INFANTICIDE IN CHINA.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 578, 18 May 1868, Page 3

INFANTICIDE IN CHINA.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BABY TOTTERS NEAR SHANGHAI. One day—says a lady traveller in China —we went to inspect one of the oany rowers, of which there am num= bers, near Shanghai, They are wells surrounded by walls with apertures through which the bodies are thrown in. It appears that ail poor peopled children which die in infancy are wrapped up in straw and deposited in one of the towers, to avoid the expense of coffins and burial ceremonies. They emit a terrible odor, and when the mass of straw bundles almost reaches the top of the tower it is emptied, the contents are burned, and the ashes are then spread over their plantations as manure Such a mode of disposing of bodies of infants struck us as a great incentive of infanticide —a crime which is so very common in China. We were told that it was not at all uncommon to dispose in this manner of female children, who are considered as only an additional burden to be projvided for, and an uncertain article of i sale when they become marriageable, whereas boys are made to work as soon as possible, and thus, at An early age, become useful to their families. Ac< cording to a writer of note, the birth of a daughter is a matter of sorrow to parents. “ The best way,” he goes on to state, “ of satisfying the female babe is to furnish it with tiles to play with, while a boy is presented with gems and precious stones.”

Suck are the terms he employs to denote the insignificance of the first and the importance of the second. Although a celebrated writer has computed that 20 boys are bora to 25 girls, it is a well-established fact that the mala population is much larger than the female; which justify us in inferring that many female infants must be killed at their birth.

Oue cannot reflect on this subject without shuddering. Infanticide is a crime of the most atrocious and heartless nature. The new-born babe has scarcely felt the caresses of its fond mother before it is drowned in warm water. At the very moment of its birth it is consigned, by a deed of darkness, to the grave. The excuse made for so horrible a crime is that instantaneous death is preferable to protracted misery—that the father is the best judge and arbiter of the destiny of his child.

The Government connives at this monstrous practice, because it acknowledges the sovereign authority of the parent over his offspring, makes him rite arbiter of his destiny, allows the issues of life or death to remain in his hands, and consider female infanticide as the most effectual check upon the too rapid increase of population. Such principles could emanate only from that fallen spirit who is a murderer from the beginning. It is impossible to estimate the number of ! children inhumanly despatched, but we can assure the reader that the murder of female infants is a crime widely prevalent throughout the empire, aud perpetrated with shameless atrocity.