Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1901-08-17
SLAVES CHEAP IN CHINA.
Millions of Human Beings Held ls
Bondage There.

-
Millions of Human Beings Held is
Bondage There.
There are at low estimate 10,00O,-
900 human beings who are In seryitude
In the Celestial Kingdom. China has
10000, 900 families, and this makes one
slave to every eight families The av-
erage Is greater in south China, where
nearly every one OWLS slaves. There
is scarcely a Chinese family Of means
in Nankin, Canton, Macao or Annoy
but possesses one or more slave girls.
Slave boys are less common, but the
girls are found in every street and In
almost every house.
Girls fetch from $40 to 500 and up
gn'd in south China. They are sold at
any age from to l5 and most COM
monty at or 8. The prettiest girls are
the most desirable, as in case Of mar
riage or sale they will bring more to
the family which buys them. Most of
the slave girls are bought to work
about the house 1t is cheaper to buy
a servant than to hire one. for II you
take n girl OF you can have her serv-
ices until she Is -, getting seven years
of work for nothing but her board and
clothes, and then sell her for perhaps
ten times your original price.
Theoretically there are no slaves In
HongkOpg. as il Is British territory
but in reality the city is full of them
They are the maidservants and nurses
of the Chinese Every small footed
lady needs slaves to help her about,
and in the houses of The rich. where
there are many daughters, it Is not un-
common to find from 20 to 80 slaves in
a single family.
from one man to another, and not In
frequently they form a part Of the
bridal outfit. They are commonly
bought as secondary wives and often
as teachers.
There are localities in China where
the girls are noted for their beauty.
The cities of YangChau and Su-Chau
are as famous for rearing handsome
girls as is Georgia, in the Caucasus,
where rich Turks so often obtain their
wives. There are persons in these cit
les who make a business Of raising
slave girls.
They search the country about for
promising young girls and put them
through n regular course of training.
They have farms where the slaves are
taught to sing. play upon musical in
struments and TO acquire other accom-
plishments which, added to beauty,
will cause them to sell for high prices
to rich mandarins. These girls are
chiefly the daughters Of poor people or
the daughters Of slaves.
1t is common for man to purchase
his wife. Indeed. there are more wives
acquired in this way than in any other.
Every man in China has a right to as
many wives as he can maintain. and a
secondary wife is cheaper than hired
servant. The first wife is the legal
one. but the others have their rights,
although they are practically slaves.
The man who is addicted to the OPT
um habit will sell his children and not
infrequeutly his wife to supply his ap-
petite Wives are sometimes sold by
gambling husbands. being put on the
turn of card or the rake out or the
cash at fanfan.
There are slave brokers In all the
large Chinese cities. Their business In
creases in times Of famine. and the
starvation which lately prevailed In
north China caused many parents to
sell their children. With some 1t was
a question Of allowing them to starve
or selling them. The result is that girl
babies are a drug In the market.
Think of buying n baby for a shll-
ling! This Is the price which one of
the infant asylums of Shanghai is said
to pay for them This is a philanthrop-
ic institution, and the children are
bought as n matter of charity and re.
ligon. They are reared surrounded by
Christian influences, are taught all
sorts of domestic duties, and when they
arrive at the proper age are given re-
spectacle husbands.
The brokers, as a rule, do not buy
babies. The cost of rearing them and
the risk of death are too great. They
prefer to have girls or boys Of 8 years
and upward. London Express.