Morning journal and courier., 1894-01-30
COMMUNICATIONS.


Professor Ukfta M axes a Correction
Tothe Editor OF the JouRSIL LSp ceuRIHR:
Without any knowledse on my part i
found on the pages of your paper iesued
on January &c. 1894, the reproduction Of
my article on The Religion ard Morality
in America" which have Published In 9
Japanese review. lam willing to take full
responsibility for the opinions have .x-
pressed therein. but 1 must ask you to pub
lish my correction of the mistrsuslstion
made by Mr.. DeForest. OF course be is
not entirely responsihls for the translation,
as he Is not able to read the original writ
ten japanese literature. which Ia. unfortu.
nstely, quite different from the collOquIsl.
/ do not correct all the mistakes In the
translation, ss they are not essential to my
point.
Your criticism In regard to the mIstrans-
lated passage of my article IL quite just
But AN not obliged, on that sccount, to
"stand the racket" you speak of, because
what have written In the original is en-
tirely different from the TRANSLATION. The
translation is: "Ths women of the West
well, call them proper If you wish, but
they are SO destitute of noble ideals that
they might be ranked along with
the women Of eemI-civilIzsd eoun.
tries" But the original is simply
this: "The women of the West are
pretty, but go far sc they have not tie
ideal they are not different from women
IN the hslf-cnltured ccuntries." l admit
that the expression was not explicit
enough, but have never meant that the
American women are destitute Of noble
ideals, for / know and even admire that
they have many noble ideals, In which
they are 60 far superior to their sisters In
other civiiizsd countries. Ny criticism ,s
thot they are not exactly the ideals of wo-
manhood which fnd In the character of
women In the Bible, such as Ruth In the
Old, and Virgin Mary In the New TestA-
ments. had that one definite ideal in my
view, 60 that there is no adjective noble"
before the noun ''ideals, aud / have mssnt
singular number instead of plural IN the
noun, which, however. cannot be very well
expressed in the japanese Language.
AUG tftA4o ~ WIN llr
when / hold the vie y that womanllness ia
woman ought to be her ideal, as manllness
In man is the supreme ideal on his psrt
Manly spirit In wonsp, and womsnly
spirit In man are bat anomalies. and Any
equality of men and women In this respect
ought to be discouraged by ali pstriotiC
| men.
Iwish Jou would understand that my
/ criticism Ia conhned only to the national
| type of female character in America In
general. Individually speaking, anons
my own Aequsint.ncse there are many
whom / might call the japanese lsiies o.
i America
| As l have said in the besinuIng, dc
not undertake to correct all the mistake
In the translation, As Il is not esse1tisl &
my point. But Mr.. DeFSrest reters 10 hi-
introduction TO the fscs that the ratio a
divorces to marriages In japan is one Il
three. So / might s.eo refer in tits con
nection to the fact that the statistics In tn
United States. as / understand. are 10
certain, and 90 / am not sure whether tn
ratio of divorces TO marriages as ] hkv
given IL In my article is correct or not
have the statement of the Hon. sx Judg
Noah Davis Of New York In his article q
July, 1884, in the North American Review
that the ratio of divorces TO mai
4 rlk2e6 II ouN IN tlA. anu II kOmi
cities the proportion is even greater.
After slI. the differences In this respect b.
tween "ihs heathen Japan" and the Chris
tisn America Is not very great, and the fac
remains that the domestic morality q
both countries is in great danger ct pre-,
ent In japan it has been cause
by the revolutionary state of things sirc
the civil war of 1853, which denolishs
feudallsm with Its social ethics and Gus
toms, including stricter marriage Law
which till then existed, and eliminated Q
last In the establishment of constitutio
and parliament In fact, the rerolui.o
which is still going on there IL similar /
the English revolution In the 18th, and (
the French revolution In the 18th centur,
and how revolutions demorslizs nations
apparent In the histories of thote countries
1t has been my effort In the past and wi
be my effort too when 90 home, 10 restol
the domestic morality In Japan which b,
declined 20 much since the revolution {
1858 K UkrTA,
: New Haven, Jan. 29th, 1894