West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1891-06-18
EXPERIMENTAL MARHlAas.
The Way NJ IL Praeticed In a British
Yonal Cofony.

The Way 1t Is frneticcd In q British
Ponai Colony.
The Apdaman islands are used rs n
penal settlement for Indian and Bur-
Iuese convicts, who, with the exception
OF Il very limited aboriginal race scat
tered over the group. form the bulk OF
the population, says correspondent Of
the London Truth. The isolated stun
ton of the settlement In tho bay Of
Bengal, the absence OF communication
by cable, the small military force main
tanned, and the fact that about fifteen
thousand convicts ore here resident.
render IL necessary 20 endow the chief
commissioner with more than the or
binary powers extended 20 governors.
Hence the chief commissioner OF tho
Andamans, who Is also superintendent
OF the convict settlement ut Port Blair
by virtue of the almost autocratic nu-
thortty vested in him. enjoys q dcspot-
ism wellDigh Incredible under tho
British Tag
Such powers being concentrated in a
single individual. 50 may well be i'm
ngined that from time TO time some
rather startling revelations leak out. I
only propose, however. To- refer for the
present To our marriage customs, which
have novelty, ~ nothing else, TO recon-
mend them. The chief commissioners
as superintendent OF the settlement IN
convict matrimonial matters Is supreme
He Is liccnscr, registrar, parson and
witnesses rolled into one. The greater
part OF the life convicts, who arc good
characters, nre 'self-supporters"-
Is, men out on ticlSet-of-lcaye In
tho settlement. These men arc
allowed TO marry. Tho convict women,
on the other hand, arc always kept un-
der close supervision I'm the female con-
Wet jail. When the "self-supporter" is
troubled with hymeneal aspirations he
visits the female Jail and informs the
oversecr. The latter individual orders n
parade of those women of good charac-
ter who have completed four years in the
island. The would-be benedict then
passes along the ranks with n view OF
selecting likely hclpmate. AS might
be expected, very eager are the faces
and loving the glances bestowed upon
him MS he does so. While the orcr-
sccr's head is turned the women engage
in every variety OF pantomimic efforts
TO display their qualifications for tho
post. Should the ovcrseer absent him
self for q moment, the coveted bach
elor, though he be not octogcnarian, is
assailed on all sides with view to his
conquest. Such phrases as ''Herc, take
mel ''No, mep "Why, she's rot red
hairp "She's cross eyed" do not
make matters easier for him. At
length, having suited himself, he takes
by the hand the lady Of his choice and
leads her from the ranks. The couple
are then allowed half an hour TO dis
cuss matters, after which, II they
agree, their names are sent to the
head Office. A day or two later they at
tend ut the commissioners, and are
there put through an examination MS TO
the state of their affections and their
inclination to marry; but no awkward
| questions arc ever raised concerning
possible existing husbands or wives be-
| yond the seas.
And now comes the climax. Suppos-
ing satisfactory answers have been
| given as TO their mutual sentiments,
the lady is handed over to the man
not to become his wife for better or
worse, but for q seven days trial Dur
ing these seven days she lives with him,
and the relationship Of the pair Is that
of married couple At the expiration
of the term of approval, if both ere
agreeable, they return TO the chief com
missioner's Office and are married by
that gentleman. If, on the other hand,
either of them does not approve of the
other the man is left TO go his way,
while the woman returns to her old
routine of work In the female Jail.
The worst feature of the system is the
fact that. rs might be anticipated. chill
dren are occasionally born OF these pro-
stationary unions. TO such infants the
state assumes the responsibilities of n
stepfather. Born illegitimatc, with the
cognizance and sanction of the authori-
ties, reared in a convict jail among the
worst class of women, all of whom are
life convicts, and, finally, without rel
alive or friend on tho face of the
earth, thrown into the world TO make
their own living, the position Of these
children Is not pleasant to contcm-
plate.