordinance for checking these diseases was passed
+in November of that year."
+
+When Lord Kimberley was Secretary of State he wrote (on September 29,
+1880) Governor Hennessy of Hong Kong in defence of the Ordinance of
+1857,--at least as to the motive expressed by Mr. Labouchere for
+consenting to the passing of the Ordinance: "These humane intentions
+of Mr. Labouchere have been frustrated by various causes, among which
+must be included that the police have from the first been allowed to
+look upon this branch of their work as beneath their dignity,
+while the sanitary regulation of the brothels appears from recent
+correspondence to have been almost entirely disregarded." To this
+Governor Hennessy replied: "On the general question of the Government
+system of licensing brothels, your Lordship seems to think that I have
+not sufficiently recognized that the establishment of the system was
+a police measure, intended to give the Hong Kong Government some hold
+upon the brothels, in hope of improving the condition of the inmates,
+and of checking the odious species of slavery to which they are
+subjected. I can, however, assure your Lordship, whatever good
+intentions may have been entertained and expressed by Her Majesty's
+Government when the licensing system was established, that it has been
+worked for a different purpose." ... "The real purpose of the brothel
+legislation here has been, in the odious words so often used, the
+provision of clean Chinese women for the use of the British soldiers
+and sailors of the Royal Navy in this Colony."
+
+The real object of the Ordinance, commended by the Secretary of State
+as answering to "an urgent claim" on the part of slaves "upon the
+active protection of the Government," the operation of which was
+placed in the hands of the so-called Protector of Chinese, was plainly
+described in the preamble of the Ordinance as making "provisions for
+checking the spread of venereal diseases within this Colony." No other
+object was stated.
+
+The intention of the Government was that the Ordinance should be
+worked by the aid of the whole police force; but as early as 1860 we
+find the Protector, or Registrar General, D.R. Caldwell, reporting
+to the Colonial Secretary that "upon the first promulgation of the
+Ordinance, the Superintendent of Police manifested an indisposition
+to interfere in the working of the Ordinance, from a belief that it
+opened a door to corruption to the members of the force under him."
+Later, Mr. May, the superintendent of police alluded to, said before
+the Commission of Inquiry: "That he would not have permitted the
+police to have anything to do with the control or supervision of
+brothels under the Ordinance, being apart from the general objects
+of police duties, and from the great probability of its leading to
+corruption." Let this be told to Mr. May's lasting credit. Whereupon,
+on the Registrar General's application, the office of Inspector of
+Brothels was created.
+
+We have referred several times to a certain Commission which was
+appointed to inquire into the working of the Contagious Diseases
+Ordinances of Hong Kong. This Commission was appointed by Governor
+Hennessy on November 12th, 1877, and was composed of William Keswick,
+unofficial member of the Legislative Council, Thomas Child Hallyer,
+Esq., "one of Her Majesty's Counsel for the Colony," and Ernest John
+Eitel, M.A., Ph.D., Chinese Interpreter to the Governor. We shall have
+frequent cause to quote from this Commission's report, and as it is
+the only Commission we shall quote, we shall henceforth speak of it
+merely as "the Commission." This report says, concerning inspectors of
+brothels: "These posts, although fairly lucrative, do not seem to be
+coveted by men of very high class." For instance, we find in a report
+dated December 11, 1873, by the captain superintendent of police, Mr.
+Dean, and the acting Registrar General, Mr. Tonnochy, that they were
+not prepared to recommend anyone for an appointment to a vacancy which
+had just occurred, owing to the reluctance of the police inspectors to
+accept "the office of Inspector of Brothels." Mr. Creagh says, that
+the post is not one "which any of our inspectors would take. They look
+down on the post." "They are a class very inferior to those who
+would be inspectors with us. I don't believe anyone wishes it, but
+constables, or perhaps sergeants, would take the post for the pay."
+Mr. Dean would also "object to its being made a part of the duty of
+the general police to enforce the Contagious Diseases Acts." "My
+inspectors and sergeants," he says, "would so strongly object to
+taking the office that I should be unable to get anyone on whom I
+could rely.... The Inspector of Police looks down on the Inspector of
+Brothels." Dr. Ayres tells us: "You cannot get men fitted for the work
+at present salaries, and you have to put tremendous powers into the
+hands of men like those we have."
+
+Yet into the hands of men lower in character than the lowest of the
+police force was committed, in large part, the operation of Ordinance
+12, 1857, recommended by Mr. Labouchere as a sort of benevolent scheme
+for the defense of poor Chinese slaves under the British flag, who had
+"an urgent claim on the protection of Government."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 3.
+
+HOW THE PROTECTOR PROTECTED.
+
+
+Dr. Bridges, the Acting Attorney General at Hong Kong, who had framed
+the Contagious Diseases Ordinance of 1857, had given an assurance
+concerning it expressed in the following words: "There will be less
+difficulty in dealing with prostitution in this Colony than with the
+same in any other part of the world, as I believe the prostitutes here
+to be almost, without exception, Chinese who would be thankful to
+be placed under medical control of any kind; that few if any of the
+prostitutes are free agents, having been brought up for the purposes
+of prostitution by the keepers of brothels, and that whether as
+regards the unfortunate creatures themselves, the persons who obtain
+a living by these prostitutes, or the Chinese inhabitants in general,
+there are fewer rights to be interfered with here, less grounds for
+complaint by the parties controlled, and fewer prejudices on the
+subject to be shocked among the more respectable part of the community
+than could be found elsewhere." Mr. D.R. Caldwell, Protector,
+confirmed these views. But the views of the Chinese themselves had
+never been elicited, and immediately such prejudice was aroused among
+them that it was considered wise to subject only those houses resorted
+to by foreigners and their inmates, to medical surveillance. Says the
+report of the Commission: "So great has been the detestation of the
+Chinese of the system of personal examination, that it has been
+found practically impossible to apply it to purely Chinese houses of
+ill-fame [that is, places resorted to by Chinese only], to the present
+day." At once, then, the business of the Ordinance, as far as disease
+was concerned, became restricted to a fancied "protection" of foreign
+men given over to the practice of vice. But, as we show elsewhere
+on the statements of the officials who operated the Ordinance (made
+confidentially, but not intended for publication), that object was not
+realized, and in the very nature of things, never will be, by such
+measures. When the State guarantees the service of "clean women" to
+men of vicious habits, it actively encourages those vicious habits;
+and since these diseases are the direct outcome of such vice, the
+more the vice itself is encouraged the more the diseases resulting
+therefrom will increase in frequency.
+
+The treachery and perfidy of the profession that this Ordinance was
+in large measure one intended to "protect" poor slaves, is clearly
+exposed in this letter of Dr. Bridges. "There will be less difficulty"
+in operating the measure because the women are not "free agents!" The
+very success of the measure, their own language betrays, depended
+upon their servitude. Then were they likely to strike a blow at that
+slavery? Their measure would, then, of course, lead to an increase and
+not to a mitigation of the hardships of servitude. They had "fewer
+rights to be interfered with" in Hong Kong "than could he found
+elsewhere." Away with a measure of "protection" which finds its chief
+source of gratulation in the curtailed rights of the "protected!"
+
+The much-vaunted "protection" of the slaves, through medical
+surveillance, became limited at once to a certain class who associated
+with foreigners, whose interests were supposed to be "protected" by
+that surveillance. Nevertheless from that time almost to the present
+hour whenever it has been proposed to discontinue the compulsory
+medical examination, officials have raised a cry of pity for the poor
+slave-girls who would be left without "protection."
+
+Since each registered house was to pay a fee to the Colonial
+Government, which was turned into the fund to meet general expenses
+(although the express reading of the Ordinance was against this
+practice), this gave additional reason for registering all immoral
+houses, beyond their being listed for the compulsory examinations,
+hence all houses of prostitution were registered whether for
+foreigners or for Chinese.
+
+The Commission's report says: "This Ordinance seems to have been
+worked with energy by all concerned. Dr. Murray, who assumed charge of
+the Lock Hospital on the 1st of May, 1857,... discharged his duty with
+undoubted zeal. The Magistrates certainly threw no obstruction in the
+way of the working of the Ordinance; and the Government having, at a
+very early stage, determined that its efficacy 'should have a fair
+trial,' it doubtless received it at all hands."
+
+During the ten years this law was in operation, there were 411
+prosecutions, of which 140 were convictions for keeping unregistered
+houses, or houses outside the prescribed bounds. Fines were inflicted
+for these offenses and others, adding considerably to the amount
+collected regularly each month from each registered house. The
+Superintendent of Police, having refused to allow his force to operate
+as inspectors of brothels, in 1860 the first inspector was appointed,
+and he engaged an English policeman named Barnes to render services as
+an informer. This man brought charges in two cases, as to unlicensed
+(unregistered) brothels. The second case ended in acquittal,
+manifestly on the ground that the charges were trumped up. In the same
+year another inspector, Williams, acted as informer, and secured a
+conviction against a woman. Later, an inspector by the name of Peam,
+who succeeded Williams, employed police constables as informers, and
+lent them money for the purpose. All these performed their tasks in
+"plain clothes," as was the practice through subsequent years. In
+1861, constables (Europeans) acted frequently as informers, and in
+one instance the Acting Registrar General,--in other words, the
+"Protector,"--played the role of informer. He took a European
+constable with him to a native house and caused him to commit adultery
+there, and on this evidence prosecuted the woman for keeping an
+unregistered brothel. During this year, an inspector named Johnson
+presented a woman with a counterfeit dollar, and because she accepted
+the money she was condemned as a keeper of an unregistered house, and
+fined twenty-five dollars. This sum she would be less able to pay than
+the average American woman ten times as much, so low are wages in that
+country.
+
+In 1862, an inspector of brothels, a policeman, and the Bailiff of
+the Supreme Court, acted as informers; also in eleven cases European
+constables in plain clothes, and on two occasions a master of a ship.
+In 1863 the sworn belief alone of the inspector secured convictions in
+10 cases. In 1864, as far as the records show, public money was first
+used by informers to induce women to commit adultery with them, in
+order to secure their conviction, fine them, and enroll their abodes
+as registered brothels. Inspector Jones and Police Sergeant Daly,
+having spent ten dollars in self-indulgence in native houses, the
+Government reimbursed them and punished the women.
+
+In 1865, on three separate occasions, the "Protector," (Acting
+Registrar General Deane), "declared" houses, nine in number. Soon any
+sort of testimony was gladly welcomed, and Malays, East Indians and
+Chinese all turned informers, and money was not only given them with
+which to open the way for debauchery, but awards upon conviction of
+the women with whom they consorted. "The Chinese used for this work
+were chiefly Lokongs, [native police constables], Inspector Peterson's
+servant and a cook at No. 8 Police Station. The depositions show
+that in at least five cases the police and their informers received
+rewards. Three times their exertions were remunerated by sums of
+twenty dollars, although in one of these instances the evidence was
+apparently volunteered. Arch and Collins [Europeans] once got five
+dollars each, and Chinese constables received similar amounts." In
+many of these cases the immorality on the part of the informers who
+brought the charges seems to have been unblushingly stated. "The
+zeal of inspectors of brothels and informers had been stimulated by
+occasional solid rewards from the Bench, and the numerous prosecutions
+commenced seldom failed to end in conviction and substantial
+punishment."
+
+Ten years after the Ordinance of 1857 had been in operation, the
+Registrar General, C.C. Smith, wrote:
+
+    "There is another matter connected with the brothels, licensed
+    and unlicensed, in Hong Kong, which almost daily assumes a graver
+    aspect. I refer to what is no less than the trafficking in human
+    flesh between the brothel-keepers and the vagabonds of the Colony.
+    Women are bought and sold in nearly every brothel in the place.
+    They are induced by specious pretexts to come to Hong Kong, and
+    then, after they are admitted into the brothels, such a system of
+    espionage is kept over them, and so frightened do they get, as to
+    prevent any application to the police. They have no relatives, no
+    friends to assist them, and their life is such that, unless goaded
+    into unusual excitement by a long course of ill-treatment, they
+    sink down under the style of life they are forced to adopt, and
+    submit patiently to their masters. But cases have occurred where
+    they have run away, and placed themselves in the hands of the
+    police; who, however, can do nothing whatever toward punishing the
+    offenders for the lack of evidence, the women being afraid to
+    tell their tale in open court. Women have, it is true, willingly
+    allowed themselves to be sold for some temporary gain; but that
+    brothel-keepers should be allowed to enter into such transactions
+    is of serious moment. I have myself tried to fix such a case on
+    more than one brothel-keeper, but failed to do so, though there
+    was no doubt of the transaction, as I held the bill of sale. The
+    only mode of action I had under the circumstances was to cancel
+    the license of the house. In the interest of humanity, too, it
+    might be enacted that any brothel-keeper should be liable to a
+    fine for having on his or her premises any child under 15 years of
+    age."
+
+This statement as to the increase of slavery under this Ordinance is
+just what might have been expected, but it is especially valuable as
+made by the Registrar General who knew most about the matter, and it
+contains most damaging admissions against himself, for as the Colonial
+Secretary, W.T. Mercer, states in a foot-note in the State document
+printing the Registrar General's statement: "Surely the bill of sale
+here would have been sufficient evidence." It is plainly to be seen
+from such statements that after a few efforts to take advantage of
+anti-slavery laws at Hong Kong, after a few appeals to the police for
+protection and liberty, slave girls would learn by terrible experience
+to cease all such efforts. Think of the fate of a girl when thrust
+back into the hands of her cruel master or mistress, by the heartless
+indifference of the "Protector," after having ventured to go to the
+length of producing her bill of sale into slavery. We should remember
+these things, when we hear of American officials going through
+Chinatown and asking the girls if they wish to come away, and in case
+they do not at once declare they wish it, reporting that there are no
+slave girls in Chinatown. These poor creatures have been trained in a
+hard school, and have no reason to believe that any foreign officials
+have the least interest in helping to obtain their liberty. And if
+they cannot secure protection by complaint, far better never admit
+that there is reason for complaint.
+
+Note the calm admission of the Registrar General that nothing was
+being done to prevent the rearing of children in these registered
+brothels, where every detail was subject to Government surveillance.
+"It might be enacted," says the "Protector," that such a
+brothel-keeper should be "liable to a fine!" But why, in the face of
+such frank acknowledgement of the existence of slavery, were not the
+Queen's proclamation against slavery, and the many other enactments of
+the same sort, enforced? Listen, and we will tell why. These officials
+believed _vice was necessary_, and as there was no class of "fallen
+women," in our understanding of the term, the Oriental prostitute
+being a literal slave, then _slavery was necessary_ when it ministered
+to the vices of men. Hence the Government-registered brothels were
+filled with women slaves. As to the unregistered brothels, the
+"protected woman" protected that, and also the nursery of purchased
+and stolen children being brought up and trained for the slave market,
+excepting those children which, as we have seen, were being trained in
+the registered houses. If an officer attempted to enter the house of
+a "protected woman," he was told: "This is not a brothel. This is the
+private family residence of Mr. So and So," mentioning the name of
+some foreigner. Thus the foreigners who kept Chinese mistresses
+furnished, in effect, that protection to slavery that led the Chinese
+to go forward so boldly in their business of buying and kidnaping
+children. Even when women were brought into court for keeping
+unregistered brothels, and although they were keeping them, yet if
+they could show that they were "protected women," they had a fair show
+of being acquitted.
+
+Legislative enactments directed to the object of making the practice
+of vice healthy for men are called, in popular language, "Contagious
+Diseases Acts," because that was the first name given them. But of
+late years all such laws have met with such bitter opposition, that,
+like an old criminal, the measures seek to hide themselves under all
+sorts of _aliases_. Mrs. Josephine Butler describes such legislation
+in general in the following simple, lucid manner:
+
+    "By this law, policemen,--not the local police, but special
+    Government police, in plain clothes,--are employed to look after
+    all the poor women and girls in a town and its neighborhood. These
+    police spies have power to take up any woman they please, on
+    _suspicion_ that she is not a moral woman, and to register her
+    name on a shameful register as a prostitute. She is then forced to
+    submit to the horrible ordeal of a personal examination of a kind
+    which cannot be described here. It is an act on the part of the
+    Government doctor such as would be called an indecent or criminal
+    assault if any other man were to force it upon a woman. And it is
+    the _State_ which forces this indecent assault on the persons of
+    the helpless daughters of the poor.
+
+    "If a woman refuses to submit to it, she is punished by
+    imprisonment, with or without hard labor, _until_ she does submit.
+
+    "If, after she has endured this torture, she is found to be healthy
+    and well, she is set free, with a certificate that she is _fit
+    to practice prostitution_; but observe, she is never more a free
+    woman, for her name is on the register of Government prostitutes,
+    and she is strictly under the eye of the police, and is bound to
+    come up periodically,--it may be weekly or fortnightly,--to be
+    again outraged.
+
+    "If she is found to have signs of disease, she is sent to a
+    hospital, which is practically a prison, where she is kept as
+    long as the doctors please. She may be kept for weeks or months,
+    without any choice of her own. When cured, she is again set free
+    with her certificate. During the first years of this law, a
+    certificate on paper was given to every woman who had passed
+    through this cruel ordeal; on this paper was the name of the
+    woman, and the date of the last examination. The Abolitionist
+    party, however, represented so strongly the shame of the whole
+    proceeding, that the Government ordered that the piece of paper
+    or ticket should not be given to the women any longer. But this
+    change made no real difference, for it was well known that
+    the women were forced to submit to the outrage of enforced
+    examination.... You know that every criminal,--murderer, or thief,
+    or any other,--has the benefit of the law; he or she is allowed an
+    open trial, at which witnesses are called, and a legal advocate
+    appears for the defense of the accused. But these State slaves
+    are allowed no trial. It is enough that the police suspects and
+    accuses them; then they are treated as criminals.... It will be
+    clear to you that this law is not for simple healing, as Christ
+    would have us to heal, caring for all, whatever their character
+    or whatever their disease. This law is invented to _provide
+    beforehand_ that men may be able to sin without bodily injury (if
+    that were possible, which it is not). If a burglar, who had broken
+    into my house and stolen my goods, were to fall and be hurt, I
+    would be glad to get him into a hospital and have him nursed and
+    cured; but I would not put a ladder up against my window at night
+    and leave the windows open in order that he might steal my goods
+    without danger of breaking his neck.
+
+    "You will see clearly, also, the cowardliness and unmanliness of
+    this law, inasmuch as it sacrifices women to men, the weak to the
+    strong; that it deprives the woman of all that she has in life, of
+    liberty, character, law, even of life itself (for it is a process
+    of slow murder to which she is subjected), for the supposed
+    benefit of men who are mean enough to avail themselves of this
+    provision of lust.
+
+    "Besides being grossly unjust, as between men and women, this law
+    is a piece of class legislation of an extreme kind. The position
+    and wealth of men of the upper classes place the women belonging
+    to them above any chance of being accused of prostitution. Ladies
+    who ride in carriages through the street at night are in no danger
+    of being molested. But what about working women? what about the
+    daughters, sisters and wives of working men, out, it may be, on
+    an errand of mercy at night? and what, most of all, of that girl
+    whose father, mother, friends are dead or far away, who is
+    struggling hard, in a hard world, to live uprightly and justly
+    by the work of her own hands,--is she in no danger of this law?
+    Lonely and friendless, and poor, is she in no danger of a false
+    accusation from malice or from error? especially since under this
+    law _homeless_ girls are particularly marked out as just subjects
+    for its operation; and if she is accused, what has she to rely on,
+    under God, except that of which this law deprives her, the appeal
+    to be tried 'by God and my country,' by which it is understood
+    that she claims the judicial means of defense to which the law of
+    the land entitles her?
+
+    "I will only add that this law has a fatally corrupting influence
+    over the male youth of every country where it is in force. It
+    warps the conscience, and confuses the sense of right and wrong.
+    When the State raises this immoral traffic into the position of a
+    lawful industry, superintended by Government officials, what are
+    the young and ignorant to think? They cannot believe that that
+    which the Government of the country allows, and makes rules for,
+    and superintends, is really wrong."
+
+Such measures as these have acquired a foothold in the United States
+more than once, but have been driven out again. They are proposed
+every year almost, at some State Legislature, and often have been
+proposed at several different legislatures during a single year. They
+are in operation, to some extent at least, under the United States
+flag at Hawaii, in the Philippines, and at Porto Rico. The enforcement
+of the Acts must depend to a large extent upon the co-operation of the
+male fornicator with the police and officers of the law, and places
+good women and girls terribly in the power of malicious or designing
+libertines.
+
+It appears from official records, that in Hong Kong, during six months
+in 1886-7, out of 139 women denounced by British soldiers and sailors
+as having communicated contagion, 102 were on examination found free
+from disease, and only 37 to be diseased; and during a similar
+period in 1887-8, out of 103 women that were denounced, 101 were on
+examination found free from disease and only two diseased. We can
+judge from this of both the worthlessness of the measure for tracing
+diseased women, and the mischievousness of the measure as an aid to
+libertines in getting girls they are endeavoring to seduce so injured
+in reputation that they can easily capture their prey.
+
+As a sanitary measure, the Acts have invariably proved a failure, as
+shown by honestly handled statistics. There have, to be sure, been
+many doctors, some of high scientific qualifications, who have
+produced statistics strongly tending to prove the sanitary benefits
+of such measures on superficial survey. But these statistics have
+afterwards been shown to be mistakenly handled or designedly
+manipulated to make such a showing. This is not a medical book, and
+any extended treatment of figures as to disease would be entirely out
+of place in it, so we will content ourselves by saying that during
+late years physicians of prominence from every part of the world have
+assembled twice at Brussels for Conferences in regard to this matter.
+These physicians are in large numbers Continental doctors, the very
+ones who have had most to do in enforcing such measures. Each time
+the number of opponents to the Contagious Diseases Acts has rapidly
+increased, after listening to the testimony from all sides as to
+their inutility; in fact, the whole force of opinion at each of these
+Conferences, in 1899 and 1902, was against State Regulation, though
+there was a division of opinion as to the substitute for it.
+
+In 1903, the Minister of the Interior of France, the country where
+these Acts originated, nominated an extra-Parliamentary Commission to
+go thoroughly into these questions. This Commission held its numerous
+sittings in 1905, and in the end by almost a two-thirds' majority
+condemned the existing system of regulation in France, and furthermore
+rejected the alternative proposal of notification with compulsory
+treatment, by sixteen votes to one. In reporting on the Conferences
+held in Brussels, the _Independence Belge_ said, in a leading article:
+"Regulation is visibly decaying, and the fact is the more striking
+because the country that instituted it (France) is at present the one
+that meets it with the most ardent hostility."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 4.
+
+MORE POWER DEMANDED AND OBTAINED.
+
+
+In 1866 the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell,
+determined upon the repeal of Ordinance 12, 1857, in order to
+inaugurate "a more vigorous policy of coercion," (says the
+Commission's report): "The key note of the new regime was struck by
+the Governor's first minute on the subject, dated 20th October, 1866,
+in which he wrote he was 'anxious early to introduce to the Council an
+amended Brothel Ordinance, conferring _necessarily_ almost despotic
+powers on the Registrar General." ... Be it said to the honor of
+Attorney General (now Sir Julian) Pauncefote, that in the face of this
+he urges the most weighty objections to the policy of "subjecting
+persons to fine and imprisonment without the safeguards which surround
+the administration of justice in a public and open court." But these
+objections were not allowed to prevail.
+
+It appears that some hesitation was felt on the part of the home
+authorities in giving approval to the new ordinance. It may have been
+the warning given by Attorney General Pauncefote, it may have been
+something else. Whatever it was, the Commission informs us: "The
+Ordinance 10 of 1867 received its final sanction when the conclusion
+arrived at by the Colonial Government was before the home authorities,
+showing that in the event of the ordinance becoming law, _revenue
+would be derived_ from the tainted source of prostitution among the
+Chinese." (The italics are the authors').
+
+Ordinance 10, 1867 now came into operation, with the following
+additional powers in the hands of the "Protector" of Chinese, the
+Registrar General:
+
+    1st, Not only were keepers of unregistered houses to be fined or
+    sent to prison, but the women--"held in practical slavery for the
+    purposes of prostitution"--when found in unregistered houses were
+    also subject to fine and imprisonment.
+
+    2nd, The Registrar-General, otherwise the "Protector" of Chinese,
+    could break into any house suspected of being a brothel, and
+    arrest the keeper thereof without warrant. And he could authorize
+    his underlings to do the same.
+
+    3rd, The Registrar General could exercise both judicial and
+    executive powers in the prosecution of the duties of his office.
+
+    4th, All outdoor prostitutes could be arrested without warrant,
+    fined and imprisoned.
+
+    The new law possessed one virtue over the old. It frankly, and
+    more honestly, employed the word "licensed," where the old law
+    said "registered," brothels.
+
+The report of the Commission says:
+
+    "Although the new Ordinance conferred such extensive and unusual
+    powers on the Registrar General and Superintendent of Police as to
+    breaking into and entering houses and arresting keepers without
+    warrant, no serious difficulty whatever, so far as the records
+    show,--and we have paid special attention to the point,--seems to
+    have been experienced under the previous enactments in bringing
+    the keepers of such houses before the court.... Nor can we in
+    the second place find among the foregoing records proof of the
+    necessity of the transfer to the Registrar General of the judicial
+    powers.... As a matter of fact, witnesses do not seem to have been
+    at all squeamish in divulging repulsive details in open Court,
+    nor, on the other hand, do the magistrates ever seem to have shown
+    too exacting a disposition as to the nature or amount of the
+    evidence they required to sustain convictions; and the astonishing
+    system of detection which had grown up had met, so far as we can
+    see, with neither discouragement nor remonstrance."
+
+We pause to lift our hearts to God in prayer before venturing to lift
+the curtain and disclose even a faint outline of the reign of terror
+now instituted over poor, horror-stricken Chinese women of the humbler
+ranks of life at Hong Kong. But, in order that we may understand the
+conditions under which the slave women coming to our Pacific Coast
+have lived in times past, the recital is necessary. Happy for us if we
+never needed to know any of these dark chapters of human history and
+human wrongs! Sad indeed for the thoughtless, and bringing only harm,
+if such an account as we have to give should be read merely out of
+curiosity or for entertainment. There is either ennoblement or injury
+in what we have to say, according to the spirit brought to the task
+of reading it. Think quietly, then, dear reader, for one moment. From
+what motive will you read our recital? We do not write what is lawful
+to the merely inquisitive. Then, will you continue to read from a
+worthier motive? If not, we pray you, close the book, and pass it on
+to someone more serious minded. Our message is only for those who will
+hear with the desire to help. But do not say: "I am too ignorant as to
+what to do, I am too weak, or I am too lowly, and without talents or
+influence." No, you are not. There is a place for you to help. God
+will show it to you, if this book does not suggest a practicable plan
+for you. What we wish to accomplish, and what we must accomplish, if
+at all, by just such aid as you can give, sums itself up in this: We
+must make our officers of the law understand that _the question of
+slavery has been settled once for all_ in the United States, by
+the Civil War, and we will have none of it again. It will never be
+tolerated under the Stars and Stripes; and when you can think of
+nothing else to do, you can always go aside and cry to the Judge of
+all the earth to "execute righteousness and judgment for all that are
+oppressed," as He has promised to do, if we but call upon Him.
+
+Now read on with a heart full of courage, not caring for the haunting
+pain that will be left when you lay the book aside. What others have
+had to suffer, you can at least endure to hear about, in order to put
+a check upon like suffering in the future, and in our own land, too.
+A country bathed in blood as ours has once been has met already its
+terrible judgment for not throttling the monster, Slavery, in its
+infancy, before it cost so much blood and treasure. We will be wiser
+another time, and refuse to trifle with such great wrongs. We cannot
+brave the Omnipotent wrath in a second judgment for the same offense,
+lest He say to us: "Ye have not hearkened unto Me, in proclaiming
+liberty, everyone to his brother, and every man to his neighbor;
+behold, I proclaim a liberty unto you, saith the Lord, to the sword
+and to the pestilence and to the famine."
+
+From the first days of the enactment of this measure, and all the way
+through until 1877, the inspectors of brothels had standing orders to
+enter any native house that they suspected of containing any women
+of loose character, and arrest its inmates in accordance with the
+following plan: The inspector would secure an accomplice, called an
+informer, or often more than one. The accomplice would enter a native
+house plentifully supplied with marked money out of the Secret Service
+Fund. This accomplice was often a friend or relative of the family he
+called upon. He would often offer them a feast and drinks, and send
+to a near-by restaurant and procure them at Government expense. After
+feasting and drinking, he would try to induce some woman of the house
+to consort with him, showing her a sufficient sum of money to fairly
+dazzle her eyes. This he could well afford to do, for the Government
+put the money in his hands to offer, and if the woman accepted, it
+would not be a loss to the Government, for it would be taken back
+again afterwards. Perhaps some poor half-starved creature would yield
+to the tempter; perhaps some heathen man would press his wife to
+accept the offer, in his greed for the money; perhaps some foolish
+young girl would think she had suddenly come into great fortune in
+having a man of such great wealth proposing marriage to her. It must
+not be forgotten that the poorest people in China often marry in
+a manner which is _almost devoid of all ceremony_, and yet it is
+considered perfectly right and honorable, and the couple remain
+faithful to each other afterwards. It is not unlikely, then, a young
+woman might, with the consent of her parents, look upon such a
+proposal as this as about to eventuate in real marriage, if it were so
+put before her. No such thing as courting ever takes place in China,
+previous to marriage. In other cases, doubtless, the informer who had
+thus intruded himself for the basest reasons into a native house,
+might really find a woman of loose character there. It were certainly
+more to the credit of such a woman that she was in hiding, and
+preferred it to flaunting her shame in a licensed house of infamy.
+What business have Governments hounding down these women, tearing away
+their last shred of decency and obliging them if inclining to go wrong
+to sink at once to the lowest depths of infamy? But that is what the
+attempt to localize vice in one section of a town, or to legalize it
+always means. When the informer at Hong Kong had insinuated himself
+into a native house and by means of the bait of "marked money" caught
+a victim and sinned with her, at once he threw open the window and
+summoned the Inspector, who was in waiting outside, who would rush
+in and arrest all the women and girls in the house, down to children
+often only 13 or 14 years old. This was not all according to law, but
+it seems to have been the regular practice. Says Mr. Lister, who was
+Registrar General for the first year after the Ordinance of 1867 came
+into operation: "As a general rule, the first thing I knew of a case
+of an unlicensed brothel coming before me was the finding of a string
+of women in my office in the morning." "Almost despotic powers" had
+been put into the hands of the "Registrar General," and these were
+some of the results. The "marked money" that had caught the victim
+would now be sanctimoniously taken away from her and restored to the
+Secret Service Fund. The woman would be fined or imprisoned, and the
+other inmates of the house put through trial as accused of being
+"common prostitutes" and inmates of an unlicensed brothel, and if the
+Registrar General so decided, the house from which they came declared
+in the Government Gazette as a licensed house of prostitution. The
+keepers of licensed brothels, slave-dealers, procurers and such
+characters hung around the court room to help these women pay their
+fines, and so get them under bonds to work off these fines by
+prostitution. Sometimes the women sold their children instead of
+themselves. If boys, for "adoption," as it is called; a form of
+slavery which is permitted in Hong Kong. If girls, into domestic
+slavery or worse, probably with the thought that they could buy them
+back soon, but if the mother herself went the daughter would be sure
+to be caught by kidnapers, or fall into prostitution anyway, as the
+only means she would have of getting along without her mother's
+protection. Mr. Lister said before the Commission: "I became
+suspicious of the whole system of convictions against houses for
+Chinese. I was certain that the informers could not be depended on
+for one moment. My inspector employed his own boatmen as informers.
+I became convinced that _I could lock up the whole Chinese female
+population by this machinery_." Married men were often knowingly hired
+on Government money to commit adultery with native women, then the
+money would be taken away from the woman and she could not even have
+that toward her fine, while the man would be given a further reward
+for hunting down an "unlicensed woman." Quickly, strong organizations
+of brothel-keepers were formed, and the whole infernal system from
+that day to this of brothel slavery passed under the secret management
+of "capitalists"--Chinese merchants of large means.
+
+We have made a general statement as to abuses; now for some specified
+details. Sometimes the inspectors took their turn as informers, and
+often men of higher official rank did so, even to the Registrar
+General himself. In 1868, Inspectors Peterson and Jamieson visited
+houses as informers, dressed in plain clothes. Jamieson went once
+disguised as a soldier. Inspectors Burns, Sieir and Deane were also
+employed as informers, this year. In one case, a woman escaped the
+persecution of an informer who had intruded into her house by means of
+ladder; in another case, a woman risked her life getting out of the
+window upon a flimsy shade adjusted to keep the sun out; in another,
+a woman managed to escape to the roof; one poor creature let herself
+down to the ground from an upper window by means of a spout. When
+women were ready to take such risks as these (and undoubtedly the
+official records would mention only a few such cases out of the many)
+rather than be compelled to keep open houses of prostitution, one
+would have thought it would have counted as some proof of the
+respectable character of the women,--but it does not seem to have been
+reckoned so. The women were generally driven into the business of
+keeping an open house of prostitution anyway, and the Government
+benefited in cash by just so much more.
+
+"It may be mentioned here," says the report of the Commission, from
+which we cull these cases, "that from this date (July 6th, 1868) the
+practice has apparently prevailed of apprehending all the women found
+in unlicensed brothels" (in more correct language, those houses
+penetrated into by informers and reported to the Registrar as
+brothels). These accusations were not always true, by any means. Seven
+women were apprehended at one time during this year, on the charge of
+a watchman, that they kept and were inmates of an unlicensed brothel,
+"the chief witness being a child 10 years old ... five of the women
+were married, and two, children of 13 and 14 years old, are described
+as unmarried." They were all, even the children, convicted, and
+sent to the Lock Hospital for the indecent examination, in order to
+determine if they were in proper health to practice vice. Afterwards
+the Registrar concluded that the case had been got up by the watchman
+to extort money from the women. But the establishment of their
+innocence did not put them right again. Think of the horrible ordeal
+and the dirty court details through which these young girls had been
+put, on the testimony of a child of ten, and of a watchman determined
+that they should learn to give him money when he demanded it, or he
+would drive them into prostitution. One wonders how many hundreds of
+respectable families were thus bled of their small incomes by the vile
+informers who were being rewarded by Government for their extortion.
+Imagine the terror that respectable Chinese women suffered, knowing
+that any man might denounce them, out of malice, and thereby reduce
+them to the very worst conceivable form of slavery! Within a few
+years, nearly all the respectable Chinese women had disappeared from
+Hong Kong. Chief Inspector Whitehead testified before the Commission:
+"When an unlicensed brothel [i.e., a native house accused of being
+such] is broken up, the women have to resort to prostitution in most
+cases for a living." During 1869, one poor woman signed a bond to
+deport herself for five years rather than be taken to the Lock
+Hospital. But the "protected women," with their nursery of children
+they were raising for brothel slavery, being the mistresses of
+foreigners, were not persecuted in this manner, so, by a kind of mad
+infatuation the Government seemed bent on encouraging and developing
+immoral women and driving decent women either into prostitution, or,
+by the reign of terror, out of the Colony. In 1869, five women
+were charged before the Registrar General, and three of them were
+discharged as innocent. Then the Registrar General decided _to make
+the punishment of the first of the remaining two depend upon the state
+of health of the second_. This second was examined and found diseased,
+and in consequence of that fact, the first one was fined fifty dollars
+or two months' imprisonment! The Commission speaks of this as a
+"somewhat curious" case. We wonder how the punished woman described
+it. Afterwards, the case was reopened, and "evidence was given
+calculated to throw the gravest doubts on the credibility of the
+informers" against these five women. What was then done? Were the
+informers punished for giving false evidence designed to work
+incalculable injury to five innocent women? Not at all. A few days
+later the same informers were employed again as witnesses, and secured
+the conviction of three more women. In one case, in 1870, it was
+proved that an informer had entered a house and made an indecent
+assault upon a woman, doubtless expecting to get his reward as usual.
+But he was fined ten pounds instead. But how many others may have
+done the same thing under circumstances where a sufficient number of
+witnesses to the assault could not be produced. And then, the man
+would be rewarded and the woman forced at once to take up her
+residence in a licensed house of shame. The Acting Registrar General
+played the part of informer during 1870, and punished as judge the
+woman he accused before himself,--for the law, as we have said, that
+came into force in 1867 gave the Registrar General both prosecuting
+and judicial powers. He probably also induced the woman on Government
+money to commit adultery with him. Then as the judge he would
+confiscate the money again, and give her a fine of fifty dollars
+instead. We wonder if he likewise gave himself a "substantial award
+from the bench," as the Registrar General was accustomed to give other
+informers when they succeeded in getting evidence sufficient for
+conviction. It is noticed by the Commission that one woman this same
+year escaped by the roof at the peril of her life. No one knows how
+many more may have done the same.
+
+An inspector, Peterson, and a constable, Rylands, each induced women
+on the street to accept money of them, and these women were punished
+as prostitutes in hiding and not registered. Two prosecutions during
+this same year are mentioned as having been instituted from malice.
+One woman jumped from her window and severely injured herself, trying
+to escape Inspector Douglass. One woman dared to assault an informer
+who was after her, and was punished by ten days' imprisonment, with
+hard labor. Inspector Jamieson brought charges against three women
+for obstructing him in the discharge of his official duties, and was
+himself found guilty of illegal conduct.
+
+In the records of 1871 is the case of two men who had a falling out,
+Alfred Flarey and Police Constable Charles Christy, for some reason
+not mentioned. Each of these men kept a private mistress. Flarey
+went to an inspector, and obtained money to be used in tempting the
+mistress of Christy. He then accused her before the courts, she was
+condemned, and paid a fine of ten dollars. On the following day,
+Christy appeared in court against the mistress of Flarey, with two
+fellow-policemen, to describe their own vileness in order to get
+revenge on Flarey by depriving him of his mistress and reducing her to
+the level of a common prostitute. The woman was discharged, indicating
+that it was a trumped up case. The Commission's report, in describing
+the details declares: "The law, in these two instances, was put in
+motion obviously for the vilest of purposes."
+
+In 1872, Inspector Lee, who had become an inspector in 1870, and
+of whom we shall have more to say, acted himself as informer, and
+employed his boy twice in the same capacity. Inspector Horton acted as
+informer eleven times, and Inspector King four times. During this year
+the Registrar General so far forgot that there was even a sanitary
+pretext for the Ordinance for the law he was set to operate as
+to employ as an informer one Vincent Greaves, whom he knew to be
+diseased. From about this time on, many cases of conviction were
+secured against women where it was evident the matter had gone no
+further than that they had accepted the marked money of the informers,
+or, as was actually proved in some cases, this marked Government money
+had been secreted by the informers in the rooms occupied by women.
+Inspector Lee in one instance found the money on a table in a room
+into which an informer had insinuated himself. The woman denied having
+ever accepted it of him, yet she was convicted on that evidence alone.
+With rewards offered to men of the lowest character, who would secure
+the conviction of women so that the latter could be forced into the
+life of open prostitution, all the presumptive evidence should have
+turned such a case as this against the informer. Many similar cases
+of the conviction of women of being keepers and inmates of secret
+brothels, were secured on this sort of evidence. One young girl of 14
+was entrapped by marked money being found in her toilet table. The
+court records showed that this was the second time she had been
+entrapped in this manner. This second time she was convicted and sent
+to the Lock Hospital where, upon examination, exceptional conditions
+demonstrated beyond doubt that she was still a virgin. But what of the
+many young girls with whom exceptional conditions did not exist, when
+_they_ were brought to the examination table?
+
+During the year 1873, two women were severely injured by jumping out
+of their windows to escape the informers. One fractured her leg.
+
+The cook of Inspector King testified in the Registrar General's court:
+"Yesterday I received orders of Mr. King to go to Wanchai, and see if
+I could catch some unlicensed prostitutes." This man was employed,
+and his employer orders him off to this wicked business, and he must
+either obey or take his discharge. A Chinese servant ordered to go
+commit adultery by the man who employed him as his cook. These things
+were constantly done by employers of Chinese men. Yet these native
+servants are all married men, for they marry so young in the Orient.
+And Government money was furnished them besides to pay for the
+debauchery, and if they brought in a good case for prosecution they
+got a reward in money besides. So this cook is ordered off by his
+master to "catch some unlicensed prostitutes," with the same _sang
+froid_ as though ordered to go catch some fish for dinner. The cook
+seemed to know where to get the most ardent assistance for the task
+his employer had set him, for he says: "I got the assistance of a man
+who is master of a licensed brothel in Wanchai." To be sure; who would
+be so interested in capturing women and getting them condemned to go
+and live in a house licensed by the Government as the man in the town
+at the head of the licensed house? The cook was given a dollar as
+bait, with which to catch the woman. Inspector Lee, who followed up
+the men to make sure of the capture, found the dollar given by King
+to his cook "lying on the bed" in the room occupied by the women,
+and they were convicted on no other evidence than this and Lee's
+"suspicions."
+
+Private Michael Smith of the 80th Regiment was given four dollars by
+Inspector Morton and instructed to go to a certain Mrs. Wright at
+her quarters, and try to debauch her; he drank brandy with her [at
+Government expense?] from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., but failed in his
+errand. Why did she not turn him out of the house? Women were
+frequently fined for daring to resent the aggressions of these
+informers. In one case a man was struck for trying to obstruct the
+arrest of a girl of 14, and later was punished. This girl was proved
+to be a virgin afterwards. Many women and girls, against whom there
+was no sufficient evidence, were sent to the Lock Hospital for
+examination in order to determine in that manner their character. In
+half-a-dozen cases or so, it is recorded that the result determined
+the virginity of the person. But such a test as this rests upon the
+accidental presence of an exceptional condition among even virgins,
+and what became of those who did not answer to the exceptional test,
+and yet were as pure as the rest? They would everyone of them be
+consigned to the fate of a brothel slave.
+
+One informer, "with the assistance of public money, and in the
+interests of justice," according to the Commission's report, sinned
+with a child of fifteen in order to get her name on the register.
+Inspector Horton bargained for the deflowering of a virgin of 15, "in
+the interests of justice," with the owner of the slave child. The
+child as well as the owner were then taken to the Lock Hospital, where
+the latter was proved to be a virgin. A Chinese informer consorted
+with a girl named Tai-Yau "against her will, which led to his being
+rewarded, and to her being fined one hundred dollars." She was unable
+to pay the fine, and sold her little boy in part payment for it, in
+order to escape a life of prostitution.
+
+But need we go into further painful details? There are hundreds more
+of such cases of cruel wrong on record, and God alone knows how many
+thousands of cases there are that have never been put on record. We
+only aim to give a case here and there in illustration of the many
+forms of cruelty practiced upon innocent women in order to force them
+into prostitution, and to demonstrate that brothel slavery at Hong
+Kong cannot truthfully be represented as the outcome of Chinese
+customs which foreign officials have found difficulty in altering.
+
+But why should Americans be called upon to acquaint themselves with
+such loathsome details? In order that Americans may have some just
+conception of their duty toward the large number of these poor,
+unhappy slaves who have been brought from Hong Kong to their own
+country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 5.
+
+HOUNDED TO DEATH.
+
+
+Sir John Pope Hennessy went to Hong Kong as Governor of the Colony in
+the early Spring of 1877. In the following October a tragedy occurred,
+which drew his attention to the administration of the Registrar
+General, and he set himself to the task of trying to right some of the
+wrongs of the Chinese women.
+
+The case last mentioned in the previous chapter related to a woman
+by the name of Tai-Yau, whom an informer humbled "against her will,"
+which led to his being rewarded and her being fined $100, to pay which
+she sold her little boy. This seems to have been the only way open for
+her to escape a life of prostitution. To make this point clear, we
+will here insert the explanation of conditions given by Dr. Eitel in
+a communication for the information of Governor Hennessy at a little
+later period than the incident we are about to relate. He speaks of
+Chinese women who secretly practiced prostitution [but, as we have
+shown, many respectable Chinese women suffered also], as
+
+    "preyed upon by informers paid with Government money, who would
+    first debauch such women and then turn against them, charging them
+    before the magistrate under the Ordinance 10, 1867, before the
+    Registrar General as keepers of unlicensed brothels in which case
+    a heavy fine would be inflicted, to pay which these women used to
+    sell their children, or sell themselves into bondage worse than
+    ordinary slavery, to the keepers of brothels licensed by the
+    Government. Whenever a so-called sly brothel was broken up these
+    keepers would crowd the shroff's office [money exchanger's office]
+    of the police court or the visiting room of the Government Lock
+    Hospital to drive their heartless bargains, _which were
+    invariably enforced with the weighty support of the inspectors of
+    brothels_,[A] appointed by Government under the Contagious
+    Diseases Ordinance. The more this Ordinance was enforced, the more
+    this buying and selling of human flesh went on at the very doors
+    of Government offices."
+
+[Footnote A: We italicise this to call attention to the active part
+officials took in encouraging slavery.]
+
+We can then readily imagine Tai-Yau as sentenced to pay her fine of
+one hundred dollars, and nothing to pay with. The money exchanger's
+office next the court room was crowded with slave-dealers, waiting to
+offer to pay the fines of such unhappy creatures, and she probably
+turned to them. If she were sent to jail what would become of her
+little boy? And if she sold herself to the licensed brothel-keepers,
+as the inspectors of brothels were urging her to do, the fate of her
+boy would be even worse. She could see a hope that if she sold the boy
+for "adoption," a form of slavery the Hong Kong Government permitted,
+of which we will tell more,--then if she had her freedom she could at
+least hope to redeem him some time. So the little fellow was sold
+for about forty dollars, and she went away sixty dollars in
+debt,--probably to the brothel-keepers, who would never let her out
+of their sight until, through the debt and the interest thereon, they
+would in time be enabled to seize her as their slave. But she went out
+hoping for some honest way of earning the money, or else she would
+have bargained with them at once to work off the debt by prostitution.
+But what could a Chinese woman do in the face of such a debt? A
+painter's wages at Hong Kong at this time were five dollars a month. A
+woman's wages at any respectable occupation would not have been more
+than half that amount. Ten cents a day would be a fair computation.
+And all the time she would be trying to earn the money the debt would
+be increasing by the interest on it; and her little boy would increase
+more rapidly in value than in years.
+
+All this occurred in November, 1876. About the first of October, 1877,
+nearly a year later, she engaged a single room for herself and a
+servant[A] at 42 Peel street, of a woman named Lau-a Yee. Mrs. Lau,
+the landlady, had the top floor of a little house. Another family
+had the first floor, and the street door leading up to Mrs. Lau's
+apartments ended in a trap door which was shut down at night. There
+were also folding doors half way up the stairway, not reaching to the
+ceiling, however, that could be locked at night to make the place
+doubly secure from intruders. The little upper flat consisted of only
+three rooms. Mrs. Lau occupied the front room, and her servant woman
+slept on the floor in the passage-way, and took care of Mrs. Lau's
+little child. This servant woman had a friend come over from Canton to
+spend the night with her and seek for employment. The middle room
+was occupied by Tai Yau, the woman who had sold her little boy into
+slavery, and her servant. The back room was vacant. Tai Yau was about
+twenty-six years old, and her servant nearly sixty.
+
+[Footnote A: The evidence does not make it clear how so poor a woman
+should have a servant. Might she not in reality have been acting the
+part of "pocket-mother" to the girl?]
+
+On the evening of October 16th, 1877, Inspector Lee gave ten one
+dollar bills to his interpreter, telling him to go out and use it in
+catching unlicensed women. The interpreter found two friends and gave
+one three dollars and the other seven dollars to help him in his
+errand. Think of it! The man to whom the three dollars were given was
+a worthless fellow who in his own words, lived "on his friends." When
+he worked he earned about 14 cents a day. The other man to whom was
+given seven dollars for a night of pleasure, earned five dollars a
+month when he worked at his trade--painting.
+
+These men went to an opium shop where they found a pander. Apparently
+they did not know where to find unlicensed women without his help. Two
+other men joined them, and they all went to No. 9 Lyndhurst Terrace,
+the interpreter lingering about in waiting somewhere outside. When
+two of the men learned that they had been brought with the purpose
+of using their testimony against the women they withdrew. There were
+three women in the house. One was of loose morals, or at any rate she
+trifled with temptation; the other two managed to withdraw. A supper
+of fowls, stuffed pigs' feet, sausages, eggs, and plenty of native
+wine was brought in, and they feasted, the men getting under the
+influence of drink. A-Nam, the pander, went out and hunted up two
+more girls for the feast. Perhaps these suspected a plot, for they
+withdrew. Then A-Nam went again, and returned with Tai-Yau.
+
+It was about nine o'clock when A-Nam came to 42 Peel street and called
+Tai Yau out. Mrs. Lau saw her go out with him, but was not uneasy, for
+she had seen him there before as a friend of Tai Yau. Is it not quite
+likely it was from him she borrowed the money? He was the kind of man
+whose profession would lead him to hang around the Registrar's court
+in order to get on the track of unlicensed women and to get them in
+his power. If such were the case, and she owed him money, she would be
+terribly in his power.[A] She went away with him to the feast near
+by at No. 9 Lyndhurst Terrace, and at twelve o'clock she returned in
+company with A-Nam and a strange man. Mrs. Lau was up and worshipping
+in her room. She came and said to Tai Yau: "Who is this?" seeing the
+strange man sitting on a chair. "What is this strange man doing here?"
+Tai Yau replied, "Oh, he is a shopman and is my husband."
+
+[Footnote A: Chief Inspector Whitehead testified before the
+Commission: "When an unlicensed brothel is broken up the women have to
+resort in most cases to prostitution for a living." Though the wrong
+done Tai Yau had been "against her will," yet it had brought her into
+court upon the charge of being a "common prostitute," and thrown her
+heavily into debt. It is not unlikely she now found it almost beyond
+her power to resist becoming enslaved as a prostitute.]
+
+The name of the man with A-Nam was A-Kan, and A-Kan had been a witness
+against her when she had been condemned before and fined $100. Now he
+was here in her room again at this time of night, with the man who had
+brought them together.
+
+Meanwhile Inspector Lee and the interpreter who had given this A-Kan
+seven dollars to entrap an unlicensed woman, were hunting along the
+street below to trace the house into which A-Kan had managed to get an
+entrance. They began to call "A-Kan! A-Kan!" Someone, probably quite
+innocently said, "I think the man you are looking for went into the
+house opposite. I saw some one enter there." This was all the clue
+they had, yet on that evidence alone, Inspector Lee began to pound
+on the street door of the house, No. 42. A woman on the first floor
+looked out, and the Inspector ordered her to open the street door. If
+she recognized him as an officer she would not have dared refuse. The
+inspector and the interpreter went up the stairs, but encountered
+folding doors half way up, locked across the stairs. The Inspector
+managed to get over them and unlock them from the inside, and on they
+went, and paused to listen beneath the trap door. They did not hear
+A-Kan's voice, and did not know whether he was there. They had only
+the conjecture of the woman across the street to proceed upon,
+nevertheless they had forced their way into this private abode
+occupied by women, knowing nothing whatever about the place, whether
+it was respectable or not. At this moment Mrs. Lau heard voices of men
+on her stairs, and said in alarm to A-Kan, "The inspector is coming,
+looking for you, isn't he?" A-Kan said "Yes." Then Tai Yau threw
+herself at the feet of A-Kan and begged for mercy, saying: "I was
+arrested before and fined a hundred dollars. I sold my son to pay the
+fine, and you must not say anything now." He sanctimoniously shook his
+head, as though weighing his responsibility, saying: "I don't know, I
+don't know." She did not recognize him, but he was the very man who
+had before informed against her and secured her conviction, when she
+was humbled "against her will." He now opened the trap door to let the
+inspector and his interpreter in. Tai Yau exclaimed to Mrs. Lau, "He
+is coming to arrest women for keeping an unlicensed brothel, let us
+flee!" Tai-Yau ran up a ladder through a scuttle out upon the flat
+roof of the house, her old servant following and Mrs. Lau behind. The
+inspector and interpreter followed, while the informer escaped from
+the house. Mrs. Lau managed to reach the hatch of the next house, No.
+44, and ran down that into the street, hotly chased by the inspector.
+He said in his testimony: "I pursued the woman down the trap, and
+followed her right into the street. I pursued and she ran up the
+steps of Peel street and up to Staunton street, and a Lokong [Chinese
+constable] caught her about ten yards from Aberdeen street." Then the
+occupants of the ground floor of 44 Peel street called to Inspector
+Lee and told him that some people had fallen from the roof into their
+cook-house, and Inspector Lee said in his testimony: "I went into the
+cook-house and saw the deceased [the old servant of Tai Yau] lying on
+the granite on her face, with her head close to an earthenware chatty
+[water-bottle] which I pointed out, and the bundle of clothing with a
+Chinese rule lying on the top of her head, or on the back of the neck.
+Close beside her was another woman lying on the other side of the
+chatty with her feet against the wall and her head out toward the
+cook-house door. I had a Chinese candle. I took up the bundle of
+clothes off deceased's head, and turned her on her back, and there
+were no signs of life apparent. The other woman was bleeding from the
+face, and her face and neck were covered with blood. She was moving as
+if in great pain. I sent for the ambulance at once, and by this time
+the whole street was aroused." The two women, Tai Yau and the old
+servant, had fallen through a smoke-hole in the roof.
+
+Tai Yau had a fractured jaw and left thigh, besides internal injuries.
+She lived but ten days. The verdict rendered in each of these cases
+was nearly the same. That of Tai Yau's calamity reads in part:
+
+    "Mok Tai-Yau, on the morning of the 17th of October, in the year
+    aforesaid, being on the roof of a house, known as 44, Peel Street,
+    Victoria, and having fled there in consequence of the entry of an
+    Inspector of Brothels into the house known as 42, Peel Street,
+    where she lived, accidentally and by misfortune fell down an open
+    area, known as a smoke-hole, unto the granite pavement beneath,
+    and by means thereof did receive mortal bruises, fractures and
+    contusions, of which she died.... The jury aforesaid are further
+    of opinion that Inspector Lee, the aforesaid Inspector of
+    Brothels, exceeded his powers by entering the house, No. 42,
+    Peel Street, without a warrant, or any direct authority from the
+    Registrar General or the Superintendent of Police, and would
+    strongly recommend that the whole system of obtaining convictions
+    against keepers of unlicensed brothels be thoroughly revised,
+    as the present practice is, in our opinion, both illegal and
+    immoral."[A]
+
+[Footnote A: Inspector Lee testified on this occasion that he
+sometimes had chased women over the roofs of as many as twenty
+contiguous houses.]
+
+On Nov. 1st, 1877, Governor Hennessy wrote to the Colonial Office,
+London:
+
+    "I have taken the responsibility of putting a stop to a practice
+    which has existed in this Colony since September, 1868, when Sir
+    Richard MacDonnell sanctioned the appropriation of Government
+    money for the pay of informers who might induce Chinese women to
+    prostitute themselves, and thus bring them under the penal clauses
+    of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance. For many years past this
+    branch of the Registrar General's office has led to grave abuses.
+    It has been a fruitful source of extortion, but what is far worse,
+    a department of the State, as one of the local papers now points
+    out, which is supposed to be constituted for the protection of the
+    Chinese, has been employing a dangerously loose system, whereby
+    the sanctity of native households may be seriously compromised.
+    I had no idea that the Secret Service Fund was used for this
+    loathsome purpose until my attention was drawn to an inquest on
+    the bodies of two Chinese women who were killed by falling from
+    a house in which one of the informers employed by the Registrar
+    General was pursuing his avocations.... I am taking steps to
+    institute a searching inquiry into the whole subject. The European
+    community are ashamed at the revelations that have been made at
+    the inquest, and amongst the Chinese the practice that has been
+    brought to light is, viewed with abhorrence."
+
+This was the incident which led to the appointment of the Commission
+of Inquiry into the working of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance, the
+report of which Commission we have already had occasion to quote from
+more than once.
+
+Later, Governor Hennessy wrote to the Colonial Office:
+
+    "Whilst the Attorney General is of opinion that, strictly
+    speaking, there is a _prima facie_ case of manslaughter made out
+    against Inspector Lee, and that possibly a conviction might be
+    obtained, he advises against a prosecution. I do not concur with
+    the Attorney General in the reasons he gives for not instituting a
+    prosecution in this case."
+
+During the year previous, 1876, Ordinance No. 2 had been passed,
+depriving the Registrar General of the much-abused judicial powers
+he had exercised since 1867, and transferring them to the police
+magistrates.
+
+Speaking of the incident of Tai Yau having sold her boy to pay her
+fine, Governor Hennessy wrote the Colonial Office, under date of
+December 6th, 1877:
+
+    "I am now informed that the Commissioners have obtained from the
+    records of the Registrar General's department and from Mr. Smith's
+    evidence the clearest proof that this practice of selling human
+    beings in Hong Kong was well known to the department. One of the
+    records has been shown to me in which a witness swears, 'I bought
+    the girl Chan Tsoi Lin and placed her in a brothel in Hong Kong';
+    and on that particular piece of evidence no action was taken by
+    the department."
+
+Lord Carnarvon was Secretary of State for the Colonies at this time,
+and his replies to Sir John Pope Hennessy were small encouragement to
+the course the Governor had taken. He criticises his "somewhat unusual
+course" in the appointment of a Commission "composed of private
+persons to inquire into the administration of an important department
+of the Government." He says: "I am unable to concur in the suggestion
+made in your despatch as to the advisability of prosecuting Inspector
+Lee." He implies that in his opinion "Inspector Lee was acting
+strictly within his powers on this unfortunate occasion." "It is
+quite possible," Lord Carnarvon continues, "that there may be abuses
+connected with the Contagious Diseases Ordinance which ought to
+be removed; but I would point out that such abuses arise from the
+imperfections in the system as established by law.... While ready
+to give consideration to the subject of amending the system, if
+necessary, I fail at present to observe wherein the officers ... have
+exceeded the duty imposed upon them by law."
+
+From such responses as these we readily learn that it was not alone in
+Hong Kong that these outrageous abuses of every principle of justice
+in dealing with Chinese women failed to arouse more than a lukewarm
+interest in their behalf, and all the way through Sir John Pope
+Hennessy, with one or two notable exceptions, so far as the records
+go, was shown but scant sympathy in his efforts to correct these
+abuses.
+
+On April 2nd, 1878, Sir Harcourt Johnstone asked in the House of
+Commons the Secretary of State for the Colonies, "whether his
+attention has been directed to a recent outrage committed ... at Hong
+Kong, which is now forming the subject of inquiry by a Commission
+appointed by the Governor. And if he will cause special investigation
+to be made as to the manner in which the revenue derived from
+licensing houses of ill-fame is raised and expended for the service of
+the Colony."
+
+In answer to this question, the Commission reported that, "the monies
+raised both by the licenses from houses of ill-fame, and from the
+fines inflicted under the provisions of these Ordinances, have been
+expended in the general services of the Colony; and that the actual
+revenue derived from this source, since and including 1857 down to
+the end of 1877, amounted to $187,508, to which must be added the
+Admiralty allowance from 1870 to 1877, amounting to $28,860, and fines
+estimated at $5,000, making a total of $221,368.00."
+
+After July 1st, 1878, the fund derived from brothels was used for the
+operation of the provisions of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance only.
+
+Later, on July 28, 1882, Governor Hennessy received in London a large
+deputation of gentlemen interested in the abolition of the Contagious
+Diseases Ordinance of Hong Kong. To these he addressed the following
+words descriptive of the condition of things at Hong Kong unearthed by
+the Commission:
+
+    "I saw in the Colony abuses existing which have effect far beyond
+    the range of Hong Kong. Let me instance one or two only. We get
+    from Great Britain some European police. They are men selected
+    with care for good conduct, and they are sometimes married men;
+    their passages and their wives' passages have been paid to Hong
+    Kong, where married police quarters are provided. But what
+    transpired when that Commission was held? The Registrar General
+    had recorded in his book, morning after morning, the evidence of
+    informers _selected from that police force_, whom _he had employed
+    to commit adultery_ with unlicensed Chinese women; and borne of
+    these men were married police, whose wives were brought to Hong
+    Kong; so that in point of fact, he was _not only encouraging
+    adultery but paying for it with the money of the State_. Well, I
+    stopped that, of course.... At the head of the Registrar General's
+    Department in Hong Kong, we appoint an officer, as we believe, of
+    the highest character. One of the gentlemen so employed puts on a
+    false beard and moustache, he takes marked money in his waistcoat
+    pocket, and proceeds to the back lanes of the Colony, knocks at
+    various doors, and, at length, gains admission to a house. He
+    addresses the woman who opens the door and tells her he wants a
+    Chinese girl. There is an argument as to the price, and he agrees
+    to give four dollars. He is shown up to the room, and gives her
+    the money. What I am now telling you is the gentleman's own
+    evidence. He records how he flung up the window and put out his
+    head and whistled. The police whom he had in attendance in the
+    street, broke open the door and arrested the girl. She is brought
+    up the next day to be tried for the offence; but, before whom?
+    Before the Acting Registrar General--before the same gentleman
+    who had the beard and moustache the night before. He tries her
+    himself, and on the books of the Registrar General's office (I
+    have turned to them and read his own evidence recorded in his
+    own handwriting) there is his own conviction of the girl, of the
+    offence, and his sentence, that she be fined fifty dollars and
+    some months' imprisonment! I mention this for this reason--that
+    the officer who did this was appointed because he was supposed to
+    be a man of exceptionally high moral tone, and good conduct and
+    demeanour. But what would be the effect on any man having to
+    administer such an Ordinance? There was laid before my Legislative
+    Council a case of one of the European Inspectors of brothels, and
+    I was struck by this fact in his evidence. He says: 'I took the
+    marked money from the Registrar General's office, and followed a
+    woman, and consorted with her, and gave her the money; and the
+    moment I had done so, I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out
+    the badge of office, and pointed to the Crown, and arrested the
+    woman.' She was henceforth 'a Queen's woman'."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 6.
+
+THE PROTECTOR'S COURT AND SLAVERY.
+
+
+The justification for the passage of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance
+at the beginning, as set forth in Mr. Labouchere's dispatch on the
+27th of August, 1856, to Sir John Bowring was, that the "women" "held
+in practical slavery" "through no choice of their own," "have an
+urgent claim on the _active protection_ of Government." It has been
+claimed again and again by officials at Hong Kong and Singapore that
+protection is in large part the object and aim of the Ordinance. For
+instance: In 1877, Administrator W.H. Marsh, of Hong Kong, learning
+that there was a likelihood of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance being
+disallowed by the Home Government, wrote to the Secretary of State for
+the Colonies:
+
+    "It is the unanimous opinion of the Executive Council that the
+    laws now in existence have had, when they have been properly
+    worked, a most beneficial effect in this Colony ... in putting the
+    only practical check on a system of brothel slavery, under which
+    children were either sold by their parents, or more frequently
+    were kidnaped and sold to the proprietors of brothels. These
+    unfortunate girls were so fully convinced that they were the goods
+    and chattels of their purchasers, or were so terrified by
+    threats, that they rarely if ever made any complaints even when
+    interrogated. It was very seldom that sufficient evidence could be
+    obtained to punish such nefarious traffickers."
+
+A document enclosed in this letter to the Colonial Secretary at
+London, signed by the Acting Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong, the
+Colonial Surgeon, and the Registrar General, states: "Perhaps the
+strongest argument in favor of the Ordinances is the means they place
+in the hands of the Government for coping with _brothel slavery_."
+From the moment Mr. Labouchere put this false claim to the front
+it has been the chief argument advanced by officials eager for the
+Contagious Diseases Ordinance as a method of providing "clean women,"
+in order to win to their side the benevolent-minded.
+
+On this point the Commission reported: "In regard to the only result
+worthy of a moment's consideration, viz., that referred to by Mr.
+Labouchere's dispatch, of putting down the virtual slavery of women
+in brothels, the conclusions of those in the best position to form
+trustworthy opinions is not encouraging." Mr. Smith, who took over
+charge of the Registrar General's office in October, 1864, and who had
+many years of experience in that position, is quoted as saying: "I
+think it is useless to try and deal with the question of the freedom
+of Chinese prostitutes by law or by any Government regulation. From
+all the surroundings the thing is impracticable." Mr. Lister, another
+Registrar General, says: "I don't think the new Ordinance had any real
+effect, or could have had any effect upon the sale of women. I don't
+think any good is done by preventing women emigrating to San Francisco
+or other places, as their fate is just the same whether they go or
+not."
+
+The Commissioners state:
+
+    "The well-meant system devised by the Registrar General's
+    Department which requires every woman personally to appear before
+    an Inspector at the office, and declare her willingness to enter
+    a licensed brothel, and that she does so without coercion, before
+    she can be registered, may probably act as some check upon glaring
+    cases of kidnaping, so far as the licensed brothels are concerned.
+    But it seems clear that for the supply of such establishments,
+    there is no need to resort to kidnaping, in the ordinary
+    acceptance of the term. There can be no doubt that, with the
+    exception of a comparatively few who have been driven by adversity
+    to adopt a life of prostitution, when arrived at a mature age, the
+    bulk of the girls, in entering brothels, are merely fulfilling
+    the career for which they have been brought up, and even if they
+    resent it, a few minutes' conversation with a foreigner, probably
+    the first many of them have ever been brought into communication
+    with, is but little likely to lead them to stultify the results of
+    education, according to whose teachings they are the property of
+    others and under the necessity of obeying their directions. The
+    idea that they are at liberty not to enter a brothel unless they
+    wish it, must, to girls so brought up, be unintelligible. To what
+    other source indeed could they turn for a livelihood? Who can
+    tell, moreover, what hopes or aspirations have been instilled into
+    the minds of these girls? The life on which she is about to enter
+    has probably not been painted to her in its true colors. Why
+    should they shrink from it? As a matter of fact they never do....
+    Mr. Smith, however, thinks, with regard to these women, Government
+    supervision does ameliorate their condition somewhat. The women
+    are periodically seen in their houses by the inspectors, and the
+    cleanliness and comfort of the houses is carefully looked after.'
+    With the internal cleanliness and comfort of brothels, we think
+    the Government has little to do. But the amelioration of the
+    inmates is a matter which certainly stands on a different footing,
+    and is one in which the Government has a deep interest."
+
+The Report goes on to state that the Commissioners do not endorse the
+views of Mr. Smith as to the amelioration of the condition of
+the inmates of brothels, through Governmental registration and
+supervision, and states:
+
+    "Young girls, virgins of 13 or 14 years of age, are brought from
+    Canton or elsewhere and deflowered according to bargain, and, as
+    a regular business, for large sums of money, which go to their
+    owners.... The regular earnings of the girls go to the same
+    quarters, and the unfortunate creatures obviously form subjects
+    of speculation to regular traders in this kind of business, who
+    reside beyond our jurisdiction. In most of the regular houses, the
+    inmates are more or less in debt to the keepers, and though such
+    debts are not legally enforceable, a custom stronger than law
+    forbids the woman to leave the brothel until her debts are
+    liquidated, and it is only in rare cases that she does so." "As to
+    the brothel-keepers, there is nothing known against them, and they
+    are supported by capitalists. Mr. Lister speaks of them as 'a
+    horrible race of cruel women, cruel to the last degree, who use an
+    ingenious form of torture, which they call prevention of sleep,'
+    which he describes in detail.... It seems that although the
+    Brothel Ordinances did not call into being this 'horrible,'
+    'cruel,' and 'haughty' race of women, they have armed them with
+    obvious powers, which they would not otherwise have possessed,
+    and there is consequently reason to apprehend that Government
+    supervision accentuates in some respects rather than relieves the
+    hardships of the servitude of the inmates."
+
+The records furnish many instances to prove that the Registrar
+General's Department was not operated with the least idea of relieving
+the slave from her bondage. These are culled from the court records.
+We will condense some of them.
+
+    1. Three sisters were brought by their foster-mother from Macao
+    to Hong Kong, on the promise of a feast; they were taken to the
+    house of an old brothel-keeper, to whom the foster-mother sold the
+    girls, receiving ten dollars apiece for them, to bind the bargain,
+    and she went away, leaving the girls with this old woman, who
+    began immediately to urge them to become prostitutes; they cried
+    and refused, asking to be allowed to go to their foster-mother who
+    had brought them up,--not suspecting that they had been already
+    sold by her into shameful slavery. The old woman locked them up,
+    and beat one of the girls, who had resisted her cruel fate. Their
+    meals were all taken into the room where they were kept close
+    prisoners from that time. Brought into court, the foster-mother
+    was set at liberty, although the history was fully set forth, and
+    the old woman declared: "She pledged the girls in my house, by
+    receiving thirty dollars from me.... I have a witness who saw the
+    money paid." The brothel-keeper was convicted only of assault for
+    beating the girl, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment with
+    hard labor. No reference was made to her own admissions as
+    to buying these girls, and endeavoring to force them into
+    prostitution. Ten days later, her case was brought up again, and
+    the remaining portion of her sentence was remitted, and she was
+    fined twenty-five dollars. No record is made as to what became of
+    these hapless girls; it is to be assumed that they were sent back
+    to the brothel.
+
+    2. Two girls brought before the Registrar General, both of whom
+    pleaded for protection against their owner, stating that she
+    intended to sell them to go to California. One of these had been
+    bought by this woman for eighty dollars; the girl saw the price
+    paid for her; the other said her mother was very poor, and sold
+    her for twenty dollars. Each declared she had been living under
+    the "protection" of a foreigner until recently, and that she had
+    not "acted as a prostitute"; they now feared being "sold into
+    California" by the woman in charge. The Inspector said: "There has
+    been at times a number of women residing in the house, and I do
+    not know what has become of them. I believe that they have been
+    sent to California by the defendant." One of the girls being
+    recalled, and seeming to have gained courage, witnessed that she
+    had been in the house when several women had been brought there
+    and after some time had been sent away to California. She had been
+    present when bargains were struck for the women, the price being
+    various; bought here, the women cost from fifty to one hundred
+    and fifty dollars, and when sold in California they were to be
+    disposed of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty
+    each.[A] She said the woman had "made a great deal of money. She
+    has told me so." She also said some were unwilling to go, but were
+    afraid to resist. She said between ten and twenty women had passed
+    through the woman's hands, to her knowledge. The brothel-keeper's
+    reply was, that the last witness owed her money, and had taken
+    some ornaments which belonged to her--together with a denial that
+    she had bought anybody or sent anyone to California. What was the
+    outcome of this dreadful arraignment of crimes against Chinese
+    girls? The woman was "ordered to find security (two sureties of
+    $250 each) for her appearance in any court, for any purpose and at
+    any time within twelve months." No record as to the fate of the
+    two girls who had sought "protection" of the authorities.
+
+    [Footnote A: The market price of a Chinese girl at the present
+    time (1907) in California is $3000.]
+
+    3. Two young girls were found in a licensed house of shame, whose
+    names were not on the list, the keeper and a woman, Ho-a-ying,
+    who had brought the girls from Canton to Hong Kong, were summoned
+    before the Registrar General. Ho-a-ying represented the girls
+    as sisters, and that she visited them in Canton and found their
+    mother dead, and that she brought them to Hong Kong because of
+    their appeal to her to find them work, and that she put them into
+    defendant's brothel. She contradicted herself in her testimony
+    as to the name and house of the girls' mother, and the girls
+    themselves declared that they were not sisters, and had never seen
+    each other until they met on the steamer at Canton the day before.
+    One of the girls declared: "I was sold by Ho-a-ying to the
+    mistress of the brothel. I heard them talking about it, and so I
+    know it. Ho-a-Ying also told me that I had been sold. I do not
+    know for what sum." The brothel-keeper stated that Ho-a-Ying came
+    and asked if she wanted two girls, as she had two who had come
+    from Canton. "The girls were brought, and after being in the house
+    a short time the Inspector came. I purposed having their names
+    entered on the following morning." The brothel-keeper was fined
+    five dollars for keeping an incorrect list of inmates. Ho-a-Ying
+    was convicted of giving false testimony, and fined fifty dollars;
+    in default, three months' imprisonment. No information as to the
+    disposal of the girls, and no punishment for this bargaining in
+    human flesh.
+
+    4. Six Chinese persons from licensed brothel No. 71, Wellington
+    Street, were arraigned before the Registrar General, charged with
+    buying and selling girls for evil purposes, and also with selling
+    girls to go to California, and with disturbing the peace. The
+    Inspector described the house thus: "I found all the defendants
+    on the first floor. I found six girls in the house and three
+    children. The floor was very crowded ... four of the girls were
+    in a room by themselves at the back of the house. They were all
+    huddled up together, and seemed frightened. The defendants were
+    in the front part of the house. The girls at the back part of the
+    house could not have got out without passing through the room
+    where the defendants were. This house has been known to me for a
+    long time as one where young girls were kept to be shipped off to
+    California."
+
+    A watch-repairer and jeweler who had resided opposite this place
+    for three or four years declared that he knew the first defendant,
+    A-Neung, and that she had lived there some years, on the first
+    floor; that he had seen a number of girls going in and out of
+    the house, seeming to arrive by steamer, some in chairs and some
+    walking, and that he knew from what he had seen of her and the
+    girls that she was a buyer and seller of girls. A carpenter living
+    below in the same house deposed: "I have always seen a number of
+    young girls being taken in and out of the house. The age of the
+    girls ranged from 10 to 20 years. There was always a great deal of
+    crying and groaning amongst the girls up-stairs. I have not heard
+    any beating, but the girls were constantly crying. The crying was
+    annoying to me and the other people in the shop. The people living
+    in the neighborhood have, together with myself, suspected that the
+    girls were bought and sold to go to California." Another neighbor
+    deposed to knowing the third defendant as "in the habit last year
+    of taking young girls of various ages, from 10 to 20, about the
+    Colony for sale. I knew this defendant wanted to sell the girls,
+    as she asked me if I knew any woman who wanted to buy them. She
+    comes from Canton." A girl from Wong-Po found in No. 71 brothel,
+    told of being taken to Canton at eleven years of age and sold by
+    her sister as a servant to the Lam family. After being in this
+    family three or four years, her mistress and the second defendant,
+    Tai-Ku, a relation of her mistress and daughter to the first
+    defendant (A-Neung, keeper of the brothel), took her to a
+    "flower-boat," and the next day by steamer to Hong Kong, and she
+    was taken to the house of A-Neung. Her mistress stayed in the
+    house three days, and sold her to the first and second defendants
+    (mother and daughter) for $120. She added: "This was in the tenth
+    month last year.... I was never allowed to go out. I have never
+    been out of the house since I came to Hong Kong [nearly six
+    months]. First, second and third defendants never went out of the
+    house together [some one always being on guard]. Last year Tai-Ku
+    and A-Neung told me that I should have to go to San Francisco.
+    This year I was again told that I was going to San Francisco. I
+    said I did not want to go. Tai-Ku then beat me." Another girl
+    only 19 years old, married about four years, declared that in
+    consequence of a quarrel between herself and another wife of her
+    husband, he sold her to Sz-Shan, fifth defendant, for $81, who
+    brought her from Tamshui by steamer to Hong Kong, and took her to
+    A-Neung's house, where she was being held for sale. She finished
+    her testimony thus: "Several men have been up to the house to see
+    me. They were going to buy me if they liked me." A letter was
+    produced by the Inspector, which he found in A-Neung's house, from
+    Canton to the writer's sister-in-law in Hong Kong, urging that as
+    the owner had lost money on the "present cargoes," a higher price
+    must be set on them and the sale hastened, as soon as the letter
+    should arrive, and word returned that they had been disposed of;
+    also directing that "after the transaction, one cue-tassel and one
+    shirting trouser" were to be taken back and sent to Canton by the
+    hand of a friend at first opportunity. (This as a pledge of good
+    faith.)
+
+    A-Neung, first defendant, declared that she was "a widow,
+    supported by her son-in-law now in California. Mine is a family
+    house. The girls are visitors at my house." The second defendant,
+    Tai-Ku, daughter of the preceding, declared herself to be a
+    married woman, and that her husband was in California, on a
+    steamer; that the girls were not hers, and that she was "not in
+    the habit of sending girls to California." The third defendant
+    deposed that she came from Canton to ask A-Neung for some money,
+    and added: "I never buy and sell girls." Fourth defendant claimed
+    to be utterly ignorant of the girls being sent to California, and
+    said she was supported by Tai-Ku; the fifth defendant declared she
+    knew nothing of the buying and selling of girls; and the sixth
+    defendant claimed she had gone to the house to obtain the payment
+    of a debt; she was discharged.
+
+    The sentence was:--First, second, third, fourth and fifth
+    defendants to find two securities, householders, in $500 each,
+    to appear at any time within the next six months, to answer any
+    charge in any court in the Colony.
+
+    Whether the girls were sent to California to swell the number of
+    wretched slaves on the Pacific Coast, or remained in slavery in
+    Hong Kong, there is no record to be found; nor, even with abundant
+    evidence concerning this licensed brothel which the Inspector
+    himself declared he was long familiar with as a place "where young
+    girls were kept to be shipped off to California," and with the
+    evident collusion between A-Neung and Tai-Ku with the son-in-law
+    and husband respectively of the two women, situated most favorably
+    on a steamer for managing this wicked business at the California
+    end of the line, and with all the testimony of the neighbors and
+    the girls, yet no effort was made by the Registrar-General to
+    punish these people for trafficking in human flesh.
+
+    5. An old man complained before the Registrar-General, that his
+    granddaughter, A-Ho, had got into debt because of sickness, and in
+    order to pay the money, she was induced by an uncle of Su-a-Kiu to
+    apply to the latter for help. Su-a-Kiu promised to advance her the
+    money, $52, if A-Ho would serve her eight months in a brothel kept
+    by a "friend" of the woman in Singapore. A-Ho's stress was so
+    great that she entered into these hard terms, the woman paying her
+    $52 at the steamer, as it was going, and A-Ho handed it to her
+    grandfather to pay her debt. A-Ho left on the "26th of the 8th
+    moon" for Singapore. On the evening of "the fourth day of the 10th
+    moon" he received a letter from A-Ho to the effect that she had
+    been sold for $250, to another party. When the grandfather went
+    to Su-a-Kiu and asked her why she had sold his granddaughter, she
+    cajoled him by promising to take him to Singapore to see A-Ho.
+    Later, the man who lived with Su-a-Kiu, came and threatened to
+    accuse him of extortion, acknowledging of himself that he "lived
+    by selling women into brothels of Singapore." The grandfather
+    reported the case to the Registrar-General. The woman
+    Su-a-Kiu stated: "I took A-Ho to Singapore. I took her to the
+    "Sai-Shing-Tong Brothel" in Macao Street. She is still in that
+    brothel." The Registrar-General ordered her to find security in
+    the sum of $100 to appear to answer any charge within the next
+    three months. The grandfather was also ordered to find similar
+    security in the sum of $70.
+
+    The girl A-Ho, in seeking to pay her debt contracted through
+    sickness, by servitude for eight months, was entrapped and sold as
+    a slave for life, and the Registrar-General, when acquainted
+    with the facts, seems to have taken no steps to punish this
+    slave-trader. Governor Hennessey, in calling the attention of the
+    Home Government to these, out of many similar ones, says: "The
+    accompanying extracts from the printed evidence [taken by the
+    Commission] show that the Registrar-General's Department was not
+    ignorant of the fact that Chinese women were purchased for Hong
+    Kong brothels, and that the head of the Department thought it
+    useless to try to deal with the question of the freedom of such
+    women.... That the buying and selling was not confined to places
+    outside the Colony is clear from the evidence of other witnesses,
+    and from the notes of cases taken by the Registrar-General
+    himself. It will also be seen that where the persons guilty of
+    such offences were sometimes punished, it was generally for some
+    minor offence, such as not keeping a correct list of inmates, or
+    for an assault."
+
+    Doubtless slavery would spring into prominence in almost any land
+    when once it became known that in places actually licensed by
+    Government, such as were the houses of ill-fame at Hong Kong,
+    where the inspectors made almost daily visits, slaves could be
+    held with impunity, and that when slave girls made a complaint,
+    and their cases were actually brought into court, charging the
+    buying and selling of human beings, the officers of the law would
+    ignore the complaints.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 7.
+
+OTHER DERELICT OFFICIALS.
+
+
+The Registrar General was not the only official at Hong Kong who did
+not believe in the extermination of slavery, as we shall proceed
+to show, although the Governor had strong sympathy from the Chief
+Justice.
+
+On May 30th, 1879, Sir John Smale, Chief Justice of the Colony of Hong
+Kong, wrote a letter for the information of the Governor, Sir John
+Pope Hennessy, to the effect that he had sentenced, on the previous
+day, two poor women to imprisonment with hard labor, for detaining
+a boy 13 years old. The women sold the little boy to a druggist for
+$17.50. The relatives traced their lost boy, came from Canton and
+claimed him, but the druggist refused to give him up, producing a
+bill of sale, and the boy was not given up until they appeared in the
+police court. The Chief Justice adds:
+
+    "I am satisfied from the evidence that the great criminal is this
+    druggist, and that it is an opprobrium to the administration of
+    justice to punish these poor women as I have done, and allow the
+    druggist to escape. I therefore ask His Excellency to direct that
+    proceedings be forthwith taken against the man, and that the case
+    be conducted at the magistracy by the Crown Solicitor, so that he
+    may be committed for trial before the Supreme Court."
+
+He then speaks of a case of a woman whom he sentenced on May 6th,
+1879, to two years' imprisonment with hard labor for stealing a female
+child. He adds:
+
+    "The woman was merely a middle woman, and received a small sum,
+    but it came out in the evidence that Leung A-Luk had bought the
+    child for $53, and was actually confining her in a room where
+    the child was discovered. She was the great criminal. It is an
+    opprobrium to justice to punish this poor woman, and to allow
+    Leung A-Luk to go unpunished. I am aware that, according to
+    precedents here and at home, it is within the province of the
+    presiding judge to direct prosecutions such as these to be
+    instituted, but I think it more convenient to ask His Excellency,
+    as the head of the Executive (whose province it especially is to
+    originate criminal proceedings) to direct prosecution. To let
+    these chief offenders go unprosecuted, and to punish such
+    miserable creatures, exposes the court to the contempt of the
+    community, and tends to destroy all respect for the administration
+    of justice in the Chinese community."
+
+Accordingly the Governor forwarded this request on the part of the
+Chief Justice to the Attorney General, saying: "It is clear from the
+evidence and from documents published by the Contagious Diseases
+Commission that practices of this kind have prevailed unchecked, or
+almost unchecked, for many years past in this Colony." The Governor
+then referred to a case in point that he had submitted to the former
+Attorney General, but he "did not seem disposed to enforce the rights
+of the father, on the ground that he had sold the child." The Governor
+concludes: "I did not agree with his view of the law."
+
+The last case was referred back to the Acting Police Magistrate to
+know why the woman, Leung A-Luk, was allowed to go unprosecuted. The
+Police Magistrate replied: "It appeared to me that 4th defendant
+(Leung A-Luk) being a well-to-do woman, and having no children of her
+own, had purchased the girl with a view to adopting her." He adds:
+"When Acting Superintendent of Police last year, I wished to prosecute
+a man for detaining a child ... but as it was shown that the boy had
+been sold by his father some months previously, the Attorney General
+considered the purchaser was _in loco parentis_, [in the place of a
+parent] and could not be purchased."
+
+On the two cases to which the attention of the Governor had been
+brought, the Attorney General reported:
+
+    "With the greatest respect for the Chief Justice, I doubt the
+    policy of prosecuting the woman he refers to, having regard to the
+    fact that the magistrate had discharged her for want of testimony,
+    and looking to his further report. The magistrate should always be
+    supported if possible; and if he discharged the woman, and put her
+    at the bar as a witness, and she was used again at the Supreme
+    Court, it might look like a breach of good faith to treat her now
+    as a criminal.... As to the druggist's case, I think that the only
+    thing that can be said is that it would look to be a breach of
+    faith to proceed against him now."
+
+When the case was referred to the Crown Solicitor, he said:
+
+    "As to the druggist the parties had now left the Colony, and there
+    were no witnesses against him. The purchase by Chinese of young
+    orphans, and indeed of others whose parents are too poor to keep
+    them, is a social custom amongst the natives, and is of constant
+    occurrence in Hong Kong. These 'pocket-children,' as they are
+    usually termed, are often treated with great affection, and are
+    far better off than they were previous to their being so bought."
+
+It was the 30th of May when the Chief Justice called the Governor's
+attention to these cases. It was July before the Attorney General and
+the Crown Solicitor seem to have paid any attention to the cases. It
+was no wonder, then, that some of the witnesses could not be found.
+Meanwhile the Governor had left the Colony for a trip to Japan, and
+W.H. Marsh was acting in his place. On July 16th, he returned answer
+to the Chief Justice that he had now received a report on the cases
+from the Attorney General, the committing magistrate and the Crown
+Solicitor, and
+
+    "I regret to inform you that ... I do not see my way to directing
+    the prosecutions of the two persons indicated by you; first ...
+    because I do not agree with you in looking upon them as the
+    principal criminals; and, secondly, because I think that after
+    the evidence of these persons has been taken both before the
+    committing magistrate and the Supreme Court without any warning
+    having been given them that their evidence might be used against
+    them, it would appear like a breach of faith to treat them now as
+    criminals." "Should the prosecution of these persons result in
+    their acquittal, which seems to me not improbable, I fear that the
+    good effect produced by the severe reprimand, which I understand
+    that your Honor administered publicly to all the parties concerned
+    in these two cases, might be to a great extent neutralized." (!)
+
+On September 29th, 1879, the Chief Justice sentenced more criminals
+for trafficking in children. A Japanese girl, Sui Ahing, eleven years
+old, was brought to the Colony by a Chinaman who had bought the child
+in Japan of its parents. Needing money to go on to his native place,
+this Chinaman borrowed $50 of a native resident at Hong Kong, and
+left the child as security for the debt. The wife of the man in whose
+custody the child was left beat the child severely and she ran out of
+the house. She was found wandering on the street late at night,
+and the finder took her and sold her to another Chinese party, who
+threatened to send her to Singapore as a prostitute. It was plain the
+last purchaser intended either to send her to Singapore or keep her at
+Hong Kong for vile purposes. This case illustrates well the frequency
+with which children are sold and re-sold in that country. The parties
+to the last transaction, the finder of the child and the purchaser of
+the child from the finder, were both found guilty, one of selling,
+the other of buying a child for the purposes of prostitution. His
+Lordship, the Chief Justice, said:
+
+    "I will call upon the prisoners at another time. This is a case
+    of far larger proportions than the guilt or innocence of the two
+    prisoners at the bar. I take shame to myself that the appalling
+    extent of kidnaping, buying and selling slaves for what I may
+    call ordinary servile purposes, and the buying and selling young
+    females for worse than ordinary slavery, has not presented itself
+    before to me in the light it ought. It seems to me that it has
+    been recognized and accepted as an ordinary out-turn of Chinese
+    habits, and thus that until special attention has been excited it
+    has escaped public notice. But recently the abomination has forced
+    itself on my notice. In some cases convictions have been had; in
+    two notable instances, although I called for prosecution, the
+    criminals escaped. They were Chinese in respectable positions,
+    and I was given to understand that buying children by respectable
+    Chinamen as servants was according to Chinese customs, and that to
+    attempt to put it down would be to arouse the prejudices of the
+    Chinese. The practice is on the increase. It is in this port,
+    and in this Colony especially, that the so-called Chinese custom
+    prevails. Under the English flag, slavery, it has been said, does
+    not, cannot ever be. Under that flag it does exist in this Colony,
+    and is, I believe, at this moment more openly practiced than at
+    any former period of its history. Cyprus has been under our rule
+    for about a year, and already, both in the House of Commons and in
+    the House of Lords, questions have been asked, and the Members
+    of the present Ministry have assured the country that slavery in
+    every form shall be speedily put down there. Humanity is of no
+    party, and personal liberty is held to be the right of every human
+    being under English law, by, I believe, every man of note in
+    England. My recent pleasant personal experience in England assures
+    me of that. But here in Hong Kong, I believe that domestic slavery
+    exists in fact to a great extent. Whatever the law of China may
+    be, the law of England must prevail here. If Chinamen are willing
+    to submit to the law, they may remain, but on condition of obeying
+    the law, whether it accords with their notions of right or wrong
+    or not; and, if remaining they act contrary to the law, they must
+    take the consequences.... I shall deal with these people when I
+    shall have more fully considered the case."
+
+During the proceedings of the trial of these two prisoners, the
+Attorney General had declared his intention not to call the former
+owners of the child, Wai Alan, the woman who beat the child, or Pao
+Chee Wan, her husband. The Chief Justice now said:
+
+    "I now direct you, Mr. Attorney General, to prosecute these two
+    people, Pao Chee Wan and Wai Alan." Attorney General:--"My Lord,
+    I intimated before that this matter was under consideration; I do
+    not think I am at liberty to say under whose consideration."
+    His Lordship:--"I direct the prosecution, and will take the
+    responsibility. It is the course in England and I will pursue it
+    here." The Attorney General:--"You have publicly directed it;
+    and I will report it to the proper quarter." His Lordship:--"The
+    Attorney General at home is constantly ordered by the Court to
+    prosecute. On my responsibility alone I do this." The Attorney
+    General:--"May I ask your Lordship to say on what charge?" His
+    Lordship:--"Under Sections 50 and 51 of No. 4 of 1865, and also
+    for assault." The Attorney General continued to raise objections,
+    when the Chief Justice said: "I have said as much as I choose to
+    say, and I will not be put to question by the Attorney General. If
+    you have any difficulty, come to the Court in Chambers."
+
+Governor Hennessy, in reporting the incident to the Secretary of State
+at London, adds: "I sent a note to the Attorney General, saying I
+thought that the prosecution suggested by the Chief Justice should
+take place; but it was found that the accused parties were not in the
+Colony." After this manner many cases brought to the attention of the
+officers of the law by parents or guardians of children of kidnaping
+and trading in girls and children failed to secure the attention they
+deserved. It seems to us not at all amazing, when one reads this past
+history, that by the time Chinese girls have seen and learned all that
+they must in the Colony of Hong Kong, when brought to this country
+they are utterly incredulous as to the good faith of police and other
+officials. They must enter a complaint at the risk of their lives, and
+if the officer of the law will not prosecute the case in spite of all
+its difficulties (which are largely imaginary on the part of lukewarm
+officials), then the girl must be returned to the master she has
+informed against, to be in his power for him to vent his wrath upon
+her. A case in point occurred in Oakland only a few months ago, and we
+had a chance to interview the girl. The Captain of Police went through
+the brothels of Oakland's Chinatown, accompanied by some missionary
+ladies, in order to discover if possible any girls who would
+acknowledge that they wished to come away. Every girl was questioned,
+in the absence of the keepers, and not one, or perhaps only one, said
+she wished to come away. There were some one hundred and fifty Chinese
+slave girls in Oakland at this time, and one might say they all had a
+chance to escape, and of their own will chose to remain. But was that
+the truth? Not at all; the result did not prove at all that one, and
+only one wished to come away. It proved merely that only one was
+inspired with sufficient confidence and courage, after her long,
+hard experience with foreigners, to _say what she wished._ It is the
+universal testimony of all the girls who have been rescued, so we have
+been told, by those who have been engaged in this rescue work for many
+years--that every slave in Chinatown plans and dreams of nothing else
+but of the day when, having served long enough to buy her freedom,
+she will be granted it by her master or mistress, and then she can be
+honorably married. But unless her freedom is purchased for her by some
+lover, the cases are rare, indeed, that a girl is allowed to earn her
+own freedom, though they are kept submissive by constant promises that
+the goal is just ahead of them. A few days after the Oakland papers
+had triumphantly asserted that it had been demonstrated that there was
+not a single slave girl in Chinatown--a statement that everyone
+who had any intelligence on the subject, including the newspapers
+themselves, knew to be false--a lady in mission work received a
+cautious hint in a round-about way that one of the girls she had seen
+when the rounds were made desired to be set at liberty. "How did you
+learn this?" we eagerly and quite naturally asked the missionary.
+She replied that on no account could she tell a human being how the
+intelligence was conveyed to her, as it might cost others very dearly,
+even to the sacrifice of life, if the knowledge leaked out. "But," she
+said, "I will show you the girl and you may talk with her yourselves."
+We gathered from the girl that she was a respectable widow, the mother
+of two children, living with her parents not far from Hong Kong on the
+mainland. As they were very poor, she went to Hong Kong to work at
+sewing to help support the family. An acquaintance there told her
+that she could earn as much as thirty dollars a month at sewing in
+California, and he could secure her passage for her at economical
+cost. She returned to her home and consulted her parents, and they
+thought the chance a good one, so bidding her little ones good bye,
+she returned to Hong Kong and paid for the ticket, being instructed
+that a certain woman would meet her at the wharf at San Francisco whom
+she must claim as her "mother," since the immigration laws were so
+strict that she must pass herself off as the daughter of this woman
+(for this daughter, who was now in China, having lived in the United
+States was entitled to return to her mother). Reader, have you ever
+traveled on another's ticket? If so, or if you have known a professing
+Christian to have done so, do not be too harsh in your judgment of
+this heathen, and declare she deserved the terrible fate that overtook
+her. The "mother" met the sewing-woman, brought her to Oakland, and
+imprisoned her in a horrible den to earn money for her. With utmost
+caution our missionary friend rescued her. The Captain of Police and
+other officers were at hand to help the missionary, and when the girl
+was taken, she struggled frantically and called for help as though
+being kidnaped. Had the policemen been there alone they would have let
+the captors have their slave, believing they had made a mistake. But
+they had not; the missionary knew that; the girl was only thinking
+ahead of the possibility of the plot failing and of falling back into
+the hands of her captors. She must never betray to them, until safely
+out of their clutches, that she _wished_ to come away. She must make
+it appear that she was dragged away against her will. And this is free
+America! Do you wonder that these girls do not tell everybody who asks
+them that they are unwilling captives? Doubtless they would if our
+officers of the law showed their good faith by laying hold of these
+slave dealers. Nothing was done or attempted to punish the horrible
+creatures who captured this girl. They are going on unmolested
+with their nefarious business, though many of them could be easily
+punished. This part of the work--punishing slave-dealers--has never
+been taken up seriously here on the Pacific Coast. And until these
+terrible criminals are immured in prison, most certainly these Chinese
+slave girls will not declare their desire for freedom, for if it were
+granted them they would not be safe--at least they have no reason to
+believe they would be, though there are missions where they would be
+protected. But what reason have they for believing this is the case,
+after the years of training they have had in the perfidy of all those
+with whom they come in contact! Many girls have been rescued on this
+Pacific Coast, by brave missionary workers. But it is to the lasting
+shame of our country that such wicked creatures are allowed to exist
+here to import these slaves. Imprison the importers, and the slaves
+are rescued. That is the short road to freedom. But that was not the
+path pursued by officials in general at Hong Kong, nor is that course
+being pursued in the United States. This sewing woman has been
+returned to her home. Many another woman has at equal peril to herself
+made her complaint and it has fallen upon the deaf ears of officials,
+and the poor slave has had to settle with her masters for her
+fool-hardiness.
+
+Now we will return to Hong Kong, and to past history. We will cite
+just one more case to show something of the reluctance of officials
+there to prosecute the traffickers in human flesh. A Chinaman, Tsang
+San-Fat, petitioned the Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong in regard to
+the custody of his little daughter, whom, "under stress of poverty,"
+he had given away to a man named Leung A-Tsit, the October previous,
+the understanding being that the latter should find her a husband when
+she grew up, and should not send her away to other ports. In May the
+parents learned from A-Sin, employed by Leung A-Tsit, that the latter
+was going to take away the little girl to another place. After taxing
+the man with this, and receiving only excuses in reply, the father
+petitioned that Leung A-Tsit should be prevented from carrying out
+his design. Leung A-Tsit filed a counter-petition, stating that Tsang
+San-Fat, being unable to support a family, handed over to him his
+little daughter, aged six years; that the little girl was to become
+his daughter and to be brought up by him, he paying $23 to the
+parents. He accused the father of trying to extort money from him, and
+appealed for "protection" from "impending calamities." Later, further
+facts came out, showing that the father of the child had borrowed $5
+three years before from Leung A-Tsit, which, with interest at ten
+cents per month for every dollar, now amounted to $23. The September
+before, his creditor came and demanded payment, and when the father
+told him he had no money, and found it very difficult to provide
+for his family, Leung A-Tsit said: "Very well, you can give me your
+daughter instead, and when she is grown up I will find her a husband."
+It was finally agreed that he should have the little girl for $25,
+viz., the $23 already owing, and $2 to the mother as "tea-money." The
+$2 were paid and he took the child away. The mother said: "I was very
+sorry about it and cried." (But mothers have little to say as to the
+disposal of the children they bear in the Orient). The Governor, Sir
+John Pope Hennessy, took a deep interest in this case, when he heard
+of it, regarding it as "an illegal transaction," and urged upon the
+Attorney General, Mr. G. Phillipo, to prosecute, on his behalf, the
+purchaser of the girl, and that both the father of the child and
+Leung A-Tsit be notified that the father was entitled to the child by
+British law, and referring the father to the police magistrate.
+The police magistrate requested of the Colonial Secretary that
+the Attorney General's opinion be obtained, as to what course the
+magistrate should pursue. The final outcome of the case is told by
+Governor Hennessy in a despatch to the Secretary of State for the
+Colonies.
+
+    "I made a minute on the petitions, directing them to be sent to
+    the Attorney General, as 'the parties appear to acknowledge being
+    concerned in an illegal transaction.' In a few days the papers
+    were returned to me with the following opinion of the Attorney
+    General: 'The transaction referred to would not be recognized in
+    our laws as giving any rights, except perhaps as to guardianship,
+    but I am unable to say there is anything illegal in the matter
+    beyond that. I do not think it a criminal offence if it goes no
+    further than the adoption of a child and the payment of money to
+    its parents for the privilege.'"
+
+Later, when His Excellency was calling the attention of Acting
+Attorney General Russell to a somewhat similar case, he states, in
+reference to this above-described case:
+
+    "Mr. Phillipo, before whom the papers were laid, did not seem
+    disposed to enforce the rights of the father, on the ground that
+    he had sold the child. I did not agree with Mr. Phillipo's view of
+    the law."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 8.
+
+JUSTICE FROM THE SUPREME BENCH.
+
+
+On October 6th, 1879, Sir John Smale, the Hon. Chief Justice for Hong
+Kong, passed judgment in three cases on prisoners convicted of various
+degrees of crime connected with the enticing, detaining, buying and
+selling of children. Governor Hennessy, in reporting the remarks made
+by the Chief Justice on that occasion to the Secretary of State for
+the Colonies, pronounced it "an able and elaborate judgment on the
+existence of slavery at Hong Kong."
+
+Said Sir John Smale:
+
+    "Various causes have occasioned delay in passing sentence, of
+    which I will only refer to one: The gravity of the fact that these
+    and other cases have recently brought so prominently to the notice
+    of the Court that two specific classes of slavery exist in this
+    Colony to a very great extent, viz., so-called domestic slavery,
+    and slavery for the purposes of prostitution. The three cases now
+    awaiting the sentence of the Court are specially provided for by
+    Ordinances of 1865 and 1872, prohibiting kidnaping and illegally
+    detaining men, women, and children; and no difficulty ever arose
+    in my mind as to the crimes of which these prisoners are severally
+    convicted, or as to the sentences due to such crimes; and there is
+    no question as to crimes or punishment of cases where women are
+    smuggled into brothels, some licensed and others unlicensed, or
+    otherwise dedicated to immoral purposes. But the enormous extent
+    to which slavery in this Colony has grown up has called into
+    existence a greatly increasing traffic, especially in women and
+    children. The number of Chinamen in this Colony has increased and
+    is increasing rapidly, whilst their great increase in wealth has
+    fostered licentious habits, notably in buying women for purposes
+    sanctioned neither by the laws nor customs on the mainland. I hold
+    in my hand a placard in Chinese, torn down from the wall of the
+    Central School, Cough Street steps, in this city. The translation
+    appears at length in the Hong Kong _Daily Press of_ August
+    15th, 1879. The purport of that translation is shortly that the
+    advertiser, one Cheong, has lost a purchased slave girl named Tai
+    Ho, aged 13 years. After a full description of the girl a reward
+    is offered in these terms:--'If there is in either of the four
+    quarters any worthy man who knows where she is gone to, and will
+    send a letter, he will be rewarded with four full weight dollars,
+    and the person detaining the slave will be rewarded with fifteen
+    full weight dollars.' These words are subsequently added:--'This
+    is firm, and the words will not be eaten.' I recently spoke in
+    reprobation of slavery from this Bench, and in consequence of my
+    remarks a gentleman who tore down this placard gave it to the
+    editor of the _Daily Press_, and in a letter in that paper he
+    stated that such placards are common, and that he had torn down a
+    hundred such placards. Has Cuba or has Peru ever exhibited more
+    palpable, more public evidence of the existence of generally
+    recognized slavery in these hotbeds of slavery, than such placards
+    as the one I now hold in my hand, to prove that slavery exists
+    in this Colony? The notices have been posted in a most populous
+    neighborhood, and have been in all probability read--they ought
+    to have been, they must have been read--by scores of our Chinese
+    policemen.
+
+    "Important as this Colony is, politically and commercially, it is
+    but a dot in the ocean; its area is about half that of the county
+    of Rutland; the circumference of this island is calculated at
+    about 27 miles, whilst that of the Isle of Wight is about 56
+    miles. The cultivated land on this island may be to the barren
+    waste about one-half per cent, and there is no agrarian slavery
+    here in nearly the total absence of farms, and on this dot in the
+    ocean it is estimated that the slave population has reached ten
+    thousand souls! I first became fully alive to the existence of
+    so-called domestic slavery in this Colony at the Criminal Sessions
+    in May last, on the trial of two cases.... But it is said that
+    what is called domestic slavery, as it exists in Hong Kong, is
+    mild, and it is said to be the opinion of a gentleman of great
+    experience in Chinese, that, as it exists here, it is not contrary
+    to the Christian religion, and that it is as general a fashion
+    for Chinese ladies in Hong Kong to purchase one or more girls to
+    attend on them as it is for English ladies to hire ladies'
+    maids, and that the custom is so general that it would be highly
+    impolitic, if not impossible, to put down the system. It may be
+    that slavery as it exists in the houses of the better classes
+    in Hong Kong is mild, and that custom among the better classes
+    renders servitude to them a boon as long as it lasts. It is, I
+    believe, an admitted duty that when the young girl grows up and
+    becomes marriageable she is married; but then it is the custom
+    that the husband buys her, and her master receives the price
+    always paid for a wife, whilst he has received the girl's services
+    for simple maintenance; so that, according to the marriageable
+    excess in the price of the bride over the price he paid for the
+    girl, he is a gainer, and the purchase of the child produces a
+    good return. But the picture has another aspect. What, if the
+    master is brutal, or the mistress jealous, becomes of the poor
+    girl? Certain recent cases show that she is sold to become a
+    prostitute here or at Singapore or in California, a fate often
+    worse than death to the girl, at a highly remunerative price to
+    the brute, the master. It seems to me that all slavery, domestic,
+    agrarian, or for immoral purposes, comes within one and the same
+    category."
+
+Every word uttered on this occasion by Sir John Smale, Chief Justice,
+has value, but it is impossible for us to quote it all. Referring to
+the purchase of kidnaped children from the kidnapers by well-to-do
+Chinese residents of Hong Kong, without effort on the part of these
+purchasers to ascertain from whence the children came, he says:
+
+    "In each of these cases I requested the prosecution of these
+    well-to-do persons, purchasers of these human chattels, who had
+    bought these children, whose money had occasioned the kidnaping,
+    just as a receiver of stolen goods buys stolen property without
+    due or any inquiry to verify the patent lies of the vendors. I
+    have reason to believe that H.E. the Governor was desirous that my
+    request should, if proper, be complied with; but on reference to
+    former cases it appeared that a former Attorney-General had found
+    that the system had been almost if not altogether unchecked for
+    many years past, and that in particular, when His Excellency had
+    desired to enforce the rights of a father to recover his child, he
+    was not disposed to enforce that right because the father had sold
+    that child."
+
+He relates the details of yet another case concerning which he says:
+"I took the responsibility to direct the Acting Attorney General to
+prosecute this man and his wife." But the Attorney General, it seems,
+did not.
+
+"Is it possible that such a being as man can, according to law ...
+become a slave even by his own consent?" asks the Chief Justice.
+"I say it is impossible in law, as Sir R. Phillimore, 1 Phill.,
+International Law, vol. 1, p. 316, has said in a passage I read with
+the most respectful concurrence, but too long for full quotation." "It
+is unnecessary for me to trace how it became the Common Law of England
+that whosoever breathes the air of England cannot be a slave." After
+reference to notable decisions on the part of England's highest
+authorities as to the unlawfulness of slavery; to the claim that
+slavery was secured to the Chinese residents by the promise not to
+interfere with their customs, and reminding his hearers that the
+promise was made only "pending Her Majesty's pleasure"; after quoting
+the Queen's proclamation against slavery at Hong Kong, and the
+assurance in that proclamation that "these Acts will be enforced by
+all Her Majesty's officers, civil and military, within this Colony,"
+he asks:
+
+    "Have all Her Majesty's officers, civil and military, enforced
+    these Acts within this Colony? I think they have not; I confess I
+    have not. Our excuse has been in the difficulty of enforcing these
+    Acts, but mainly in our ignorance of the extent of the evil. What
+    is our duty, now that we know that slavery in its worst as in its
+    best form exists in this dot in the ocean to the extent of say
+    10,000 slaves,--a number probably unexceeded within the same space
+    at any time under the British Crown, and, so far as I believe, the
+    only spot where British law prevails in which slavery in any form
+    exists at the present time?"
+
+Then he deals with the pretext that this slavery is Chinese custom,
+in words we have already quoted in the first chapter of this book. He
+passes on to consider and affirm the propriety of the Chief Justice
+directing the Attorney General to prosecute these cases, and answers
+some of the objections raised by the latter officer, concluding this
+portion of his remarks with the words: "What I have said has been
+said to meet arguments, doubts, and difficulties which have paralyzed
+public opinion and public action here; which arguments, doubts and
+difficulties are the less easy to combat because they have been rather
+hinted at than avowed."
+
+The Chief Justice then sentenced several prisoners for enticing,
+kidnaping or detaining children with intent to sell them into slavery,
+to penal servitude for terms ranging from 18 months to 2 years.
+
+On October 20th, Sir John Smale wrote the Governor:
+
+    "I cannot understand why such classes should as classes increase
+    in this Colony at all, unless it be that (in addition to the
+    Chinese demand for domestic servants and brothels) there be an
+    increased foreign element increasing the demand. I fear that a
+    high premium is obtained by persons who kidnap girls in the high
+    prices which they realize on sale to foreigners as kept women.[A]
+    No one can walk through some of the bye-streets in this Colony
+    without seeing well dressed China girls in great numbers whose
+    occupations are self-proclaimed; or pass those streets, or go into
+    the schools in this Colony, without counting beautiful children
+    by the hundred whose Eurasian origin is self-declared. If the
+    Government would inquire into the present condition of these
+    classes, and still more, into what has become of these women and
+    their children of the past, I believe that it will be found that
+    in the great majority of cases the women have sunk into misery,
+    and that of the children the girls that have survived have been
+    sold to the profession of their mothers, and that, if boys, they
+    have been lost sight of or have sunk into the condition of the
+    mean whites of the late slave-holding states of America. The more
+    I penetrate below the polished surface of our civilization the
+    more convinced am I that the broad undercurrent of life here is
+    more like that in the Southern States of America, when slavery
+    was dominant, than it resembles the all-pervading civilization of
+    England." "My suggestion that the mild intervention of the law
+    should be invoked was ignored. It was also met by the assertion
+    that custom had so sanctioned the evils in this Colony as that
+    they are above the reach of the law, and that by custom the
+    slavery was mild."
+
+[Footnote A: Rather, it would seem in later years, by renting them for
+a monthly stipend.]
+
+The Governor, in a letter to the Colonial Secretary at London about
+this time, informs the Colonial Secretary of his own failure also to
+induce the Attorney General to prosecute cases to which His Excellency
+had called his attention, and furthermore he explains that other
+of his principal executive officers held to the same views as the
+Attorney General.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 9.
+
+THE CHINESE PETITION AND PROTEST.
+
+
+We get additional and valuable light on social conditions at Hong
+Kong, through statements drawn up by prominent Chinese men and laid
+before the Governor. As a representation from the Chinese standpoint
+it has peculiar value at all points excepting where self-interest
+might afford a motive for coloring the truth.
+
+The occasion of these statements was as follows: On November 9, 1878,
+a month before the report of the Commission was published, certain
+Chinese merchants had petitioned the Governor to be allowed to form
+themselves into a society for suppressing kidnaping and trafficking
+in human beings. This petition states that the worst kidnapers are
+"go-betweens and old women who have houses for the detention of
+kidnaped people." They declare that these
+
+    "inveigle virtuous women or girls to come to Hong Kong, at first
+    deceiving them by the promise of finding them employment (as
+    domestic servants), and then proceeding to compel them by force
+    to become prostitutes, or exporting them to a foreign port, or
+    distribute them by sale over the different ports of China, boys
+    being sold to become adopted children, girls being sold to be
+    trained for prostitution." "Your petitioners are of opinion
+    that such wicked people are to be found belonging to any of the
+    [neighboring] districts, but in our district of Tung Kun such
+    cases of kidnaping are comparatively frequent, and all the
+    merchants of Hong Kong, without exception, are expressing their
+    annoyance."
+
+Accompanying the petition was a statement of the situation:
+
+    "Hong Kong is the emporium and thoroughfare of all the neighboring
+    ports. Therefore these kidnapers frequent Hong Kong much, it being
+    a place where it is easy to buy and to sell, and where effective
+    means are at hand to make good a speedy escape. Now, the laws
+    of Hong Kong being based on the principle of the liberty of the
+    person, the kidnapers take advantage of this to further their own
+    plans. Thus they use with their victims honeyed speeches, and give
+    them trifling profits, or they use threats and stern words, all in
+    order to induce them to say they are willing to do so and so. Even
+    if they are confronted with witnesses it is difficult to show up
+    their wicked game.... Kidnaping is a crime to be found everwhere,
+    but there is no place where it is more rife than at Hong Kong....
+    Now it is proposed to publish everywhere offers of reward to track
+    such kidnapers and have them arrested.... The crimes of kidnaping
+    are increasing from day to day."
+
+This proposal on the part of Chinese merchants to form such a society
+was cordially accepted by officials, and the Governor requested that
+two police magistrates, whom he named, the Captain Superintendent of
+Police and Dr. Eitel, should draw up a scheme to check kidnaping, in
+concert with the Chinese petitioners. This committee met, and decided
+that the objects of the "Chinese Society for the Protection of Women
+and Children" should he as follows:
+
+    1. The detection and suppression of kidnapers and kidnaping. 2.
+    The restoration to their homes of women and children decoyed
+    or kidnaped for prostitution, emigration, or slavery. 3. The
+    maintenance of women and children pending investigation and
+    restoration to their homes. 4. Undertaking to marry or set out in
+    life women and children who could not safely be returned home.
+
+At a subsequent meeting of these gentlemen, Mr. Francis, Acting Police
+Magistrate, asked the Chinese merchants present, "If there was of late
+any special _modus operandi_ observed in the proceedings of kidnapers
+differing from what had been observed and known formerly?" To this
+the Chinese gentlemen present replied that "there was indeed a marked
+difference observable in the proceedings of kidnapers of late, because
+they had become acquainted with the loopholes British law leaves open,
+also with the principle of personal freedom jealously guarded by
+British law, and that through this knowledge their proceedings had
+not only become less tangible for the police to deal with, but
+the kidnapers had been emboldened to give themselves a definite
+organization, following a regular system adapted to the peculiarities
+of British and Chinese law, and using regular resorts and depots in
+the suburbs of Hong Kong." In support of this, Mr. Fung Ming-shan laid
+on the table two documents written in Chinese. One of these contained
+a list of 38 different houses in the neighborhood of Sai-ying-pim and
+Tai-ping-shan used by professional kidnapers, whose names are given,
+but whose residence could not be ascertained. The other document
+consists of a list of 41 professional kidnapers whose personalia have
+been satisfactorily ascertained.
+
+The foreign Magistrates present then pointed out to the Chinese
+members of the meeting that one great difficulty the Government
+frequently met in dealing with such cases was the question, what to do
+with women or children found to have been unlawfully sold or kidnaped;
+how to restore them to their lawful guardians in the interior of
+China; how to provide for them in case such women or children had
+actually been sold by their very guardians, who, if the woman or child
+in question were restored to them, would but seek another purchaser;
+how to deal with persons absolutely friendless, etc. The Chinese
+members of the meeting replied that they were prepared to undertake
+this duty. They would employ trustworthy detectives to ascertain the
+family relations of any kidnaped person, who would see to such persons
+being restored to their families upon guarantee being given for proper
+treatment; and in cases where restoration was impossible or not
+advisable, they would take charge of such kidnaped persons, maintain
+them, and eventually see them respectably married. It was then decided
+that the Magistrates present should draw up a succinct statement of
+the provisions of the British law forbidding the sale of persons and
+guaranteeing the liberty of the subject, which should be translated
+into Chinese, and circulated freely in the neighboring districts.
+
+Although the action on the part of the Chinese merchants in forming
+themselves into an organization to put down kidnaping was received
+with much appreciation by the Governor and Secretary of State at
+London, as well as by many of the officials at Hon' Kong, there were
+those who from the first doubted whether the motives of the Chinese in
+thus uniting were wholly disinterested on the part of the majority.
+Such were confirmed in their doubts by the action of these same
+Chinese as soon as Sir John Smale set to work in earnest to
+exterminate slavery, and declared in his court a year later than the
+formation of this Chinese Society:
+
+    "I was given to understand that buying children by respectable
+    Chinamen as servants was according to Chinese customs, and that to
+    attempt to put it down would be to arouse the prejudices of the
+    Chinese.... Humanity is of no party, and personal liberty is to be
+    held the right of every human being under British law.... Whatever
+    the law of China may be, the law of England must prevail here. If
+    Chinamen are willing to submit to the law, they may remain, but
+    on condition of obeying the law, whether it accords with their
+    notions of right or wrong or not; and if remaining they act
+    contrary to the law, they must take the consequences."
+
+Sir John Smale's utterance created intense feeling among these Chinese
+merchants, who at once called upon the Governor to represent their
+views and to protest. The Governor informed them that "slavery in any
+form could not be allowed in the Colony." They protested that their
+system of adoption and of obtaining girls for domestic purposes was
+not slavery; "and they referred to the more immoral practice of buying
+girls for the Hong Kong brothels, which, they alleged, Government
+departments had connived at, though it was a practice most hateful to
+the respectable Chinese." The Governor then asked them for their views
+in writing, and they sent them to him in the form of a memorial,
+containing the following words:
+
+    "Your petitioners are informed that his Lordship, the Chief
+    Justice, after the trial of a case of purchasing free persons for
+    prostitution, said, in the course of his judgment, that buying
+    and selling of girls for domestic servitude was an indictable
+    offense;--which put all native residents of Hong Kong in a state
+    of extreme terror; all great merchants and wealthy residents in
+    the first instance being afraid lest they might incur the risk of
+    being found guilty of a statutory offence, whilst the poor and low
+    class people, in the second instance, feared being deprived of a
+    means to preserve their lives (by selling children to be domestic
+    servants)."
+
+These petitioners claimed:
+
+    That the buying of boys for "adoption" and of girls for domestic
+    servitude, "widely differs from the above-mentioned wicked
+    practices" of kidnaping and buying and selling of girls into
+    brothels.
+
+    That the domestic slaves "are allowed to take their ease and have
+    no hard work to perform," and when they grow up, "they have to be
+    given in marriage."
+
+    That all former Governors had let them alone in the exercise of
+    their "social customs."
+
+    That Governor Elliott had promised them freedom in the exercise of
+    their native customs.
+
+    That infanticide "would be extremely increased if it were entirely
+    forbidden to dispose of children by buying and selling;" parents
+    deprived of the means of keeping off starvation by selling their
+    children would "drift into thiefdom and brigandage."
+
+Following the petition was an elaborate statement on the subject,
+full of subtle arguments, misstatements and perversions, together, of
+course, with some well-put statements, forming ten propositions in
+favor of domestic slavery. Their first claim is not exactly true, as
+even Dr. Eitel, who defended domestic servitude, was bound to declare,
+namely, That Chinese law does not forbid adoption and domestic
+servitude. We have already quoted Sir John Smale's statement of the
+Chinese law, which restricted the adoption of boys to the taking of
+one with the same surname as the family. And as to the buying of girls
+for domestic servitude, though largely _practiced_ in China, yet these
+Chinese merchants could hardly have been ignorant of the fact that it
+was an _illegality_ before the Chinese law. "The reason of this," says
+the Chinese protest, "is the excessive increase of population, and
+the wide extent of poverty and distress." But there was neither
+over-population nor distress at Hong Kong which should necessitate the
+introduction of the practice into that Colony. "If all those practices
+were forbidden, poor and distressed people would have no means left
+to save their lives, but would be compelled to sit down and wait for
+death." In other words, these men would claim that their motives were
+wholly, or largely benevolent in purchasing the children of the poor!
+And what better could the poor do for a living than to beget children
+and sell them into slavery to the rich!
+
+"Whilst all those practices, therefore, may be classed together
+as buying and selling (of free persons), it is yet requisite to
+distinguish carefully the good or wicked purposes which each class of
+practice serve, and accordingly apply discriminately either punishment
+or non-punishment." But anti-slavery legislation has never done this,
+and never will. The question is not to any large extent the comfort or
+misery of the chattel, but the forbidding that one human being should
+be allowed to deal with another _as a chattel_ at all.
+
+This attitude of the Chinese merchants who allied themselves with the
+British officials for the Protection of Women and Children gave no
+omen of good from the very first. Yet from that day to the present
+these men have had a large share in the government of the native
+women of Hong Kong and Singapore, rendering it very difficult ever
+to elevate the standard of womanhood, or to educate Chinese women in
+principles that should be the common inheritance of all who live in a
+so called free country.
+
+The statement continues:
+
+    "Since the last few years many Chinese have brought their
+    property, wives and families to the place, supposing they would
+    be able to live here in peace, and to rejoice in their property.
+    ...Chinese residents of Hong Kong have, therefore, been in
+    the habit of following all native customs which were not a
+    contravention of Chinese statute law [but it seems _this sort_ of
+    buying and selling of human beings is contrary to Chinese law.
+    This is a misrepresentation]. It is said that the whole increase
+    and prosperity of the Colony from its first foundation to the
+    present day is all based on the strength of that invitation which
+    Sir Charles Elliott gave to intending settlers, and that this
+    present intention of applying, all of a sudden, the repressive
+    force of the law to both the practice of buying or selling boys or
+    girls for purposes of adoption or for domestic servitude is not
+    only a violation of the rule of Sir Charles Elliott, but moreover
+    will, it is to be feared, not fail to trouble the people."
+
+They speak of infanticide as an evil that
+
+    "must be classed with evils almost unavoidable. Now if the buying
+    of adoptive children and of servant girls is to be uniformly
+    abolished, it is to be feared that henceforth the practice of
+    infanticide will extremely increase beyond what it ever was. The
+    heinousness of the violation of the great Creator's benevolence,
+    which constitutes infanticide, is beyond comparison with the
+    indulgence granted to the system of buying and selling children to
+    prolong their existence."
+
+As though these benevolent persons only bought slaves for this one
+laudable purpose, to preserve their lives! "As regards the buyers,
+they look upon themselves as affording relief to distressed people,
+and consider the matter as an act akin to charity," etc.
+
+A flood of light is let in upon the matter of the reluctance of
+British officials to move in the putting down of domestic slavery and
+the buying and selling of boys among the natives, in the following
+well-deserved thrust at the weak point in the armor of the British
+officials:
+
+    "The office of the Registrar-General was charged with the
+    superintendence of prostitutes and the licensing of brothels
+    and similar affairs. But _from 80 to 90 per cent of all these
+    prostitutes in Hong Kong were brought into these brothels by
+    purchase, as is well known to everybody_. If buying and selling is
+    a matter of a criminal character, the proper thing would be, first
+    of all, to abolish this evil (brothel slavery). But how comes
+    it that since the first establishment of the Colony down to the
+    present day the same old practice prevails in these licensed
+    brothels, and has never been forbidden or abolished?"
+
+This was a center shot, and calculated to weaken the hands of at
+least the guilty officials. What could they say? Were the officials
+prepared, since the report of the Commission a few months before had
+made public the scandals connected with the licensing and inspection
+of brothels, to set about reforming the abuses by radical measures?
+Certainly the Chief Justice was. He did everything in his power to
+abolish slavery _as slavery_, not simply to abolish slavery when
+unconnected with brothels. But subsequent history seems to indicate
+that, from this point on, the British officials were ready to
+compromise with the Chinese merchants, and the testimony from this
+time forward was well-nigh universal in Hong Kong circles that
+domestic slavery, or "domestic servitude," as Dr. Eitel recommended
+that it should be called instead (since a weed by another name
+may help the imagination to think it a rose), was very "mild" and
+"harmless," and that the adoption of purchased boys was a "religious"
+duty, or at least, had a religious flavor about it, as practiced by
+the Chinese. But as we have already said, that adoption in order to be
+lawful in China must be the adoption of one of the same surname.
+
+On October 27th, 1879, the Chief Justice, at an adjourned sitting
+of the Court for the purpose, sentenced two more offenders, one for
+kidnaping a boy, and the other for detaining a girl with intent to
+sell her. In the first case the Judge said:
+
+    "Received as you had been into the father's house in charity, you
+    availed yourself of the opportunity to steal his child, and tried
+    to sell the child openly, probably having hawked him from door to
+    door. The sentence of the Court on you, Tang Atim, is that you be
+    imprisoned and kept to hard labor for two years, and that you be
+    kept in solitary confinement for a period of one week in every two
+    months of your imprisonment."
+
+Chan Achit, an old woman, convicted of having unlawfully detained a
+female child of 11 years of age, with intent to sell her, was next
+placed in the dock. His Lordship said:
+
+    "The evidence in this case has shown the extraordinary extent to
+    which, under cloak of China custom, the iniquity of dealing in
+    children has extended. From the evidence, I have no doubt that a
+    vagabond clansman to whom the father had occasionally given out of
+    his penury had originated the crime in enticing the child away,
+    and it seems to me to be clear that the prisoner was as well known
+    as a 'broker of mankind' as a receiver of stolen children, to sell
+    them on commission, as receivers of old iron and marine stores
+    could be found in this Colony to dispose of stolen property. The
+    little girl bought and sold, aged 11 years, is a very intelligent
+    child, and described the negotiations for her sale with great
+    clearness."
+
+The Chief Justice then went on to repeat the little girl's testimony
+as to these "brokers of mankind," and the child's knowledge, from
+personal observation of these purchases and sales, to which he adds:
+
+    "Let me here ask, Is the trade, or rather profession, 'broker of
+    mankind,' also a sacred China custom? I will not ask the queries
+    which would naturally arise in case the question were answered in
+    the affirmative. At present, however, I must say that, custom
+    or no custom, the practice of this profession is prohibited by
+    statute, and it is my duty to meet its exercise by punishment."
+
+The prisoner was sentenced to two years' penal servitude. The Chief
+Justice concluded his remarks on that occasion by replying to the
+statements made in the Chinese petition.
+
+He called attention to the Chinese resting their claim on the
+temporary promise of Governor Elliott in 1841; of the fact that
+they ignored the proclamation of the Queen in 1845. He said that
+infanticide was also a Chinese custom in the same sense that slavery
+was, on the words of the petition:
+
+    "Amongst the Chinese there has hitherto been the custom of
+    drowning their daughters. The Chinese threaten the increase of
+    this 'custom' of drowning children if their sale is put down....
+    I can only say that in case father, mother, or relative were
+    convicted of infanticide, Chinese custom would be no protection,
+    and, unless I am grievously mistaken, the presiding judge would
+    have no alternative but to sentence the perpetrator to death ...
+    the one custom is tolerated just as the other custom is tolerated,
+    and both alike or neither must be claimed as sanctioned by
+    Governor Elliott's proclamation. All remedies which ever existed
+    by common law or by statute in England up to 1845 against
+    ownership of human beings, against every form of slavery, extend
+    by their own proper force and authority to Hong Kong; and, if
+    that were not enough, all English laws applicable to Hong Kong,
+    including those against ownership in human beings, were by express
+    Ordinances 6 of 1845, and 12 of 1873, embodied into the laws
+    of Hong Kong, whilst the worst forms of slavery are especially
+    punished by Ordinance 4 of 1865, and 2 of 1875. I am bound by
+    my most solemn obligations to enforce all these laws. I must,
+    therefore, without fear, favour or affection, discharge this duty
+    to the best of my ability."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 10.
+
+NOT FALLEN--BUT ENSLAVED.
+
+
+The Report of the Commission affords the following instructive
+account of the difference in the moral and social status between the
+prostitute of the East and West:
+
+    "In approaching the subject of prostitution, as it is found in
+    Hong Kong at the present day, it is absolutely necessary for a
+    full and just comprehension of it, to keep in mind two distinct
+    considerations. One is the almost total identity of the whole
+    system of prostitution, which since times immemorial is an
+    established institution all over the large empire of China. The
+    other point to be kept in mind is the radical difference
+    which distinguishes the personal character, the life and the
+    surroundings of Chinese prostitutes from all that is
+    characteristic of the prostitutes of Europe." ... "At the present
+    day the Chinese prostitutes of Hong Kong have but very little to
+    distinguish them, either in the past, present, or future of their
+    personal lives, or in their position and surroundings, from
+    the prostitutes of the 18 provinces of China.... Those of the
+    prostitutes of Hong Kong who are inmates of brothels licensed for
+    foreigners only, or who live in sly brothels for foreigners,
+    have adopted a different style of dress, but are otherwise in no
+    essential point differently situated from prostitutes in China,
+    except that the inmates of brothels licensed for foreigners are
+    subject to compulsory medical examination, and consequently far
+    more despised by their countrymen and even other prostitutes."
+
+    "Prostitutes in Europe are, as a general rule, fallen women,
+    the victims of seduction, or possibly of innate vice. Being the
+    outcasts of society, and having little, if any, prospect of being
+    again admitted into decent and respectable circles of life,
+    deprived also of their own self-respect as well as the regards
+    of their relatives, occasionally even troubled with qualms of
+    conscience, they mostly dread thinking of their future, and seek
+    oblivion in excesses of boisterous dissipation. The Chinese
+    prostitutes of Hong Kong are an entirely different set of
+    people.... Very few of them can be called fallen women; scarcely
+    any of them are the victims of seduction, according to the English
+    sense of the term, refined or unrefined. The great majority of
+    them are owned by professional brothel-keepers or traders in women
+    in Canton or Macao, have been brought up for the profession, and
+    trained in various accomplishments suited to brothel life.... They
+    frequently know neither father nor mother, except what they call
+    a 'pocket-mother,' that is, the woman who bought them from
+    others.... They feel of course that they are the bought property
+    of their pocket-mother or keeper, but they know also that this is
+    the feeling of almost every other woman in China, liable as each
+    is to be sold, by her own parents or relatives, to be the wife or
+    concubine of a man she never sets eyes on before the wedding day,
+    or liable, as the case may be, to be pledged or sold, by her
+    parents or relatives, to serve as a domestic slave in a strange
+    family.... They have the chance, if they are pretty and
+    accomplished, of being wooed ... and they may look forward with
+    tolerable certainty to being made the second, or third, or fourth,
+    or at any rate the favorite wife of some wealthy gentleman. If
+    not possessed of special attractions or wealthy lovers, they look
+    forward to being taken out of the brothel by an honest devoted man
+    to share the lot of a poor man's wife. Or they may endeavor to
+    save money by singing, music and prostitution combined, and not
+    only to purchase their freedom, but to set up for themselves,
+    buying, rearing, and selling girls to act as servants or
+    concubines or prostitutes, or they may finally come to keep
+    brothels as managers for wealthy capitalists or speculators. There
+    is further a certain proportion of prostitutes in Hong Kong who
+    have, by the hand of their own parents or husbands, been mortgaged
+    or sold into temporary servitude as prostitutes, or who of their
+    own will and accord act as prostitutes under personal agreement
+    with a brothel-keeper, for a definite advance of a sum of money,
+    required to rescue the family, or some member of it, from some
+    great calamity or permanent ruin."
+
+    "There is, however, one class of women in Hong Kong who can
+    scarcely be called prostitutes, and who have no parallel either in
+    China, outside the Treaty Ports, or in Europe. They are generally
+    called 'protected women.' They may originally have come forth from
+    one or other of the above-mentioned classes of prostitutes, or may
+    be the offspring of protected women...."
+
+The Report describes the situation of the "protected woman" in the
+following terms:
+
+    "She resides in a house rented by her protector, who lives
+    generally in another part of the town; she receives a fixed salary
+    from her protector, and sublets every available room to individual
+    sly prostitutes, or to women keeping a sly brothel, no visitor
+    being admitted unless he have some introduction or secret
+    pass-words. If an inspector of brothels attempts to enter, he
+    is quietly informed that this is not a brothel, but the private
+    family residence of Mr. So and So.... This system makes the
+    suppression of sly brothels an impossibility.... The principal
+    points of difference between the various classes of Chinese
+    prostitutes of Hong Kong and the prostitutes of Europe amount
+    therefore to this, that Chinese prostitution is essentially
+    a bargain in money and based on a national system of female
+    slavery."
+
+    "It must not be supposed, however, from what is said above, that
+    the Chinese, as a people, view prostitution as a matter of moral
+    indifference. On the contrary, the literature, the religions,
+    the laws and the public opinion of China, all join in condemning
+    prostitution as immoral, and in co-operation to keep it under a
+    certain check. The literature of the Confucianists, which, as
+    regards purity and utter absence of immoral suggestions, stands
+    unrivalled by any other nation in the world, does not countenance
+    prostitution in any form.... The laws and public opinion ... agree
+    in keeping prostitution rigidly out of sight. Although the Chinese
+    are a Pagan nation, they have no deification of vice in their
+    temples, no indecent shows in their theatres, no orgies in their
+    houses of public entertainment, no parading of lewd women in their
+    streets.... In short, as far as outward and public observation
+    goes, China presents a more virtuous appearance than most European
+    countries."
+
+The report goes on to show that nevertheless the practice of polygamy,
+
+    "leaving the childless concubines liable to be sold or sent adrift
+    at any moment, the law of inheritance neglecting daughters in
+    favour of sons," and "the universal practice of buying and selling
+    females combined with the system of domestic servitude," makes
+    the suppression of prostitution difficult. "This intermixture of
+    female slavery with prostitution has been noticed in Hong Kong at
+    the very time when the Legislature first attempted to deal with
+    Chinese prostitution."
+
+We now understand the nature of this wretched form of slavery as
+carried on at Hong Kong. There did not exist a class of women brought
+to the pitiable plight of prostitution by the wiles of the seducer, or
+through the mishap of a lapse from virtue, after which all doors
+to reform are practically closed against such, as in Western
+civilization, nor were there those known to have fallen through innate
+perversity; but such as existed among the Chinese were literal
+slaves, in the full sense of that word. From the standpoint of these
+officials, for the most part, prostitution was necessary. This was
+plainly declared in many official documents. The fact that they
+licensed brothels proves also that prostitution was considered
+necessary. And since necessary, if the means failed whereby brothels
+in the Occident are maintained, then they must be maintained by
+Oriental means,--which was slavery. Under such circumstances, to
+license prostitution meant, from the very nature of the case, to
+license slavery. To encourage prostitution, as it always is encouraged
+by the Contagious Diseases Acts, meant to encourage slavery. Hence
+they reasoned, and declared--to use the language of the Registrar
+General, Cecil C. Smith--that it was "useless to try and deal with
+the question of the freedom of Chinese prostitutes by law or by
+any Government regulation. From all the surroundings the thing is
+impracticable."
+
+It must be admitted that the conditions at Hong Kong favored the
+development of social impurity. From the moment of British occupation,
+and before, in fact, there were at that place large numbers of
+unmarried soldiers and sailors, many of very loose morals; also
+many men in civil and military positions as officials, and numerous
+merchants, etc., most of them separated far from their families and
+the restraints that surrounded them at home. On the Chinese side,
+there were men accustomed to deal with their women as chattels,
+willing to sell them to the foreigners.
+
+But we need to inquire a little further into the matter before
+conceding that because a thing will almost inevitably take place,
+therefore it is best to license it in order to keep it within bounds.
+The superficial sophist says: "Prostitution always has existed and
+always will exist. Painful as the fact is, such is the frailty of
+human nature. You cannot make men moral by act of parliament, and it
+is foolish to try. We will have to license the thing, and thus control
+it as best we can. That is the only practical way to deal with this
+evil." Such reasoning as this exhibits the most confused notions as to
+the nature of law.
+
+No law is ever enacted except with the expectation that an offense
+against it will take place. Law anticipates transgression as much as
+license; but law provides a _check_ upon offenses and license provides
+an _incitement_ to them. "The law was not made for a righteous man,
+but for the lawless and disobedient." Have not murder and stealing
+always existed? Are they not likely to exist in spite of laws against
+them, so long as human nature remains so frail? Then why not license
+_them_ in order to keep _them_ under control? It is perfectly apparent
+to all that to license murder and stealing; would be the surest way of
+allowing them to get quickly beyond control. "But you cannot make men
+moral by act of parliament, and it is foolish to try; to put a man in
+jail will not change him from a thief into an honest man." "But," you
+reply, "we do not punish men for stealing and for murder for their own
+good, but for the good of the community at large." Certainly. Then
+what becomes of the argument that because men will not become pure by
+act of parliament they are to be allowed to commit their depredations
+unmolested? The primary object of law is not reformatory but
+protective,--for the victims of lawlessness.
+
+Our great Law-Giver, Jesus Christ, admitted a certain necessity of
+evil, but He did not say, "therefore license it, to keep it within
+bounds." He said, "It _must needs be_ that offenses come." But His
+remedy for keeping the offenses within bounds was, "woe to that man by
+whom the offense cometh." As inevitably as the offense was committed
+so invariably must the punishment fall on the offender's head. That
+is the only way to keep any evil within bounds. This is the principle
+that underlies all law.
+
+These Hong Kong officials who believed in the licensing of brothel
+slavery and brought it about, have much to say about the "unfortunate
+creatures" who were the victims of men. But if the advocate of license
+is self-deceived in his attitude toward this social evil, we need not
+be deceived in him. One does not propose a license as a remedy for an
+evil, except as led to that view by secret sympathy with the evil.
+A license of an evil is never proposed excepting upon the mental
+acquiescence in that evil.
+
+British officials who licensed immoral houses at Hong Kong did not
+wish the libertine to be disturbed in his depredations. The Chinese
+merchants were able to see this fact if those officials were not ready
+to admit it even to themselves. They knew how to throw a stone that
+would secure their own glass houses. Hence they said in their memorial
+to the Governor:
+
+    "From 80 to 90 per cent of all these prostitutes in Hong Kong were
+    brought into these [licensed] brothels by purchase, as is well
+    known to everybody. If buying and selling is a matter of criminal
+    character the proper thing would be first of all, to abolish this
+    evil (connected with the brothels). But how comes it that since
+    the first establishment of the Colony down to the present day the
+    same old practice prevails in these licensed brothels, and has
+    never been forbidden or abolished?"
+
+It is to be noted that none of the officials at Hong Kong accused the
+Chinese merchants of slander in saying that from 80 to 90 per cent of
+the thousands of prostitutes in the Colony were absolute slaves. The
+Government was placed in a very awkward position by this challenge on
+the part of the Chinese. How could a Government that held slaves in
+its licensed brothels forbid Chinese residents holding slaves in their
+homes? But the Governor did not propose to be compromised. He wrote to
+the Secretary of State at London: "I believe I only anticipate your
+instructions, in giving orders that the law, whatever may be the
+consequences to the brothel system, should be strictly enforced so as
+to secure the freedom of the women." But he reckoned without his host.
+The Secretary of State did not stand by the Governor. So far as the
+records show, the Governor and Chief Justice stood alone, his entire
+Executive Council taking the opposing side. What was to be done?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 11.
+
+THE MAN FOR THE OCCASION.
+
+
+Consistency demanded that either the brothel system at Hong Kong
+should be abolished, or domestic slavery and so-called "adoption"
+should be tolerated. No other courses were open. In his perplexity,
+the Governor asked his learned Chinese interpreter, Dr. Eitel, to give
+him further light as to this domestic slavery and "adoption" prevalent
+among the Chinese. This request was granted in a document entitled
+"Domestic servitude in relation to slavery." Dr. Eitel's main points
+were:
+
+    Slavery as known to the Westerner "has always been an incident of
+    race." "Slavery, therefore, has such a peculiar meaning ... that
+    one ought to hesitate before applying the term rashly" to Chinese
+    domestic slavery. Slavery in China grows out of the fact that the
+    father has all power, even to death, over his family. The father,
+    on the other hand, "has many duties as well as rights." Therefore
+    his power over his family "is not a mark of tyranny, but of
+    religious unity." "Few foreigners have comprehended the extent of
+    social equality, ... the amount of influence which woman, bought
+    and sold as she is, really has in China,... the depth of domestic
+    affection, of filial piety, of paternal care." "To deal justly
+    with the slavery of China, we ought to invent another name for
+    it." "The law, although sanctioning the sale of children for
+    purposes of adoption within each clan, and even without, is here
+    in advance of public opinion, as it expressly allows, by an edict,
+    ... the sale of children only to extremely poor people in times
+    of famine, and forbids even in that case re-sale of a child once
+    bought."
+
+This last admission on the part of Dr. Eitel, a fact already pointed
+out by Sir John Smale, seems to us to clearly demonstrate that a
+pretext was now being sought to justify at Hong Kong a state of things
+as to slavery that the laws of China forbade and which in no wise
+could be justified as Chinese "custom." "The reason for this immense
+demand for young female domestics lies in the system of polygamy which
+obtains all over the empire, and which has a religious basis." By this
+he means that it is from the Chinese standpoint a religious duty for
+a father to leave a son, upon his death, to continue the family
+sacrifices. Therefore if the father has no son by his first wife, he
+will "take a second or third or fourth wife until he procures a son."
+"A family being in urgent distress, and requiring immediately a
+certain sum of money, take one of their female children, say five
+years old ... to a wealthy family, where the child becomes a member of
+the family, and has, perhaps, to look after a baby.... But the child
+may be sold out and out. In that case invariably a deed is drawn up."
+And this is the state of things concerning which Dr. Eitel says: "Few
+foreigners have comprehended the extent of social equality ... the
+amount of influence which woman, bought and sold as she is, really
+has in China ... the depth of domestic affection, of filial piety, of
+parental care," etc.
+
+He adds:
+
+    "Considering the deep hold which this system has on the Chinese
+    people, it is not to be wondered at that Chinese can scarcely
+    comprehend how an English judge could come to designate this
+    species of domestic servitude as 'slavery.' On the contrary,
+    intelligent Chinese look upon this system as the necessary and
+    indispensable complement of polygamy, as an excellent counter
+    remedy for the deplorably wide-spread system of infanticide, and
+    as the natural consequence of the chronic occurrence of famines,
+    inundations, and rebellions in an over-populated country. But the
+    abuses to which this system of buying and selling female children
+    is liable, in the hands of unscrupulous parents and buyers, and
+    the support it lends to public prostitution, are too patent facts
+    to require pointing out."
+
+    "The moment we examine closely into Chinese slavery and
+    servitude," declares Dr. Eitel, "from the standpoint of history
+    and sociology, we find that slavery and servitude have, with
+    the exception of the system of eunuchs, lost all barbaric and
+    revolting features." (!) "As this organism has had its certain
+    natural evolution, it will as certainly undergo in due time a
+    natural dissolution, which in fact has at more than one point
+    already set in. But no legislative or executive measures taken in
+    Hong Kong will hasten this process, which follows its own course
+    and its own laws laid down by a wise Providence which happily
+    overrules for the good all that is evil in the world."
+
+There was, indeed, a certain justice in defending the Chinese as
+against the foreigner, on Dr. Eitel's part. But two wrongs do not make
+a right. From this time onward, the word of sophistry is put in
+the mouth of the advocate of domestic slavery, just as the word of
+sophistry had been put in the mouth of the advocate of the Contagious
+Diseases Ordinance. Mr. Labouchere had spoken of the latter as a means
+of protection' for the poor slaves, and the expression, 'protection,'
+has been kept prominently to the front ever since Dr. Eitel suggested,
+likewise, not a change in the conditions, but a change in the name by
+which they were known. Let it be called 'domestic _servitude_' instead
+of 'domestic _slavery_.' All the advocates of this domestic slavery
+from that time have called the noxious weed by the sweeter name.
+
+Governor Hennessey asked the opinion of others of his officials. One
+Acting Police Magistrate replied 'When the servant girls (or slaves
+girls, as some prefer to term them) in the families in this Colony are
+contented with their lot, and their parents do not claim them, the
+police cannot be expected to interfere.' Another said 'Buying and
+selling children by the Chinese has been considered a harmless
+proceeding, its only effect being to place the purchaser under a legal
+and moral obligation to provide for the child until the seller chose
+to repudiate the bargain, which he could always do under English law.'
+
+The Attorney General, Mr. O'Malley, when asked (at a later period) his
+opinion as to the utterances Sir John Smale had made from time to time
+on the subject of slavery, replied to the Governor
+
+    "With regard to Sir John Smale's observation, I know that
+    difficulties national, social, official and financial beset the
+    Government in reference to the special questions I have raised,
+    I have only to observe that I have never heard of those
+    difficulties. My own impression is that the respectable parts
+    of the community, Chinese as well as European, including the
+    Government and the police, are fully alive to the brothel and
+    domestic servitude systems, and as well informed as Sir John Smale
+    himself as to the real facts. One would suppose from the tone
+    of his pamphlet that he stood alone in his perception and
+    denunciation of evil. But I believe the fact is that the Executive
+    and the community generally are quite as anxious is he is to
+    insist upon practical precautions necessary to prevent the abuses,
+    and to diminish the evils naturally connected with these systems,
+    but they look for this to practical securities and not to
+    declamation. The obvious line of practical suggestions to take is
+    that of careful registration and constant inspection of brothels,
+    so that full and frequent opportunity may be given to all persons
+    whose freedom may be open to suspicion to know their legal
+    position, and to assert their liberty if they like ...
+    Particularly it might be thought right to create a system of
+    registration applicable to domestic servants and strangers in
+    family houses. It would be a good thing if Sir John Smale would
+    place at the disposal of the Government (as I believe he has never
+    yet done) any facts connected with the brothel system or the
+    domestic servitude of which he possesses any real knowledge."
+
+This letter gives us some conception of the almost insuperable
+difficulties Sir John Smale had to encounter in his endeavor to put
+down slavery, for not a case could come up in the Superior Court for
+conviction on the Judge's information, of course, for that would
+be assuming both prosecuting and judicial powers, and the men who
+occupied in turn that office, during Sir John Smale's incumbency,
+refused to act in unison with him, and this Attorney General's
+language betrays hot prejudice, lack of candor as regarded the facts,
+and insolence toward Sir John Smale.
+
+The Attorney General has a fling at the Chief Justice as
+"impracticable," yet the only practical suggestion that the former
+makes in his letter as to how to meet the conditions he seems to have
+taken from Sir John Smale's own words upon which he was asked to
+express an opinion. The Chief Justice had said:
+
+    "I think the evils complained of might be lessened,--(1) By a
+    better registration of the inmates of brothels, and by frequently
+    bringing them before persons to whom they might freely speak as to
+    their position and wishes, and by such authoritative interference
+    with the brothel-keepers as should keep them well in fear of
+    exercising acts of tyranny. (2) By a stringently enforced register
+    of all inmates of Chinese dwelling-houses, &c., (at least of all
+    servants) with full inquiry into the conditions of servitude, and
+    an authoritative restoration of unwilling servants to freedom from
+    servitude. This would apply to 10,000 (according to Dr. Eitel
+    20,000) bond servants in Hong Kong."
+
+The injustice of the attack of the Attorney General upon Sir John
+Smale was not ignored by Governor Hennessy, when he forwarded Mr.
+O'Malley's letter to London. He said:
+
+    "The apparent difference between Mr. O'Malley's views on brothel
+    slavery and the views of Sir John Smale is due to the fact that
+    Sir John Smale knew that the real brothel slavery exists in the
+    brothels where Chinese women are provided for European soldiers
+    and sailors, whereas Mr. O'Malley, in discarding the use of the
+    word slavery, does so on the assumption that all the Hong Kong
+    brothels form a part of the Chinese social system, and that the
+    girls naturally and willingly take to that mode of earning a
+    livelihood. This is a misconception of the actual facts, for
+    though the Hong Kong brothels, where Chinese women meet Chinese
+    only, may seem to provide for such women what Mr. O'Malley calls
+    'a natural and suitable manner of life' consistent with a part of
+    the Chinese social system, it is absolutely the reverse in those
+    Hong Kong brothels where Chinese women have to meet foreigners
+    only. Such brothels are unknown in the social system of China. The
+    Chinese girls who are registered by the Government for the use of
+    Europeans and Americans, detest the life they are compelled
+    to lead. They have a dread and abhorrence of foreigners, and
+    especially of the foreign soldiers and sailors. _Such girls are
+    the real slaves in Hong Kong._"
+
+We underscore the last sentence as a most painful fact in the history
+of the dealings of the British officials with the native women of
+China, set forth on the authority of the Governor of Hong Kong, who,
+with the help of Sir John Smale, the Chief Justice, waged such a
+fearless warfare against slavery under the British flag, with such
+unworthy misrepresentation and opposition on the part of the other
+officials equally responsible with them in preserving the good name of
+their country, and in defending rather than trampling upon its laws.
+Governor Hennessy continues
+
+    "To drive Chinese girls into such brothels [i.e., those for the
+    use of foreigners] was the object of the system of informers which
+    Mr. C. C. Smith for so many years conducted in this Colony,
+    and which in his evidence before the Commission on the 3rd of
+    December, 1877, he defended on the ground of its necessity in
+    detecting unlicensed houses, but which your Lordship [Lord
+    Kimberley, Secretary of State for the Colonies] has now justly
+    stigmatized as a revolting abuse. On another point the Attorney
+    General also seems not to appreciate fully what he must have heard
+    Sir John Smale saying from the Bench in the Supreme Court. It
+    would be a mistake to think that the Chief Justice had not before
+    he left the Colony, realized the public opinion of the Chinese
+    community on the subject of kidnaping. In sentencing a prisoner
+    for kidnaping, on the 10th of March, 1881, Sir John Smale said he
+    was bound to declare from the Bench that, to the credit of the
+    Chinese, a right public opinion had been growing up, and on the
+    25th of March, 1881, (the last occasion when Sir John Smale spoke
+    in the Supreme Court of Hong Kong), he said, in a case in
+    which the kidnapers had been convicted--This case presents two
+    satisfactory facts first, that a Chinese boat woman handed one of
+    these prisoners to the police, and that afterward an agent of the
+    Chinese Society to suppress this class of crime caused the arrest
+    and conviction of these prisoners. These facts are indicative of
+    the public mind tending to treat kidnaping as a crime against
+    society, calling for active suppression. On the same occasion, in
+    sentencing a woman who had severely beaten an adopted child, Sir
+    John Smale said, 'In finally disposing of these three cases, with
+    all their enormity, sources of satisfaction present themselves in
+    the fact that, in each of these cases, it has been owing to the
+    spontaneous indignation of Chinese men and women that these crimes
+    have been brought to the knowledge of the police.' The Governor
+    closes his letter with the statement, 'It is only due to Sir John
+    Smale to add that his own action has greatly contributed to foster
+    the "healthy" public opinion of the native community, which
+    induced him, when quitting the Supreme Court, to take a hopeful
+    view of the future of this important subject.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 12.
+
+THE CHIEF JUSTICE ANSWERS HIS OPPONENTS.
+
+
+The Acting Attorney General at the time of Sir John Smale's first
+pronouncement against slavery had suggested to Governor Hennessy that
+Sir John Smale's statements should be sent to London to the Secretary
+of State for the Colonies; and he and other advisers recommended that
+no prosecutions in connection with "adoption" and "domestic servitude"
+should be instituted, pending the receipt of instructions from the
+Home Government. The Chief Justice concurred in these views, and also
+suggested that the Chinese be told that no prosecutions as to the past
+should take place, but that in future, in every case where _buying and
+selling_ occurred in connection with adoption or domestic service, the
+Government would undoubtedly prosecute.
+
+The replies that came from the Secretary of State indicated scant
+sympathy with Sir John Smale's position. His action was likely to
+disturb the system of regulation of vice at Hong Kong, and these
+health measures were in high repute with that official at London. He
+could not sympathize with the Governor's view that laws securing the
+freedom of the women were to be executed, whatever the result to the
+brothel system. He wrote in reply as though Sir John Smale had said
+many things that had not been put in the same light, demanded to know
+what law could be put into operation to improve conditions, and wished
+to know if Sir John Smale accepted Dr. Eitel's views on "domestic
+servitude," and later he wrote pronouncing the views expressed in the
+insolent attack of Mr. O'Malley upon Sir John Smale's anti-slavery
+pronouncements as "well considered and convincing." He also referred
+to the "humane intentions" of Mr. Labouchere in the passing of the
+Contagious Diseases Ordinance of Sir John Bowring's time, which "were
+intended to ameliorate the condition of the women." But it does not so
+much concern us what the officials in London did and said, excepting
+at the one point, namely, that they did not at this time back the
+noble efforts of the Governor and of Sir John Smale to put down
+slavery, and so rendered it practically impossible for them to
+accomplish what they wished to do. The replies from Sir John Smale
+are, however, of much value to us, as throwing light upon social
+conditions at Hong Kong. On August 26, 1880, Sir John Smale replied in
+a letter meant for the Secretary of State at London, but sent in due
+form to the Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong for forwarding:
+
+    "My observations in Court arose out of cases of kidnaping;
+    and, according to the practices of judges in England, in their
+    addresses to the Grand Juries, and on sentencing prisoners, I did
+    as I thought it my duty to do. I traced the cause of the kidnaping
+    to the demand for domestic bond servants, as Dr. Eitel calls them,
+    and for brothels ... I said on the 7th of October I expressly
+    indicate these two, and these two only, as the specific classes of
+    slavery in Hong Kong as then rapidly increasing ... I cannot find
+    a sentence in it which indicates any attempt by the Court to reach
+    criminally cases of concubines."
+
+    "All that I contended for in what I then said beyond punishing
+    kidnapers was to bring within the cognizance of the law those
+    who bought from such kidnapers,--the receivers of such stolen
+    'chattels,'--leaving such buyers to set up and prove a
+    justification if they could."
+
+    "On the 31st of March, 1880, prisoners in four cases of
+    kidnaping,--one most harrowing,--were sentenced. I there lamented,
+    and I am sure every right-minded man will concur with me, that
+    it was the fact that the very poor were punished and the rich
+    escaped. In that case it clearly appeared that one Leong Ming
+    Aseng, apparently a respectable tradesman, at all events a man of
+    means, had given $60 for a young girl aged 13 years, to one of the
+    kidnapers, and he took her away beyond the reach of her distracted
+    mother under circumstances from which he must have known that the
+    child had been kidnaped. But although the facts were known at the
+    Police Court, and this man remained exceeding ten days afterward
+    in the Colony, no charge was ever made against him. After passing
+    sentences at this time, I made some observations on the '_patria
+    potestas_' [power of the father] theory. Dr. Eitel having painted
+    this condition in China in what I thought too favorable colors,
+    I quoted from Doolittle's 'Social Life in China,' unquestioned
+    testimony as to what _patria potestas_ was in China before the
+    controversy now raised, and from Mr. Parker, Her Britannic
+    Majesty's Consul at Canton, as to its present state in China.
+    After these quotations, I simply asked, Can greater tyranny, more
+    unchecked caprice, be described or even conceived as inexcusable
+    over wife, concubine, child, or purchased or inherited
+    slave?'--the quotations I made being up to this time undisputed
+    ... what I said was necessary to introduce the expression of my
+    conviction ... that none of the elements of the system of _patria
+    potestas_ exist in Hong Kong, including of course adoption. It is
+    to this conviction that I point as the moral ground for enforcing
+    English law against kidnaping and buying and selling human beings.
+    The gravamen of all my complaints is, that the pauper kidnapers
+    and sellers are punished, while the rich buyers go free. No case
+    can come on for trial in this Court except upon an information by
+    the Attorney-General. I have called on the Attorney-General of the
+    day to prosecute a man against whom there was evidence that the
+    boy he was keeping as a servant had been bought by him direct from
+    a kidnaper. The then Attorney-General exercised his discretion,
+    and did not prosecute." "There are no difficulties in the way of
+    carrying out the punishment of kidnaping, and sellers and buyers
+    of children, or of keeping children by the purchasers, or in
+    selling and buying of women for brothels, or in dealing with
+    cases of brutal bondage." "I have spoken from criminal facts and
+    circumstances deposed to in Court; the Chinese and Dr. Eitel have
+    spoken from the favorable surroundings of respectable domestic
+    life in China. The conflicting views thus presented are but a
+    reproduction of conflicting testimony in reference to negro
+    slavery in the West Indies, and more lately in the United States.
+    Very benevolent persons, some my own friends, looking at facts
+    from the respectable standpoint, thought that such slavery was
+    based on human nature, and conduced to the spread of Christianity.
+    But the contrary view prevailed. I am quite satisfied that the
+    right view on this question will ultimately prevail. As a man I
+    have very decided views on these subjects, but as a judge I feel
+    it is not for me further to debate them. I expressly retired from
+    doing so on the 27th of October, 1879, although I thought it
+    necessary in March last to comment on what I thought to be an
+    erroneous view of the _patria potestas_."
+
+Later, in response to a suggestion on the part of the Governor, for a
+more explicit statement as to wherein his views differ from those of
+the Chinese and of Dr. Eitel, the Chief Justice says, among other
+things:
+
+    "I do not admit the statements of Dr. Eitel. They do not apply
+    to Hong Kong, but they may, and probably do, apply to certain
+    respectable classes in China proper, where China family life
+    proper exists. What I assert is that family life does not, in the
+    proper Chinese sense, exist in Hong Kong, and that although, under
+    certain very restricted conditions, the buying and selling, and
+    adopting and taking as concubines, boys and girls in China proper,
+    is permitted as exceptions to the penalties inflicted by Chinese
+    law in China proper, these conditions do not exist in Hong Kong;
+    and that the conditions necessary to these exceptions in their
+    favor in the Chinese Criminal Code do not exist in Hong Kong,
+    and that the penalties would apply, if in China, to all such
+    transactions as I have denounced in Hong Kong, of that I have no
+    doubt. Dr. Eitel's vindication is of a system as recognized in an
+    express exception to the Penal Code in China proper, which may,
+    for aught I know, work well in China. What I have said is that the
+    practices in Hong Kong do not come within the cases which are only
+    the exception to the penal enactments in the Chinese Code against
+    all such bondage in China. I have never said ... that all buying
+    and selling of children for adoption or domestic service is
+    contrary to Chinese law. What I have said is that all such buying
+    and selling of children as has come within my cognizance in Hong
+    Kong is contrary to Chinese law; but I do think that buying and
+    selling even for adoption and domestic servitude under the best
+    circumstances, constitutes slavery; legal according to Chinese
+    law, but illegal according to British law. Reference is made to
+    Chinese gentlemen; I believe that not one of them has his 'house'
+    in Hong Kong; the wife (small-footed) is kept at the family home
+    in China. Each of them has his harem only in Hong Kong. There may
+    be an exception to this rule, but I have never heard of any such
+    exception. (I know of only one, of a Chinese gentleman, who, for
+    certain reasons, was afraid to return to China.) ... I have not
+    known a single case of adoption by a Chinaman in Hong Kong. They
+    may exist in China proper, and possibly in Hong Kong ... They are
+    not in China proper a sacred religious obligation, except in
+    rare cases indeed, in which the conditions of clanship and other
+    stringent conditions are precisely complied with; and they have
+    as much to do with the necessities of the poor, and no more, than
+    would be the case in England or Ireland in the time of a famine.
+    These Chinese gentlemen say that the children are well cared for.
+    If girls eligible for marriage or concubinage, they are sold for
+    that, and form a profitable investment to a Chinese gentleman.
+    If not so eligible, they are sold for any, even the worst
+    purpose,--brothels, according to my experience in the Criminal
+    Courts of Hong Kong. If the former, it may be that they do well;
+    but if the latter, no slavery is worse. This as to females. And
+    as to males, the purchaser holds them until they can redeem
+    themselves, and, according to my experience, generally never.
+    Again, the Chinese gentlemen allege that if the adoptive parent or
+    master does not do his duty the actual parents have their remedy.
+    The answer is, so far as Hong Kong is concerned, the far greater
+    number of actual parents are far away in China, have entirely lost
+    sight of the child, and are far too poor to seek a remedy in Hong
+    Kong. They would have a remedy, if they were present and knew it,
+    but they do not know that there is a remedy. They had their remedy
+    from the first in China proper. Well, a remedy in the Mandarin
+    Court, where the longest purse prevails, and into which a poor man
+    seldom dares to enter a complaint."
+
+    "Lastly, it is said that the lot of these children is far happier
+    than if they had been left to their ordinary fate. So say these
+    Chinese gentlemen; so said the noble and wealthy, the much
+    respected slave trader and holder, a century ago in England. The
+    answer to him then is the only answer for these Chinese gentlemen.
+    It is a long one which presents itself to everyone who has studied
+    the slavery and the slave-trade question. Besides this long
+    argumentative answer, one question must be answered:--Is it right
+    to do or sanction wrong that good may come?"
+
+    "A very long time has elapsed since I received your letter
+    forwarding that dispatch [containing the request of the Secretary
+    of State for the Chief Justice to state his views as to Dr.
+    Eitel's representations], in June last; but the delay has been
+    advantageous, as it has enabled me to obtain a memorandum on the
+    subject by Mr. Francis, barrister here, and for a year Acting
+    Puisne Judge ... I write on this subject from an experience in
+    Hong Kong since early in 1861; Mr. Francis from a very extensive
+    experience in both China proper and in this Colony since some
+    years previously." He then enters into history to show that "Mr.
+    Francis of necessity studied ... the whole law on the subject of
+    slavery or bondage in every form here."
+
+Mr. Francis first reviews all the legislative measures existent at
+Hong Kong concerning slavery, in the clearest manner possible, leaving
+no doubts in the mind of any fair-minded person that laws were not
+wanting to put down slavery:
+
+    First: Hong Kong, being a Crown Colony, "the power of the
+    Sovereign in respect of legislation is absolute."
+
+    Second: The proclamation of Sir Charles Elliott, of tolerance
+    of native customs was "pending Her Majesty's pleasure," and no
+    longer.
+
+    Third: Her Majesty's pleasure was declared at Hong Kong: (a) By
+    the Proclamation of 1845; (b) "By Ordinance 6 of 1845, 2 of 1846,
+    and 12 of 1873, by the combined operation of which the law of
+    England, common and statute, as it existed on the 5th day of
+    April, 1843, became the law of Hong Kong."
+
+    Says Mr. Francis of Ordinance 6 of 1845, "The relations of husband
+    and wife, parent and child, guardian and ward, master and servant,
+    whatever they may have been when Hong Kong was Chinese, became
+    from the date of that Ordinance what English law made them, and
+    nothing more or less."
+
+    "But in addition to the declarations of the Common Law," declares
+    Mr. Francis, the following are in full force at Hong Kong: "The
+    Act of the 5th George IV. c. 113, the Act of the 3rd and 4th
+    William IV. c. 73, and the Act 6th and 7th Victoria c. 98, which
+    have in the widest terms abolished slavery throughout the British
+    dominions." "These Acts declare it unlawful for anyone owing
+    allegiance to the British Crown, whether within or without the
+    dominions of the Crown, to hold or in any way deal in slaves, or
+    to participate in any way in such dealing, or to do any act which
+    would contribute in any way to enable others to hold or deal in
+    slaves. This simple declaration, if it stood alone, would make
+    every act of slave-holding a misdemeanour, but the Acts themselves
+    make it piracy, felony, or misdemeanour, as the case may be, to
+    do any of the acts declared to be unlawful. These Acts further
+    declare that persons holden in servitude as pledges or pawns for
+    debt shall, for the purpose of the Slave Trade Acts, be deemed and
+    construed to be slaves, or persons intended to be dealt with as
+    slaves. Hundreds of persons are held in such servitude as pledged
+    or pawned in Hong Kong, and not one of the parties to such
+    transactions has ever been proceeded against under these Acts."
+
+    "In addition to the above-mentioned Acts of George, William and
+    Victoria, there is also the Imperial Act, entitled The Slave
+    Trade Act, 1873, which consolidates the laws for the suppression
+    of the Slave Trade, and which is in force in Hong Kong by its own
+    authority. We have also the provisions of the Local Ordinance 4 of
+    1865, sections 50 and 51, and 2 of 1875."
+
+    "Offenses against the provisions of these Ordinances, so far as
+    they relate to women or children, are still very common, and
+    are growing more numerous every day, and until the system of
+    prostitution which prevails in this Colony, and the system of
+    breeding up young girls from their infancy to supply the brothels
+    of Hong Kong, Singapore, and San Francisco, _is declared to be
+    slavery_, and is treated and punished as such in Hong Kong, no
+    stop will ever be put to the kidnaping of women and the buying and
+    selling of female children in Hong Kong. This buying and selling
+    is only an effect of which the existing system of Chinese
+    prostitution is the cause. Get rid of that, and there is an end of
+    kidnaping."
+
+Again the nail had been struck on the head. _Licensed brothel
+slavery_, as it exists at Hong Kong, was put forward by the Chinese
+merchants as something to be dealt with before British officials
+could consistently lay violent hands on the more trivial offenses of
+_domestic slavery and so-called "adoption." Brothel slavery_, says
+Mr. Francis, must be dealt with _as slavery_ before the practice of
+_kidnaping_ can be put under control. This lesson was learned long
+ago. What did all the laws against man-stealing and slave-trading ever
+accomplish so long as the slave owner was allowed to keep his slave?
+As soon as slave-holding was declared impossible in the United States,
+there was no more trouble with slave-traders. Traders go to a market
+where they can dispose of their goods, not to a place where their kind
+of goods are a drug on the market.
+
+Says Mr. Francis bluntly: "The Chinese custom of adoption, whether of
+boys for continuing the family and worship of ancestors, or of girls
+for the ordinary purposes of domestic service, is not the foundation
+of all this buying and selling of women and girls; it is only the
+pretext and excuse." Mr. Francis states that the buying and selling of
+boys is rare as compared with the buying and selling of girls. That
+there are few Chinese families in Hong Kong.
+
+    "The better class Chinese leave their wives in China. The
+    transaction of purchase of these boys takes place at the home of
+    the fathers of them in China. Seldom is it necessary to buy a son,
+    as the usual custom when a wife has no son is to take another
+    wife, not to buy a boy for a son,--hence such buying of boys is
+    for servitude and for ransom, at Hong Kong." "Girls are not bought
+    and sold in Hong Kong for domestic servitude under Chinese custom.
+    They are bought and sold for the purpose of prostitution, here and
+    elsewhere, and instead of being apprenticed to the domesticities,
+    and of being brought up to be good wives and mothers, they
+    are bought and sold,--brought up and trained for a life of
+    prostitution, a life of the most abject and degrading slavery....
+    By the last census [this was written in 1880], there were in Hong
+    Kong 24,387 Chinese women to 81,025 men. Of these 24,387 women
+    the late Mr. May [Superintendent of Police] was of opinion that
+    20,000, or five-sixths, come under the denomination of prostitutes
+    ... A Chinese doctor of large experience fixed the number of
+    quasi-respectable women at one-fourth the whole number, or say
+    6,000, leaving 18,000 prostitutes. These opinions were taken and
+    adopted by the Commission of 1877-1879 ... Who and what are these
+    prostitutes who form by far the greater bulk of the Chinese female
+    population of Hong Kong? The Report of the Commission answers the
+    question: 'The great majority of them are owned by professional
+    brothel-keepers or traders in women in Canton or Macao; they
+    have been brought up for the profession, and trained in various
+    accomplishments suited to their life ... They frequently
+    know neither father nor mother, except what they call a
+    pocket-mother,--that is, the woman who bought them from others ...
+    They are owned in Macao and Canton. They are bought as infants.
+    They come to Hong Kong at 13 or 14, and are deflowered at a
+    special price which goes to the owners. The owner gets the whole
+    of their earnings, and even gets presents given to the girls, who
+    are allowed three or four dollars a month pocket-money. When some
+    of the girls are sent away on account of age, new ones are got
+    from Canton. If these girls are not slaves in every sense of the
+    word, there is no such thing as slavery in existence. If this
+    buying and selling for the purpose of training female children up
+    for this life is not slave-dealing, then never was such a thing
+    as slave-dealing in this world. There are 18,000 to 20,000
+    prostitutes in Hong Kong to 4,000 or 5,000 respectable Chinese
+    women.... Once in five years the stock has to be renewed. It is
+    for this purpose, and not for the legitimate or quasi-legitimate
+    purposes of Chinese adoption and Chinese family life, that
+    children and women are kidnaped and bought and sold ... Until
+    this slave-holding and slave-dealing are entirely suppressed, the
+    grosser abuses arising out of it and incidental to it (kidnaping
+    of women and children) can never be put an end to."
+
+It was on May 20th, 1880, that the Secretary of State asked for the
+first statement of Sir John Smale's views as to kidnaping and domestic
+slavery. His reply is dated August 26th, and in it he refers to
+reasons for his delay in replying, of which the Governor is "well
+aware." His supplementary letter enclosing the Memorandum of slavery
+by Mr. Francis, was dated Nov. 24th, 1880. On April 2nd, 1881, he
+wrote a third time to the Colonial Secretary, from which we gather
+that even up to that time his explanations had not been forwarded to
+Lord Kimberley, Secretary of State. Said he:
+
+    "I had hoped that these letters would have been forwarded
+    last year, in the belief that they might have induced a less
+    unfavorable view by Lord Kimberley of my judicial action as to
+    these matters, and with the more important object of presenting
+    what appears to me to be the great gravity of the evils I have
+    denounced, as they affect the moral status of the Colony, in order
+    that some remedy may be applied to them.... I am informed that His
+    Excellency the Governor has been unable to obtain the opinion of
+    the Attorney-General on the points raised." ...
+
+It is impossible not to feel that this neglect on the part of someone
+at Hong Kong to forward the Chief Justice's letters until the first of
+these was a year old (for they were actually sent in August, 1881),
+was a designed obstruction of his endeavors to set himself in the
+correct light, and to enlighten the Christian public of Great Britain
+as to the abuses existing at Hong Kong.
+
+In this letter expressing regret at the delay of his letters, he
+speaks of convictions of eight more cases of kidnaping, and "almost
+unprecedented brutal assaults on bought children." "Considering the
+special waste of life in brothel life, and the general want of new
+importations to keep up the bondage class of 20,000 in this Colony,
+the cases of kidnaping detected cannot be one-half of one per cent of
+the children and women kidnaped."
+
+    "Two cases of brutal treatment of young girls by purchasers, their
+    pocket-mothers, one little girl having had her leg broken by
+    beating her, and the other having been shockingly and indecently
+    burnt,--both probably weakened for life,--illustrate the cruel
+    passions which ownership in human beings engenders here, as it
+    ever has done elsewhere. In a case now before the magistrate, the
+    evidence tends to show that a girl thirteen years old was
+    bought by a brothel-keeper for $200, and forced, by beating and
+    ill-treatment, into that course of life in a brothel licensed by
+    law. Subject to such surveillance as these houses are by law, it
+    seems to me such slavery is easy of suppression."
+
+At this time the official career of Sir John Smale at Hong Kong
+terminated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 13.
+
+THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY TO THE STRAITS SETTLEMENT.
+
+
+We have traced the development of slavery from State-protected brothel
+slavery to State-tolerated domestic slavery and "adoption" of boys.
+Now we turn to Singapore, to find that all these forms of slavery
+exist there under the British flag, with the addition of a
+coolie-traffic dangerously like slavery, also, and they are all
+under the management of the Registrar General, or "Protector of the
+Chinese," as he is always called at the Straits. For the general
+description of conditions in the Straits Settlements, more especially
+at Singapore, we give in full a paper read by an Englishman, a
+resident of Singapore for many years, at the Annual Conference of
+American Methodist Missionaries, held in Singapore in 1894,--a paper
+which was endorsed by that body:
+
+    It has come to be almost universally acknowledged that Singapore
+    is indebted as much to Chinese as to British enterprise for its
+    present commercial prosperity, and therefore the subject of
+    Chinese labour which is vexing America and Australia, assumes a
+    very different aspect in the Straits Settlements, and the fact
+    that Chinese immigration has increased 50 per cent in the last ten
+    years is looked upon as an unmitigated blessing. The magnitude of
+    the Singapore labour trade will be understood when it is known
+    that the number of Chinese who came to this port last year, either
+    as genuine immigrants or for transshipment to other ports, was
+    122,029, which is actually more than the entire Chinese population
+    of the town. In connection with the immigration of this multitude
+    of men and women, speaking many dialects of a language which is
+    wholly unknown to the officials of the British Government in the
+    Straits, with the exception of perhaps half a dozen persons, it
+    cannot be wondered at that many abuses arise, and the suspicion
+    has gained ground and is frequently given expression to, in the
+    public press and elsewhere, that many of the immigrants do not
+    come to Singapore of their free will. Moreover, it cannot be
+    denied that the circumstances under which the Chinese come to
+    Singapore and are forwarded to their destination lend colour to
+    this suspicion, so that it may fairly be inquired whether the
+    efforts made by the Government of the Straits Settlements to
+    control the Chinese coolie traffic and to prevent a secret form
+    of slavery have been attended with any success, or are at all
+    adequate to the requirements of the case.
+
+    The Annual Report for the year 1892 on the Chinese Protectorate in
+    the Straits Settlements which is the department charged with the
+    control of immigration, was published on the 5th of May, 1893, and
+    states that of the 122,029 Chinese deck passengers who arrived in
+    Singapore from China during the year, 111,164 were males, 6,867
+    women and 3,998 children. The circumstances under which the men
+    and the women are brought to Singapore are in many respects the
+    same, but inasmuch as a large number of the women and some of
+    the children are imported for immoral purposes, this part of the
+    subject will be dealt with separately. Turning then to the above
+    mentioned Report, we find as regards male immigration, that out of
+    the 111,164 who arrived in Singapore 23,647 proceeded direct to
+    Penang, and 1,798 to Malacca, Bangkok and Mauritius, leaving
+    85,719 remaining in Singapore, of whom 76,601 are classed as
+    'paid passengers,' and 9,118 as "unpaid passengers received into
+    depots." With the former class the Chinese Protectorate has
+    nothing more to do, unless they come to the Protector to sign a
+    Government labour contract with planters or other employers
+    of labor, but with the 'unpaid passengers' the case is very
+    different. These men are brought to the Straits to the number of
+    about 15,000 a year, under what is spoken of in the Report as
+    "the much objurgated depot and broker system," and the facts as
+    presented below will speak for themselves as to whether the
+    objurgations are warranted or not. The brokers are all China men,
+    and are admitted to be men of the worst character. They have their
+    assistants or partners in the chief ports of China, who scout
+    the country round in search of men and are known to be not very
+    particular as to the means they employ in obtaining them. Nothing
+    is required of the recruit except a willingness to hand himself
+    over with his scanty outfit to the tender mercies of the broker,
+    who pays his passage and provides him with food and such things as
+    he considers needful. While the vessels, however, with their decks
+    crowded with emigrants, are leaving the Chinese ports, it is a
+    common occurrence for the cry of "man overboard" to be raised, so
+    common indeed that few Captains now take the trouble to stop their
+    ships, leaving the fugitive coolie to his fate or to be picked up
+    by one of the native craft which are usually close at hand. The
+    readiness of the Chinese emigrant thus to risk his life for the
+    purpose of regaining his freedom, is explained by the advocates of
+    the depot and broker system as arising from a desire on his part
+    to outwit the broker and perhaps obtain another bonus by offering
+    himself a second time as a candidate for the honour of a free
+    passage, but it seems quite as likely that nothing less than
+    kidnaping or forcible detention would induce men to run so great
+    a risk. On arrival at Singapore the broker is again on the _qui
+    vive_ to see that his captives do not jump into the sea, and as
+    each coolie ship arrives at the wharf, a small force of police
+    is in waiting to keep a space clear and prevent any attempt at
+    escape, while the officers of the Protectorate board the ship,
+    accompanied by a further force of marine police, for the purpose
+    of inspecting the coolies. When permission is given to disembark,
+    the unpaid passengers are made up into small parties and marched
+    through the town to the depots under the escort of the brokers and
+    several of their assistants, with much yelling and good deal of
+    rough handling, and an occasional halt while a straggler or a
+    would be runaway is brought back to the party. That the coolies
+    are frequently successful in their attempts to escape is shown
+    in the Report of the Chinese Protectorate, 160 being returned as
+    'absconded either when landing or at depot' in Singapore, and 101
+    at Penang, or about 1-3/4 per cent of the "unpaid passengers". On
+    arrival at the depot, the coolies are probably surprised to find
+    themselves securely confined in houses which look uncomfortably
+    like prisons, and the passer-by may see the dirty and unkempt
+    _sin-khehs_ or "new men," as these emigrants are called, peering
+    out between the thick wooden bars of the windows. The coolies
+    are thus forcibly detained at the depots until the brokers are
+    successful in finding employers who are prepared to pay the price
+    per head which they demand, a sum of about L10. In the meanwhile
+    however, it appears from the Report that nearly 4-1/2 per cent of
+    the inmates of the depots are discovered and redeemed by their
+    friends, the numbers being 414 at Singapore, and 278 at Penang,
+    and a further 1-3/4 per cent, or 236 at Singapore, and 55 at
+    Penang, are shown under the headings "released and returned to
+    China," having presumably been discovered to have been kidnaped.
+    Of the total number of "unpaid passengers" arriving at Singapore
+    and Penang, about 91 per cent eventually sign contracts and are
+    made over to their employers or their agents, the majority of
+    these being shipped off, under escort as before to the Native
+    States of the Malay Peninsula or other neighboring countries, to
+    labour for a fixed term of years after which the coolie is free to
+    return to his native land or to seek such other employment as he
+    may see fit.
+
+    Such are the circumstances under which thousands of our fellow
+    beings are annually brought to the labour market at Singapore, and
+    it must be admitted that, to say the least of it, the system does
+    not seem worthy of Western nineteenth century civilization. At the
+    same time the extreme difficulty of controlling the 'depot and
+    broker system,' or even of providing an efficient substitute for
+    it, must be freely admitted. The system of Government contracts
+    and inspection of immigrants has already done something toward
+    ameliorating the condition of the coolie, and guarding him against
+    illegal detention after his arrival at Singapore or Penang. Much
+    more, however, remains to be done before the coolie trade will
+    cease to be a reproach to the Straits Settlements, and it is
+    doubtful whether any satisfactory reforms will be accomplished
+    until the Chinese Government is moved in the matter with a view to
+    checking the evil at the fountain head. Failing this, it would be
+    worth considering whether the system of "unpaid passengers" might
+    not advantageously be abolished, especially as this class of
+    immigrant represents only 11 per cent of the total immigration,
+    and more than one-third of the labor contracts last year were
+    voluntarily signed by "paid passengers." It seems probable that if
+    the "unpaid passenger" system were abolished, and the market thus
+    thrown open to free competition, a much larger number of "paid
+    passengers" would offer for contracts. But, even if this plan
+    should appear to involve too great a risk of diminishing the flow
+    of Chinese coolies to Singapore, it surely would not too severely
+    tax the ingenuity of the Straits Government to devise a system of
+    State-aided immigration, closely resembling that which has for
+    many years been working in Canada, and more in accord with the
+    dictates of ordinary humanity and English ideas of the liberty of
+    the subject.
+
+    Among the Chinese at Singapore the women number less than
+    one-fifth of the population, and at Penang the proportion between
+    males and females is practically the same. In the immigration
+    returns the disparity is even more marked, for there is only
+    one female immigrant to every eighteen men. This extraordinary
+    preponderance of males in the Chinese population of these towns
+    has given rise to, and is made the standing excuse for, a
+    wholesale system of prostitution to which it would be difficult
+    to find a parallel. Government registration and protection have
+    favored the growth of this diabolical plague spot, for, strange to
+    say, this gigantic system of debauchery is under the direction
+    of the department which is euphemistically entitled "The Chinese
+    Protectorate," the "Protector of Chinese" at Singapore being also
+    the Inspector of over 200 brothels, and the Registrar of about
+    1,800 prostitutes. Many streets of well built three-story houses,
+    chiefly in one particular quarter of the town, are devoted to this
+    nefarious traffic, and are thronged every night with Chinamen who
+    loaf about and gaze into the front rooms and verandahs of the
+    brothels, for these front rooms open on the street and there
+    the women and girls are assembled in their best attire for the
+    inspection of the passers-by. Anything more ostentatiously and
+    revoltingly public could hardly have been devised, and it is
+    painful to reflect that the whole arrangement is the product of
+    Western civilization, such scenes being utterly unknown in China
+    except in the treaty ports, where public prostitution has also
+    been introduced by Europeans.
+
+    Taking Singapore as a sample of the working of this system of
+    regulated vice in the Straits Settlements, we will now proceed
+    to inquire into the means by which this army of prostitutes is
+    recruited. Out of the total of 1,800 prostitutes in Singapore the
+    Chinese women number on the average 1,600, and last year (1892) no
+    less than 621 women entered brothels from China and Hong Kong, in
+    spite of which the number of inmates fell from 1,657 in January
+    to 1,601 in December, so that it may fairly be inferred that more
+    than 650 women are required annually to fill up the vacancies
+    which occur. In order to explain the manner in which this large
+    number of girls and young women are obtained each year, it must be
+    stated that all the affairs connected with the inmates of houses
+    of ill-fame in the Straits Settlements are in the hands of
+    the brothel-keepers. These persons in Penang have formed a
+    "Brothel-keepers' Guild," which appears in the Report of the
+    Chinese Protectorate as one of the registered societies of that
+    town and boasts of 297 members. The brothel-keepers of Singapore
+    are probably banded together in the same way, and in proportion to
+    the number of brothels should be more than twice as numerous as
+    those in Penang. These brothel-keepers have their confederates in
+    China, who search for girls and young women in the same way that
+    the coolie-brokers search for the men, and these unfortunate young
+    persons are brought to Singapore in batches under escort in the
+    same way as the men, but are taken from the ships in closed
+    carriages instead of being driven through the town like sheep, as
+    the men are. All these young women and girls, who are brought
+    to Singapore for immoral purposes, with the full knowledge and
+    consent of the Government, are taken direct from the ships to the
+    office of the Protector of Chinese, to be questioned as to their
+    willingness to lead a life of shame; but the value of this
+    interrogation may be inferred from the fact that the subordinate
+    officer to whom this duty is generally assigned is not acquainted
+    with the language spoken by the women. As a further precaution
+    against the illegal detention of women and girls in brothels, a
+    Government notice is posted in each of these houses, to the effect
+    that the inmates are perfectly at liberty to leave whenever they
+    like, but this is of little use, as hardly any of them can read,
+    and it would be more to the purpose if the Government ordered the
+    removal of the bars from the doors and windows of the brothels.
+    The fact is that these precautions against illegal detention are
+    practically useless, and this is admitted even by the editor of
+    such a paper as the _Hong Kong Daily Press_, who some time ago
+    discussed the question _apropos_ of the suicide of a Hong Kong
+    prostitute who was desirous of being married. The man who wished
+    to marry her offered the pocket-mother a sum of $2,000, but she
+    demanded $2,300 and refused to part with the woman for less;
+    whereupon she hung herself. The following comments on this case
+    are from the _Hong Kong Daily Press_:
+
+    "It would appear on the face of it that the efforts of the
+    Government are absolutely impotent, the notices so much waste
+    paper, and the 'rights of liberty' mere empty phrases of no
+    meaning or significance to the Chinese mind ... A Chinawoman would
+    never dream of effecting her escape for the purpose of evading the
+    blood money. Of course such transactions are absolutely illegal,
+    there is no tittle of reason why the man should pay a cent for the
+    girl, but it is nevertheless an indubitable fact that the custom
+    is widely prevalent, and that Hong Kong is a market for the buying
+    and selling of women which the Government is powerless to touch.
+    Exeter Hall in possession of these facts would indeed have a theme
+    for pious lucubrations."
+
+Commenting upon the same case the _Singapore Free Press_ says:
+
+    "A recent investigation into a case of suicide in Hong Kong brings
+    into strong prominence what is really a system of slavery of the
+    worst kind, and which is not unknown in Singapore."
+
+    Such testimony is valuable from papers which have consistently
+    supported the Contagious Diseases Ordinances and vilified the
+    opponents of the State regulation of vice. There can be little
+    doubt that a large proportion of the girls and young women who are
+    brought to the Straits Settlements for immoral purposes have been
+    sold in China to the brothel-keepers' confederates. In many cases
+    girls are thus sold by their parents for the payment of gambling
+    and other debts, and sometimes, alas, to provide money for the
+    purchase of opium. Surely it is a burning shame that British
+    Colonies should have become the market for the sale of Chinese
+    women into this diabolical form of slavery.
+
+    This article cannot be closed without a brief reference to another
+    and more subtle form of slavery which is well known to exist in
+    the Straits. The last Report of the Chinese Protectorate reveals
+    the fact that during last year (1892) in Singapore alone 426
+    prostitutes left brothels and went into private houses, and in
+    the same period 148 left private houses and entered brothels. The
+    wealthy Chinese in the Straits Settlements keep up very large
+    establishments, and the uninitiated visitor cannot fail to be
+    surprised at the number of young women in the quarter assigned
+    to the servants. They are employed on house work, and keep the
+    magnificent furniture and wardrobes in splendid order, and in many
+    cases they make cakes and sweetmeats which are sold on the streets
+    by their own offspring. The question naturally arises,--Are these
+    women and girls free agents? It is very difficult to say with
+    certainty whether they are free or not, but it is generally
+    admitted that a subtle form of domestic slavery does exist in the
+    Straits, and that boys as well as girls are bought and sold with
+    impunity.
+
+    This account in no way exaggerates conditions, as official
+    documents plainly show. We will confine our thoughts, however,
+    to the women. In a plea for the continuance of the Contagious
+    Diseases Ordinance at Singapore, Mr. Pickering, "Protector,"
+    describes two classes of prostitutes, a proportion of free women
+    "who come down here to gain a livelihood, and girls purchased when
+    very young.... These are absolutely the property of their owners,
+    chiefly women whom the girl calls 'mother,' and whom they regard
+    as such.... The mistress brings her girls down to the Straits, and
+    either sells them, or takes them from place to place, lodging them
+    in licensed brothels where she resides, nominally a servant, but
+    receiving the earnings of her girls, and paying a commission to
+    the licensed keeper. In case of sale, the so-called 'mother'
+    receives the price paid for her 'daughter,' and the 'daughter'
+    signs a promissory note for the amount, with heavy interest; the
+    former owner returns to China, and the victim is bound to serve
+    the Straits mistress; at the same time, the girl is comparatively
+    (!) fortunate in that, coming here under the protection we can
+    give through the Contagious Diseases Ordinances, she has some
+    chance of becoming a free woman."
+
+Now listen, reader, to the wonderful chances of becoming a free woman
+under the British flag, this "Protector" holds out to the slave girls
+who are placed in his officially managed brothels:
+
+    "The girls with their promissory notes are passed from hand to
+    hand in sale, or as pledges for loans; and in one brothel I found
+    two girls, who had, on arrival in Singapore from China some six
+    years previous, signed a note for $300 each, of which every cent
+    had been received and taken back to China by the person who had
+    disposed of them. During the six years they had been the property
+    of two or three successive owners, and when I found them in Penang
+    they were still being detained with the original promissory note
+    hanging over them, though the sum had been paid over and over
+    again. On my insisting on accounts being produced by the
+    brothel-keeper, I discovered that for three years the girls had
+    been earning from 20 to 30 dollars each per month, all of which
+    went to the master, who was surprised when the girls were released
+    and himself threatened with the law." (!)
+
+From this we discover that Mr. Pickering intends that we shall think
+that the reason why he has a salary from the British Government,
+is, among other things, to see that slave girls only need to redeem
+themselves by hard earned money through unspeakable humiliation from
+one, or two, or more owners, and then there is an end to the patience
+of the "Protector" with the slave-trader, who will be surprised to
+find himself "threatened"--not punished--with the law! But Cecil C.
+Smith, formerly Protector of Chinese (Registrar General) at Hong Kong,
+was knighted and made Governor at Singapore, and about a year later
+than this, says, in reference to this very representation: "The
+Protector of Chinese has no efficient means of dealing with the
+accounts of the inmates of brothels, nor has he ever dealt with them.
+The Government should hold itself entirely aloof from interfering with
+such matters." We see, then, of how much account the representations
+of Mr. Pickering were as to the usefulness of the "Protector" to the
+women at this point, but incidentally he has revealed a shocking state
+of slavery perfectly known and not in the least interfered with by the
+"Protector."
+
+Mr. Pickering continues: "At that time the majority of inmates of
+brothels were in the same condition; besides this, they were subject
+to great cruelty and restraint." He professes a great improvement,
+since then, but we may take his word for what it is worth on such
+a point. "We, indeed ... have asked for, and trust to get, more
+legislation to enable us to rescue the numbers of small children who,
+purchased in China, are brought down here and trained for a life of
+prostitution." Nothing of the sort. He knew perfectly well, as did
+every Englishman in the Colony, that the Common Law alone of Great
+Britain, if there were nothing more, was quite sufficient to deliver
+every one of these children, as well as every slave girl, in the
+country. If more legislation were desired it was for some other
+purpose than to empty the brothels of their slaves. He goes on to
+state that children born in brothels "in case of free women belong
+to the mother, but when prostitutes, their issue is claimed by their
+owners, unless their mothers complain to the Registrar," which of
+course, he knew, they would never venture to do. "We know well that
+even now there is a deal of traffic in young girls going on, and
+that a number of inmates of brothels are really slaves.... The only
+Europeans I have heard object to the Contagious Diseases Ordinance are
+those who, in their well-meant zeal, would abolish prostitution, and
+punish all parties engaged as criminals." Precisely! Sir John Smale
+at Hong Kong had undertaken to "punish all parties engaged" in this
+nefarious slave business, and his methods were declared unwise and
+unpractical, simply because his methods endangered prostitution in the
+form of brothel-slavery. Says Mr. Pickering in conclusion:
+
+"I myself profess to be a Christian, and endeavor according to my
+light, and as far as my nature will allow, to conform my conduct
+to the standards of my religion; while holding these principles, I
+certainly feel that I should not be acting in accordance with the
+wishes of my Master, were I not to advocate most strongly that healing
+should be extended to the poor, the helpless, and afflicted, whether
+they be harlots or any other kind of sinners, who; unless the
+Government assist them by forced examinations, will suffer and often
+die in misery from the want of medical assistance." Perhaps the most
+charitable view to take of this creature is that suggested by himself.
+He was a Christian, he claims, "as far as my nature will allow." Had
+his nature only allowed him to see further, he would have perceived
+a distance as wide as heaven is from hell between the conduct of the
+Divine Master who "went about healing all that were oppressed," and
+the man who prostitutes the healing art to the service of libertines,
+in making it healthier, if possible, for them to defy the commandments
+of that same Divine Master. Such doctors are the offscouring of the
+medical profession.
+
+A Chinaman one day entered Mr. Pickering's office at the Protectorate
+in Singapore, accused him of selling his brother into slavery, and
+tried to brain him with an axe. The blow was not fatal, but the
+"Protector," if living, is still in a mad house.
+
+The attitude of the average official mind in this part of the world,
+among the British, as betrayed by innumerable expressions in their own
+documents, is perhaps most precisely put by Mr. Swettenham. British
+Resident at Perak. Speaking of measures adopted to make vice more
+healthy, he says: "As to the Chinese, the only question in the minds
+of members (of the Council) was whether such an Order would not drive
+the women from the state," and then he declares the measures were
+introduced cautiously and gradually ... "The steps already taken have
+been with the object of protecting Chinese women from ill treatment
+and oppression in a state of life ... where the labour required is
+compulsory prostitution for the benefit of unscrupulous masters ...
+and secondly, in the interest of public order and decency ..." "always
+remembering that where the males so enormously outnumber the females,
+the prostitute is a necessary evil," "I have avoided any reference to
+the moral question," continues Mr. Swettenham, "Morality is dependent
+on the influence of climate, religious belief, education, and the
+feeling of society. All these conditions differ in different parts of
+the world."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 14.
+
+PROTECTIVE ORDINANCES.
+
+
+After eighteen years' hard struggle, the British Abolitionists
+succeeded in getting Parliament to repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts
+in force in certain military stations in England, and in force in
+other parts of the British Empire. It now became the duty of the
+Secretary of State for the Colonies to see that all the Crown
+Colonies, such as Hong Kong and Singapore followed suit. This was in
+1886, and the Contagious Diseases Ordinances for these two places were
+not replaced by other legislation until 1888 at Singapore, and 1890 at
+Hong Kong. From what we have seen of the spirit of these officials
+in general it seems needless to say that the old Contagious Diseases
+Ordinances were repealed amid a storm of protests. One of the
+Municipal Commissioners of Singapore "said that the repeal of the
+Contagious Diseases Ordinance was the most cruel and merciless act
+which had ever been done." A statement from the unofficial members
+of the Legislative Council at Hong Kong declared: "In England abuses
+might have arisen under the recent law, but here it is impossible,"
+and very much more of the same false nature. The new Ordinances are
+excellent reading, and in the hands of the right sort of officials
+would do incalculable good. _But laws were not needed in the Colonies
+to put down slavery._ Mr. Francis' Memorandum, and Sir John Smale's
+pronouncements have clearly demonstrated that fact, but the right sort
+of men were needed to enforce the laws already in existence, in the
+same disinterested manner in which Sir John Smale had wrought so
+effectually. The new law was, however, put in each case under the
+administration of the "Protector" and his staff of officials, and the
+result has been, and could but be unsatisfactory, to the present day.
+
+For instance, in 1893, Mr. H.E. Wodehouse, Police Magistrate at
+Hong Kong, in reporting on a case of suicide of a slave girl to the
+Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong, to be transmitted for the information
+of Lord Ripon, Secretary of State for the Colonies, who had asked for
+the information, goes quite fully into a description of conditions at
+this time, three years after the passage of the Protective Ordinance.
+He says:
+
+    "The name of the deceased was Chan Ngan-Kin.... She was registered
+    as a prostitute in this brothel on the 23rd of December, 1890.
+    When registering her name she said she had no pocket-mother, that
+    her parents were both dead, and that she became a prostitute
+    of her own free will. The inspector said that that was the
+    description of themselves that nearly all prostitutes give, and
+    that it was very rarely that it was true. The further evidence
+    went to prove that she and a young man were mutually attached to
+    each other, and he was anxious to redeem her, and that she was
+    desirous of being redeemed, but that the price asked, two thousand
+    three hundred dollars, was more than he was willing to give,
+    though he was willing to give two thousand dollars.... There is
+    little doubt that his inability to redeem her caused her to commit
+    suicide.... The pocket-mother was not produced [at the inquest],
+    and there was a general disposition on the part of the Chinese
+    witnesses to withhold information."
+
+Lord Ripon said in his letter of inquiry: "If the facts were as stated
+in the above-mentioned paper, it would seem to prove that it is not
+generally understood in the Colony that a brothel keeper has no legal
+right to demand any redemption money for the release of one of the
+inmates." To this the Magistrate replies, in explanation:
+
+    "It is not quite correct to speak of the brothel-keeper as
+    demanding redemption money. The person whose property the
+    prostitute is is the pocket-mother, that is to say, the purchaser
+    of the girl. Nearly every prostitute has her own pocket-mother,
+    and she it is who has sole control over the prostitute's
+    movements. All the earnings go to her, and the redemption money
+    when redemption takes place. The 'brothel-keeper' is a creation
+    of the Government, and the term has, I think, led to some
+    misappreciation of the actual state of things. It is true that,
+    being registered by the Government, she becomes in a manner
+    responsible for the proper conduct of the establishment, but the
+    property in the girl does not rest in her, except in the case of
+    the two or three girls to whom she may herself be pocket-mother,
+    that is to say, whom she may herself have purchased. The
+    pocket-mothers are the real proprietresses of their purchases, and
+    a brothel-keeper would not regard herself as in any way connected
+    with such girls, beyond the obligation devolving upon her of
+    registering the inmates of the house of which she, as tenant or
+    owner, was the proprietress. A Chinese brothel is in fact merely
+    a collection under one roof of several different establishments,
+    consisting of the pocket-mothers and their purchases, the
+    pocket-mothers for the most part being the body-servants of their
+    charges, and administering to their daily wants, though in reality
+    their mistresses and their absolute owners."
+
+The document scarcely needs comment. It illustrates the fact that one
+may have most ideal laws, but laws never operate automatically, and in
+the absence of any desire to "let the oppressed go free," but rather
+an eager desire to hold them in subjection to the base propensities of
+profligate men, as all the State documents representing the situation
+tend to show, there is small proof that the "Women and Girls'
+Protective Ordinance of 1889" has had any appreciable effect in
+altering the slave conditions at Hong Kong. The same old notorious
+inspector, John Lee, who, Governor Hennessy thought, ought to have
+been prosecuted for manslaughter, after he hounded those native women
+to their death, was Chief Inspector of Brothels at Hong Kong in 1894,
+when we made investigations in that Colony, and personally interviewed
+many of these slave girls, and heard their stories.
+
+The most recent official documents relating to the matter have been
+commented upon in _The Shield_ (organ of the British Committee of the
+International Purity Federation), in its issue dated London, June,
+1906, as follows:
+
+    "One of the most important parliamentary papers of recent years on
+    our question has just been issued in response to questions put in
+    the House of Commons by Mr. Henry J. Wilson, M.P., on March 8th
+    last. The title is, 'Further Correspondence relating to Measures
+    Adopted for Checking the Spread of Venereal Disease' (Cd. 2903),
+    and relates to enactments in the Straits Settlements, Hong Kong,
+    and Gibraltar, during the period in which the Rt. Hon. Joseph
+    Chamberlain was at the head of the Colonial office.
+
+    "The correspondence in question further reveals the existence and
+    extent of a 'Yellow Slave Trade' in the East of large dimensions.
+    The girls in question are stated to be 'bought when young,' and
+    'believe themselves bound body and soul to the brothel-keepers.'
+    Nine hundred and sixty-eight Chinese women, presumably of this
+    kind, are reported at Penang, and 62 Japanese women. There were
+    176 admissions of Japanese women, and 141 admissions of Chinese
+    women in 1899 to the public hospital at Singapore, besides numbers
+    of other cases to private hospitals maintained by the keepers of
+    the houses of ill-fame.
+
+    "Many passages in the correspondence give evidence of a continual
+    import traffic going on, which the head of the Regulation
+    Department, the 'Protector of Chinese,' at Singapore, seems to
+    have made some effort to counteract. He speaks of ten girls
+    between 9 and 15 that he attempted to rescue from sale to
+    a traveling dealer, but who were returned to their former
+    surroundings on a writ of _habeas corpus_ by the Supreme Court;
+    but upon information in regard to this case reaching the Colonial
+    office in London, correspondence ensued which resulted in Mr.
+    Chamberlain directing an alteration of the law to meet the case of
+    the prosecution which had so lamentably failed.
+
+    "The Protector of Chinese also tells of 'girls under ten years of
+    age who are bought and sold in the colony,' 'brought from China
+    for purposes of sale,' 'generally sold to inmates of brothels,'
+    and of women who are 'in the habit of arriving from China with
+    relays of babies' for the same purpose. The Straits Settlements
+    Government thus attempts to cut off a twig here and there of the
+    tree of this evil traffic, whilst leaving untouched the root and
+    trunk of the tree itself, the State protection of vice, by which
+    it is made practicable safely to invest large capital in this most
+    nefarious but lucrative traffic.
+
+    "Page 4 of this Correspondence shows that an ordinance was passed
+    in 1899, imposing very heavy fines and imprisonment on any keeper
+    of a brothel who allowed any of the inmates suffering from
+    contagious disease to remain in the house. This has led to a
+    system of private arrangements with medical men for the periodical
+    sanitary inspection and treatment of the inmates.
+
+    "At page 19 the Acting Colonial Surgeon says: 'A large number of
+    Japanese houses had some time before made private arrangements
+    with my partner, Dr. Mugliston and myself, for medical attendance,
+    and the rumor regarding the intended legislation induced most
+    of the remainder to follow their example during the month of
+    September. The increase of Japanese inmates (of the hospital) for
+    this month, therefore, was caused by our sending in those cases
+    of disease then found among these fresh houses.' Paragraph 4, the
+    same page, says: 'With regard to the Chinese women we already had
+    long had a number of Chinese brothels to attend professionally;
+    during September of 1899 a large proportion of the remainder made
+    similar arrangements with us.'
+
+    "It is difficult to say positively what the precise nature of
+    these transactions is, but it is only too evident that the
+    acting Colonial surgeon, with his professional partner, was most
+    improperly mixed up with the business arrangements of the
+    brothel-keepers. These people, indeed, figure so that they must
+    have constituted a very good, and perhaps the most lucrative
+    portion of the practice of these doctors.
+
+    "To cope with the extra business brought in by these arrangements,
+    section 2 of paragraph 4, page 19, says: 'In September, 1899, four
+    private lock hospitals were organized, one in each of the four
+    main sections of brothels, by the keepers under our direction.'
+    Paragraph 6 says: 'We make frequent periodic inspections of the
+    Chinese brothels, seeing each inmate, and visit our private
+    hospitals daily.' Here, again, it may be asked what are the
+    precise relations of the acting Colonial surgeon to 'our private
+    hospitals?' It is satisfactory to know that inquiries are being
+    made by our Parliamentary friends in regard to this peculiar, if
+    not suspicious, circumstance.
+
+    "Mr. Chamberlain, with all the foregoing facts before his eyes,
+    says on page 21: 'I am glad to find that the Protector of Chinese
+    and the acting Colonial surgeon have, so far, been able to give
+    such a satisfactory report of the working of the ordinance.'
+
+    "At Hong Kong, 'the keepers of Chinese and Japanese brothels
+    frequented by Europeans have retained private practitioners as
+    their medical advisers, and a small private lock-hospital has been
+    instituted for Japanese women.' This followed on 33 prosecutions
+    instituted by the police in respect of 89 complaints made by
+    soldiers and sailors of the British forces. Page 35 and elsewhere
+    show that prosecutions have taken place of 'sly brothels,'
+    competing with the 'regular professed brothels.'
+
+    "It is to be hoped that this Blue-book will, with facts now
+    being published in various parts of Europe and in America, draw
+    attention to the necessity of a new movement (supplementary to the
+    great movement now on foot for the suppression of the 'White Slave
+    Trade'), for the suppression of the 'Yellow Slave Trade,' which is
+    becoming almost world-wide in character."
+
+As the supply of girls both in Singapore and Hong Kong comes very
+largely from Canton, let us first describe the conditions we found
+there. Our Journal of February 14th, 1894, reads as follows:
+
+    "We went in company with a missionary and a native, both of
+    whom could talk both English and Chinese, and visited some
+    'flower-boats' on the river. Many of these boats are quite
+    pretentious, with their rich wood-carving, fine furniture,
+    and gaudy display of tinsel. There were whole streets of
+    them,--floating houses moored together; we walked along the length
+    of the street on one side, stepping from the bow of one boat to
+    the next, the bows of the boats constituting front verandahs. We
+    called at almost every place, but a description of one will do for
+    all. First, as we entered, was a couch for opium smoking; just
+    beyond this a reception room, very gaudy, with dozens of hanging
+    lamps, and at one end a shrine for the gods, and offerings before
+    it. In a room back of the reception room, and also upstairs,
+    there were girls in large numbers. A hard-featured old woman came
+    forward from the back room, who, our interpreter said, was as good
+    a specimen as we could possibly have seen of an old brothel-keeper
+    of Canton, one who had been in the business for many years of
+    buying or otherwise obtaining babies and girls, and training them
+    for prostitution. The girls came crowding to the door of the back
+    room, and looked in upon us with eager curiosity. Our interpreter
+    called our attention to the manner of dressing the hair,--like
+    married women,--as indicating their bad life. The interpreter said
+    they were inducted usually at about thirteen years of age. They
+    were all dressed very showily, and heavily powdered and painted,
+    excepting some mere babies who were plainly dressed. Troops of
+    little girls, from four to five years of age, swarmed out of the
+    neighboring 'flower-boats' and gathered around us, screaming and
+    scrambling, falling, laughing, and following us the full length of
+    the street, which was made up of about twenty such boats on either
+    side. And none of these innocent little things at all realized the
+    fate in store for them. In one place we saw two very old women in
+    the front room. In another, a woman knelt before the idolatrous
+    shrine engaged in her devotions. At one point there was a very
+    large boat brilliantly fitted up for music, dancing, smoking
+    opium, and feasting. At the far end of the street was a
+    'kitchen-boat,' from which supplies of food, ready cooked,
+    could be bought. All the way along we saw little girls with the
+    unmistakable signs of their destiny upon them. Our interpreter
+    said the girls were usually made to stay upstairs during the day
+    time, but at night the whole place was illuminated and alive; then
+    they were brought down and to the front. Occasionally we would see
+    one of these huge house boats full of painted girls, floating down
+    the middle of the stream, for they move about from place to place
+    at will.
+
+    "At Canton, February 18th, 1894, we met and conversed with a
+    missionary lady who had just come from a station in the interior.
+    She had travelled from her station on a Chinese boat, which had
+    been chartered by her adopted son for his use going up, and for
+    hers coming down the river. When she was about to embark, she
+    required that the men should search the boat, and down below, in
+    the very bottom, were a lot of little girls--_child slaves_--being
+    smuggled to Canton for the trade of a vile life. She made the men
+    take the children off the boat, but with great difficulty. They
+    resisted, but she stood courageously, and saw her commands
+    executed. After she had accomplished this, and started down the
+    river, all alone, so far as any English-speaking person was
+    concerned, the men, who were still deeply enraged at being
+    defeated in their plans, greatly annoyed her by intruding on her
+    constantly, and finally they threatened to kill her; but she
+    presented as brave a front as possible, and at last took hold
+    of one man who was especially insolent, by the shoulder, in an
+    authoritative manner, bidding him to go out of her presence. He
+    went away cowed, and they all said, as was reported to her by one
+    of her attendants, 'She is not afraid'; they then became very
+    superstitious at the idea of a woman taking hold of them, and
+    troubled her no more.
+
+    "The five or six Christian friends where we were staying in Canton
+    all agreed that it was the most common occurrence for little girls
+    to be bought and sold for immoral purposes. One of the group
+    has often heard the wretched blind girls singing just under her
+    window, on the river bank, and under conduct of the old
+    brothel-keeper, their owner, thus attracting custom. The
+    proportion of blind people in Oriental countries is much greater,
+    owing to the prevalence of eye diseases and the poverty and
+    ignorance of the people in coping with these, than in the West;
+    and as blind girls do not bring much money when disposed of as
+    wives, so they are sold in large numbers into a life of shame.
+    Poor little slaves! Because they are deprived of the natural light
+    of day, so they are destined never to see a ray of moral light
+    enter their miserable existence! We saw three or four little blind
+    girls who had been rescued, by these Christian workers, from their
+    terrible fate; but these are only a few rare exceptions out of the
+    thousands that are borne on into the tide of shame and anguish
+    continually."
+
+Of the many girls we interviewed at Hong Kong the story of the
+following seems typical of her class, so we extract it from our
+journal:
+
+    "At the first place we called there were six inmates--four of whom
+    were present at the interview. The keeper went out of the room as
+    we entered, and did not return. The girls were very friendly, and
+    one of them talked a little English. This one told us that she
+    came from Canton, and, in broken English, said that she had 'no
+    father, no mother, no brother; a poor man took her when a _very_
+    little child and raised her to sell. By and by a woman came and
+    offered to buy poor man's little girl, and as he had but little
+    food, he asks, 'How much?' then she buys the little girl and
+    brings her to Hong Kong. Then woman take her to Englishman and
+    say, 'She first-class girl,' and he say, 'I make her my wife,' but
+    he not good; he no husband; he go away to his house--England.'
+    Thus she described in a few simple words the tragedy of her life
+    with tears in her eyes; her training for vice; her sale; her hopes
+    of marriage; her desertion; the outcome, her consignment to a
+    Government-licensed brothel. She was but one of the tens of
+    thousands at Hong Kong. We asked, 'How would a girl have to do in
+    order to live in this house?' They said, 'She must be registered
+    at the Lock. Hospital, and would have to go to the Court and Mr.
+    Lockhart (the Registrar-General) would ask her questions; whether
+    she had a father and mother; how old she was; _where the money
+    went to that was paid for her_; and whether she wanted to be a
+    prostitute or not.' We asked, 'If a girl should say that she _did
+    not_ want to be a prostitute what would be done?' They answered,
+    'No girl would _dare_ to say this _when she had been bought_.' We
+    asked the girl who talked English over again about this, and she
+    said the same.
+
+    "All the places of infamy reserved for the use of Europeans which
+    we visited in Hong Kong, were within three minutes' walk of
+    Victoria Hotel, in the very busiest part of the city. Close by our
+    hotel were such world-famed shops as 'Watson and Co.,' 'Kelly and
+    Walsh,' etc.; a short distance down the street were the Postoffice
+    and the Supreme Court buildings. The respectable English residents
+    of Hong Kong cannot go about the streets of the city without
+    seeing these places; there are draper-shops and other places
+    visited daily and hourly by respectable foreigners and natives,
+    occupying the ground floor of these brothels. The fine new
+    building of the Girls' High School, under the management of the
+    Government, is within five minutes' walk; yet all these brothels
+    are glaringly numbered, as registered by the city, in huge figures
+    eight or ten inches high, of red on a white background, painted
+    on the doors of the stairways leading to the second story of the
+    buildings occupied by these shops. The school children cannot pass
+    by without noting these officially numbered houses, and seeing
+    the girls sitting at all hours of the day and into the night
+    conspicuously in the balconies over the shops of drapers, grocers,
+    tailors, silk-merchants, shoe-dealers, &c., &c., and often hearing
+    them calling to each other from house to house, and to the men in
+    the public streets below. Mrs. Andrew, when in the street, March
+    2nd, saw a group of these slave-women calling down to three
+    policemen, who were looking up and laughing at them. These are
+    daily sights."
+
+The unblushing parade of forms of vice, which have been manufactured
+in the Orient especially to meet the demands of renegade members of
+Christian civilization, can be seen in a peculiarly painful and brazen
+form in the city of Hong Kong.
+
+While we were at Hong Kong, there occured a great celebration in honor
+of the repair and rededication of an important Buddhist temple.
+There was a grand procession, and many thousands of Chinese from the
+mainland came over to witness the celebration. The parade formed in
+the early morning and went at once to the residence of the Governor to
+do him honor, after which it marched through the principal streets of
+the city. It was a curious, interesting, and withal a painful sight,
+in some regards not unlike industrial parades in our own country. At
+night we saw something totally unique and difficult to describe to
+those who have not witnessed the same in China. Men bore aloft great
+dragons and fishes innumerable, of all sizes and shapes, (but very
+true to life), given a natural color and lighted up within, like
+Chinese lanterns. These were held aloft on the ends of long poles, and
+as the men who carried them were invisible, because of the darkness,
+and trod noiselessly because of bare, or merely sandaled feet, the
+impression was of an immense train of these creatures floating or
+swimming silently through the air.
+
+The procession was made up of men of all sorts and kinds. Great fat
+men with enormous fans panted along, and little boys ran by their side
+with stools upon which they gravely seated themselves whenever
+the line of march was halted for a moment. Little boys progressed
+painfully along with the rest, walking on their hands, with their feet
+thrown up into the air, or spinning along on all fours like wheels,
+or going through various other antics. And, contrary to anything that
+could have happened away from the open ports of China, there were many
+women in the parade, and girls too. They were on horseback, in sedan
+chairs, borne on wheeled platforms, like our "Goddess of Liberty"
+representations on the Fourth of July; walking, and sometimes riding
+on bullocks. We counted 150 women in all. These were dressed and
+painted up in such a style that a single glance showed they belonged
+to the disreputable class, and their old "pocket-mothers," were to
+be seen walking along close to them and keeping a sharp lookout over
+their gaudily dressed slaves. Yet more painful was the sight of
+the little girls, bound to heavy wires and placed in all manner of
+contortions. Here was a girl about sixteen, standing cross-legged on a
+moving platform, holding a spear in each hand, the spears crossed in
+front of her breast, and a little girl dangling from each spear-point.
+So it appeared, but in fact all were well wired into the distressing
+shape they occupied, and it was said that none of them could have
+endured the position for a moment but for plentiful doses of opium.
+Next passed a girl standing on the moving platform, holding a spear at
+arm's length, and a three-year-old girl standing on its point. Then a
+little boy holding a long rod from which was suspended a tiny child. A
+girl passed sitting on a stool and holding a sword by its point with
+a child of four suspended from its handle, and next a girl holding a
+sword by its handle, and the child suspended from its point. One
+girl sat playing a flute held up high in the air, and a girl of six
+appeared to be suspended from it. One poor little thing was borne high
+up in the air, astride a turning-pole, with legs well crossed beneath
+the pole. And then there came along a little girl swaying about on the
+end of a long pole carried by men in the procession. We were on the
+second floor of a great verandah of the hotel, and the child swung so
+close to us, that we started forward toward her with a cry of pity.
+Great tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she seemed to look
+straight into our eyes, and attempted a sickly smile at our
+expressions of pity.
+
+Later, after the procession of fishes, we sat in company with two
+Chinese ministers of the Gospel who came to call upon us, and
+discussed in sadness the scenes of the day. They said, if we had
+understood the native language and joined in the procession, as they
+did at times, we would have heard the old "pocket-mothers" and other
+owners of these girls driving bargains for their sale, temporarily
+or permanently, with the men of the crowds. These native Christians
+marvelled that Englishmen and American men who called themselves
+"Christians" could have joined in these festivities in honor of a
+heathen temple, and that the Governor should have made a speech of
+congratulation, with no rebuke of these scenes of inhuman torture of
+women and child slaves, when the procession paused at his door. These
+parades continued two or three days, always accompanied by the great
+paper dragons, whether in the daytime or at night, by the noise of
+deafening tom-toms, and the sickening sight of tortured slave-girls.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 15.
+
+"PROTECTION" AT SINGAPORE.
+
+
+"Ladies, I wish to introduce to you Mr. ---- He is eager to meet you,
+and I am sure you will be glad to meet him. You are working along much
+the same lines. Mr. ---- I assure you, is, in fact, interested in
+every good thing that is done in this City, and in every good thing
+that comes this way. We all count on his sympathies. I am glad to have
+the privilege of bringing you together." With this our friend of many
+years, the good Doctor, withdrew to speak to another group, and we
+entered into a short conversation with the white-headed old man to
+whom we had been introduced. He was profuse in his expressions of
+sympathy for our purity work, but somehow, we could hardly have
+defined why, we were not interested in him, and soon turned away.
+The occasion that gave the opportunity for his introduction, was a
+missionary conference at Singapore. The man in question had explained
+to us that he was not of the same denomination as the church that had
+called together the reception of that evening, but that he seldom
+failed to attend all such gatherings, no matter of what denomination,
+because of his interest in every part of the "Father's Kingdom".
+
+Although we were very weary, and the air was intensely close,
+Singapore being only about seventy-five miles from the Equator, we
+spent most of that night and of several others in company with a
+Christian friend and interpreter, in the worst parts of the city; and
+this, with visits to various regions during the day, gave us a pretty
+clear understanding of the situation as to the matter of enforcement
+or non-enforcement of the Protective Ordinance.
+
+    "On the night of February 1st, 1894, we went to Tringanu street,
+    and ascended to the third story of a large building. The front
+    windows of this upper floor were gaily lighted up by many colored
+    lamps, and could be seen far down the street. There was a small
+    opium den at the foot of the stairway, on the ground floor. On
+    reaching the head of the stairs, and turning, we entered a large
+    front room. There were bedrooms at the back of the house, to be
+    let to patrons of the establishment. At the opposite end of the
+    front room from the windows was the ever-present idolatrous
+    shrine. On either side of the room were elegantly-carved ebony
+    chairs, with marble or agate panels. Rich Chinese pictures
+    decorated the walls. Toward the back of the room hung the sign,
+    '283 Licensed Eating House.' There was a large table in the
+    centre of the room. Toward the front, on either side, in alcoves,
+    partitioned off in part from the remainder of the room, were
+    opium couches, with pipes and lamps ready for use. We give this
+    description in full, as it applies, almost without variation, to
+    all the others which we visited in the immediate neighborhood.
+    Food was furnished on order, intoxicating drinks, and opium. At
+    the second place, on the opposite corner of the same block, the
+    men told us that the place was used for the same purposes. We
+    asked where the women were, and they answered that it was too late
+    to see them, but if we would come earlier we would find them. When
+    asked where the women came from, they pointed down to the street
+    below, to the open brothels, and said there were a great number of
+    degraded women who lived close by; said the brothel-keepers sent
+    them. They said that white men as well as Chinese came to their
+    place. After this we walked the length of the several streets and
+    side-streets, in the near vicinity, and proved the truth of what
+    the men had told us as to the swarming numbers of degraded girls
+    and women.
+
+    "The next night we went to the same neighborhood, and revisited
+    the two places already mentioned, and others also. As we reached
+    the top of the stairway and passed into the front room of the
+    place where they had invited us to return, there was quite a
+    flutter of excitement, and we instantly saw that there was
+    a number of girls present, all very young, and several mere
+    children. On our left a fat, middle-aged Chinese man sat, with two
+    or three little girls, one in his lap and one on either side of
+    him, in his arms; two more were throwing something that resembled
+    dice on a table within the front alcove, and the rest were sitting
+    on the opium couches. There were ten girls in all; the two
+    youngest could not possibly have been more than eight years old;
+    only one, out of the ten, claimed to be over sixteen; we
+    all doubted her claim, because of her extreme immaturity of
+    appearance. The two youngest children were immediately sent away
+    by order of the fat man, who was evidently in authority. The men
+    explained that these girls belonged to different women who were
+    not their own mothers; that they came to sing and dance, and pour
+    wine for the patrons who came to the place. They also explained
+    that all these girls were brought from the brothels, and were
+    either already living a bad life or were being trained up for
+    prostitution. They were powdered heavily, had flowers and
+    ornaments in their hair, the upper part of the forehead made bare,
+    and the hair dressed elaborately, like married women (even the
+    very youngest children); of course they were not married, for they
+    were declared to be the property of the brothel-keepers, and this
+    manner of dress must, therefore, have been an advertisement of
+    their shame.
+
+    "A curious musical instrument was brought--somewhat like a
+    dulcimer--on which two of the girls played in succession, singing
+    in a high, monotonous way.
+
+    "From here we went to the first place visited the night previous,
+    on the opposite corner of the same block. There was quite an
+    excitement here when we came in. Two men and two girls were
+    playing on native instruments--one of the men on a sort of fiddle,
+    and the other on a rude guitar; the girls, one striking, in sharp
+    staccato fashion, a wooden perforated bowl inverted on a standard
+    or post, and the other a kind of cymbal; they were singing in the
+    same shrill, monotonous way we had heard before. We counted eight
+    girls here. There was a piece of unpainted tin or zinc, about
+    eight by twelve inches, set upon the table toward one end, with
+    a list of fifty names on it, and a Chinese man, who talked fair
+    English, explained it thus: 'These are the names of singing and
+    dancing girls who come here; a man looks over the list and calls
+    for a girl to sing or dance; then he chooses his girl.'
+
+    "We then went to a third place on the same side of the street.
+    Here there was a wild confusion as we reached the top of the
+    second flight of stairs and entered the front room, and several
+    young girls were hustled out through the other door and into the
+    little back rooms, and the list of girls' names was hurried out
+    of sight. The Chinese men were evidently much frightened. A bold
+    little girl, very smartly dressed, was put forward, who answered
+    our questions in a loud, brazen manner. One of our party asking
+    her if she could sing, she thought the statement was made that she
+    was not 'sixteen' (the age under which girls are supposed to be
+    'protected' from going into prostitution by British rule), and
+    shouted, 'I am _seventeen_.' We stayed only a few minutes, but
+    were informed that they provided opium and intoxicating liquors
+    here."
+
+We told our hostess one day that we desired jinrikshas that we might
+be conveyed to the Protectorate to interview the Chief Inspector,
+having heard that he desired an interview. As we were leaving the
+house she detained us a moment to say, timidly: "Ladies, do pardon me,
+but I feel I must caution you that that man has a very violent temper,
+and it will not do in case you see anything, to criticise,--no matter
+what you think. I don't wish to seem to intrude, but I know the man's
+reputation as to temper, and I cannot bear to think of his having a
+chance to treat you rudely." We thanked her heartily, and promised to
+be doubly careful.
+
+We knew the place. A very imposing Government building standing apart
+by itself, upon which much money had been expended to give it a fine
+appearance. We were soon ushered into the presence of the man who held
+the same relation to the work at Singapore that John Lee holds, or at
+least held the last we knew, at Hong Kong. Will you believe us, when
+we tell you that to our amazement it was that same white-haired old
+man to whom we had been introduced at the church gathering as such an
+active Christian, "working along much the same lines as ourselves, and
+at the head and front of every good work in the Colony?" To be sure we
+had heard the name of this Inspector, but we had never in our remotest
+conception connected it with the man the Doctor had introduced to us.
+Concealing our surprise we sat down for a few moment's interview. The
+man knew his lesson "like a book." We could have prompted him, had he
+made a mistake in reciting it, from the State documents which we had
+with us,--the same from which we have compiled the chapters of this
+little book. "The work of the Protectorate is really rescue work, _and
+that only_." He had lived in Singapore nearly thirty years. He said he
+had disapproved of the Contagious Diseases Ordinance, when it was
+in existence, but a good thing had grown out of it in the matter of
+provisions for the "protection", of women. We asked, in reference to
+his remark that the Protectorate was a Rescue Society, if it did not
+look after men, too. He replied, "Oh yes, the coolies; all are brought
+here, but the men go to the other side of the building; the women come
+here." We asked if all the women came before him; he said, "Before the
+Protector; but in his absence before me." We pondered on the thought
+of this "rescue work" carried on by this particular Protector of whom
+we had heard that he had been almost unspeakably vile from boyhood
+up. He showed us a book which contained a list of all deck-passengers
+coming to Singapore, who had been passed under review at the
+Protectorate; they were listed by families. He then showed us a
+separate list of women and girls who came alone, without families. He
+had underscored with red ink the names of those in the list who had
+gone into brothels. He said that suspicious cases either went to the
+Protectorate Refuge, or those under whose charge they went to live
+were obliged to give bonds or securities, 500 Mexican dollars was the
+usual amount of the security in the cases recorded. He also showed us
+the form of these bonds, both blank forms and some that had been made
+out; these bonds required that the girls named therein should not be
+removed from Singapore, and that the girls should be produced from
+time to time at the Protectorate, upon demand of the Protector, and
+within twenty-four hours. The bond was good for a specified time named
+thereon. Then he showed us a book containing "_Warrants of Removal and
+Detention to the Chinese Refuge_" for girls under sixteen years of
+age. He also showed us little tickets (we had already seen them in a
+brothel) and said these contained the number and address of the
+girls, and if one of these tickets was sent back by a girl to the
+Protectorate, by any hand or in any manner, the Protectorate would
+immediately send for the girl and listen to her complaint. He showed
+us a book of cases, and read us the story of one girl in particular,
+Ah Moi, and congratulated himself on the Protectorate being at hand
+to rescue this girl. We will give this case in full further on. He
+repeated his assertion that he abominated the C.D. Ordinance, and said
+that there were now no compulsory examinations, and no Lock Hospital,
+and that the Government had nothing to do with examinations in any
+form. But we replied that we had already visited the Lock Hospital,
+and that there were about fifteen patients there, and asked him how
+they came to be there. He said anyone could go there; that it was a
+general hospital for women, and that all diseases would be treated
+there; that the patients could go away at any time they wished; the
+Colonial Surgeon was in charge of it. But we asked him how it happened
+that the degraded women knew enough to go there in such numbers; he
+said they might be ill, and any doctor in a private capacity would
+send them. He had sent them, and would like to send a good many more,
+when they were very ill. He told us of going over the records, for
+years back, and of finding that the average of time spent in the
+brothel by these girls was three years and a half, while, if they
+stayed in Canton, they would be life-long prostitutes. He made much
+of this point, and argued that it was better for them to come
+to Singapore in order to be set free by the Protectorate, but
+acknowledged that many of them became concubines (in "following a
+man," as the Chinese express it). He spoke of domestic slavery in
+Singapore, but declared it was slavery of a very mild sort. We asked
+who came with the Chinese girls when they came to the Protectorate.
+He answered, "Oh, a friend--the woman or 'mother' who owns them." We
+asked if nothing could be done against these traffickers in girls; he
+said they could not often get sufficient proof against them. We saw in
+one of the records something about "women traffickers," and pressed
+him to know why these could not be caught and banished by means of
+paid detectives watching the incoming boats. He replied that it was
+very hard to get evidence; the girls' own statements were not enough;
+the Protectorate needed more power. When asked what powers were
+further necessary, he suggested the power to punish the traffickers
+of girls by simply the statement of the girls who were brought to
+Singapore through fraud, or who were kidnaped. He then spoke of a drug
+which was used by the women traffickers to destroy the girls' wits; he
+believed in its existence and its use. He said of these cases of fraud
+and kidnaping, "We can usually do nothing." We asked if a woman was
+found bringing girls over and over again whether she could not be
+prosecuted: he answered that she might be. We then asked if the
+Protectorate had ever prosecuted: he replied, "Oh yes, a few times."
+But he grew uneasy under these questions; said no one could know or
+appreciate the present situation who did not know the conditions
+of the things in the past, but now he thought they had the best
+arrangement possible for protecting the women and girls, and
+exclaimed, "But if this ordinance were abolished I do not know what
+would become of them." He confessed at the close of our talk that he
+would like to speak freely to us about certain things connected with
+the work which could not be mentioned publicly, and said there were
+"perplexities--great perplexities." Yet at the beginning of the
+conversation, when speaking of the criticism passed upon the
+Protectorate's work, he had said, "Why do they not come here for
+information instead of going about criticising? our books are all
+open to public inspection." But we had noticed that throughout the
+interview he kept the books in his own hands, and only allowed us to
+see what he himself turned up for our inspection.
+
+Now as to some of this official's statements--we deal with them, not
+with the object of criticising his _personal_ opinions and views and
+statements, but as an _official_ representation to us of a Government
+institution.
+
+To begin with, he had told us two absolute falsehoods, at least. One
+was that there was no Lock Hospital at Singapore, whereas we had
+visited this Government institution and by careful inspection found it
+was used for _the one purpose only_, having no equipment for any other
+uses, and there were fifteen prostitutes there. When confronted with
+this knowledge, which, remembering our hostess' caution as to his
+temper, we expressed as gently as possible, he then declared it was
+a general hospital, which it was not. He declared there were no
+compulsory examinations, and that the Government had nothing to do
+with examinations in any form. We thought it wisest not to give him
+the information that we held at that time, and hold to the present
+day,--dozens of papers of committment to the Lock Hospital for
+compulsory examinations both in his own handwriting and in that of
+the Protector. And some of these cases, as the records we have copied
+show, were those of perfectly innocent girls, acknowledged to be
+virgins, until assaulted by these abominable medical officials and
+robbed of the fresh bloom of maidenly chastity.
+
+The official spoke of the work of the Protectorate as "Rescue work,
+and that only," in so far as it dealt with women. But it must be borne
+in mind that the "Protector" of women and girls was likewise the
+Registrar of brothels; and that the rules and regulations under the
+Women and Girls' Protection Ordinance provided, in both Singapore and
+Hong Kong, for every detail in the management of brothels, even to the
+granting of a permit to keep a brothel, and the description of the
+"duties" of brothel-keepers. Surely this part of the Protector's
+work cannot be called "Rescue work," as we are accustomed to use the
+phrase.
+
+According to the Annual Report of the Protectorate for 1893, 1,183
+women and girls entered brothels with the sanction of the Protector;
+and quite apart from any discussion of whether this sanction should
+have been given or not, it is quite apparent that this also was not
+"Rescue work."
+
+During the same year 1,034 women and girls left the brothels of
+Singapore, and it is apparent that we must look among these mainly for
+rescued cases. Of this 1,034 the following account is given:
+
+  Absconded                  63
+  Died                       21
+  Gone to "Private Houses"  346
+  Married                    69
+  To be accounted for       451
+
+We have an explanation in the Protector's own words of what is meant
+by a girl who has "absconded." "It is common now, when an owner
+notices one of her girls contracting a continued intimacy with a male
+visitor (and therefore to be suspected of an intention to apply to our
+office for release), for the owner to sell the girl away to another
+country. When this has been accomplished, the brothel keeper reports
+the prostitute has absconded, and, if we cannot prove the contrary, we
+are obliged to accept the story and strike the name off our books."
+What would we think in America of a "Rescue work, and that only," with
+all the advantages of Government backing; under constant surveillance;
+every girl registered; that permitted 63 girls in a year to be
+defeated in their desire to marry by being sold as slaves into foreign
+parts; that allowed 346 of the girls to "go to private houses," as
+domestic slaves or concubines; that did not account at all for 451
+girls; and saw only 69 married; and all this out of 1,034 cases it had
+absolutely within its control?
+
+The Inspector spoke of the _personal tickets_ given into the hands of
+each girl, which if sent to the Protectorate at any time, would secure
+a hearing for her before the Protectorate. It is also declared that
+notice is posted up in every brothel in a conspicuous place, that no
+girl can be detained against her will. We visited a place on Fraser
+Street the night of February 2nd; quoting from our journal:
+
+    "There was a middle-aged woman in charge, with a baby beside her
+    on the couch where she was sitting. There were six girls present,
+    the oldest barely sixteen years old in appearance, and one between
+    fourteen and fifteen--a thin, immature little creature. We asked
+    about this young girl, and one of our interpreters overheard the
+    keeper instruct her to say she had been in the house two years.
+    Then we asked the girl her name, and the keeper told her to tell
+    us a different name from the one she first gave us. We saw hanging
+    on the wall, a black bag, which we were allowed to take down and
+    examine. It contained a board eight by ten inches square, on which
+    was pasted a paper bearing a list of the inmates. The list was
+    headed by the keeper's name, Moo Lee, in writing. Then was printed
+    across the top in Chinese characters a statement that inmates
+    could not be confined against their will. (The question was
+    whether, in our absence, the girls would be allowed to take this
+    bag down, open it, and read the sentence of liberty inside.) We
+    showed this to the girls, and asked them if they could read the
+    Chinese written thereon, and they all, even to the brothel-keeper,
+    said they could not. We then asked them what was the _meaning_ of
+    the words, and none of them could tell. One girl said, 'We cannot
+    read them, but the great man at the Protectorate can read them.'
+    We asked them if they had tickets, and they showed us little
+    square pieces of paper exactly similar to one which we hold in
+    our possession. The tickets were all so blurred that the educated
+    Chinese gentleman who accompanied us tried in vain to make out its
+    full meaning. It is by means of these things, put in the hands of
+    Chinese women who are utterly unable to read a word of Chinese,
+    that their liberty is professedly given them."
+
+Now as to the case of Ah Moi, of whom the Inspector spoke as
+illustrating the beneficent work of the Protectorate. He had little
+idea how much we knew of the case or he would never have brought it
+up. There is at Singapore a Refuge for girls, managed by the Chinese
+Society, the Po Leung Kuk, organized originally at Hong Kong and
+Singapore to put down kidnaping. The Inspector one day, January 4th,
+1894, sent a girl of fifteen over to the Refuge with a note to the
+Matron, and on the following morning, ordered her sent to the
+Lock Hospital for examination. We saw the recorded result of that
+examination in the handwriting of the doctor at the hospital, and it
+was to the effect that the girl was suffering from disease due to
+vice. After that the Matron got a note from the Inspector saying: "Ah
+Moi can be written off your books, as she has been sent to hospital,
+and after she leaves hospital she intends going to a house of
+ill-fame."
+
+Now the rules forbade all religious instruction, or any sort of
+instruction in this Refuge, since the Chinese men who contributed
+to its support were opposed to women being taught anything. But the
+Matron had threatened to leave if she could not teach and train the
+girls. So she was allowed, out of her own slender salary, to hire a
+teacher on her own account, and this she did. The good Christian man
+whom she had hired came and told her he had learned that Ah Moi was
+a good girl, and was from a Mission School in Canton, and finally he
+brought the girl's own mother, who testified that this was true. We
+have not space to go into this story in detail, but we later visited
+the school at Canton from which the girl had been brought, talked with
+the teachers who had had her under their care for years, and it was
+literally true,--that she was a perfectly pure girl (and how could she
+have been suffering from such a disease?), who had been entrapped for
+such a dreadful fate. She would have been put into a life of shame by
+the Inspector, never to have escaped her terrible servitude, probably,
+but for the energetic efforts of this Chinese Christian man and the
+Refuge Matron, who rescued her from the Protectorate and its wicked
+business of assigning girls to brothels. And here sat the Inspector,
+telling us this story, of which we knew so much, (and learned more at
+Canton later), as an instance of the "rescue work" of his office!
+
+Almost the last day of our painful work at Singapore had come. We had
+gathered much evidence, and had good hope that something could be
+done with it in London. "This is my birth-day," one of us said to the
+other, as we spun along in our jinrikshas toward the Refuge. "I think
+we ought to have some unusual good fortune in gathering information
+today. At least we can get some of these little children taken out of
+their terrible peril in the brothels. The Matron of the Refuge says
+she _knows_ the officials are ignorant of their presence there. They
+have so often talked of their extreme care at that point. Will it not
+be good to see something actually done and at once about that matter?
+She was to interview the Inspector yesterday, and will report to us
+today." And so we chatted on, We had been horrified to encounter in a
+single night's work some thirty little girls playing about the rooms
+of brothels. That at least would never be allowed. We were so glad the
+law was so very strict, and we had been assured strictly enforced at
+that point. It read: "Any person who receives a girl under the age of
+sixteen into a brothel, or harbors any such girl in a brothel, shall
+(until the contrary be proved) be deemed to have obtained possession
+of such girl with the intent or knowledge in clause one of sub-section
+one mentioned." This clause reads: "with the intent that such girl
+shall be used for the purpose of prostitution," and the penalty,
+"liability to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to a
+fine not exceeding $500, or to both." If that law failed because of
+what would pass as proof to the contrary, at any rate there was the
+further provision that the children could be removed to places of
+safety, at least to the Refuge. "A girl found living in or frequenting
+a brothel shall be deemed to be a girl who is being trained for
+immoral purposes." And "The Protector, if on due inquiry he is
+satisfied that any girl is being ... trained for such purposes, and
+that such girl is under the age of sixteen years, may ... order such
+girl to be removed to a place of safety," etc., etc. The way seemed
+perfectly clear under such laws, to secure the safety of the children.
+
+At the door of the Refuge we were glad to escape from our jinrikshas
+into the cool shade of the house. The Matron seemed much troubled, and
+spoke of things that she had not understood previously, but now that
+she had learned many things from our investigations and from her own
+questioning of the girls, they had taken on a painful meaning to her.
+
+Our hearts grew heavier and heavier as we talked together. The
+Matron, said: "Why, I thought when I came here it was to do a regular
+Christian work for these girls. That was my purpose, but the more I
+inquire into the matter, and study over the things I am expected to do
+and ask no questions, such as sending girls over to the Lock Hospital
+at the Chief Inspector's request, the more I feel that I am being
+worked for purposes of which I cannot approve. I cannot stay here."
+
+At last we got to ask her about her talk with the Inspector. "What
+did he say when you told him what we discovered the other night--that
+little girls go freely to the Licensed Eating Houses, and live in the
+brothels?" "Is it really true that the authorities have been deceived,
+and did not know of this flagrant violation of the Ordinance to
+protect women and girls?"
+
+The Matron's face was sadly troubled. She gazed at us a moment
+quietly, and then said:
+
+"He told me, Why, of course he knew about those children. There were
+scores of them."
+
+"But will he do nothing about the matter?" we exclaimed.
+
+She replied: "He said: 'What can I do? I caught a whole handful
+of them once and sent them to the Lock Hospital, and had them all
+examined. The doctor pronounced them all virgins, so I could do
+nothing as yet, and I let them all go back.'"
+
+We uttered exclamations of horror.
+
+"A handful!"--did he think no more of them than of so many minnows!
+
+And they had gone through the horrible ordeal at the Lock Hospital!
+
+And he must leave them in the brothels yet for awhile,--until
+when?--until, Oh pitiful God!--until they were all "deflowered
+according to bargain." And then he might consider the advisability of
+doing something.
+
+The head reeled. We felt stilled. We must get out in the fresh morning
+breeze. Something broke somewhere about the heart. We went out and
+got into our jinrikshas, and went away home as in midnight darkness,
+calling upon the name of our God all the way. Life on this
+hell-scorched earth has never held the same happy delusions for us
+since, but there is a city out of sight "whose Builder and Maker is
+God." That we will seek.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 16.
+
+SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+
+During the incumbency of a certain Mayor of San Francisco a surprising
+condition of things was brought into existence. There was a large
+tract of land in the heart of Chinatown owned by an American family,
+relatives, it is declared, of said Mayor, the passages entering
+which were deliberately blocked by gates, so as to stop all entrance
+excepting to patrons of the place. This section lay between Dupont
+and Stockton, Jackson and Pacific streets, and included within its
+enclosure Baker and New World alleys, connecting Dupont street with
+Sullivan Place, which divided this tract in two. Gates were erected at
+the entrance of the two alleys on Dupont street, and two gates blocked
+the entrance to Sullivan Place, at the end opening upon Pacific
+street. Within this region, both above and below ground, were housed
+numbers of Chinese slave girls, particularly in Baker alley, where, it
+is said, were placed the young girls of tender years, generally about
+fifteen years old, when first brought over the water, or when first
+initiated into brothel slavery, having served their apprenticeship
+as domestic slaves. We are informed that fully seven-tenths of the
+domestic slave girls found in Chinese homes in America--and every
+well-to-do Chinese family (except Christians) keeps at least one or
+two slaves--end their lives in immorality. Some of them when they
+become old enough are seized by their masters as concubines, others
+are sent to the brothels. Reports of conditions at Hong Kong which we
+have already quoted, speak of the special celebration of the entrance
+of a virgin into prostitution, and the high prices paid by patrons for
+this initiation, but leave it obscure as to the nationality of the men
+who initiate girls into the life of a brothel slave. But Chinese in
+San Francisco do not hesitate to make the charge that Chinamen recoil,
+through moral sense or superstition, from deflowering a virgin, and
+that this horrible privilege is purchased at a special price by the
+white, not the yellow patrons of Chinese houses of ill-fame. Baker
+alley has probably been the scene of more terrible brutality of this
+sort than any other part of San Francisco. Before the rubbish was
+cleared away, in the oasis of a broad desert of ashes in the burned
+city, we visited this region, and found carpenters busy at the work
+of reconstructing brothels. The slave pen was existent again, and we
+entered the gateway leading to it and gazed upon the rapidly growing
+structures within. Two white men of a class called "Watch-dogs," in
+the days before the fire, occupied a sort of look-out and kept guard,
+more especially upon the entrance to Baker alley. This region,
+so largely of American manufacture, like other sections of San
+Francisco's Chinatown, was displayed, by means of Chinatown guides for
+pay to tourists, who were led to believe that they were looking upon
+_Chinese_ views of life. The truth is, as we have shown in previous
+chapters, a display of vice is practically unknown in regions of China
+uninfluenced by Western civilization. Almost any wicked man, any
+tourist who would pay well, man or woman, could enter this place.
+The "Watch-dogs" were kept merely to prevent the entrance of mission
+workers to rescue slaves, and these "Watch-dogs" were, and always are,
+American, or, at least European men, not Chinese.
+
+There were more "Watch-dogs" than those about Sullivan Place, before
+the earthquake in San Francisco,--they were to be found in many
+parts, always for the one purpose,--to resist interference with the
+enforcement of brothel slavery upon Chinese women. American men
+undertook this part of the business, because a certain timidity in
+the Chinese character when dealing with American women, and a fear of
+arousing race-prejudice, unfitted the Chinaman for coping with the
+American women,--Miss Culbertson, the pioneer, now sainted, Miss Lake,
+Miss Cameron and Miss Davis, who have fought their brave battles for
+many years, to deliver the captives from the hand of the spoilers,
+often at the risk of life, unaided for the most part, unappreciated
+and unsympathized with, by a guiltily ignorant Christian public, and
+too often persecuted by corrupt officials. Yet they have never stood
+alone, but have always had the presence of their Master, and the
+sympathetic co-operation of a few ardent supporters,--Christian women,
+lawyers, magistrates, and other officials.
+
+One of the "Watch-dogs" struck Miss Lake on one occasion. On another,
+a "Watch-dog" went boldly up to two policemen to whom a fugitive slave
+had appealed for help, seized his prey, and without resistance from
+the policemen, carried her bodily back to slavery along the public
+street, in view of many spectators. At another time several of them
+rushed in upon a scene of rescue, overcame the police officer, and
+hurled him down stairs, dealt in the same manner with some men in
+the rescue party, and then turned upon the missionary and would have
+subjected her to the same treatment. She said firmly: "Do not lay a
+hand upon me! I will go out by myself," and overawed, they allowed
+her to walk out untouched through their midst into fresh air and to
+safety. It is hardly necessary to add that the missionary did not, on
+this occasion, get the poor slave.
+
+We have already said, but it bears repeating, that white men as well
+as Chinese, resort to these slaves. One rescued girl told of another
+captive, bound by night to her bed and to her unwilling task. Think of
+the education of the youths of San Francisco in such schools of vice
+as this,--what a menace they must necessarily become to the women of
+their own family and acquaintance! A young woman managed to get a
+request for help sent to a rescue worker. The missionary responded
+by a carefully arranged plot for the identification of the girl. It
+included the understanding that when the rescuer with the officer
+should enter the place, she was to have in her hands, and to raise
+to her lips a handkerchief which the missionary had managed to get
+conveyed to her. They entered, saw her with the handkerchief held
+to her face, at the little soliciting window, but the poor girl had
+endured so much that at the sight of friends she lost her nerve and
+presence of mind, fluttered her handkerchief, and cried out, "Oh,
+teacher!" Alas! a locked door still separated her from her rescuers,
+and the plot was exposed. She was dragged back, and became lost to the
+rescue party. Other girls who escaped from the den afterwards told of
+the rest of the scene. Kick upon kick fell upon her poor little body,
+and the enraged owner of the brothel never ceased until she was dead
+and mashed almost to a jelly before the eyes of the other inmates, to
+teach them a lesson of warning against trying to escape. Let us not
+mourn. It was better so than to have been left alive unrescued. The
+pity is that the keepers and the "Watch-dogs" hold them alive to their
+task as long as they do. The angels of heaven, God's rescue party, are
+not far off from such victims, nor His angels of wrath and vengeance
+from such inhuman fiends. We wonder how many of the little slaves were
+lifted up into a better life than this by the merciful earthquake; and
+how many of their masters and outragers saw hell gape and themselves
+swallowed up in the horrible earthquake,--God's deliverance or God's
+judgment,--according to the character of the individual.
+
+When the missionary enters a den, and by means of some carefully
+devised scheme identifies the girl who has had conveyed to the
+missionary her desire to be rescued, and attempts to take the girl,
+she often screams for help, kicks, fights, bites, scratches, spits,
+and sometimes swears at her liberator, but often is secretly clutching
+with almost a death-grip the rescuer's hand. She will sometimes fight
+at being thrust through the doorway into the street, calling lustily
+for help, but whisper to the missionary, "Tell the officer to carry
+me out." When once, in spite of the feigned struggle, she is carried
+outside, and her pursuers are well behind in the chase, the ruse is
+cast aside, and it becomes a race for dear life between the rescuer
+and the rescued to make the city of refuge,--the mission home,--and
+generally the fugitive gets there first. Once a rescue worker found
+her girl secreted with four others in a loft, to which she had been
+removed because the brothel-keeper feared an attempt at rescue. She
+was so carefully guarded and watched that the poor thing dared not
+signify to the missionary that she was the one who wished to be taken,
+and all five struggled with equal apparent fierceness against rescue.
+What was the missionary to do! She lifted her heart in the despairing
+cry, "Oh, God, if ever you heard a human prayer and answered it, for
+Christ's sake hear me now! Tell me which one to take!" She instantly
+seized one of them, who fought savagely, and bit and scratched and
+swore. Out she went with her, and all the way to the mission the girl
+abused her terribly. But the instant the door closed behind them and
+they were safe inside the home, she fell to the floor, seized her
+deliverer's feet and bathed them with her tears, crying bitterly as
+she said: "Oh, forgive me, forgive me! You know I did not mean it,
+but it was the only way to do to be safe." God had guided aright. No
+mistake had been made in the choice. Do you believe God did that,
+reader? Try such heroic work for yourself, and you will find
+a miracle-working God who seldom reveals His identity to the
+self-indulgent. That rescued girl has turned out to be a wonder of
+grace and of natural gifts, and is pursuing a professional career now,
+after fine opportunities in training. It is worth while to save such
+material, even from a slave-pen; such as she enrich the community in
+which they live.
+
+This slave-trade could not go on between Hong Kong and the United
+States but for the white men who are in it, one way or another. White
+lawyers defend the traffickers in court, and secure the return of
+slaves by writ of habeas corpus, or by means of false accusations of
+various sorts, such as of stealing. It is significant that, with rare
+exceptions, the policemen seem not to have been trusted with definite
+information as to the place about to be searched or raided, when told
+off to accompany a rescue party, lest word be sent ahead, allowing a
+chance to spirit away the girl for whom search is instituted. American
+men are said to go all the way to Hong Kong to get girls and smuggle
+them into the country, as better able to cope with the strict
+immigration laws than Chinese. Sometimes they go a long way around to
+get a girl into San Francisco,--by Victoria, B.C., through Mexico
+and El Paso (Texas), and by other routes. But the price paid for the
+slaves assures a good profit to the traders. Since the laws against
+Chinese immigration became more stringent, the market price of these
+slaves has risen to three thousand dollars, while the more beautiful
+ones bring a much higher price. Judges, lawyers, seafaring men,
+hirelings of the Immigration Bureau, Chinatown guides, "Watch-dogs,"
+officials and policemen, have all been accused of having imbrued their
+hands at different times in the slaughter of the virtue of Chinese
+women through this wretched slave business, besides the white patrons
+of the Chinese slave-pens. But probably none are so guilty of
+complicity as the property-owners, who build the places for housing
+the slaves, and make enormous profits in the business.
+
+There seems to be a misapprehension as to the status of these Chinese
+prostitutes, to which the mind recurs again and again, in spite of
+careful explanations. Some imagine that only those who are rescued,
+or at least those who have managed to convey word to the missionaries
+that they desire to be rescued, are the literal slaves, and that those
+left behind are free. Such is not the case. We have already shown that
+nearly all the Chinese prostitutes at Singapore and at Hong Kong are
+literal slaves, the only exception being, in fact, a small percentage
+(estimated at 10 per cent by the Chinese merchants at Hong Kong),
+composed almost entirely of women who have mortgaged their own bodies,
+or who have been thus mortgaged by relatives, for a limited time
+in payment for a debt, and who, at the end of the stated time, are
+generally set free, though sometimes they find themselves in a trap
+from which there is no escape. It is through the misfortune of debt,
+and in countries where Chinese women are cheap, that this mortgaging
+of the person takes place. Such conditions do not surround Chinese
+women in America, so that this form of service in houses of ill-fame
+must be correspondingly rare, and this is according to the testimony
+of the missionaries. For this reason, therefore, we may rule out the
+temporary servitude, and assert without fear of contradiction from
+those who understand the situation, that practically all the Chinese
+prostitutes in the United States are literal slaves. Some are
+_willing_ slaves, some _unwilling_; and a small fraction of the
+unwilling slaves have managed by stroke of good fortune, and because
+of unusual courage, to get a request conveyed to a mission, and thus
+in some instances they have secured their freedom. But not all who
+have appealed for help have been rescued, for they cannot always be
+found upon search, and often, when they have been found and their
+cases brought up in court, they have been again consigned to the care
+of their former owners because courage has failed, and they have
+refused in open court to acknowledge that they wished to go free.
+One girl who desired to escape fell under suspicion, and her master
+decided to remove her to Watsonville, and so defeat her rescue. At the
+San Francisco Ferry Station she made a dash for liberty, pursued by
+the two men who had her in charge, and ran to a policeman, handing him
+a crumpled piece of paper, which proved to be a note that a missionary
+had placed in her hand when she landed in America. The officer could
+not read the note, in its old and crumpled condition, but divining its
+nature he hailed a cab and drove with the girl straight to the mission
+door, where she was welcomed.
+
+There were at least five hundred Chinese brothel slaves in San
+Francisco before its destruction, and none in Oakland up to that time.
+Since the calamity, there have been many in Oakland. They have been
+estimated at as high a figure as 300, and must have numbered until
+quite recently at least 150. The frontispiece represents a structure
+erected for their housing. This building is three stories high, and
+occupies every foot of one-half square. It contains more than 600
+rooms, and is built throughout of rough boards, one inch thick, on
+flimsy beams and studding. It is unlathed and unplastered, a veritable
+fire-trap, within four blocks of the County Court House. It could
+never have passed inspection had it been erected for _decent_
+purposes. When the photograph was taken the building was not
+completed. A row of shops has been added at the left, over which is a
+large Chinese theatre. A respectable Chinese man of literary pursuits
+informed us that the theatre was "to attract custom there." A very
+broad stairway, scarcely less imposing than the front entrance to the
+theatre, leads down into the alley, and to the brothel. The seats for
+women in the theatre are reached by a special door leading to this
+alley. The heart of this building is approached through "Washington
+Place," an alley, at the entrance of which one encounters a sign, "No
+White Men Admitted Here, Only Chinese." This notice, which has been
+put up at the entrance of Oriental brothels in Chinatown, has been
+ordered by the Chief of Police, it is claimed, to prohibit Americans
+associating with Orientals in vice, so as to prevent demoralization
+and race quarrels. We do not dispute the motive, but the _effect_
+is, that those who would work for the rescue of slaves are kept at a
+distance, and no one who is likely to make a complaint against abuses
+and law-breaking can approach the place without permission from
+the police, which gives ample opportunity for getting everything
+objectionable out of sight. As far as prevention of the commingling
+of the different races is concerned, that may be hindered at certain
+points, but American men are on the inside track here, as to making
+money through these slaves. The building has been erected and is
+owned by Americans, and one man of European name is a partner in the
+immediate management of the place. On our first visit to this building
+we were informed on reliable information that there were 125 Japanese
+and over 50 Chinese girls in the place, and 100 more were expected to
+arrive within a few days. Besides these, there are also Chinese slaves
+in almost every Chinese settlement throughout the United States. In
+California, they are to be found largely at San Francisco, Oakland,
+Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Bakersfield, San Jose, Watsonville,
+Monterey and Los Angeles. Willing or unwilling, the Chinese prostitute
+is none the less a slave, bought and sold at pleasure from one to
+another, earning wealth for others and never for herself. Recently,
+three girls who were taken from a den in San Francisco, declared that
+they had been sold for three thousand dollars apiece to the keeper,
+and that they were flogged when their earnings for the keeper fell
+below three hundred dollars each a month. If the prostitute were not
+willing to be a slave, that would not procure her liberty,--it would
+only procure her more abuse than the willing slave. On the ship
+coming over, the slaves are well drilled in their task on arrival, of
+swearing themselves into slavery, and well threatened if they dare
+to disobey. Then they are packed with stories as to the terrible
+character of Americans, particularly the rescue workers. One Chinese
+girl concluded she would take all the abuse of the rescue home rather
+than forego a chance for liberty, though she knew of no reason to
+disbelieve the fearful warnings she had received. On the first night
+of her arrival she did not undress nor go to bed when the other girls
+retired. Someone found her standing about, and asked her why she
+was not off for bed. She replied pathetically: "I am waiting for my
+beating." She had been informed that it was in that fashion all the
+girls were put to bed each night. At a very conservative estimate,
+there are not less than one thousand Chinese brothel slaves in
+California alone, besides those in the Chinese settlements all over
+the United States. When children are born to Chinese prostitutes, they
+are seized by the brothel keepers as their own property, the girls
+being sold into domestic slavery to be passed on into brothel
+slavery at the age of about 15, and the boy babies sold for a good
+price--several hundred dollars--to become "adopted" sons. Very many
+Chinese men of the United States secure their wives by purchase from
+brothels, and as a consequence often have no children by them, hence
+the high value of a child who can be purchased for a son. The real
+wife and family of the Chinese man generally remain in China, the
+matrimonial relations of the man in America being wholly spurious.
+This admixture of the brothel element with all Chinese home life in
+the United States makes this country very undesirable as a residence
+for virtuous Chinese women, and largely discourages the immigration of
+respectable Chinese wives, whose presence with their husbands might
+greatly tend to the uplifting of the entire Chinese community.
+
+There are probably as many domestic slaves as brothel slaves among the
+Chinese of the United States. Every well-to-do heathen Chinese family
+keeps a slave or two, and the rich Chinese keep a large number.
+Polygamy is practiced, as at Hong Kong, to a larger extent than
+prevails generally in China, and it is not uncommon to find a Chinese
+in California with from five to seven concubines. The Chinese man
+in the United States takes his domestic slave, if he wishes, for a
+concubine, or sells his concubines into brothel slavery, if displeased
+with them, or wishing to raise a sum of money. It is a burning
+disgrace to the United States that this polygamy is not stamped out.
+In one case related to us, a girl was taken from a rescue home by a
+writ of habeas corpus, and returned by the judge to her position as
+second wife of a Chinaman.
+
+During President Hayes' administration, Mr. D.H. Bailey, United States
+Consul-General at Shanghai, sent a message to him relating to Chinese
+slavery, and the menace to our country from it. He enclosed in his
+communication a translation of the Chinese laws relating to slavery,
+which is permitted under certain restrictions in that country. Nothing
+could exceed their stringency at the point of any resistance on the
+part of the slave to the condition of servitude. From that set of laws
+we quote the following:
+
+    "If a female slave deserts her master's house she shall be
+    punished with 80 blows." ... "Whosoever harbours a fugitive wife
+    or slave, knowing them to be fugitives, shall participate equally
+    in their punishment." ... "A slave guilty of addressing abusive
+    language to his master shall suffer death by being strangled....
+    If to his master's relations in the first degree he shall be
+    punished with 80 blows and two years' banishment. If to his
+    master's relations in the second degree, the punishment shall
+    be 80 blows. If in the third degree, 70 blows. If in the fourth
+    degree, 60 blows." "The master or the relations of a master of a
+    guilty slave may ... chastise such slave in any degree short of
+    death, without being liable to punishment. Nevertheless, if
+    a master or his aforesaid relations, in order to correct a
+    disobedient slave or hired servant, should chastise him in a
+    lawful manner on the back of the thighs or on the posteriors, and
+    such slave or hired servant should happen to die, or if he is
+    killed in any other manner accidentally, neither the master nor
+    his aforesaid relations shall be liable to any punishment in
+    consequence thereof."
+
+    "All slaves who are guilty of designedly striking their masters
+    shall, without making any distinctions between principals and
+    accessories, be beheaded.
+
+    "All slaves designedly killing their masters, or designedly
+    striking so as to kill their masters, shall suffer death by a slow
+    and painful execution.
+
+    "If accidentally killing their masters, they shall suffer death by
+    being strangled.
+
+    "If accidentally wounding, they shall suffer 100 blows and
+    perpetual banishment to the distance of 3,000 li (1,000 miles).
+
+    "Slaves who are guilty of striking their master's relations in the
+    first degree ... shall be strangled.... All slaves who strike so
+    as to wound such persons shall ... be beheaded."
+
+The "painful execution" which is the penalty of killing a master,
+means execution by slicing the criminal into 10,000 cuts. Foreigners
+who have witnessed it say it is too horrible to recite.
+
+It is under such slave laws as these that the young girl is trained
+as a brothel slave before she is brought to California. After such
+tuition, it seems hardly credible that girls do, in San Francisco,
+dare to escape from their masters, and flee to the missions for
+protection. Governor C.C. Smith, who was for years the Registrar
+General of Hong Kong, previous to being knighted and sent to Singapore
+as Governor of the Straits Settlements, replied to the Secretary of
+State for the Colonies, in reference to the freedom of prostitutes,
+"out of an experience of over a quarter of a century":
+
+    "There are no restrictive regulations on the part of the
+    Government which go to prevent or interfere with the entire
+    freedom of the inmates of brothels, and they can go abroad alone.
+    This statement will not, I hope, deceive you into believing that
+    as a consequence they are really free agents ... such is actually
+    not the case. A child who strikes its parent is liable to a death
+    sentence. The girls in brothels are in the position of daughters
+    to the keepers, and ... call them mother. There is no sense of
+    freedom, as we understand the term, possible in such a state of
+    affairs. The women are fearful of the unknown; of what should
+    happen to them if they should disobey their pocket-mothers, and
+    are terribly ignorant of everything connected with the Government
+    under which they nominally live. It is out of the question to
+    educate them up to the English standard of liberty of the subject.
+    They stay but a few short years in an English Colony, seeing
+    nothing but the worst phases of a life of vice and immorality, and
+    only know of the officers of Government as 'foreign devils' or
+    'barbarians'."
+
+This is all only too true as regards California also, excepting that
+the experiment of educating them by just treatment in the "English
+standard of the liberty of the subject," has certainly never been
+tried either in Singapore or America. The brothel keepers, however,
+have learned to understand that matter of "liberty of the subject"
+only too well, and take advantage of the habeas corpus act at every
+turn to capture a slave who is trying to escape their clutches.
+
+These words of Governor Smith should be borne in mind and brought to
+attention every time our law officers in California put brothel girls
+through the farce of asking them if they are desirous of liberty, and
+when they say no, proclaim triumphantly to the world that "there isn't
+a slave girl in Chinatown." These officers deceive others by these
+falsehoods, but they know too well the conditions to be themselves
+deceived.
+
+When certain Chinese girls appeared before a committee appointed to
+investigate conditions at San Francisco, the members of the committee
+were put under promise not to divulge their names or stories, as
+"their lives would not be safe for five years to come," if the
+brothel-keepers and their former owners knew that they had informed
+against them. It is a little difficult to describe the various secret
+societies of Chinatown in full, but for practical purposes and as
+relates to the welfare of Chinese women, it may be said that the
+secret society, or tong, is a sort of mutual benefit society and has
+generally a very commendable sort of name; but it exists to divide the
+profits of the trade in women, among other villainies. When anyone
+gives any evidence against such a society, or informs a rescue worker
+where a girl will be found who desires her liberty, then some one from
+the tong that has a special interest in the profits of that girl's
+slavery, deposits a sum of money in a place mutually arranged for, and
+the highbinder society undertakes for the sum paid to see that the
+informer is assassinated within twenty-four hours. That is the length
+of time usually claimed for the act. But sometimes years may pass
+before the marked victim can be traced and killed.
+
+We will next give a few cases from the records of the Presbyterian and
+Methodist Mission Rescue Homes of San Francisco, which will clearly
+show the similarity between the state of affairs in Hong Kong and
+California.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 17.
+
+STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM.
+
+
+A Chinese girl of 14 was brought to this country, and served six
+months as a domestic slave, and was then put into a brothel. She was
+rescued. Her Chinese master got out a writ of habeas corpus, went to
+the Mission with an officer and took the girl away at once to court
+before a corrupt judge. It was just at noon-time, and the missionary
+pleaded for a little time in which to summon a lawyer. The judge said:
+"I have no time to fool with this case." The lawyer arrived in haste
+and pleaded for a little time in which to prepare the defense. The
+judge said to the lawyer: "You shut up, or I'll have you imprisoned
+for contempt of Court." He awarded the slave to the care of her
+master.
+
+This and other such cases led to a valuable alteration of the law at
+the point of the protection of minors. We will explain the change in
+the words of Miss Cameron:
+
+    "In years past it was necessary in each case to in a way break
+    the _letter_ though not the _spirit_ of the law when we rescued a
+    Chinese child, for there was no written law to uphold us in
+    entering a house and carrying off a child--then, too, before
+    it was possible to carry out guardianship proceedings, the
+    ever-available writ of habeas corpus would in many cases deliver
+    the child back into the care of the Chinese, until the matter
+    could be settled in the Superior Court--in such instances we
+    seldom won our case. Our attorney saw wherein the difficulty lay,
+    and proposed an amendment to the law of the State in the matter of
+    the guardianship of minor children, which would give power to a
+    presiding judge to sign an order to the Sheriff, commanding him
+    immediately to take into custody the child whose name appeared
+    on the warrant and place her in the care of those applying for
+    guardianship, until such time as the hearing could be had."
+
+This means of protection for minors was secured by the combined
+efforts of mission workers and their friends. This explanation will
+prepare the way for a rehearsal of some cases of rescue which
+might puzzle the reader as being carried out by unusual methods of
+procedure.
+
+The following cases are from the records of the Methodist Home for
+Chinese Girls, located, since the earthquake, at Berkeley:
+
+    No. 1. Made the following statement: "I am 12 years old; born
+    in Canton; father a laborer; mother a nurse; parents very poor.
+    Mother fell sick, and in her need of money sold me. Took me to
+    Hong Kong and sold me to a woman; saw the money paid, but do not
+    know how much; it looked a great deal. This was 3 years ago. The
+    woman promised my mother to make me her own daughter, and little
+    did my mother know I was to be a slave, to be beaten and abused by
+    a cruel mistress. My mother cried when she left me; it was very
+    hard to part. The big ship, 'City of Pekin,' took me soon out of
+    sight. I have heard that she is now dead. On arriving we did not
+    come ashore immediately. I was landed after 4 days. There was
+    trouble in landing me. I had a red paper, bought at Hong Kong,
+    that they called a certificate, and there was trouble about it.
+    The woman who bought me had no trouble getting ashore because she
+    had lived in California before. She told me what I was to say when
+    I was questioned. She told me I must swear I was her own daughter.
+    The Judge asked, 'Is this your own mother?' and I said, 'Yes.'
+    This was a lie, but I did not know it was wrong to do as I was
+    told, and I was afraid of my mistress. The Judge said, 'Did this
+    woman give you birth?' and I said, 'Yes.' The Judge said, 'Did
+    anybody tell you to say all this?" and I said, 'No,' because my
+    mistress had instructed me how to answer this question, if it was
+    asked me. She taught me on ship-board what to say if I was taken
+    to court. My mistress was an opium smoker, and she and her husband
+    had awful quarrels, which made her bad-tempered, and then she
+    would beat me for no reason. I used to get so tired working hard,
+    and then she would beat me. She beat me with thick sticks of
+    fire-wood. She would lay me on the bench, lift my clothes, and
+    beat me on the back. Another day she would beat me thus with the
+    fire tongs. One day she took a hot flat-iron, removed my clothes,
+    and held it on my naked back until I howled with pain. (There
+    was a large scab on her back from this burn when she came to the
+    Mission.) The scars on my body are proof of my bad treatment. My
+    forehead is all scars caused by her throwing heavy pieces of wood
+    at my head. One cut a large gash, and the blood ran out. She
+    stopped the bleeding and hid me away. She beat my legs one day
+    until they were all swollen up. I thought I better get away before
+    she killed me. When she was having her hair washed and dressed I
+    ran away. I had heard of the Mission, and inquired the way and
+    came to it. A white man brought me here. I am very happy now."
+    While being brought to the Mission by this gentleman, she laid
+    hold of his coat, and would not let go until she was safely
+    inside. It is significant that in this case and the following,
+    methods of punishment allowed even unto death by Chinese law, are
+    administered by the mistresses of slaves in America.
+
+    No. 2. "One day I was playing in the street near my home in
+    Canton, and a man kidnaped me. He said: 'Come with me; your mother
+    told me to take you to buy something for her, and you are to take
+    it back.' I have never seen my father and mother since. In 3 or 4
+    days I was taken to the Hong Kong steamer. I dared not cry on the
+    street, but on board the steamer I cried very much. The kidnaper
+    said: 'Don't you cry, or you will have the policeman after you,
+    and they'll take you off to the foreign devils' prison.' At Hong
+    Kong he sold me to a woman, and after staying at her house a few
+    days she brought me to California. I had a yellow paper given me,
+    but I don't know what it was. The woman told me I must say I was
+    born in California. I came here last winter. I am 11 years old.
+    I don't remember the name of the steamer. The woman sold me to
+    another woman. I had to work as cook, and nurse her little
+    bound-footed child, who was strapped to my back to carry. The
+    child I carried was 9 years old; and I was 11. My mistress was
+    very cruel. Often she took off all my clothes, laid me on a bench
+    and beat me with a rattan until I was black all over. Then she
+    said: 'I will get rid of you and sell you.' The keeper of a
+    brothel came to buy me, and look me over to see how much I was
+    worth. A Chinaman living next door, knowing how I was treated and
+    that I was going to be put in a brothel, when I saw him in the
+    passageway, asked me if I wished to come to the Mission, and I
+    said 'Yes.' My mistress had gone out into the next room, leaving
+    her daughter and another slave girl in the room. I said I would go
+    at once, and he brought me. I am very glad to live here and lead a
+    good life."
+
+    No. 3. The rescuer was requested to meet a girl at the corner of
+    Stockton and Jackson streets. She did so. K---- Y---- was comely
+    and refined looking. She had been sold into a brothel at a tender
+    age. When about 22 she met a young Chinese man who wished to marry
+    her, and he paid down $600 for her, promising $1,400 more in time.
+    Another man objected to the sale, because the girl had mortgaged
+    herself to him for $600. Through the Mission the girl was released
+    from her bondage, and remained at the Mission one year and then
+    married the first man, and they left San Francisco and resided for
+    a time in an inland town. Here an effort was made to kill her in
+    her own garden one evening. Her husband brought her back to San
+    Francisco, and later she went back to China.
+
+    No. 4. Came from a brothel on Spofford alley. She was occasionally
+    allowed to attend the (Chinese) theatre. One evening when at the
+    theatre she had word conveyed to the Mission to come get her
+    immediately. The rescuer did so, and the girl promptly arose, when
+    the rescuer entered the room, from the front tier of seats, and
+    seizing the hand of the missionary in the presence of them
+    all climbed over the backs of two seats, regardless of their
+    occupants, and escaped. Later she was married and returned to
+    China.
+
+    No. 5. In a dark, dismal room where the sun never shone lay a poor
+    Chinese woman helpless with rheumatism. She had a baby girl 10
+    months old and was too sick to care for it. The invalid felt
+    forced to put the child in the hands of a friend she trusted, who
+    promised to care for it, and advanced money for the sick woman.
+    When the mother got better she worked two years and saved until
+    she had enough money to buy the child back, but the cruel woman
+    who had got possession of it refused to give it up unless paid
+    three times as much as was originally borrowed. The mother could
+    not do this, and finally, hearing of the Mission, reported the
+    case there. The baby was traced to a horrible den in Church alley,
+    where it was in the possession of a notorious brothel-keeper. The
+    mother secretly visited the Matron at the Mission, who had secured
+    the child, urging her to keep possession of the baby, saying she
+    would not dare testify against the woman on the witness stand, as
+    it would cost her her life. The case was a long time in court, but
+    after six months the Judge committed the child to the Home, and
+    the mother was made very happy.
+
+    No. 6. She ran into the Mission leading her little son. She was
+    chased to the very door of the Mission, but kept her pursuers
+    at bay, by means of a policeman's whistle which she held in her
+    mouth, walking backward and threatening to blow it if they dared
+    touch her child. She was a widow with this only child, and her
+    relatives were bound to sell her into an immoral life and take the
+    boy away. After being in the Mission a few months she became a
+    Christian. Her little boy was placed in an orphanage. Later the
+    widow married respectably.
+
+    No. 7. This girl was aged 14 when rescued, and had been placed in
+    a vile life four weeks before. Two days later she was taken to
+    court on a writ of habeas corpus. Her case was put off three
+    times, and finally came to trial. The Judge remanded the girl to
+    the custody of the M.E. Mission Home. He said, on dismissing the
+    case, that never in all his experience had he listened to such
+    perjury, and that the alleged mother should be punished to the
+    fullest extent of the law for her lying. The girl seemed very
+    happy and contented in the Home, but nine days after she was
+    committed to it she was again taken out on a writ of habeas
+    corpus and appeared before another Judge, who returned her to the
+    brothel-keeper. (This was before the new guardianship law came
+    into operation).
+
+No. 8 proves that the buying and selling of children takes place in
+America up to the present day. It is but one instance of this sort out
+of scores of others given by the missionary:
+
+    "She was sold when she was but four weeks and five days old. Her
+    parents being very poor and having several other children, she was
+    disposed of to a man who was a friend of the father. The wife,
+    however, was an inmate of an immoral house. Part of the time the
+    child was kept there and part of the time in a family house where
+    we often saw her in our rounds of visiting prior to the earthquake
+    and fire. We did not know but that she belonged to the family in
+    whose care we saw her.
+
+    "After the fire the man returned to China, leaving the woman and
+    child. The woman took to abusing the child, and word was brought
+    to us of the condition of things. We appeared on the scene one
+    morning about 10 o'clock with an officer. Leaving him outside, we
+    entered, and found the woman and child eating breakfast. Three
+    other women and two men soon came in. After talking for a while I
+    saw the woman was anxious to get the child away from the table, so
+    I informed her we had come to take her, and proceeded to do so,
+    catching the child up and darting into the street, leaving my
+    interpreter and the officer to follow. We ran several blocks,
+    followed by the irate woman. Finally hailing a man with a horse
+    and wagon, we sprang in and were driven away to where we could
+    take the street cars for home. The child did some screaming and
+    crying, at first. But once we were seated in the street car, her
+    tears were dried and her little tongue rattled along at a rapid
+    rate; she was delighted to get away.
+
+    "The case was in court for some weeks, but the woman was afraid
+    to appear, and had no one to assist her but the lawyer, and as he
+    could not prove any good reason why the child should remain with
+    an immoral woman, we were given the guardianship."
+
+    No. 9. A young girl came to San Francisco from China as a
+    merchant's wife, and missionaries used to visit her at her home in
+    Chinatown. Once when they went they were told that the wife had
+    gone to San Jose, but she could not be traced at the latter place,
+    and the missionary was suspicious. A year passed, and one night
+    the door bell at the Mission rang, and when it was opened
+    a Chinese girl fell in a faint from exhaustion, across the
+    threshold. A colored girl stood by her holding her by the cue.
+    The colored girl said she saw her running, and divined where she
+    wished to go, and seizing her by the hair to prevent her being
+    dragged back, rushed her to the Mission. It was the merchant's
+    young wife. She had been confined in a brothel not two blocks from
+    the Mission, and often saw the missionary pass by, but had no
+    means of attracting her attention. The merchant told her one day
+    that he wished to take her to a cousin to learn a different way of
+    dressing her hair, and he would leave her there a day or two while
+    he was away from town on business. The young wife went without
+    fear, but never to return to virtue until she escaped to the
+    Mission. She was tied to a window by day to attract custom, and at
+    night tied to a bed, for she was no willing slave. When rescued
+    she was horribly diseased. Three days before her rescue, the
+    Chief of Police and an interpreter had gone through the house
+    questioning every inmate as to whether they wished to lead a life
+    of shame or not. She was asked the question in the presence of the
+    brothel-keeper, the head mistress, and all the girls. She had been
+    told beforehand, "If you dare say you want to escape, we will kill
+    you." The Chief of Police had it announced in the papers that
+    he had made this investigation, and that no slaves existed in
+    Chinatown. Immediately after his visit, she was removed to a
+    family house, lest her rescue might be effected, and one man and
+    two women set to watch her day and night. She feigned willingness
+    to lead a bad life, and the two women, lulled into a sense of
+    security, turned aside to gossip, while the man dropped off
+    asleep. She suddenly rushed out of the house, and but for the
+    quick wit and good offices of the colored girl might have missed
+    the way to a safe harbor.
+
+The following are cases of rescue reported from the Mission Home of
+the Occidental Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church:
+
+    No. 1. Qui Que. This little girl was taken from a gambling den
+    at Isleton, a small town on the Sacramento river. The woman who
+    brought her from China died, and she was thus left to the care of
+    this gang of gamblers. When Miss Cameron and her escort arrived at
+    the house, the little girl of six or seven years sat on a table
+    rolling cigarettes for the men who sat around it gambling. They
+    were taken by surprise, and before they quite understood the
+    situation the rescuers were gone with the little girl. When they
+    discovered this, they fired several shots after the party, but no
+    harm was done. The officer, with one hand on his revolver, drove
+    rapidly for the boat landing, and Qui Que, safe in Miss Cameron's
+    arms, will probably never know the danger risked in securing her
+    freedom.
+
+    No. 2. Ngun Fah. This child was a domestic slave in the family of
+    a well-to-do merchant in Chinatown, but so cruelly was the child
+    overworked and abused that the matter was finally reported to the
+    Mission, and little Ngun Fah rescued. When found at the home of
+    her master, she was in a most pitiable condition. Weary from hard
+    work and worn out with crying, after the cruel punishment which
+    had just been administered, the lonely little girl crawled on to
+    the hard wooden shelf which served as a bed, and with no covering
+    but the dirty, forlorn garment worn through the day, had dropped
+    off to sleep. Thus she was easily captured and carried to the
+    Mission, where upon examination it was found that her head had
+    been severely cut from blows administered with a meat knife, the
+    hair was matted with blood and the child's whole body was covered
+    with filth, and showed signs of former punishments. After the
+    first fears of "being poisoned" were allayed, Ngun Fah expressed
+    herself as being very happy to be rescued from the suffering
+    and weariness of her life in Chinatown. Her master sent many
+    emissaries to the Home with offers of bribes, and many promises
+    of better treatment in the future, but all these overtures were
+    rejected, and when at length the matter of guardianship came up,
+    there was no one present to claim the child but her new friends at
+    the Mission Home.
+
+    No. 3. Suey Ying. Our dear baby was surely sent to dispel any
+    clouds of sadness which may be hovering round, for she takes all
+    of life as a huge joke. And where did Suey Ying come from? From a
+    part of Chinatown, dear friend, that you would not dare to enter,
+    and the strangest thing about her coming is that she was carried
+    to the Home by a fugitive slave woman, who was escaping to China.
+    Long ago this woman had spent a day or two in the Mission and was
+    impressed by the happy life of the children here and by the kind
+    treatment she herself received. Later on she purchased for $120
+    a little baby girl. She grew to love the tiny waif, and when at
+    length troubles of many kinds drove her to sudden flight across
+    the ocean, instead of selling the baby she brought it to this Home
+    of happy memory and asked that we keep it always.
+
+    No. 4. How Wan. A frail young girl with bound feet was brought to
+    this country to be the wife of a man who had died while she was
+    en route. Refused a landing, she was detained in the Mission by
+    immigration officials, while the young man's parents made frantic
+    efforts to secure her admission to the country. She remained here,
+    a prisoner, for two years. Thousands of dollars were expended
+    without avail, and How Wan was deported. Nothing daunted, they
+    accompanied her as far as Japan, and returned with her, secured a
+    license and landed her as a merchant's wife. She lived with
+    the family in a dark basement on Sacramento street, where the
+    mother-in-law abused her with such cruelty that, shrinking girl as
+    she is, she found courage to send word to us if we did not come
+    to her rescue she must relieve herself by suicide--the Chinese
+    woman's only hope. We began at once to plan to get her taken to
+    the steamer to hid good-bye to some friends, and rescued her
+    at the Pacific Mail dock. She is now a grateful member of our
+    household family, and is unbinding her feet.
+
+    No. 5. During the St. Louis Exposition a Chinese company brought
+    from China a large number of women for exhibition in the Fair.
+
+    Four of these, upon learning that they were not to be returned at
+    the close of the exposition, as agreed, but were destined to be
+    sold into houses of prostitution in San Francisco, refused to
+    land, and were brought to the Mission by the Commissioners of
+    Immigration.
+
+    These Chinese were arrested, the case tried in Federal Court,
+    these girls being the principal witnesses; yet twelve supposedly
+    good men dismissed the criminals, and the case was lost.
+
+    Surrounded by the genial environment of our Mission, the minds of
+    these four girls unfolded in a remarkable manner; fascinated with
+    their studies, they constantly begged us to intercede with the
+    authorities that they might remain in the Mission and obtain an
+    education; but, although every effort was made, they were deported
+    after a seven months' stay.
+
+    They had learned to love our Home life, had united with our
+    Christian Endeavor Society and had become interested in all our
+    work, and we would be quite unreconciled to their departure did we
+    not know that our missionaries in Shanghai stand ready to receive
+    and care for them when they arrive.
+
+    No. 6. Seen Fah. The first beams of the rising sun shone bright
+    and hopefully into a pleasant room in the Presbyterian Mission
+    Home one morning last autumn. It threw its cheerful radiance over
+    a group of three gathered there to plan an important undertaking,
+    lighting the bright, eager faces of two young Chinese girls, and
+    giving renewed courage to the anxious heart of the Superintendent.
+    What important event had to be discussed? What serious matter
+    decided? News had reached the Mission Home, a few hours before,
+    of a young Chinese girl just landed in San Francisco and sold for
+    three thousand dollars. Plans to save this helpless and innocent
+    child, before it was too late, were the subject of discussion at
+    that early morning meeting. In such a serious undertaking every
+    possibility of failure must be carefully guarded against. Each
+    possible device of the wily Highbinder slave-owner must he
+    conjectured and frustrated. So the three planned this campaign:
+    "When is Detective ---- coming?" asked Chan Yuen, as a step sounded
+    on the quiet street below. "At six he promised to be here with one
+    of his trustiest men. It is best to reach Chinatown early, that
+    our coming may not be signaled by those on the streets at a later
+    hour. If the alarm is given, every slave den will be doubly bolted
+    and barred; and perhaps little Seen Fah, whom we wish to save,
+    will be spirited away beyond reach of help." Well did the
+    questioner know the terrible truth of these words. A sympathetic
+    shade of sorrow and anxiety crossed her bright face. She, too, was
+    a rescued girl and had not forgotten the dark, mysterious ways
+    of Chinatown. The Superintendent rose to answer the summons of a
+    small electric bell. Two trusted detectives had arrived. After
+    a short conference, the rescuing party set forth on its strange
+    mission. One who had eagerly thought and planned for the success
+    of the undertaking felt her heart throbbing between hope and fear,
+    but was reassured when a slender hand slipped into hers and a
+    sweet, encouraging voice whispered: "I have faith to believe God
+    will give us the girl." Faith triumphed that day. Through two of
+    Chinatown's most desolate old tenements, upstairs and downstairs
+    in dark closets and unexpected corners, while Highbinders uttered
+    imprecations in the alleys below, the rescue party kept up a
+    diligent search for many hours. When at last the quest was about
+    to be abandoned as hopeless, suddenly a cry of success echoed
+    through every gloomy corner of the old building--Seen Fah was
+    found! A small, dark closet, overlooked in the earlier hours of
+    the search, was discovered. A lighted candle soon revealed a pile
+    of empty rice bags and broken boxes. Pulling these away, the
+    object of the long search was discovered, nearly smothered beneath
+    the debris. Dazed and terrified, but safe, Seen Fah was at last
+    in the hands of friends--and the slave ring had lost just three
+    thousand dollars. Later on, Seen Fah and her new friends were
+    haled into court. As usual, the sleek, well-paid attorney appeared
+    for the Chinese owners. But they and he were alike powerless to
+    drag back into slavery the rescued girl. There was but one course
+    for the court to pursue. _Finding that Seen Fah was over fourteen,
+    she was allowed to choose for herself_ between the life of
+    Chinatown and that offered by the Mission. She chose the Christian
+    Home; so to its care Judge Cook consigned her. To-day, a free
+    happy girl, Seen Fah joins gayly in the simple, wholesome life
+    of her new surroundings. Rescued before the blight of slavery
+    actually darkened her life, she will never fully understand from
+    how great a danger her guardian angel snatched her. But we who do
+    know thank daily the kind Providence who thus protects His own.
+
+    No. 7. Kum Ping. She was married in the American Consulate at Hong
+    Kong in the most approved European way. Her new husband had made
+    a good impression on the old aunt who was her guardian, and for a
+    small consideration in Mexican coin, Kum Ping became his property
+    according to Chinese custom, as well as his legal wife by
+    American law. When these arrangements were completed, passage was
+    immediately engaged on the Korea, bound for that harbor of
+    romance, San Francisco Bay. There was, however, to be little
+    romance in the life of our small Chinese heroine. The man who made
+    her his wife did so simply as a means toward an end, and that end
+    was to be a life of slavery and degradation in California. The
+    landing of slave girls in free America is prohibited by law, thus
+    the slave-dealers must resort to the best means at their command
+    to thwart or circumvent our laws. A witnessed marriage in China
+    gives an American-born Chinaman the right to land his wife in this
+    country, so many an innocent village girl crosses the ocean secure
+    in the belief that she is the honored wife of a respectable
+    husband. She is landed as such, and, alas! often finds out
+    when too late that she is merely the chattel of an evil and
+    unscrupulous Highbinder society, whose paid agent is the man to
+    whom she is bound. Soon after the Korea's arrival in port, on the
+    voyage in which we are interested, I visited the ship to interview
+    the Chinese women on board, and there for the first time met our
+    little dark-eyed friend, Kum Ping. She had been carefully coached
+    on the way as to the visits she might receive from foreign
+    missionaries, and the replies to all our questions showed a
+    guarded suspicion that seemed quite hopeless. Our cheerful
+    interpreter talked on, nevertheless, and finally won a quiet smile
+    and the offer of some roast duck (a great delicacy among Chinese).
+    All warnings about the dangers and wickedness of Chinatown
+    apparently fell on deaf ears. "I am a married woman, my husband
+    can take care of me. I do not need your protection!" was the
+    rather indignant response. So we presented some bright flowers as
+    a token of good will and friendship, and with them slipped into
+    the small, soft hand a talisman that might help her out of future
+    trouble. Just a slip of paper, but the magic of the name and
+    number written there many an escaped slave girl can bear witness
+    to. Some weeks passed by after our visit to Kum Ping on the
+    steamer. She had landed, and, like hundreds of others, had simply
+    disappeared from view in that place of many mysteries, old
+    Chinatown. One night perhaps a month later, I was called to the
+    reception room to see a strange visitor (Chinese) who refused to
+    divulge either name or business to any one else. On meeting this
+    messenger I noticed his great excitement and nervousness. Only
+    after the door was tightly shut did he tell his errand. We
+    listened with interest to his story of a young girl sold to a very
+    cruel master, who beat her daily and never allowed her to leave
+    the place in which she was closely guarded. Unless relief came
+    soon she must end her life. Would the Mission try to save this
+    poor girl? We gladly promised what help we could give, and our
+    visitor left as quickly and mysteriously as he came, only leaving
+    for our guidance a roughly sketched diagram of alley and house
+    where the little captive could be found. There followed much
+    planning and plotting. Our staunch friend, Sergeant Ross of the
+    Chinatown squad, was summoned and consulted. The place was a
+    difficult one to reach, but at last satisfactory plans were made,
+    the day and hour set. There were three officers and three Chinese
+    girls from the Mission. It was a good-sized rescue party and
+    divided into three companies, we guarded well the three exits from
+    the low-roofed house on Spofford alley. With Sergeant Ross leading
+    and our courageous young interpreter at our side, we stealthily
+    ascended the dark, narrow stairs to the second floor, where a
+    heavy door barred the way, but for such obstacles our good officer
+    was prepared. A few blows of his strong hammer made bolts and bars
+    yield. We passed through into a small dark passage. From there
+    could be heard on all sides sounds of excitement; light feet
+    running hither and thither to places of escape, only to be turned
+    back by the sight of our guards, who stood on watch. As we
+    cautiously felt our way further in we were met by the baffled and
+    angry keeper of the den--a woman, but not worthy the name. She
+    fiercely demanded our business--there was no need to tell it,
+    for she knew as well as we; but she wished to find some means of
+    hindering our search for her newest and most valuable slave. A
+    room was at length discovered in which we felt sure the treasure
+    was hidden. Again Sergeant Ross had to force open a door. As it
+    gave way, a small, dimly-lighted room opened before us. In the
+    center cowered a Chinese girl. It needed not a second look to
+    recognize in the frightened, anxious face before me Kum Ping of
+    the steamer. Our talisman had worked its charm. She had proved
+    to the depths the terrible truth of our warning, and now gladly
+    entrusted herself to our care, while her almost frantic owner
+    stormed, threatened and at last laid violent hands on the officer
+    who was helping us. As we led the trembling Kum Ping out, a
+    greatly excited crowd of chattering Chinese met us at the end of
+    the passage at Spofford alley, and the news passed from lip to
+    lip, "The Mission people have taken Woon Ha's new slave girl!" We
+    would be glad to end the story of our little friend's troubles and
+    safe escape with her arrival at last in the Mission Home that day.
+    But how few rescues ever do end in that peaceful and pleasant way!
+    There followed the usual train of lawyers and warrants. To avoid
+    these unpleasant experiences, Kum Ping had to change her place of
+    residence several times, the last time being the night before the
+    fatal eighteenth of April. A warrant was served at ten o'clock
+    that night, but being forewarned, the one named in it was with
+    friends at some distance from the city. The warrant summoned us to
+    court at two o'clock next day. God disposed of that case! No court
+    has ever passed judgment on it. Long after the excitement of these
+    days was over, Kum Ping returned to our Home; country air and a
+    free life are working their spell. It is hard to recognize in the
+    round, sun-tanned, happy face we see today, the unhappy slave girl
+    of Woon Ha's den on Spofford alley.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 18.
+
+PERILS AND REMEDIES.
+
+
+It is a matter of no small importance that the Christian public of
+America should realize that in the Oriental slavery of its Pacific
+Coast it faces a flood. One can gaze with indifference upon a little
+stream that trickles through a wall, so long as it is thought to be
+merely a natural spring of water; but when one is informed that this
+is the trickling of water through a dike which dams out the raging
+sea, the sensations are changed to a realizing sense of imminent
+peril. If some are disposed to criticise this book for leading its
+readers into past history and far distant countries, to tell them
+harrowing tales, let them know it is intended to take them for a view
+behind the dike,--that they may understand the source of the trickling
+stream of brothel slaves that, almost unobserved, flows steadily into
+our fair land, and know that the stream is the precursor of a flood.
+No mere wall of immigration restrictions will ever get control of the
+flow so long as men are permitted to hold slaves after they have once
+been landed. And for the further reason, that so soon as China and
+Japan have drilled a little longer with the fire-arms furnished them
+by Western nations, they will force a free entrance to America. The
+yellow flood is sure to come, and we must make ready for it. We must
+realize what may happen to American women if almond-eyed citizens,
+bent on exploiting women for gain, obtain the ballot in advance of
+educated American women. We must realize how impossible it is to
+throttle this monster, Oriental Brothel-Slavery, unless we take it
+in its infancy. For these reasons, we wish to sound the cry long and
+loud: "At once to arms! Not a moment to be lost! We cannot build a dam
+in the midst of the raging sea. The new dam must be finished before
+the old one bursts."
+
+And beside the peril arising directly from the flood of Orientals who
+are accustomed to dealing with women as chattels, there will be the
+peril from a debased American manhood. Men cannot live in the midst of
+such slavery as this, tolerate it, defend it, make gain through it,
+patronize it, without losing all respect for woman and regard for her
+rights.
+
+And then, the slave business is fast becoming a vested interest of
+large dimensions to American men as well as to Chinese. There are
+fully as many (probably more) Japanese slaves as Chinese in the United
+States, and at the moderate reckoning that they are worth three
+thousand dollars each, that represents six million dollars in capital;
+and at the present time the Japanese traffic is more threatening
+to the United States than the Chinese, with which alone this book
+deals.[A]
+
+[Footnote A: When we undertook the task of writing this book we
+intended to include in it also a representation of the Japanese
+slave-trade, but have been obliged to desist for want of space.]
+
+In these latter days, when everything in the business line tends to
+take on the form of trusts and combines, bent on defeating all law and
+exploiting the common people for gain, it casts a shadow of gloom over
+one's spirits to think of capitalists entering so largely upon the
+active culture and development of vice for pecuniary profit. This can
+no longer be looked upon as an evil due to the frailty of human nature
+and the strength of the sex appetite; it is rather the expression of a
+greed for gold, and should be actively combated as such. The owners
+of property, especially those who have a monopoly in the matter of
+housing vice because of municipal measures for its segregation, are
+most potent offenders against decency, and should be punished as such,
+instead of their being admitted, as too often they are, not only to
+good society, but to membership on the church roll.
+
+No individual can afford to be indifferent and ignorant as to the
+existence of social vice in the community. The only escape from moral
+blight and confusion is by active conflict with the forces of evil.
+The wrong training of youths who grow up in the presence of tolerated
+evils, cannot be overcome in a single generation, nor in a single
+century. There is a confusion of the moral sense in the presence of
+evil to which one has become accustomed, that is truly terrible.
+
+When it was first learned in England that such an official had been
+appointed at Singapore and Hong Kong as the inspector of brothels, the
+matter could scarcely gain credence. Mr. Benjamin Scott, Chamberlain
+of the City of London, in his valuable book, "A State Iniquity,"
+in mentioning this exclaims: "Her Majesty's Inspector of Brothels!
+Curiosity is aroused to inquire what were the attributes, duties, rank
+and status of this official. From the evidence taken by the Commission
+[at Hong Kong], we gather that he kept a register of 'Queen's Women,'
+and saw that their names were duly inscribed on the door-posts of the
+Government establishments, as lawyers' names are inscribed on nests of
+Chambers in the Temple, and those of merchants and traders are written
+on offices in the City. He comptrolled the receipt of the fees paid by
+the women into the Colonial Treasury.... But, what was the fashion of
+his uniform? Did he attend the receptions of His Excellency and
+the Port Admiral? Was he allowed precedence of chaplains, or how
+otherwise? and was he expected to dine with the Bishop? Was he
+decorated on the abolition of his office, and allowed a good service
+pension? or is he still in the service of 'our religious and gracious
+Queen?'" That officer still remains in the service of the Government,
+both at Singapore and at Hong Kong. By the ruse of denominating all
+the tasks connected with the Government management of immoral houses
+at Singapore "protection," the Chief Inspector of brothels in this
+place holds a more honored place in the community than at Hong Kong.
+As to Mr. Scott's ironical questions in regard to that officer's
+rank, we cannot answer, nor whether he is invited to the Governor's
+receptions; but Mr. Scott would have been astounded, indeed, had
+he, like ourselves, first met the Chief Inspector of brothels at a
+reception given to ministers of the Gospel and missionaries; had he,
+like ourselves, been introduced to the official by a minister of the
+Gospel than whom none stands higher in British India, and that in
+terms of eulogy of the Inspector's activity in Christian work. How
+can we explain such a state of affairs? Just as we would explain the
+religiousness of early days of America and England associated with the
+monstrous cruelty of the slave traffic. There is often in connection
+with great human wrong great moral confusion, and without judging the
+individuals living under such conditions, we can say emphatically,
+those conditions are most undesirable, and attended by moral peril,
+especially to the young. It is a truly lamentable thing when prolonged
+familiarity with vicious conditions leads to such lack of discernment
+as to a man's true character, even among the best portion of a
+community. We do not wish such a state of things as this in America.
+
+California does not lack in excellent laws (as they read, in the
+Statute Book), for the suppression of prostitution. There are laws
+against procuring; against trading in Oriental women for evil
+purposes; against buying or selling a female, with or without her
+consent, for prostitution; against a husband forcing or influencing a
+wife to lead an evil life; against a husband even consenting to his
+wife practicing prostitution; against keeping a house of ill-fame; and
+against knowingly renting a house for a place of prostitution. But all
+these laws, almost the world over, as well as in California, are weak
+at one point, namely, that they provide for imprisonment _or_ fine,
+whereas they should provide for imprisonment _and_ fine. This is not
+because the penalty would then be heavier, of necessity, but in order
+that the law may not be prostituted into license. The alternative of
+a fine instead of imprisonment defeats the object the public-spirited
+citizens have in demanding a law for the discouragement of vice, and
+places before the police officials a temptation to corruption. A mild
+sentence, which invariably puts the procurer or brothel-keeper in
+prison, is worth more than a heavy sentence by way of fine, which can
+be met by further oppression of his slaves. Besides, the heavier the
+sentence threatened, if there be an alternative fine, the more potent
+implement it furnishes for blackmail in the hands of corrupt police
+officials. Penalties by means of fines invariably tend to degenerate
+into a monthly squeeze to the police, in payment for toleration, and
+thus tend to make the police official a defender of social vice,
+rather than an exterminator.
+
+It has always been considered, among experienced workers, a most
+difficult thing to attack prostitution itself by means of penalties,
+for the reason that the punishment is invariably visited with greatest
+severity upon the head of the female partner in shame, who is often
+the mere victim, while the male partner goes free. But surely
+those men who make a business of cultivating vice and vicious
+practices,--who use every sort of device to corrupt the youth and
+develop the trade in women, can be reached by just and wholesome laws.
+We cannot make men moral by act of parliament, but we can restrict
+their depredations.
+
+It has long been our feeling that every form and kind of spurious
+marriage, such as bigamy, polygamy, illegal divorce and remarriage,
+seduction, adultery, and bastardy, besides constituting sometimes
+cause for civil action, might with good results be lifted into
+offenses against the State. National development depends not upon
+the individual but upon the _family unit_, and that family unit is
+non-existent outside the monogamous relation, or, at least, is so
+frail as to easily crumble. Nothing could be more vicious in moral
+education to the youth than the average suit for civil damages, in
+which the whole decision of the case is made to depend upon whether
+some young girl can or cannot be ruined in reputation by lawyers
+of the defense and by their client, concerning whom there is not a
+question as to their lack of a decent reputation. When the State rises
+to defend itself against counterfeit marriage, just as it defends
+itself against counterfeit coin, then the whole horizon of the life of
+a profligate woman will not be brought before the public gaze every
+time she comes into court, but will be kept in deserved obscurity, and
+the woman will be tried for a _single_ offense, just as the man is
+tried, and not for all the offenses and indiscretions of a life-time.
+The penalty for such wrong doing may not be placed at even so high a
+figure in the Statute Book as it now stands, while accounted a civil
+injury, but the dignity of the trial would give serious lessons
+in virtue to the youth. No nation can long exist that does not
+incessantly discourage the practice of every sort of offense against
+the sanctity of the marriage relation.
+
+But after all, there will be no success in attempting to cope with
+Oriental prostitution by means of laws against prostitution and
+kindred vices, for the reason that the evil is a far graver one than
+this. Innocent children are reared for vice, and at a certain age
+thrust into the life through no choice of theirs; and not infrequently
+perfectly respectable women of mature years are kidnaped for the vile
+service. The effect upon the moral character of a man who resorts to
+a _slave_ class of victims to his evil propensities, must be to make
+that man a menace to society wherever he goes, through deeds of
+violence which he is willing to commit, and accustomed to commit, of
+the worst imaginable sort.
+
+And an attack upon the slave _traffic_ alone will never prove
+adequate. The history of our country's dealing with negro slavery
+is instructive on this point. There were laws in abundance for the
+suppression of the _traffic_ between Africa and America; it was
+forbidden to bring slaves into the country, and devices were invented
+looking to an eventual liberation of all the slaves in certain
+regions; but what did all these amount to, so long as slavery could
+exist? There had to be one sweeping, general emancipation of slaves
+wherever they were found, under whatever circumstances, and when the
+state of slavery was abolished, the trade in slaves died a natural
+death. The words of Mr. Francis concerning conditions at Hong Kong
+bear directly on this point: "Until the system of prostitution which
+prevails in this Colony ... is declared to be _slavery_, and treated
+and punished as such in Hong Kong, no stop will ever be put to the
+kidnaping of women and the buying and selling of female children in
+Hong Kong. This buying and selling and kidnaping is only an effect, of
+which the existing system of Chinese prostitution is the cause."
+
+In 1880, Mr. Berry, a member of the House of Representatives from
+California, made use, in a debate in the House, of the argument that
+"if the British authorities had not been able to prevent slavery from
+being practiced in Hong Kong, there would be great danger that, if an
+unlimited immigration of Chinese were allowed, it would be followed by
+the prevalence of slavery in this country."
+
+It is perfectly true that immigration of Chinese, even though it has
+been greatly restricted, has been followed by the introduction of
+slavery into the United States, yet the premises laid down in this
+argument, may not pass unchallenged, for the following reasons: There
+was never any serious attempt to put down slavery at Hong Kong,
+excepting in the efforts of Sir John Smale and perhaps one or two
+others, whose efforts were opposed by others, and in large part
+defeated. The records go to show that there was at once a growth of
+healthy moral sentiment created among the Chinese, through Sir John
+Smale's endeavor, that promised much good for the future had his
+course of action been continued. This official planted his feet
+squarely upon the doctrine that all buying and selling of human beings
+was slavery, and that a human being cannot, in law, "become a slave,
+even by his own consent." And moreover this official, with Governor
+Hennessey's encouragement, prosecuted his cases without any tender
+consideration as to the demands of European libertines, who would be
+left with scant opportunities to be self-indulgent unless slaves were
+placed at their disposal. The truth is, from the foreign standpoint,
+the plea for brothel slavery was based upon the "necessity" of vice,
+and from the Chinese standpoint the plea for slavery was based upon
+so-called Chinese "custom." The Government was impressed that it must
+have consideration for the demands of libertines, and consideration
+for Chinese "custom." Neither of these arguments has any worth when
+applied to the slave conditions of California, and therefore the most
+serious, baffling obstacles to a removal of the evil are out of the
+way. Both pretexts, we maintain, were false. There is no necessity for
+furnishing vice to libertines; there was no lawful Chinese custom to
+be opposed in opposing brothel slavery. But even if these were claimed
+to be sufficient arguments across the water, they have no force in
+California. There are women, alas! willing to make a trade of their
+virtue for _their own gain_, without forcing Chinese women to make a
+trade of their virtue for _the gain of masters_. As to Chinese custom:
+America is not setting forth inducements for the Chinese to come and
+live in our midst, as did Sir Charles Elliott when he promised the
+Chinese the privilege of practicing their own social and religious
+rites and customs, "pending Her Majesty's pleasure." If Chinese or any
+other class of foreigners come to reside in the United States, it
+is with the understanding that they must conform to the laws of the
+country, whatever modification or radical alteration it obliges them
+to make in their native customs, and if they will not do this they
+must take the consequences.
+
+No class of people, taken as a whole, are possessed of a greater
+moral sense or can be reached more readily by moral suasion, than
+the Chinese. We believe that if a proper condition of public moral
+sentiment were maintained, by the enforcement of the laws of the
+United States in Chinese communities, no class of people would be more
+delighted than the respectable Chinese themselves, who are now left in
+a state of terror for their own lives from the highbinders, and who
+often dare not bring over their lawful wives from China, to live in
+the midst of this reign of terror, at the mercy of slave-traders
+and women-stealers. Then Chinese criminals would seek safer shelter
+elsewhere, and respectable Chinese family life would take the place,
+in our Chinatowns, of a combination of criminal men and slave women.
+And Chinese men of weak character, separated far from home influences,
+would not be met on every hand by temptations of the most potent sort.
+Such is the real worth of the sort of Chinese character that one meets
+in other parts of that country from those vitiated by familiar contact
+with foreign profligates, that the presence of such could not but be
+a benefit to us, and would afford peaceable, thrifty, useful Chinese
+settlements in our midst, of which we would feel justly proud.
+
+In order to see that the entrance of Chinese to our country from China
+is not made a cover for this dreadful slave trade, there is an urgent
+need of cooeperation between rescue workers of the California coast
+and rescue workers in all the open ports of China. Chinese men are
+constantly returning to China to "marry," in duly prescribed form, and
+then return with their wives and reenter the United States, merely to
+put the women into the brothels. Any man who is willing to run the
+risk of detection can thus get a trip home to China to see his lawful
+wife and family, and make it a profitable business trip besides,--with
+all expenses more than paid by the importation, and sale of a slave.
+Chinese women are constantly returning to China to bring "daughters"
+to put in the slave pens. No woman (even lawfully married to a
+Chinaman), should be allowed to take a ticket at Hong Kong or any of
+the open ports of China for the United States, whose case has not been
+thoroughly investigated by days of acquaintance with a woman inspector
+in a house of detention, if necessary, on the other side. And no
+Chinese woman should be allowed to enter on this side of the water,
+until she has passed the second time under such surveillance in a
+house of detention. And such rescue workers should have the Government
+authority signified by a policeman's star.
+
+The evil to be combated should be met with the right remedy. "Fitches
+are not threshed with a thresher, neither is a cart wheel turned about
+upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the
+cummin with a rod." Much of the failure to control brothel slavery
+has grown out of the application of the wrong remedy, not out of a
+difficulty in controlling the Chinese. These cases of trading in human
+flesh have generally been treated in the courts as though coming under
+the laws against ordinary prostitution. To illustrate:
+
+Within the past month, three Chinese girls were captured by a rescue
+worker. They were cooped up, with a man who had charge of them, in
+a tiny closet scarcely sufficient to hold the four, which had been
+entered by a panel door which was securely nailed up and bags of rice
+piled against it. The rescuer pulled away the bags, pried open the
+door of the secret receptacle with her hatchet, and drew out the
+girls, dripping with perspiration and panting for breath, in
+consequence of the two hours' confinement, while the brothel was being
+searched for them. They were conveyed to the mission home, and were
+very happy, and expressed their eager wish to remain. A Chinese
+woman came to call at the mission home, in the absence of the
+superintendent, and, unfortunately, was allowed to get access to an
+acquaintance of these girls, and she conveyed to them a promise that
+if they would come back, in a very little while they would all be
+given their liberty. After that the girls said they wished to go, and
+for the following reasons: They could not dwell in safety among their
+Chinese people, if in debt to a brothel-keeper, for he would be always
+on their track, and if he could not capture them and they would
+not return, he would certainly secure their death at the hands of
+high-binders. The case came up in court. The girls told there all the
+details of their being recently smuggled into this country; that they
+were bought by their present owner for $3,030 each; that they were
+flogged when their earnings for their owner fell below $300 a month,
+and other similar details,--_but_ they also declared their wish to go
+back to the brothel and to their owner. To be sure, they had expressed
+elsewhere a contrary wish, and the wish to return had been begotten in
+their hearts by the threats and inducements conveyed to them by the
+woman who came to the home. The judge was one who could not be bought
+nor bribed, and who sincerely wished the good of the girls, but they
+said they chose a life of prostitution, and to that life they were
+returned.
+
+We do not pretend to understand as well as that judge the laws that
+were available, on which he rendered his decision, but this we do say:
+If California has not a law that will not permit the introduction
+of slavery into the state, even though Chinese women _consent_ to
+slavery, then it needs such a law at once. _Slavery is too formidable
+an evil for free Americans to allow its existence on the consent of
+enslaved Chinese women._ Age of consent legislation, as applied to the
+question of social vice, is one thing, and consent as applied to the
+question of slavery, quite another thing. Sir John Smale, in the
+Supreme Court of Hong Kong, quoting from Sir R. Phillimore on
+International law (vol. I, p. 316), declared that it was not possible
+for a human being legally to "become a slave _even by his own
+consent_." Had the matter of consent or non-consent of slaves been
+consulted as to negro slavery, we have no reason for believing that
+the negro would ever have had his freedom. Though prostitution is
+entangled with the conditions of servitude, under which Chinese women
+and girls groan in California, yet only about half the slaves are as
+yet prostitutes, and slavery looms up so large against the western
+sky, as compared with the mere consent or wish of a creature brought
+up from babyhood in familiarity with vice, that to consult the option
+of such an one in determining the existence or non-existence of
+_slavery_ in America, is a thing that ought not to be tolerated for a
+moment.
+
+We have shown how every Chinese girl who has escaped from her
+servitude to the city of refuge,--the mission home,--is received and
+welcomed. How the rescued and rescuer run the race for dear life, and
+the pursuers are obliged to turn back at the door. But what a state
+of things in this country which we call free! Should not the entire
+country be one great city of refuge? Do we not pretend that it is such
+to all who are oppressed? Why should not the pursuer be turned back at
+the Golden Gate, rather than at the door of an exceptional home in
+San Francisco? We are fond of saying that under the stars and stripes
+slavery cannot exist. We must make it good, or acknowledge, in dust
+and ashes of repentance, that we are hypocrites. Idle words will not
+do in place of deeds; we must make good our profession at any cost.
+Everyone of these Chinese women should be removed from the brothels,
+wherever these exist, consent or no consent, placed in houses of
+detention, instructed as to the condition of liberty of the person in
+which she _must_ live, and then, if she _prefers_ a slave's life,
+he deported to China,--a land in which slavery is permitted. Every
+Chinese man who attempts to interfere with this radical treatment of
+the situation, should be imprisoned or driven from the country. These
+"Watch-dogs," who are perfectly known to the police, both by name and
+by face, should be put behind bars and in stripes, for a long time to
+come. This is not prostitution, _merely_,--Oh, how tenderly men are
+inclined to deal with the male harlot! but for once the libertine
+has not a shadow of a shade of defense,--the patrons of _slaves_ are
+something worse than fornicators; they are guilty of as many offenses
+of criminal outrage as they are guilty of visits to the slave-pens
+stocked with Chinese girls, and they deserve a prison sentence for
+every such visit.
+
+Girls are afraid to come out of Chinese brothels until they have
+earned their freedom. This is because powerful Chinese societies have
+been formed that will either kidnap such a girl or kill her. So she
+declares in court that she consents freely to be returned to the
+brothel, and an extraordinary misconstruction of the doctrine of the
+"liberty of the person," leaves the judge with nothing to do but to
+deliver the girl over to compulsory voluntariness. Again, Chinese
+young men do not wish to marry liberated Chinese girls, but they go,
+rather, to the brothel and buy a wife; and for much the same reason.
+If a man marries the liberated slave of a brothel keeper, the
+high-binders will teach the lesson that he has stolen another man's
+property, by watching their chance and assassinating him. Why are not
+these societies broken up, root and branch? Cannot? Nonsense; the
+officers of the law have not made the attempt with any degree of
+earnestness as yet.
+
+For years, the "Protectors" at Singapore and at Hong Kong have
+summoned the slaves into their offices and informed them that they
+were free, and asked them if they freely consented to going into a
+life of shame, before putting them there? But to what purpose? Let the
+Police Magistrate, H.E. Wodehouse, reply, as he did concerning a
+case of suicide: "When registering her name she said she had no
+pocket-mother, that her parents were both dead, and that she became a
+prostitute of her own free will. The inspector said that that was the
+description of themselves that nearly all prostitutes gave, and that
+it was very rarely that it was true." Remember that, reader, when
+the columns of your morning paper inform you that all the girls of
+Chinatown have been interrogated, and that they all said they were
+there of their own free will? It is "very rarely that it is true."
+Referring to this case, which we describe on page 118, the Marquess
+of Ripon wrote to Hong Kong that the brothel-keeper who attempted to
+extort money from the young man before delivering up his captive to
+him for marriage, should have been prosecuted, and adds: "A single
+successful prosecution in a case of this kind would, in all
+probability, do more to show that the inmates of brothels are free to
+leave such places when they wish, than could ever be effected by the
+present system, under which efforts are indeed made to explain their
+positions to the inmates of brothels." This is a very clear statement
+of exactly what is needed in California. The public should refuse to
+be satisfied with visits of the police officials to the girls, to
+ascertain the girls' state of mind as to a sense of liberty, and
+demand to know the official's state of mind,--whether he is ready to
+_prove_ the freedom of the slave by hounding the slave dealers out of
+the community.
+
+There was recently a war of secret societies in Oakland's Chinatown.
+One of the "tongs" quarreled with another, and three or four Chinese
+men were shot on the streets of Oakland,--one fatally, named Lee Bock
+Dong, in his own house. Lee Bock Dong had a slave girl who saw the
+shooting, so she was taken into custody by police officers. But the
+Chinese got her out of jail by means of the usual writ of habeas
+corpus, and she was sent to Sacramento to another person, who had
+disputed her ownership with Lee Bock Dong. It seems, Lee Bock Dong had
+been holding the slave girl for a debt owed to him by her real owner
+in Sacramento, of $2,000. The Oakland _Enquirer, of_ Feb. 20th, 1907,
+informed its readers a few days after the affray as follows: "This
+girl's possession was one of the points in dispute between the two
+tongs, and it was this that was settled at yesterday's conference." It
+is interesting to note that other newspapers gave the information
+that police officials attended the conference of these tongs, to help
+settle the dispute. The report continues: "Lee Bock Dong's widow
+demands the return of the girl as security for the money, or the
+payment of the $2,000. This the Bing Gongs (one of the tongs) finally
+agreed to, and it was for them to determine the course they would
+pursue. The police say that this step is only preliminary to a
+settlement of the whole affair ... that peace will be declared, the
+complaint against the alleged murderers withdrawn, and the case
+dismissed ... it is now expected that within a few days the extra
+police force, which has been maintained in Chinatown ever since the
+night of the shooting affray, will be withdrawn and peace reign once
+more." This article is headed: "Warring Tongs Hold a Conference, and
+it is Agreed Chinese Maiden is to be Returned, or Equivalent in Cash."
+The _Enquirer_ of March 9th reported that the "Chinese tong men have
+been dismissed."
+
+"Equivalent in cash" for a Chinese maiden! Can it be possible that
+this is the United States of America, and the twentieth century! One
+actual murder, and two murderous assaults on the public streets, all
+dismissed by an understanding entered into with the police that they
+could now withdraw their extra force, since the Chinese girl had been
+passed over as security for a debt, until the "equivalent in cash"
+is paid! Have we spent hundreds of millions of dollars, and shed the
+blood of thousands of young men, and widowed and orphaned tens of
+of thousands besides, in a civil war to put down African slavery,
+introduced from the Atlantic Coast, merely to turn about and welcome
+Chinese slavery from the Pacific Coast?
+
+"Behold this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them
+snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a
+prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
+
+"Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for
+the time to come?"
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEATHEN SLAVES AND CHRISTIAN
+RULERS***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 12818.txt or 12818.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/8/1/12818
+
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
diff --git a/old/12818.zip b/old/12818.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba6eea5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/12818.zip