El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-11

large Ideals and educated minds in the
masses who make up these countries, .
save as they have come in contact with
modern invaders.
Women in India.
The SWamis and teachers from India
VINO come among US have talked long
and loudly regarding our mistaken
ideas of the position OF women in In
dia- They have declared women to be
on very high plane in that ancient
land of wisdom, and have urged our
own women to look to India for ideals
OF true WOmanhOOd-
Yet in India, this last winter, the
latest statistics reported only one vFo-
man in every hundred possessing any
education.
1t was my pleasure to meet a number
Of the emancipated women Of India,
women who have broken away from
old traditions, and who are educated.
and made comrades OF by their hus-
bands, ana 60 about the world in free
dom One of these was woman au-
thor and lawyer, a brilliant creature
and the only single woman 7 met IN
India. From her learned how true
were the statistics regarding rhe al
most universal ignorance OF the masses
and from her written and spoken words
I learned that woman is only regarded
with any respect or consideration in
India by the masses Wnen she be-
comes a mother
The single woman, after the age OF
16, is looked upon as debris cumbeF-
ing the earth. and the widow IS
being Of misfortune TO be despised
and stunned
These ideas are giving way in India
before the march Of progress. But
again I repeat it is not from these
countries best men and women that
the change has come They were not
moved from any power within them
selves to do away with such perverted
ideas The change had to come from
our own and from European influence
The same statement can be made
and proved of every other oriental
land today. Wherever WOman's posi-
ton entities her TO edcatiOn, to lib
erty Of thought and action and to re-
spectful cOmradeship with the men Of
her land, Il can always be traced to
the influence Of the European and
American invaders
Many evils can be traced ~ the
same source. Dut that has no bearing
on the subject under discussion And
the good results Tar Outnumber the
evil ones
The restlessness and the cratic con
duct Of thousands Of English and An
er1can women are used as arguments
by oriental men against the effC-ts OF
our lands 10 change the condition OF
the oriental woman. Before I visited
any OF those countries it seemed to me
an imperunenCe on our part TO inter
Iere with their methods and ideals If
Dull Apathy and Appalling Ignorance.
Since I have seen abian, Moorish,
Turkish, indian and Chinese women in
have changed 1T is FAR better for the
human race that these women be shak-
en- out Of their dull apathy. and that
their appalling ignorance be replaced
by education, even at the sacrifice OF
their dull content and their serVile
ideals Of slavish duty to selfish and
tyrannlcal men, 1T is better for these
men that their women demand more
OF them and give less
The work of the Great Creator can
never be accomplished by humanity IN
til each human being uses all his men
talitE and all his or her powers OF
thinking BY inactiOn. Better try and
make mistakes than never try at all.
Better seek and find the wrong door
and go back and seek again until the
right one is found than sit down and
die Of stupid staEnatiOn For, even
tuaLy (even though 1t take cons OF
tlme) the seeking and finding must be
done. That is why we are here
personally have no desire TO have
all the world converted TO one religion
j would have the Chinaman keep his
own faith, the hindu keep his, the
Arab keep his; but I would have him
educated and his mind brOadened, and
his common sense and altruism aWak-
eneds so he might see and understand
the Importance OF giving woman her
rightful place beside him I'm the home
and in the social world
And I would have cleanliness and
comfort and hygiene and liberty OF
thought and freedom Of conduct made
universal
And I would do away with an priests
who keep women in subsection. and
who fill their minds with superstttiOus
fear. for that is foe to all true
growth, to all true spirituality.
These things Miss Holmes did not
find in Jebrau.
These things she has been instru-
mental in helping TO introduce during
her 81 years of lonely exile from her
own land. For any further facts rela-
tive TO this matter, I suggest that my
correspondent address Miss Holmes
personally at Jebrail, Syria She wiz
be happy 20 give him fun deails Of
her work.