The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1901-06-01
SLAVERY IN CHINA.
CHEAPER TO BUY THAN TO
HIRE HUMAN CREATURES.
slave Girls More Commou thsn-lsl.vs
Boys--The Girls Fetch from Ten to
one Hnndrsd Dollars IN South China'
Markets.

There are, at q low estimate, 10000
600 human beings who are in servitude
in the Celestial kingdom. China has
800,O00,00O families, and this makes one
slave to every eight families. The av-
erage is greater in south China, where
nearly every one owns 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
R2fto EGO and upward in south China.
They are sold at any age from 8 to Is,
and most commonly at z or 8. The
ttpret(iest girls are most desirable, as in
case of marriage 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 q servant than to hire one, for If
you ike a girl of 8 you car have her
sservi 3 until she is Is, getting eight
yea work for nothing but her
boat I'D clothes, and then sell her for
perhap ten times your original price.
Theoretically, there are no slaves in
Hong Kong, as it is British territory,
but in reality the city is full of them.
They are maid servants 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 ia not uncommon
to find from twenty to thirty slaves
in a single family. Female slaves are
often presents from one MIN to an
other, and not infreQuently they form
q part of the bridal outfit. They are
commonly bought as secondary wives,
and oftesqt as teachers. There are To-
calities IN China where the girls are
,nQthlAt their beauty. The cities of
l1ang-Chau and Su-Chau are as ia
nous for rearing handsome young
girls az is Georgia in the Caucasus,
from where rich Turks so often obtain
their wives. There are persons in
these cities who make a business of
raising slave girls. They search the
country about for promising young
girls and put them through a regular
course of training: They have farms
where the slaves are tsusktAto- >sing,
play upon musical instruments, and to
acquire the other accomplishments
which, added to beauty, will
Sthem to sell for high prices to the
rich mandarins. These girls are
chiefly the daughters of poor people or
the daughters Of slaves. It is common
for q man to purchase his wife. In
deed, there r wives acquired in
this way than in any other. Every
man in China has a right to rs many
wives rs he can maintain, and a sec
wife is. cheaper than a hired
,serv1nt. The first wife is the legal
shne. but the others have their rights.
although they are practically slaves.
TheJman who.is addicted to the opium
habit will sell his children, and not in
frequently his wife, to supply his ap-
petite. Wives are sometimes sold by
rambling husbands, being put up on
Che tiFn. of q card or the rake-out Of
The cash at fan-tan. There are slave
brokers in all the large Chinese cities.
business increases at times of
famine. and the starvation which
lately prevailed in north China caused
many parents to sell their children.
With some it was a question Of allow
ing them to starve or selling them.
The result is that girl babies are q
drug in the market.
Think Of buying q baby for q shil-
ling! This is the price which one of
the infant asylums Of Shanghai is said
to pay for them. This is a philan-
thropic institution, and the children
are bought as a matter Of charity and
religion. They are reared surrounded
by Christian influences, are taught all
sorts Of domestic duties. and when
they arrive at the proper age are given
respectable husbands. The brokers. as
I kule. do not buy babies. The cost Of
u ring them and the risk Of death
d too great. They prefer to have
3 or boys Of eight years and up
III d.-Chicago Journal.
Workmsn's waste q Time.
! a well-known London firm has just
published an instructive statement with
regard to- their Workmen'B. voluntary