Morning journal and courier., 1894-01-26
AS ANOTHER SEES us.
Icoxc1uprD FROM FIRST PAGE. !


men and women bsfore marriage and sftsra
We must then consider political and COO
,omicsl morality. Since cannot discuss
Ill of these, will show my views of do
nestle morality.
One good custom of America II the 30
,ial liberty of men and women. We can
not but admire the small number Of errors
In this atmosphere Of liberty. Here it 10
The custom to respect woman custom
We ought to learn from them. Since men
and women become mutually acquainted,
have mutual respect and love, and become
husband and wife by their own choice,
they ought to be very happy in their low
ing homes. But the morality of the mar
rage relation Is not 10 perfect a. ono would
expect from the chastity of the unmarried
life. This is one great defect in the family
Of America. According to the
statistics there is an average of one divorce
in sixteen marriages, and in some states
the ratio is one to ten. There are several
causes for this, Of which the chief are:
/. Theimperfectlaws. Here each state has
its own courts of justice and its supreme
court, with independent governing power.
Therefore there is no one system of law
that has authority throughout all the land.
Moreover, In the execution of law there
is q difference in tho degree of strict
ness, according ss the accused Is
rich or poor, native or foreign, and
according to race. Thus in some states
the law forbids marriage between blacks
and whitse, or between Americans and
Indians or Chinese. IT. Is like this in the
matter of divorces, too. Separation is
difficult in one state, and very easy in an
other. We cannot but be surprised at the
ease with which wife can be sepa-
rated from her husband. In New
York in some cases polygamy and
are allowed. We see some
times state laws which allow marriage
of mon and women with their grsndohil
dren. Some say that sasiness of divorce is
to prevent natural children, and
for social morality. But in England where
the divorce law Is very strict, the ratio Of
children to Legitimate Is "a to
600, while that of America is 70 to l, OOO
We may thus see that easy divorce is not
advantageous to social morality.
3. The character of women. The American
woman receives the same education As man.
After becoming of age she rides horse or
bicycle just a. a man. Man ia especially
polite towards woman according to the
custom of the land. Hence socially woman
ranks before man. Sometimes she goes &C
far a. to regard this as her natural
right. Therefore to my eye the Amsri
can woman, even If in her dress and
form there il the appearance Of woman
her spirit is that of man, and there II
thus very little difference between mar
and woman. It is woman's nature to b.
silent and not to be critical of others, bu
the American woman is talkative, critical
and sstssms social life above domestic
She sometimes negleots homo education
and gees into business of various kinds
OF late there are those who wish to hav'
political rights. In reply to Spencer
opinion, that since woman cannot do
soldiers duty she ought not to havs polit
tcal rights, q woman in an America
magazine argued that If that 10 true, the,
man ought not to have political right
since he cannot bear children. For to b
ssoldier is merely negative duty to pro
tect society, while bearing children is
positive duty to produce society. As
specimen of woman's argument this ma
be all right, but 1t lie no profit to societ
for woman to neglect family life and RAM
social life above 1t. It is not the way
promote womsn's character and to increas
her welfare. If it is the proper objec
of woman to lead an indepsnden
life then I have no moro to say
But home lie the basis of society, and to b
. good wife and wise mother must be VIC
! mans holy mission.
8. An Ideal of Morality.-There are tire
sacred emblems in old Japan which "
| ought to respect. The frat is the chivslri
| spirit, which is represented by a sword
The second is womanly virtue, repreesnte
by a mirror. The third is refinement, rer
resented by precious gem. The ideal o
the Japanese people is above that of west
ern nations. The fine art of the west
very beautiful, but it is too realistic, an
there is very little difference between
and photograph. The women of tn
west-well, call them proper, if you wish
but they are so destitute of noble ideal
that they might be ranked along with tn
women of semi civilised countries. Whel
see this am always thankful that by tn
grace of heaven have for my mother
Japanese woman and a Japanese womal
for my wife. I am convinced that wha
will manifest the glory of Japan through
out the world hereafter will be the ehsrac
ter OF the Japanese women. I trembl
to see that much of girls educa
ton in Japan 10 in the hand
Of American women. There IL nothing
more harmful for fue art, for woman. ant
for man than to have a mean ideal, ant
nothing more dangerous tksn to have nj
ideal. At present Americans idealiss tn
successful man and do not inquire into tn
means he uses. In their eyes success doe
not mean to be benevolent, but 1t means h
get much wealth. Therefore man of sue
cess is not Washington, Lincoln, but
Jay Gould. There is only ono thing whiol
We admire about the American people an,
that is their prudence and good commo,
sense. But in social morality, they max
utility the standard of all things. Msnciu
of old says, "If all from high to low seel
after utility, that country is in danger.
Yet the morality and peace of America no,
are maintained by the principle of "seek
ing after utility from high to low" an
not by laws nor by the constitution nor b,
military power nor by righteousness.
1t is said that when Japanese zee hoy
Americans regard money they are dis
gusted. It is because they see none
with Japanese eyes. If Japanese wis
to know how Americans feel abou
money, they must take out their sword
which are called ''the spirit of the Ssmu
raj" and compare the way Americans fee
over money with the way our ancestor
used to feel when they gszsd on thei
swords. The sword Is the spirit of tn
Samurai. Money is the spirit of the com
mon nanp1a Tho sunrd Ia a tnnl tbs