Wichita eagle., 1889-10-23
I'ai1Y eagle
NEIGHBOR JOHNS WIFE.
INFORMATION OF INTEREST ABOUT
CHINESE WOMEN.
1t is Rendered Especially Timely by the
Recent Developments at San Francisco
Regarding Illegal Importation of Fe-
males Into America.

Recent Deveiopm ents at San Francisco
Regarding Illegal Importation of Fe-
males Into America.
Especial Correspondence
SIN FRANCISCO, Sept. A-It is commonly
supposed by Americans that the Chinese
women are kept SO closely secluded from the
gaze of men in general, and foreigners in
particular, that but little may be seen or
known of them by travellers.
Among certain class of the upper ten
dom" an effort is made to keep their women in
the dark, but even with them the effort is only
partially successful; while with the great
masses OF tradespeople, laborers and farmers
no such attempt is made, aud the women
take their places beside the men and crowd
and jostle each other in the narrow streets as
taey hobble along on their crippled feet in
tneir daily toll. They curse and BLACKBOARD
with those they meet with unrestricted free
dom. And in the matter Of Billingsgate
abuse of foreigners they are adopts, and
while men are afraid of the inevitable
''stick," or cane, of the foreigner being
brought down with whack upon their heads
if they are too abusive of said foreigner, the
women have learned that their sex is suffi-
Gent protection, and they give the fullest
expression to the contempt for us, which the
men feel, but dare not express at all times
Chinese women are looked upon as STAN
dard commercial commodity and their value
is determined by the same law as that of
horses OF cattle, the law of supply and de-
mand determining their value as an article
of trade. In this respect they are on the
same footing as those of ancient times when
they were bought and sold and looked upon
AL -.
day is a reflex of the civilization of an
early period OF the worlds history. They
have mob changed in their regard of woman,
and she holds essentially the same or a similar
position now as she did then.
Men sell their daughters or wives to each
other for wives or concubines, and fathers
generally provide for the marital welfare Of
their sons by buying girl baby to be the
future wife of the son. The transaction is
politely called ''infantile betrothal," but in
reality it is purchase pure and simple and
Is recognized by law as legitimate and bind
ing upon both parties to the transaction. The
deal is made binding by the payment of an
agreed upon sum in hand paid, at the time Of
the contract and in law the "betrothed"
couple are looked upon henceforth as man
and wife, and in the event of the death Of
either party, the other is widow or widower
as the case may be. But in the event of the
death of the son, the betrothed or purchased
bride remains the property of the purchasing
party, and is disposed of by them.
Female infanticide is an outgrowth of this
bartering in women, as when girls are too
plentiful they will not bring enough money
IN the markets to pay for the labor and ex-
pense of their bringing up, and the law gives
the parents the right of life over the child in
order to keep the stock down to pa ying basis.
In other words, they have sort of estab-
lished trust in babies, and parents keep the
market cornered by drowning the Surplus ar
rivals when their sex is of the ong kind |
do not know whether the law permits the
killing of male children or not, but no case Of
its being enforced in the case of bows has
come under my observation, and as it is re-
garded as extremely desirable that men leave |
a male progeny to perpetuate the name and
do homage at the ancestral tomb, l am in |
cliued to think that the law applies to girls |
only. So common Is the habit of female in |
fanticide that the finding of their dead bodies |
floating in the rivers or canals eXciteS no
comment or emotion. Failure to bear male
children is regarded as sufficient cause for
either selling wife or adding another to the
domestic circle, as polygamous marriages are
legal
The ruling prices for women vary according |
to the grade of society and the numbers avail |
able Any unusual disturbance in the bust |
ness prosperity of the country tends to dis |
turb the ruling values of women. During !
the devastating famine of 1905, when an
estimate made by the government authorities /
placed the number of deaths from starvation |
at 10000, 0O1 of people, many rice SPECTATORS /
from the southern provinces carried cargoes |
of rice 10 the famine districts, ami, as money /
was scarce, they traded extensively for wo-
men and girls, and brought them south by |
boat loads, which glutted the market and run
prices down to a ruinously(0 low figure But /
the number of unmarried men is very great |
in proportion to the population. and this
enabled many TO indulge in the luxury of a
wife, whose means ordinarily would not adj
NIT of it,
The sum of 500, or even more, is sometimes /
paid by the nabobs for a likely girl; but .
was once offered a wife for $50, and the wo-
man making the offer assured me that it was
Il dirt cheap bargain She said the girl was
strictly sound and her feet were no longer
than that, holding up her hand and indicating
about three inches as the length of her pedal
appendages.
She offered to submit the girl to inspection
# any doubts fingered in my mind as to the
truth OF her statements and representations.
She said the girl was her niece but she was
more likely her daughter or daughter-in-law
All negotiations of this class are made by
"middlemen, or go betweens," as they are
called, and these middlemen are usually
women, US match making is one of the few
learned professions to which women are eligi-
Bile They get percentage of the price paid
for their fee, and | imagine liberal Tip"
from the intending buyer will 60 far toward
securing bargain. This professional match
making custom could not be introduced in
the United States, American ladies are
noted for their indisposition to NEEDLE with
the courtship affairs OF their neighbors' daugh-
ters
Love or sentiment can have no possible
place in a system OF marriage where the con-
tracing parties are entirely passive and
whose Gestinies are. as it were, ''in the hands
of their friends" as Office seekers say. The
parties interested never see or speak TO each
other during the preliminary engagement,
nor until they are registered as husband
and WIFE With the Chinese, marriage is a
cold blooded commercial transaction, and &C
cepted by both parties with stoical indiffer
ence as to such little points personal affini-
~ or affection Whether there comes TO exist
any sort OF sentiment allied to that which is
to exist between husbands and
wives in our country, is a matter OF some
doubt; but il is not unlikely that a sort Of
or regard arises from the marital
relation after years of association. But