The Washington herald., 1907-10-06


results Of the practice are that the chill
dren are OF fine physique and that there
Is an Improvement in the race. the selec-
ton Of fathers being on the principle OF
best breeding.
There followed q storm Of protest
against this revolving and abhOrrent"
idea. Those criticisms stirred up George
Bernard Shaw 10 Indignation, and in a
column letter to-day he denounces the
Objectors as narrow, provincial English
men. His presentation Of the subject is
50 interesting and characteristic that it
Is worth wider reading. He says:
If the empire is to be held together
by anything better than armed force
we shall have to make up our minds to
bring the instructions and social expert
ments Of our fellow-subjects 10 a very
much higher test than their Conformity
TO the customs Of Clapham. II is true
that mere toleration for its own sake
is out Of the question. We are not go
ing 10 tolerate sUttee, or human sacrifice.
on any terms from anybody. We are far
too tolerant as It Is, if not Of other peo-
pies denominations and superstitions. at
all events Of our own, which are numer-
Gus and detestable enough in all con-
science.
Should Consider Reasons.
But before We begin to hurl such
epithets as revolving and 'abhorrent AT
any OF the customs of our Indian fellow
subjects, We had better consider care
fully why We are shocked by them. Very
Ter n
tween the shock of unfamliarity and
genuine ethical shock. Con KuIin polyg-
amy is unfamiliar, and, therefore it
shocks US and causes gentlemen Of ord!-
nary good breeding 10 use abusive and
Incorporate language.
Under these circumstances l. having
ascertained that my opinion is repre-
sentative enough TO be of some i'm
portance, am emboldcned TO say that the
Institution of Kuliu polygamy does not
seem 10 me on the face Of il an unre3-
sonable one. The BengaHs hold that II
Is the part Of the general purpose of
things that women should bear children
and that Childlessness Is misfortune.
and even disgrace. It viii not be dis
puted that this is as much the Occi-
dental as the Oriental view
Again, the Bengalis attach great i'm
portanee 20 their children being well
bred. So DO we. How. then. do the
parents Of an English family OF a class
corresponding TO the Indian Brahman
class secure well-bTed grandchildren for
themselves and also for their nation7
Ihey use their social opportunity 10 nur
taeir daughters prOmisCuOusly In the way
OF young men Of their own caste In The
nope that marriage viii result Fro
Quenuy Il IS not the result The d9Ugh-
Ter becomes an old maid one Of the
wasted mothers Of the nation which Is
Perishlng for want Of WeIl-bred children
Even when the chance is favorable
and the daughter finds q husband she
often refuses TO become a mother he
cause her religious and social training
mas taught her TO regard motherhood as
a department Of original sin and 10 glory
not in the possession of children, but of
husband, so that a childIess woman
with husband despises a mother who
has no husband.
Explains Bengal Methods.
What does a Bengal father do under
the circumstances? He selects a picked
man, Braham, representing the highest
degree of culture and character In his
class, and he paws him zoo pounds sterling
10 enable his daughter to become the
mother Of well-bred child. Now, this
may strike a par0chial Englishman as un-
usual, or, as he would put it, revolving
and 'abh0rTent' but it Is certainly not
unreasonable and not inhuman. Far
from being obviously calculated to de-
grade the race. it is on the face of It.
aimed at improving IT, Sir George Bird
lr1.-
1ren happen, for the most part, to be
Df fine physique
The products Of our system happen for
The most part not to be Of fine physique.
II is quite clear that this Is mere happen
ng? Is il not rather what one would ex-
pect under the circumstances? And is the
practice of taking deliberate steps TO pro- /
luce and reproduce men of fine physique
really revoiring and abhOrrent to our
British conscience as distinguished from
our British prejudice?
Let us. however, DO justice to our sys-
:en. iudefensible as it is in many re-
pects. It secures what most men want; /
hat is, the sharing out of women among
men, so that every Jack shall have his
Ill and able men and attractive women
shah not accumulate partners and leave
nediOcrity unprovidcd. If this were the
'nd Of public policy in the matter, and if /
he race might safely take its chance of
tegeneracy, provided monOgamy, even on /
he hardest conditions were maintained. /
here would be nothing more 10 be said. /
)ut as the whole imperial problem before |
Is is fundamentally nothing else than 10 /
produce more capable political units than
tur present system breeds-in short 10 /
breed the sUperhuman-this is not the /
ime TO rail at experiments made By |
seopie who are not under the harrow of /
Iur prejudices or 10 persist in calling Gus !
Oms founded OF those preiudices bv |
tuesticn-beggtng names such as purity. !
chastity, 'prOpTiety,' and so forth. and |
o speak of a Brahmin who is the father /
VI 100 children as q libertine with 100
wives
May Have One Hundred Children.
ANY man Of thirty may have 100 /
hildren without having a wife AT all and /
til be positively ascetic in his temper /
nee compared with the average respect |
bic, faithful British husband OF the
ans age, and If the 100 children happen /
be Of fine physique the nation win be I
aors powerful and prosperous in fle next
enerauon than if these 100 children were |
eplaced by 100 others Of different phys /
que each having a different father. pro-
aiseUously picked up in a Clapham draw |
ng-room.
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