New-York tribune., 1903-03-29

Major General Adna r. Chaffee, L. s. A" ra'neF
startled the members of the Methodist socai Oion
IN Tits city the other day when ne toIo thein 'i'
he had never met an intelligent Chinam6h VINO GA
pressed sny desire to embrace the Chrlstiah re-
Y,eion OF course the Generals statement that ne
never met any such may be accepted as tFue' WIN
cut ct all detEacting from the fact tnat many AZ
teIIisspt Cinnamon have embraced the SnIis1Aai
religion under the influence Of American his
,.r.rIes Nevertheless the Generals statement
I.r6e interest to an article upon Chinese Dislike
of Christianity which Francis H Nichols wrote
mt Ione ago for The Atlantic Monthly
II have met foreigners who have lived In Cnlns
fer the greater part Of their lives. and VINO mac
never put themselves In John Chinaman's place.
says ME- Nichols.
-lrhey had never looked anything from his
sofnt OF view They had never listened 70 his rea-
soe fer anything. And these were the men who
believed thst nothing good could come nom q
Chtnaman although they knew him very we'll IL
A. sIks the old story OF the relative advantages OF
hesnE 8 nan and dog The question can never
BE answered satisfactorily because we shall prob
sbly never have opportunity Of hearing the
doris side But We could hear the Chinamans side
iyss could tell Us Why he thinks and acts and be-
lssses as he does IL we would ask him Why? Yet
eAas ID just what has never been done. The black
Sasrsd people are ridiculed and patronized and de-
seuneed. but never reasoned with, and until they
aEx we shall continue to uiejudge them tust as
they Bistudee
--These reasons that the springs OF action are
fallRc1eS u
naYaaee sometimes play prominent part in them.
But Just as in march Of all civilizations faIla-
cies hsye beer overthrown only by attacking the
ideas on which they we're founded so we can never
hope to raodernize the Chinese until meet them
on their own ground and successfully controvert
eAetr reasons.
Probably no Chinese custom institution has
beer the object Of more denunciation and shudder
ing than the practice of binding the feet of the
wonsn- Per se. 1t undoubtedly merits ali the con-
dsznstiop it receives. 1t certainly is cruel, bar
bareus and degrading The inference usually
drawn from 1t is that parent who would thus de-
IFberztely cripple his daughter for life be little
less than a savage Yet 1t is safe to say that Of
the thousands OF Americans who have heard Of
feet binding not one in ten has clear idea OF
The Chinese reason for the torture
For foot binding has its reason. 1t is only
practical application Of the theory that 'wornan's
sphere iS the home belief that is by no means
confined to China but which in less active form
prevails a very large extent in the United
States. The premise admitted. 1t becomes the
duty Of all respectable citizens to devise some
means Of permanently preventing women from
escaping from their sphere Other Oriental ma
tions who hold In practical form the same be-
lief the Chinese ma.-e prisoners of their women
They hiie them in their homes and compel them
% appear veIled IN the street. AS q different
means OF accomplishing the same end the Chinese
make e physically Impossible for woman 10 walk
far from home Founded the simple principle
that every good wonas's life is spent within eer-
tain limits. foot binding has become uni
versaI custom which can be trsnagresSed only by
ths lifelong disgrace Of the woman whose feet are
allowed to remain IN a natural condition. firmly
eeeve that the Chinese appreciate the cruelties Of
foot binding quite much We do.
"A WemAE IeSding Attie girl pGssed by the inn
where were resting one Afternoon. On the
oh1ds drawn face were depicted some Of the
sSonies which the bandsges on her legs were caus-
ing her. One Of the soldiers cf my escort sprsng
up. and. taking the child in his arms. carried her
20 her home, quarter Of O mile down the road.
+" 1T must be terrible to be woman he said
- ne Ss he re-entered the kunR Ew9n courtyard
Several educated men with whom have talked
Of the practice in &EenN agreed with me a. to ttG
cruelty. They all regretted It as painful neces-
Gtty. Their argument against It's discontinuance
was always. How else can women be made to stay
hc4neF
.a5f Instead Of merely shuddering a foot binding
aad Of calling the Chinese unpleasant names for
pesS4ktng IN the practice the advantages Of en-
Il&9ssneG idea Of Womanhood could be demon
ekF&&eA TO them; IL the majority Of parents could
hs persuaded that their daughters were capable OF
Ay1ng In other spheres than homs-if the reason
cgzd be ennihilated. believe that foot binding
W3Snt Aeciire In popularity. and might ultimately
o3EnHpeaf- such q course Eodi1 at least be inter
eEtsne as an experiment that has heretofore never
ben tried In attacking any Chinese institution or
belief.
eesa1 she needs ANYTHING else Until she ts truly
converted to Christianity she can never take the
place among the nations OF the earth to which