‘Hurry no man's cattle’: British rule and suicide in China

The British authorities in the leased territory of Weihaiwei were concerned that too many Chinese, particularly women, resorted to suicide. In response, they made it obligatory to report suicides, educated the public and the police on how to effect rescues, and appointed a medical assistant with special responsibility for suicide rescue work. In spite of being remarkably well informed of the social significance of suicide in China, government efforts to deal with the causes of suicide were limited. In particular, the government did little to alter the circumstances of women in the territory. They provided few opportunities for education and were reluctant to prohibit foot-binding or to discourage families from putting pressure on widows to remarry. The limited response of the government to the problem of suicide was consistent with its general administrative policy of effecting little change to the fabric of life in the Chinese villages. The fact that the magistrates, in their treatment of suicide, expressed a deference to Chinese law, was part and parcel of the same general policy of the British administration of Weihaiwei.     

An agency ethics audit ∗

An agency's ethics posture can encompass both compliance with controls and legal prohibitions and individual ethical reasoning and its role in the organization. This article presents a model ethics audit designed to profile the agency's strengths and deficiencies and produce an action agenda in a format appropriate for periodic review.