New-York tribune., 1891-08-30

of
Then are no poor and few rich Every healthy ha'i wv.
o.r ,,,bout hard work. make living for himself MS
tta and children Consequently the men marry VeiS
vornu and every man marrfes. Tho savage as
rule rrgaris cclibecy Us unnatural ana, IN isoe an
80 IN old in some scmi-cIvzed races. men VINO
t,sed IN marry were subjected TO legal penalles "u
were moreover held up to rdicule. such an op',aV"
IN Itself must tend 10 promote matrlmohy' anu 50
,na+ every savage woman finds II easy to Obtain
30, Modern society. however Is making life 50 COM
, and so costly that cclibacy Is practically iorreu
rnon greater percentage OF both sexes every year.
Men are afraid TO marry the exigent, inhur'
modern women and competition so curtalis "c"
,ncomes that they cannot hope that what Is enough
Cor one will suffice for two. so 10 Is that cehoacS -
becoming more common as CIVILIZATION advances a."
that the very fitness of modern life seems to DC bine
ing with it O danger WHICH nehuoes 'i' ''''
OF society. ,o.,os
M Vesierrnarch goes contrary 10 many theories
which the world has generally accepted at the hands Vi
other anthrOpoogsts. For example, he denleS 'no
assumption that savages do not know what ioVe is'
On the contrary, he stouty maintains that they eAu
much real affection In married life; that as rue 'y
arc constant and kind to their mates that suicioe ior
love are by no means uncommon among them as e'er'
s,udcnt OF our Americana indian folklore OF COURSE
knows) and that they have good deal more OF hu'n
nature about them than has generally been anoseu.
IIe makes strong point in calling attention 70 c i'e
that much OF our knowledge Of savages IS denVeu i
observation Of those natives who have been denor1e
and corrupted by contact with those uniaVoraoic o
omples of civilization which 10 always pushes 10 us
frontiers This IS unquestonably true, ana not es'
rnportant than true The savage is always ruined py
contact OF the kind. because the wrccks OF cNIaVo"
arc always worse than the wrecks OF saVagery NUM-
riCes and dcbauchery are the instruments Win "oh
the savage Is reduced to rain, and IN MS last Se no
does things which he never did In his hrst' Wnt'
"a, nnfffh
the consequences OF that corruption. Of course ho
sccnt6c conclusions can be drawn from such premises
and Mr. Westermarck is quite right In emphasizing TIC
fact A.,
Much Of our knowledge Of savage men rests upon the
hasty observations of travellers, who, no doubt ire
aucntly misconstrued obscure facts ana seheral@e"
wildly The legendary traveller who on landing in o
country met squirting man and red'haired woihan'
and Immediately whipped out his notebook and wrote
e Mem Here all the men squlnt and all the women
have red hair points TO very real cause OF error
in anthropological studies 1t Is only by living among
people for years that 1t can be fully comprehenden
and not always then. How immense therefore husV
be the allowance for possible error and deuson wheh
the conclusions TO be dealt with are those OF
traveller who has merely passed through country,
s,opping few days here and few days there. ict
sucb information constitutes the bulk Of what Is avail
able for anthropolOgcal purposes aHd the iact DcH
so 1t is not astonishing that the closest students souu
often reach mutually contradictory conclusions on I'M
oor+ont nofnts Mr. Westermarck, who Is extremely
captous and moderate in his views finds 1t necessary
again and again to admit that the evidence is too con-
Aicting 10 fern Judgment upon The fact seems TO
be that man las tried q great many experiments In
marriage and that all Of them have succeeded uhdcr
some conditions and failed under other conditions.
Even in so widely discussed subject as the enecls
Of Inbreeding it IS quite impossible to decide between
the complexities and contradictions Of fact ana s'a'S
Consanguneous marriages have long been assumed to DC
ev1 in their results but careful investigation OF all
the attanabe evidence such as is presented IN TINS
volume leaves the main question undetermined ana
10 all appearance ndcterminable. Such marriages are
sometimes attended with evil results IN other cases
no bad consequences follow. Some tribes nave Drea
In and in for centuries, and seem as well as ever
Others arc clearly dying out. But the balance OF
testimony Is so even that he must be bold man VINO
will venture 10 declare the issue settled either way.
Mr. Westermarck discusses many other points IN
cdentally, and always with profit and instruction.
The general trend Of his book moreover is distinctly
encouragng not to sag optimistic. lie docs not be;
Meve with some recent anthropoogsts that monogamy
Is but passing phase, system which may, perhaps
must be outgrown as other systems have been out
grown on the contrary, he holds that tho monogamc
principle is inherent in human nature, and according
10 him. anfhropologIcal research shows man from the
earliest beginnings tending always in this direction
The monogamic principle must, he thinks survive
as long as the race, undergoing notifications from
time to tme but growing ever II refinement and un-
| selhshness on both sides. That Is hope which VIC
| nav all echo, and with its expression leave may
be taken of book which is remarkable for its learn
ing for the courage and force of its reasoning ard
for the fact that IL is written In nervous and ucd
English, by one to whom English is foreign tongue
/