The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-10-19

that IT is approved OF by the orientals. and
connived at by the Occidentals. IL is a
part OF the grett system OF polygamy.
While the middle kingdom is poiygamous,
vet the first wife is 10 all intents the only
one. and all others are close TO what We
call concubines. Yet their status is
dren are legitimate. They stand about as
nigh socially as do the morganatic wives
OF the European nobility OF the upper
ranks. In addition TO this, a Chinese gen
tleman who does not desire 10 engage in
matrimony can purchase a concub!ne and
live with her as long as he desires. and
her to her people. Beyond this, and more
pitiful still, he can hire one from her
parents or pocket mother. just exactly as
1t is here that the greater part of the evil
comes in. The woman knows that her tenn
porary marital experience may last but a
few months and will not last many years,
and so she tries TO make hay while the
sun shines. She does her best 10 interest,
in this way can she hope TO expect aught
from his generosity. In the main men are
liberal and free-hearted, and in addition
to her salary, Of which one-half goes 10
her parents, and one-half TO herself, give
her many presents. What she desires most
OF all is to be the pocket mother" of two
or more young girls. These cost from $40
to $500 each, according TO youth. beauty
and accomplishments. With ordinary luck
years she is the owner of two handsome
young girls. They are her legal property,
and provided they do not violate any law
or ordinance, she is protected by the mag
istrates of the district. and the custom OF
the country in doing with hem as she
pleases. Were there no Europeans in
China. she would probably sell them event
ually to some wealthy man to complete his
household economy, because the chinese
to buy outright. In such a case the girl
would secure a home and lead an unevent-
ful ana De- rather laaifima happy snd Iit sse MIGHT 1ieF c baenma
a No. 1 wife. But in the Orient there is a
great army of Europeans and Eurasians,
who. have become Mongolianized. and who
combine Eastern ideas with Western vices
with alacrity and dispatch. Few of these
buy native girls outright. .Rumor. a dame
who rather eXaggerates than UNDERSTANDS
a fact, says that there are but nine men
of our race who have INDUCED In this ex-
t~ravagance. The great majority lease these
girls. discharge them when they get tired
of them, or when they have q domestic tiff.
and engage a new one. This Is the daily
life of the young man in Cathay. Speaking
of this great evil a prominent missionary
said recently:
ut is a terrible state of affairs. and one
we are powerless TO combat. The people
OF the country are poor, and the wages or
sin are so large as to dazzle the eyes Of
poverty. a hard-working mechanic, toiling
fourteen hours a day earns but 81 a month
or even less. When he is sick, or when
W. dan rs 5tarh' b. Ve I earhS hf fbe psre ntasi Proof roof
and living in luxury With an American or
European merchant, receives from ST to
$50 a month, according to her attractions
more than her father can make in an entire
year.
DO their masters treat these unfortu-
mates we'll? Only too well. Besides their
wages they present them with fine hosiery
and footwear. silk dresses and jewe.ry. per-
fumery and handsome furniture, everything
in fact that a woman can desire. They are
usually kind and gentle to them, and, at
times. affectionate. But this makes the
come to love their evil mode of living,
and are unwilling to depart from it, They
bring up their children and pocket children
~ r,~c tlo CO mo n a rpar 1Nhn urnpCt faa-
ture Of it all is the poor little children
which are brought into the world by these
niZes his duty, and acts as a parent to the
helpless babe. Four place their offspring
IN converts and asylums, and beyond pay
ing the monthly bills give them no thought.
The remaining five behave worse than
the bru;es of the field. and never concern
themselves. directly or indirectly, in the
fate of those they have brought into ex-
| foreign residents there are scores of blue
eyed and gray-eyed Chinese babies; In
Hong Kong and Shanghai there are thou
sands of these poor half-breeds. The Chi
nese will not recognize them, their fatherS
disown them. society ~discards them, and
their mothers refuse the assistance of the
church. The boys grow up as best they
may; the girls. when they reach woman
hood. follow the mothers footsteps, or else
go into deeper infamy.
"A Hong Kong broker, now a settled
down married man, has three beautiful
daughters who belong to one of the worst
dens in that city. A customs official, who
has a young wife and a little child, has
also one family in a convent in shanghai
and a second in another convent I'm Hong
Kong. These are but two cases out OF a
hundred that have come under my own OBJ
servaticn and knowledge.
II said we are powerless, and we are.
These men attend church. make society
and control They are generous
and contribute largely to our chapels, asy-
lums, hospitals and other charities. If we
antagonize them it would cut off our inno-
cent pleasures and make our life much
harder in the far East; so We keep our
mouths shut and our eyes closed to the
awful evil. / am not satisfied, however,
that we are doing right, or even wisely.
The Chinese notice these things and hine
them in our face. Thus our work is made
unfruitful and conversions rendered much
more difficult than they otherwise would
be-"