Wa published the other day an article from the Pall Mall Gazette in which li detailed a very extraordinary, and true, very shameful, story. It appears that a system of the vilest slaver; been in existence for a long time in a Malay state under B that it has been connived at by British Political Residents; and that one high-minded and humane officer has had his career temporarily ruined by refusing to carry out the base policy of- his superiors and predecessors. Whether the exact facts of the case have been stated without prejudice or colour, of course we are not in a position to judge; but as the fallest publicity has been given to the matter in England, it is presumable that the account: is mainly trae. It is unnecessary for as to comment at any length upon the particular case in hand.' Fall attention will no doubt be paid to it by those whose business it is to see that the Britigh flag remains unsullied in what.
portion of the globe it may be hoisted. At the same time it reminds us that even we in Shanghai are not absolutely free from a very similar reproach, and gives us an opportunity to draw attention to the slavery system. existing in our very midst. The settlement swarms with native houses of ill fame, the inmates of which are the mere goods and chattels of the mistresses. These girls are in every sense of the word in a condition of slavery, having ko manner, and are said to be constantly changing hands. The hold of their proprietors over them is we believe absolutely despotic. It is said that the old women who own them are occasionally guilty of extreme craclty, and instances have been brought to our notice in support of the assertion, As some of these are not confirmed— though they may be trae for ull that—we do not refer to them more partioularly; but that cruelty is practised we believe to be beyond question, A few days ago the Hu Pao drow attention to an unusually flagrant case, The bag who kept one of the housed in the French Concession had, in a fit of passion, ent the fingers of one of the girls right across, and the girl, in mingled rage and pain, made a determined attempt to end her misery by suicide. She was however rescued, and the virago who mutilated her, as far og we have been able to discover, seems to have escaped scot-free. It has been that oases of severe boating are of frequent occurrence; bat we have been cautioned against accepting U ment unreservedly, and merely mention that it has been made. The most shocking part of the matter is that a certain proportion of the girls who are leading this miserable life are Eurasians. Boys are generally better cared-for; but Earasian girls are too valuable a commodity to be surrendered to a respectable career, and their lot in most instances becomes the same as that of their mothers. We bel oulyavailable refuge fortbis class is Providence Orphange, where they are lodged, fed, clothed, educated, and in some instances respectably married. Bat the number. of those who avail themselves of this excellent alternative ie lamentably, small. Tt is easy to say that something should be done to remove this great blot from our escutcheon. We believe thet the most strenuous efforts have been made to stop the evil, both by Chinese and foreign authorities, but without result. The system is deeply rooted in Chinn
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.