The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-21

siona.ries, both Protestant and Catholic. there is a considerable population of white traders and government officials
 THE STATUS OF WOMEN
 1nsour part of the country woman is considered much inferior to man. Sue is bought and sold as they buy and sell their dogs and goats. Women, dogs and goats were all in the same class before Christianity came and began to lift woman from her degraded place.
 Tn the heathen villages most of the men have a number of wives, sometimes as many as 40 and on up to 100. The more wives a man has, the wealthier he is, in the eyes of the heather. The older men collect as many handsome young women as they can for their ha- rems, and then sell them as they see q chance for making money. In our own field of Lotumbe a woman is usually considered worth about $15. The cur rency is brass anklets, bracelets and sometimes rods, each piece being valued at so many francs. Some of the more up-to-date men accept all of the pay ment in the local Belgian currency.
 BUY WIVES
 Among the heather, a couple, is con sidered married when the man has paid the price of the woman to her nearest male reiatIve. who usually has her for sale. Often the young. man family buys him wife while he is very young, ana when he is old enough, they give her to him. Many of our young men who are Christians have their wlves waiting pack in the heather village. So when they are ready for them, they are brought in and taught the gospel bap- tized and married. Christian young men taking heather wives before they are baptized have caused many tragedies in rhe.r homes.
 Among our Christians, the custom or buying wives is continued, because the government has recognized the heatnen custom. and has law to the effect that the state will consider no marriage legal until money has been paid for the woman. Also, there are always heather relatives who have claim on the woman and demand payment for her. Among the younger people. where tne parents are Christian, no money Is pash except as the state law requires. NEW LIFE
 "As Christianity is bringing new life and joy to many, the women are becom- ing more and more dissatisfied in the harems and are continually running away, seeking freedom. The state law permits th,s, providing the former hus- band receives money for the woman. When these women come to the mission they are taken care of. and taught. When they are ready they are bapti4e'l and received into the church. There are always young Christian men hunting wives, so usually these women are chosen and married soon after theT baptism. Then the old heather husband is satis- fled, for he has received the value of his wife. It is rare to find heather husband heartbroken over his wife de- serting him-his heart is troubled be- cause of the money she should bring to him.
 THE NATIVES
 "The natives resemble the American h. dians as they were when America was discovered, except-th they are lower Tn their stage of development, and are not war like as were the American Indians They have great fear of the government, and uprsings are seldom heard of. They no longer practice cannibalism, because they know the state forbids it. They are fairly law-abding and loyal to their government Every male pays a head tax of about g annually sometimes more Where man has a harem he has to pay tax on all his wives but one. The women, by the way, have to work ana make that money. A man who has as many as four children and only one wife is exempt from taxation.
 The women WOrk the BdruSiS sAii' keep house, while the men hunt. fish CT sit around But the men necessarily re- spect the women. for if woman gets angry with her husband. she refuses to cook him food and he is helpless. As they live to eat. they are careful usually not to offend their wives, at least the Christians are. Often the wife is so afraid of her husband that she dare. not disobey him.
 The forest and rivers furnish meat for the natives, but not enough to sat isfy them, for they are great meat-eat- ing people. Their gardens supply them with corn, peppers, greens, cassana' plantains and sugar cane. They find va rious wild fruits and berries in the forest The palm tree furnishes a large part ot their food. The nut being rich Tn oii' they use them in cooking and also make oil from them for special dishes and for oiling their bodies. It is. their cold !, cream and often they wear little else.
 "The native is certainly capable of de- velopment and we have great hopes for Africas future"