🚀 go-pugleaf

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