The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-04-20

under identical standards of morality,
according to frof. Frederick Starr,
the University of Chicago anthro-
pOlogist. In his latest and most start
ling social theory, the Midway
scientist draws an unbending parallel
between the ethical status Of women
throughout the most highly civilized
nations and those of savage Africa.
Prof. Starr advances his new doc
trine in an article on 'Woman's Nor
atty: Savage and Civilized" in the
current number of the Red SOCK.
His comparison of the women Of
Africa and America is exhaustive and
is illustrated with examples from his
African explorations, where he
studied the customs and habits Of
many barbarOus tribes.
In matters of modesty. business
ehtics, family relations, and character,
Prof. Starr finds striking similarity.
Points of Likeness.
The professor declares that this
moral identity Of savage and barhar-
Gus women with the civilized can be
demonstrated by thousands Of exam
pies" and he proceeds to note as
some of the striking points Of like
ness that
The bargain counter morals are the
same.
Both classes of women will submit
to any amoun Of torture for fashions
sake.
Women's clubs exist in Africa as
we'll as in America.
Divorce is no in Africa
thar here, and marriages are often as
permanent in Africa as in Chicago.
Women are sold as wives in Chicago
as we'll as in Africa.
The subject of mOdeSty arises from
the same causes in both cases.
The question of personal adOrn-
ment is Of great Importance in both
cases.
The mother-in-law is omnipresent in
SaVagery.
African and American women both
seek 1.-The last word
In a thorough discussion Of African
customs Prof. Starr constantly brings
in the similarity of the savage women
to those of civilized countries. OF
the subject of marriage and divorce
in Africa he says
Marital faithfulness is as generally
expected in barbarism as in our CIV
ilized life, but conditions vary from
one people to another too much to
permit of a definite statement in our
brief space. Where m~dnogamy exists
and the woman owns and rules the
house.. conditions are simple. The
husband who does not suit is sent
home, and both parties are free to
contract new relations. Although di-
vOrce is SO easy in barbarOus life, mar
Tiages often are ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
as much SO as in Chicago or Dakota.
Wives Are "SOIid'' Here.
The description of easy divorce
and buying wives ounds strange
enough. But divorce is quite as COM
mon in Dakot as among the savages
of Central Africa, and women, after
all, are sold as wives quite as openly
in Chicago as in the heart of the
Dark Continent.
Of the similar commercial instincts
of African and American women he
says:
IN the markets of Central Africa
most Of the sellers are women. 1t is
they who bring in the products of
their fields and the fish they have
caught. In the sale of these they de-
velop that feminine economy and
shrewdness Which still mark the sex
among us in civilization. For hagglins
and getting bargains the barbaric wo-
man is as notably her husbands su-
serior as our m To visit an At
rican market is as interesting as TO
stand at q bargain counter in New
York. 1t is true that in lower Gull
ture the high-strung feelings OF the
buyer lead to the actual performance
of what among our peopIe usually
ends in desire. And eve at our bar
gain counters we have heard of shop
lifting practices. The bargain morals
are the same"
Prof. Starr declares that he encOun-
tered great difficulty in trading with
African women because Of their dis
honest desire to hold back a part of
the purchase, and remarks:
This is q constant experience in
dealing with the blacks. They are
never happy unless they can retain
something Of the thing they have sold.
To deliver a purchase entire to the
buyer betrays lack Of business sagaci-
ty. 1t is needless to draw Sharper
parallels of the trading morals Of
sayage and civilized women in a time
When trading stamps form a CHIEF
element in our feminine commercial
transactions
Women Rule Households.
In Tehuantepec the women are not