New-York tribune., 1912-01-21
An American Girl, Miss Ten
nant, Has Spent Three
Years Among Hindus
Fighting This Evil.

- 2 o better news has come from India
~ in many long day than the report
i that an organized movement in the
interests of marriage reform is now being
pushed forward there with every promise
of final success. BY final success is meant
the abolition of that horrible practice of
child marriages, which has brought about
the decadence of so many millions of
Hindus
About three years ago a California girl,
Miss Carrie A. Tenant, went to India with
the purpose of trying TO ameiorate the be-
nighted condition of her sex in the Far
East and of pointing the way to a more
sane and happy life for them She did not
have any very definite notions as to how
she could uplift the native women of India
but she wisely concluded that she must
first study the actual social conditions and
enlist men of light and leading in her cause
before organizing for a practical crusade.
Miss Tennant proceeded to Calcutta, there
10 take up her work. Quite hopeless seemed
her efforts in the earlier stages OF her So
journ TO gain hearing from the influential
men and women to whom she appealed for
support. The natives of India are suspi-
cious Of foreigners, and they were inclined
to look askance at pretty Miss Tennant
the native women free themselves from the
thraldom of their unholy traditions Mean
while she was busy with her eyes and
her camera, and some of the pict lrcs taken
by her are here reproduced.
Besides first-hand observations Miss Ten
nant added to her knowledge much ancient
lore of India. She learned that the canon-
cal law does not recognize that infant mar
riage comes within the purview of ortho-
doxy as more than permlssive. since 1t has
been clearly established, according to Hindu
textbooks that some of the most Cele-
bTated marriages We're contracted by per-
sons of comparatively mature age. For
example. those romantic couples OF Hindu
mythology, Rama and Sta, Krishna and
Rukmani, Arjuna and Draupathi, Nala and
Damayanti, were all united I'm orthodox
style. But the orthodoxy arising from eX-
cessive devotion 70 custom, and which re-
CARDS every usage as an embodiment OF
the wisdom OF the ages, is merely blind
faith. Only by refusing sanction to those
usages which are detrimental to the race
and opposed to the laws of nature can they
be removed
USED TO RESPECT WOMEN.
From transations of old Sanskrit litera-
ture our fair crusader learned that among
the ancient Hlndus early marriage was far
from being made compulsory. In that
golden age the views of women as we'll as
their rights were respected, and as COM
panions to their husbands they studied SCI
ence and literature, wrote books ana even
served as rulers in various parts OF the
land. To-day in India are to be found
few examples of this type OF noble woman
hood. and Miss Tenant dreamed Of many
more who might owe their restored socaI
status and culture. at least In part, TO her
sagacious endeavors in their behah. les
the battle was to regain for Indian women
their apparently ideal condition OF we olden
time.
From myths. legends and history she
turned TO statistics-to the last census OF
1901 Here is the table as to married glrIS'
I,sbv rirlg less than ore year old. d........ lO291
Girls less than four years old .....'.' S S .93
Girls from me 10 rine years old. e'oIs "a
Chls fIom ten to fourteen years oa'' 'o'oio''''
Next years dccennial report is not likely
TO show any Improvement over those
ghastly figures. The total number OF mar
rjed males below the age OF fourteen years
was 2,725l24 and of married females OF the
same age. G.s7l,939. OF early and infant
marriages solemnized among Hindus'
Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, SCOl boy
grooms and 223,jCO infant brides were all
below the age Of four.
The large proportion of widows in India
is astonishing. The census of 1901 est-
mates that there were nearly iorty-two
millions of all ages. About every fifth fe-
male.is a widow, while only one in twenty
Of the males IS a widower. Then as to
cniI Mid ~ al frCn he
India: