Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-16

Z RABA
sa*sss *ass.s sa*a*-f.'
to their bosom. Miss Margaret Noble
has written a wonderful book entitled
1.-THE Web of Indian Life" the facts of
which are gathered from her genuine
experiences of Hndoo women-the only
reliable book of Hindoo home life.
Education of Hlndoo Women
AS for the education of the Hindoo
women, a point raised every now and
then by Christian missionaries, 1t all
depends upon the question as to what
constitutes education. An American
woman wrote from personal experience
regarding the education of Hindoo wo-
men recently published in the Los An
geles Times:
ITO call Hindoo women ignorant
argues ignorance in those who say so.
1t is a misnomer. Not to be able to
read and write Is a mechanical defect,
not an intellectual one. How can these
women be called, uneducated when their
1ntellects have been developed and their
natures cultivated under a system of
education long in vogue in India, though
very different from what is known to
us at the present day? How can the in
tellect of the race have been kept up
under the supposition that one-half Of
the community is in a state of barbar-
ism? How do you account for Hindoo
woman who does not know how to read
or write being able to quote text after
text of Manoo? There are Hindoo wo-
men who know the whole code of ethics
as contained in the Dharma Shastras of
Manoo and the whole of the Puranic
| literature of the ancient Brahmans.
Indeed the Hindoo woman appears to
my humble understanding to be the
most cultured of her sex in any part Of
the world
Degradation Doesn't Exist
AS for degradation of Hindoo women,
! it is interesting to quote. in this con-
nection, Olive Christian Malvery, the
maiden name of that wonderful Indian
woman who recently exposed the Lon
don Jungle" and who is a Christian
and wife of Archibald Mackirdy, United
States consul at Muscat, Arabia, who
said the other day concluding an In
terview published recently in the Los
Angeles Times
my great ambition now is to make
my husband as good wife as he de-
serves. And my next is to make a
name for myself in literature.
"I should like to return to India 10
get inspiration. After the horrors 1
have seen here-the squalor, the utter
hopelessness, the sordid misery of life
as it is lived by hundreds of thou
sands-the greed and indifference of
those who profit by their toil-there
is something in the calm of life in
India--the quiet acceptance of fate
which seems infinitely alluring to me
now. There is no degradation of Wo-
manhood in India-heathen India, as
it is called-as exists in Christian
England"
A Lesson from Heathens
Mark Twain, in his story of his
world-travel, "Following the Equa-
tor" says that the Christian west can
take a lesson in regard to treatment
of women from heather India. While
he could find not single woman em-
ployed at work in the fields all over
the land, in every western country
even old women were employed for
field work.
All the energies which are frittered
away to aid "child-wives of India"
might be more profitably spent In wise
and practical schemes for remedying
the divorce and many other crying
evils in America. 1 read only yester-
day in the paper that in such cul-
tured New England state as Maine
things have come to such pass that
there is one divorce for every six mar
riages, q woeful condition which has
made ministers throughout the state,
headed by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Cod
man, adopt stringent measures to
remedy 1t, claiming that 1t is beeom-
ing common for couples to seek di-
vorce in order to marry again.
There's Rescue Work at Home
What about my little Christian sis
ters of America who certainly are not
protected by their brothers and faith
ers," whose terrible condition is so
eloquently denounced by Edwin Mark
ham, In a recent magazine article he
says: I'm the east side box factories"
says he, "the children, in the Christ
mas season begin their work at 1880
and keep it up till 9 at night, Sum
days included. From 1880 till 8 at
night! Reader do you take into your
heart how long these Hours are for
little fingers and little feet? But how
are these tired workers kept at the
wheels? You will not believe me when
tell you that the factory doors are
locked to keep the little wage slaves
at their tasks till the factory pasha
is satisfied with his days profits"
Again, what about the little Chris
tians who wear out their lives below the
surface OF the earth, where Gods sun
never shines; whose eyes would be
blinded should it's rays ever bless
them? What about your sweat-shops
that are made to prosper at the cost
Of the lives OF little men and women
ranging in age from four to twelve?
What about your white slave trade.
your salt mines. your cotton factories
which destroy them by their inhaling
the poisonous lint? What OF your twen-
ty million Americans who are existing
below the living line-without sufficient
clothing, food or shelterY What about
these and hundred other evils that
you know OF?
Charity begins at home. There is