The Elbert County tribune., 1899-11-09
CONDITIONS IN sun
PoLYoAMY AND sLav,,,
Being Mohammedans "a.
lowed to Have -Four wiy..-s
Not Have . Hard Time Ana
Their Freedom. ~

Apropos of the recent diser
poiygamy and slavery In a.
Islands, the following facts .,u "a
a correspondent OF the ChIca,as sven
who has visited the islands w,i1 m'su 9
interest: "in Be
The religion OF the peonio
archipelago is Mohammedan '"
and Christian. Nearly ali M, pan
are devout Mohammedans e hof'
faith may safely be said to iDcluds
per cent OF the population NJ
islands In the mountainous dI,,,,
OF some OF the islands, howevsr .us
are wild. long-haired savages VIII. us
ship pagan gods. The percent..
these is comparatively small
Christian element is composed =, ~,
ayan and Tagalo deportados. whn
been sent as convicts to these lsl.a
The Moros guard their religion ,-~
1ealously than any other instl,na'
They wpulV resent any interferans.
the faith more quickly than anv,s,.
else, and one thing above all n,ha
which VIII insure peace betwaon -
country and the Moros will he ,l,a
sfriction of American missiona,ia.
Inc Mohammedan religion allo,. ]
man four wives. The marriages
performed by priests, and man ~
not marry woman II she stronylv ~
Jects. l was unable to learn ins, ~
much the woman could object and IN
be married, but l presume there /.
certain fixed degree of protest viii,
the suitcr must regard as a reiectIon
his proposal. When a man has ,no.I
than xx-ffA --''
each one. and by this rigid obseryancJ
OF impartiality he manages to malptalJ
peace in the family.
A man can easily divorce his wits h,
merely returning her to her parents n
guardian and stating that he will M
longer be responsible for her. She p
then divorced. and cannot marry again
for three months and four DAYS n
she becomes widow the punlshmeuf
Is greater. for then she is Obliged h
wait four months and four days befOrs
again marrying. The man. in the tir,f
Instance, of course, can lmmedlatelr
remarry If he desires. Datto Jokanlna
has four wives, the limit as well as /
number of slaves.
Slavery exists on the islands, and |,
apt to be the most difficult problem va
Will have to solve, for the Moros wifi
rebel against the abolition OF such a.
ancient institution, while the United
States will doubtless find slavery in
consistent in one of her colonies.
There are about 1000 slaves on III,
island of Sulu. | was unable to find
the approximate number on the othel
islands, but probably there are as man,
A .sl.. ta.
Mexican. although the price depend
largely upon the age and sex Of III,
slave.
Slaves are acquired in two or thre,
ways-by direct purchase, by inheri
tance and as payment of debt Mos
slaves are hereditary. The owner will
them to his son, and all children born
by women in bondage become the prop
erty of the owner of the slave mother
1t is a custom of countries In th
East to pay to a slave-owner the pric
of slave II the latter runs away an,
asks to be free. The slave Is the
worked by the government until b
works out the amount paid for hin
The slave then becomes free and tn
previous owner cannot reclaim him.
According to this custom the slav
does work up to the amount Of 81
and wins his freedom. If this amour
Is not paid at the end of the first yea
the government can hold him until tn
end of the third year, when he is CIV
en- his freedom.
Practically the same system exist
here In the East as In Mexico, for tn
arrangement is very similar to the peol
system. If II peon fails to work Of hi
debt while he lives. his children b
come poems until the debt is paid.