, 1881-12-04
CASTE III AMERICAN SOCIETY.


to the atlantic Monthly, and Il writer Of
great good sense, discusses Caste in Amer
lean Society," in the December number Of
that magazine, and succeeds very clearly i'll
showing that while we have plenty Of caste,
the lines and bases OF which are as rigorous as
they are absurd, we have no such thing rs
"society" but ouly circles and coterics Of ill-
diviluals combining for social purposes. AS
the writer says: 1.-The absurdity of American
soical life is to talk Of entering society,"
for as soon as an American tries to bring
Society into focus to be interviewed, it
divides itself into numerous facets Of pris-
matte bril!iancy," and she gives the follow
ing pat illustration: Zone lady, a leader Of
Boston fashion, stated that though Society ,
consisted of about twenty-five families, yet
in the Invitations to a general ball it might
he safe to include from four to six hundred
persons"
The manner i'll which caste rules Amer
lean life and pervades every part Of it is the
burden of the writer's paper, and she is spe-
cially. felicitous in her illustrations, as few
extracts will show. Speaking Of its influence
in the lower classes. she says:
n marriage between the rag g-plcker who car
rles her ri IS ON her back aud the man who rolls
them in Il whcelbarrow is contrary 10 AL the
rules Ut pruprety. and ends in family feuds.
; The regular visitnnt at hotel cuphourdS whu re-
ceIyes uie IS farther removed from the tattered
nentlcnnt nt buck-dUor than member Of the
diplomatic corps from nutiye Of Washington.
In Ii certain welt-kauwn alley resided Il shrcwd
brother and sister OF L. and II, whu assigned to
each Ut the other dwellers his proper place III the
social status OF the by-w"y, through sumptuary
laws OF their own devising. These little mag
nates stald ut home. anu sent their agents beg
@,Stx~
their Keeping, anu then poruoned out. US tho
Educational Bureau would say, not according to
..the lltcrac,: of each section. but accord1nE 10
its geographical area. Shapeless pieces OF breMd
an cold tlApjacks were fur the tenants OF cellars
aud uttics; mullins aud titbts OF cro4ue1s were
for those who occupied the gruund-hoor uud
middle stories OF tho tenements.
Speaking Of caste among workingwomen,
one of them said: "We never can raise our
selves from the bondage Of ill-paid labor till
we combine, and most Of us would rather
starye to death than associate with those be-
meath U.s." 4 tailoress declares that no.
where are the lines Of caste more strictly
drawn than among taiioresses and sewing
girls. Those OIL custom work and those on
sale work need not necessarily know eacI,
other. The various steps on the ladder OF
caste are we'll summed up:
1t Is social ambition, caste. that rules us; 1t
begins with lis, unu goes up aud up to ktu9s and
Empcr3rs. Il woman with many servants dc
spises her with one, and she with one despises
the woman who does ner own work, and she who
does her own woTk looks down upou her who
goes out to work, and tho one who goes out TO
do special holsework scorns the scrub woinau,
who is the end Ut Eouluukind.
And yet, with all this caste, with a society
full OF circles which ostensibiy do not
intersect, where is society? The writer in
the following extract shows the difficulty Of
satisfactorily answering the question:
The co,eric in the side street is as large that
on the fashionable. avenue. Within the course
Uf a few days a lady went to four lunches, two
kettledrunl5, and two evening receptions. aud
dltl not meet the same person twice. The lArger
the city the mure conspicuous is this variety OF
Circles. Where Is suci.tys at each door there
were Carriages. and eacn house WINS we'll ap-
pointed. Sumo would fold their napkins; others
would throw thtIu crunpled on the table. Some
would have wine, others water In one house 1t
was en- TsUlt to remove your bonnet: In another.
to wear 1t. Here gents" were invited; there
"some Of our best society," In one the men
bowed deeply; Ia another, frock coats and tint
scntfs unt shook hnIIts. All and each averred
they knew how, and all and each secretly feared
they didn't
We haye made these extracts to show the
general drift Of the writer's comments and
the pertinence Of her illustrations. It is
little remarkable, however, that in paper
SO discursive she has neglected one branch
Of the subject that lies at the very founda-
ton of it-nameiy: the responsibility for
caste in our society so-called- Perhaps be-