The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-02-11

osst Of which the family fortunes were
r.ade. and 10 substitute a iong-drawD-ossr
drawl for the murder or the queens Eng
Hsh sfsM ringing III their ears from the
parental shop OF their fer.dsr days
'.Pernaps@ satlr1cally writes Wo Chang,
'sthe family name has been Smith. ShEf-
asb0tfoas or saoo9z. But this wiii not do
for the aspiring generation Of newly rich
aeagssr.ssS ami so the cid family names
are esphcnszas1 into lie Sme-tI ShaIehoI-
1on or ssneffon, and the climax OF folly
= capped with fHii-bIown British tuft
hunting
"As & result the girls Of the family get
caught up by some poor nepnews OF a
lords grandson, or by some poorer bar
onkt's descendants. with all the vlriiity
marn cut Of thesn by roG-Fsm. The only
faculty left 70 these spen6thrift husba nds
~ r.cA traGesments daughters In q state
Of Tigor IS tfe faculty Of wasting their
wives money. a. they have wasted their
own"
Tire rising generation also conveniently
discovers or. rather. the crest-uaker
Tnaszss the discovery for them, that they
Aape an ancestor wi4o came oEcs wita the
Conqsieror. They also insfinctis~ly graz
.tate 10 Tory politics as becoming their
sudden emerEence from social obscurity.
Iu this they act IN common with most If
TIE home candidates fOr the charmed cir
Gle or English respectabiilty. and with
colonial knight commanders Of the Order
OF s. Michael and st. George. whose am
hlflon lles toward the same refuge for
British Cssds who want 10 throw the public
of tho scent OF their true origin. The viz
ines Of dial reverence ard obedience and
aEectiuns for relatives are considered be-
neafh their pGIpouSnezs, and no wonder.
Tor there + nothing i'm the English fam
iiy or sasial position 30 foster toward
British parents an habltual sense OF hiial
reverence.
These sHobs have sown the wind OF
pride. aad they are in imminent danger
81 reaping The whirlwind of ruin In
mary cascs they become slaves to cham
payne and gambling the prevailing weak
res2es OF oyer-fed under~worked and self
lnduigent society people
Wo Chang expresses the startling opin-
ton that the English are more solicitcus
about preserving purity If breed in their
cattle and barnyard fowl than they are
in regard 70 preserving Il in their own
families.
'If The family" IA writes, keeps
cocker Spaniel Cochin hon. full-blocded
cattle or racehorses. the strictest care is
iakea less these pure breeds should dete-
ri0raGe hy contact with inferior kinds. But
II q son has resolved 70 choose wife
or a daughter a husband. the anxious
foTothought shown In safeguarding puri-
Is OF breed in domestic animals il rare
IS. If ever. dreampt OF in regard 10 the
immunity Of descendants Of their own
famiiy from hereditary mpurity or dis
enee. on tho contrary. the paramount
question raised is What is the social
sfaius 81 the family into which the youth
or the girl proposes TO marry
They may bc fully aware that hered-
itary ailments or vices will. under mex
orabie laS. reappear in the children or
grandchildren Of the married pair. Bat
this consideration suddenly vanishes into
thin air and the all-absorblng inquiry Is.
What advantage t. to be gained by the
match IN position or for'une?'"
No Chang maintains that no such
san u.eiess outrages on reason and nature
arc ever committed. even by the poorest
Chinsmau under the cover Of marriage
as are OF daily occurrence IN the United
Kingdom Of Great Britain and Ireland End
iB other Englsh-speakng communities
In China a mutual guarantee Is afforded
both the contracting families against be-
coming allied with hereditary madness or
crime, and the genealogical trees on both
sides are carefully examined in order TO
prevent alliances between people even
most distantiy related.
II am not going" Wo Chang writes. ito
refer nc length to the nonstrous injustice
committed by the vast majority even Of
middic-class husbands IN occupying the