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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1912)
1. uinne t A I 1. ft! " '" "7 . -v -vw sr-r-i . BT COHDON- WESTLAKE. BOM BAT. April 4. (Special Corres pondence.) An American girl, young, attractive and of wealthy and prominent family, leading, quit unsupported and almost uncounten sneed hy any church or missionary so ciety, a sweeping reform movement among that most unprngressl ve of all the great sects of the Kast. the Hindus of India: That picture surely requires a stretch of the Imagination to conjure up In fancy. But .is ! actually happening, never theless. Tsis little story, despite its Oriental origin, is no Arabian Nights phantasy, but merely a plain, unvar nished account of the. manner in which a resolute younc -allfornlan girl with an abundant fund of good health, vitality and courage and a sublime measure of confidence in the reality of her call to take upon her own slender shoulders a labor that well intent have (riven pause to the treat Atlas himself, is leading and driving mostly the later at the present stage of the game a large number of bright but unpractical Hin dus In a movement that is destined to work untold benefit to a race of people more numerous than the combined pop ulations of America and Kngland. The evils, even the atrocities, of the degraded Hinduism of the present day are numerous, but the Indian Govern ment, in pursuance of Its politically wise, but often humanly neglectful pol icy of non-Interference with native cus toms, haa only taken measures to eradi cate the most flagrant of them. The Thugs, a caste devoted to the gentle pastime of strangling In pure wanton ness, in the satisfaction of the grew some dictates of their perverted form rf Hinduism, were stamped out by stern measures many years ago. and the prac tice of "suttee. or the burning of wid ows, once universal amongst Hindus, haa been almost -a completely brought to an end. The Berrlahs and other criminal tribes of robbers by caste, are kept under close surveillance and are even, thanks to a number of remark able Industrial colonies directed by the Salvation Army, in the way of appar ent social reform. An evil, however, worse In many ways than any of these, because affect ing an Infinitely larger number of peo ple, that of child marriage, has been practically left alone by the Indian (Government. It Is true that the age of consent has been raised to 11 years, with a heavy penalty for Infraction: but so averse are the Hindus to giving testlmonr against one another In mat ters of this kind, and so reluctant Is the Indian Government to allow its agenta to penetrate behind the closely drawn screen of the senana the gen eral term for the women'e quarters , BT STANLF.r JOHNSON. ;iU :j HANSCOMBE. win you 11 please look over these reporta? i h too husv today to do it: but I must know In a few words what Is In them to report to tha di rectors tomorrow. I shall, of course, lock them over myself, later." Miss Hanscombe came for them and. returning to her desk, was soon a ob livious of the rest of the world as If she were reading the most popular cur rent novel. Two hours later she placed on her err. plover' desk a neatly executed type written abstracter their contents. Cur ing her luncheon hour she reviewed the four years she had served as the private stenographer of Kennlston Bradley, the much overworked treasur er ef "the ITnited Metals i. Supply Com pany cf America."' She recalled the day she came, when Mr. Bradley had taken pains to tell her l.-.at she was an experiment. "Mr. Corcoran, my last stenographer, was perfect In his execution: but un fortunately he would go on sprees, and has several times left me In the lurch, when 1 needed him most. There had been several before him. alt excellent, but none absolutely reliable: that qual ity 1 must lave. Hence, aaalnst my t-et Judgment I've come t-v employ ou tr.t is. i mean, a woman. .". I did not mean Just that but. you know. In hustr.eas " Tl e sentence was never finished: Mr. Biadley seemed to feel that excuses were hopele. and wisely stopped "ort. Mls Hanscombe happily discov ered. In the apparently rude remark, a compliment to her sex. She smiled as she recalled the scene. S:ie traced t-.e change that had come over him from that day t this. How her CtUi of usefulness had widened In an almost Imperceptible manner. Just as M sreat river broadens towards Its mouth. It was a matter of conscious pride to her tet today she had given t a treasurer the very words that he would use at a meeting of the direc tors cf a great corporation. Tiien all these reflections ended In a sigh one of those unconscious sighs which others notice, but which we our i'vt hardly -realise. That evenlnr Miss Hanscombe read in t:ie public library, and beside her. looking over t.e various magazines In a detu.tory manner. wa the causa of the sigh Holton Dodge. TMs man embodied the Ideal of Miss Hanscombe a simple, painstaking life. :i the pictures of her imagination, ail ,the scenes of her day dreams, were o many portrait of him. And this be tas lonj before she fcU written the nm r that the law Is practically a dead letter. The cold, dispassionate pages of the last Government census) showed as tounding figures -egardlng child mar riages amongst the Hindus. There were 10.507 baby girls under 1 year of age. 251.70 girls umler 4. I.I01.404 girls from ( to . and .01.75 girls from 10 to 14 years of age married to men of all ages. By law none of these child wives may take up family relations until they have attained the age of IZ; In practice this law la disregarded at any time the husband and the parents of the child come to an agreement. Out- Me the unspeakable Inhumanity of this custom from a bodily standpoint, quite as great. If not a greater wrong Is wrought In the Infliction of the hideous state of Hindu widowhood unon children who may never have seen their husbands nor realized the meaning of their marriage ties. Here again are government census figures snowing the children who. through no act or volition of their own. re left In so pitiable a condition ot neglect and semi-slavery that the banned custom of attaining quick sur cease on a husband's funeral pyre confidential letters of the treasurer ot the United Metals and Supply Company of America. She read In silence for over an hour. Her evening- bill of fare had been an article on the Boers, a critic's analysis cf Dante's "Purgatorio." and for des sert a story by Henry James. Then she turned with a glance of contented happiness to her lover. They rose, and quietly left the reading-room. Mlns Hanscombe gave her mLnd a pasturage of an hour or more each day. -I can be with you. Holton. Just the same." she said, "and there is no rest more satisfactory than reading with yon near by." In Miss Hanscomhe'a eyes, her lover was an Ideal man. He also represented a very real fact a woman's love. She held radical ideas of her own on the subject. The world would have cer tainly considered the question a debata ble one: but with her it was an axiom. Miss Hanscombe was not indifferent ly pretty. Tet she was all that the world the often mistaken world sup poses the genus stenographer is not. Her hair curled easily about her neck and had an attractive way of atraylng down her forehead. She preserved an unvarying neatness about her person. Every point of her being spoke elo quently of health both of mind and body. Later Impressions of Miss Hanscombe would be that she was purposeful at least to the point of gaining from life the best that was In It. Her percep tion or the highest good was higher than the average. The mutual friends ot the lovers never ceased to wonder upon what common ground they stood. None approved of the marriage that was to take place some time In the re mote future. As the years flew by. and their devotion to each other grew stronger, the outside world feared for Miss Haneeomba'a happiness. She her self would have Insisted that they were entirely suited to each other. 0 She had been tested in many ways: yet in some matters ahe bad had no ex perience to guide her. But even in these ahe Jieid theories, and to them she had no doubt she would adhere, were she to face the real exigencies. In the business world she was Miss Hanscombe stenographer always, fhe never forgot the worus. which were her Introduction to her employer. During the first few months Mr. Bradley ad dressed her only concerning her duties. But in thla brief period he observed certain traits which differentiated Misa Hanscombe, the stenographer, from Mls Hanscombe. the woman. The fart that she surpassed any man who had held the same position, quite possibly did not Influence him to ac cept her as a tjpe of her sex. But ht or . Such is The Tark Thai: Brave American Girl Has Set Henrelf T0.1 Carrie A. Tennant Pushes Whirlwind Campaign That Is Shaking Even the Changeless East Con servative Hindus Are Stirred Frdm Apathy Ten Thousand Girls Married When One Year Old How Plucky American Conducts Her Work. i 1 - ' might be deemed merciful In compari son. There were In India when the census was taken 59 widows of 1 year of age. 1039 of 1 to 3. 1888 of 2 to 3. 37JS of to 4. 10 of 4 to 5. 78.407 of 6 to 10. and 227.37 from 10 to 15 years old. The foreign missionaries have made and are still making a brave (i?ht aealnat child marriage. but. being Christians, no way is open to them save through the conversion of the Hindus to their own faith, which means that deliverance, through them, must wait on the glacial advance of Chris tianity. I'nfortunately Christinnity so far may be said to have made prac tically no headway aave amongst the membera of the very lowest castes the sweepers, the water carriers and the scavengers Ignorant wretches for the most part and. of course. quite without influence on the Hindus of all the higher castea. A few of the latter. It Is true, have been converted to Christianity, but that action has au tomatically deprived them of their power and standing amongst their own people. With the Indian Government for po litical reasons Indifferent, and the soon became accustomed to her pres ence, and his self-imposed Invasion of his private office by a woman lost Its tearfulness. At the end of her first six months he realised the value of her services enough to tell her. In his direct, business-like manner, that she was entitled to a higher salary. "Yoii are worth as much as a man to me. Miss Hanscombe, hence I feel that you should be paid as much. In fact I'm bound to say that you surpass any man I ever had In the office." Miss Hanscomhe's "thank you" be trayed no surprise. More of the re sponsible duties ot the business rested upon her shoulders as time passed. Often, when the day's work slackened up. her employer talked with her on subjects he was wont to discuss with older men at his club books and pol itics, art and philosophy, and the plain er problems of life. He was somewhat surprised with himself kt first: he had a doubt of the propriety of a high-class tuslnres man discussing such matters with his stenographer. Then he real ized that hia atock of informa tion was Invariably enriched by it He talked au the same sub jects with more relish and under standing at his club, and they remarked that "Bradley was becoming a deuced clever conversationalist." Kennlston Bradley had never mar ried. The feminine world was a loser thereby, for ha had all the elements that go to the making of a good hus band. His business lite was so strenu v 1 N foreign missionaries for religious rea sons Impotent, It was plain that if anything like immediate reform was to be accomplished it must come through the Hindus themselves, and this fact many-of the more enlightened members of that sect have long been coming to realise. Child marriage, outside of its Tameless inhumanities. Is striking at the mental and physical vigor of the race In bringing Into the world a large number of offspring of Immature moth ers, feeble in mind and body. The force of this latter condition quickened action, and three years ago that dis tinguished scholar and philanthropist, the late Rai Bahadur Norendra Nath Sen, founded, in Calcutta, the Hindu Marriage Reform League, the five avowed objects .of which were as fol lows: To raise the marriageable age of boys and girls and to spread education among girls on a wider scale than at present. To educate public opinion on the question of marrlsge reform by means of lectures, books, pamphlets, tracts, leaflets and by such ntuer means as may be found expedient. To obtain a sufficient volume of Hln- ous that he wanted nothing outside of his office but rest and peace. The world knew him only as a thorough business man. "None better," they would say. Ha had. in fact, developed his corporation from a provincial Into cosmopolitan organization. He had been Inclined to congratulate himself upon his single state. The only feminine touches in his life. In fact, were furnished by Miss Hans combe and by no means of her seek ing. The transition Into conversational re lations was quite as imperceptible to Mls Hanscombe. She enjoyed sharpen ing the edges of her own ideas. Hol ton, although he la very dear to me, has no taste for- good conversation," she would think to herself. Superiority, fortunately, as far as hu man commodities go, has not yet been cornered by those who compose the ruling class. It is the word of all others which most fitly described Miss Hanscombe. And yet she would not have been able to understand why her simple attainments were not within the reach of all. , Nothing would have surprised or hor rified her more than the discovery that her employer's Interest In her should develop into something deeper. It would have been equally amazing to him. Yet his gentle feminine friends would have said that it was the Inevitable and log ical result of propinquity. Miss Hanscombe had never mentioned her lover within the four business walls of her daily routine. She had resolved that she and Holton Dodge were to marry, some day when he succeeded. But he had never yet succeeded. Much as his poor existence meant to Hiss Hanscombe. he was, unfortunately, of no consequence to anyone else. His life thus far waa a failure. There were many months when he had nothing to do, and had It not been for Miss Hans combe's savings, he would have been In want. Miss Hanscombe deemed it the fault cf an unappreclatl ve world and the world had other views. Kennlston Bradley was getting sev eral years away from 40. The fact oc curred to him more frequently as time went on. He pictured himself as an old man, retired from business, with plenty of money, but with no real horn or companionship. Then, in his own practical manner, he decided to win Miss Hanscombe as. his wife. He had not come to the conclusion without realizing that it would be a great shock to the little social group in which he moved. But that was mostly the club now women had given him up and c-eased to pester him. Miss Hanscombe fitted the picture of -what he desired as a home. It gave him visions of pleas ant evenings, reading and discussing matters of real importance. Compan xr k rr.r a nil is r ovz 3 I LUvJKArl4LK z- XL 6. W I J Jz.s CZfrVcz' Wyis. 22fee du public opinion to have the effect of modifying the system of early mar riage to an appreciable extent in the near future. To minimize marriage expenses and dowries). To take steps generally for the ex tension and promotion of the above mentioned objects. Branch organizations were founded at a number of other points in India, each unde r distinguished patronage and each numoering among its members all of the enlightened Hindus of Its im mediate' section. There was a round of speechmaklng. a rush of pamphlets and well, that was about the sum to tal of results. The Bengali and Ma drassi. quick and clever to conceive and organize, as the Indian government has good cause to know In the case of the former, are slow to take the Ini tiative and prone to falter in action. High and clear minded as many of them are, they are woefully lacking in energy, resource and determination, those three prime necessities of the true reformer. The movement faltered and bade fair to fail. About this time a young Californl- glrl. then engaged in social reform work In the poorer quarters of Los An geles and vicinity, heard of the hor rors incident to Hindu child marriage, interpreted the absorbing interest which the story aroused in her as a call of duty, and not heeding the re monstrances of friends and co-work ionship has a big role to play in the drama of love when a man is over 40. Business customs had become so much a habit with him that he was ab surdly deficient, when he approached a campaign of courtship. It was a part of his commercial code to find how the other man stood before he committed himself. It would be better, he decided, to know Miss Hanscombe's mind be fore he revealed his own. He had talked with her on almost every topic except love: her views In tills he did not know. He found it an extremely difficult subject to approach, with her. One day Miss Hanscombe came in I with a copy of a leading review, which she had been reading during the noon hour. He picked it up. and noted that the leaves were cut where there was an article on divorce by a leading re former. "Ah, Miss Hanscombe!" he exclaimed. "Have you any Interest in this topic?" And he placed his finger on the title of the article. "Yes, indeed. Mr. Bradle-," she re plied. "So few people realize the fear ful recklessness, the outrageous thoughtlessness and Ignorance with which marriage is treated in these days." "lou amaze me. Miss Hanscombe!" In the vernacular of the telephone, Mr. Bradley was connected and was listen ing. "It Is a dreadful stain upon our civ ilization." Miss Hanscombe continued. "We need a National divorce law, Mr. Bradley, more than a aeed a Army e-p- ft V , zc- s3 41 r :3 ers in California who deemed her pre cipitancy little short of madness, she packed up forthwith and started for India. The rest of the btory is writ ten in the reports of the Hindu Mar riage Reform League and the pages of the vernacular press; the movement has had scant attention from Euro peans In India, and I cannot give a better .idea of the prominence Miss TenriXnt has 'attained in less than two years than by quoting an extract from a recent editorial in a local paper on the subject. "The Importance of the work which Miss Carrie A. Tennant, the gifted American lady who Is honorary rep resentative of the Hindu Marriage. Re form League, has been doing for the past three years for the good of the Indian people can hardly be exagger ated. Her mission, as our readers know, is to make us realize the full significance of the marriage rite and to put off tho marriage of our girls and boy3 to a more reasonable age . . . . Miss Tennant comes to us with a message of humanity which we must listen to betimes if we would ar- rest the deterioration of our race, go- ing back to the saner custom of ancient India. Indeed. Miss Tennanfs is not a revolutionary propaganda, but a timely call to us to halt In qur race to ruin, and it Is not surprising that she has succeeded in enlisting the sympathies of the best men amongst us on behalf of her cause. The names of Sir Ashu- or a Navy. Our present laws allow a most atrocious state of affairs. The way marriages are contracted and abandoned is, to my mind, 'a greater stain on our, country than the mas sacres in Turkey, or even the affair at Klshineff." "I am very much surprised." Mr. Bradley interjected, using the bellows to fan the flames. "Just think, .Miss Hanscombe, of being lashed like sail ors to the mast, to some useless, ship wrecked creature " "A very excellent simile, Mr. Bradley. It expresses just what I mean. The frightfulness of it all lies in this, that we and our courts regard so lightly the most solemn and most sacred of all human contracts. You, yourself, make contracts in business which, if you broke them, would make you feel that your business reputation had been shat tered. When people marry the world Is called in to witness, and it is advertised widely that a life contract has been en tered into, by a man and a woman. But our courts permit such contracts to be broken on the most trivial grounds. In my opinion, there should be no di vorce." . "Well, I must say. Miss Hanscombe, you - astonish me. In fact, I've never really given the matter much serious attention, as I see you have. But It has seemed to me that there are many oc casions, when it was csrtainiy a bless ing to " "Mr. Bradley," Miss Hanscombe inter rupted, "when I marry a man it will be because I love him. It will make no difference to me, as far as my devo tion is concerned, if he turns out to be a drunkard, a ne'er do well, or even a criminal. I shall never forget that I am his wife, and that, because he is what he is, he needs me. He may be cruel, may cause me infinite suffering. He may be despised by everyone else. Is that the time for me to tear myself away from him? To Join the rest of the world and cast him away? Then, if love and marriage mean anything, is the time for me to prove my fidelity to the solemn contract I made with him. To help him and be true to him, to raise him and give him courage for better things!" There were tears on" Miss Hanscombe's face when she had finished. Her employer looked thoughtful. "Miss Hanscombe." he faltered, "you have the best Ideals in life that I have ever heard expressed. To win you, I should regard as the greatest hanor a man could wish. To be worthy of your love " "You do not understand me." she in terrupted. "To be unworthy would be my test of a man. , I trust I could endure it." He seized the moment. "Miss Han acomba. I've long realized that you f VS. - &y-i&S7r tosh Mukerjee and Sir P. N. Krishna murthi are guarantee that her mission has the best Indian opinion on its side . . . . We have no doubt that be fore many months have gone by, every important center will have a branch of the Marriage Reform League, and it remains for the Indians themselves to seo that the noble work Miss Tennant Is engaged In bears early and ample fruit." Miss Tennant Is drawing no remu neration of any sort from the Reform League, her living and traveling ex penses being paid by herself from funds of her own and from the con tributions of several American friends she has interested in her work. It Is as clear a case of a "labor of love" as I have ever encountered, and the ab solute disinterestedness of her efforts has doubtless been a strong factor in winning her way to the confidence of the ultra-conservative Hindus. Realizing at the outset with a Judg ment as rare as surt that, however laud able the effort might be, the effecting of marriage reform must wait for gen erations if It relied on the conversion of the Hindus to Christianity, Miss Tennant set about reconciling that re form with the ancient and purer re ligion of that race, and it Is to her constant hammering along this wisely chosen line of least resistance, that may be credited the biggest share of her success. She has been an earnest stu dent of Hinduism and has a large fund of quotations from its early literature to show conclusively that child mar riage In earlier times, though permis sible, was not obligatory to true Hin dus. " "Our religion Is in danger, has been your repeated cry wher.ever you have been urged to give up this pernicious custom." she perorated In a recent lec ture to Calcutta University students: "but now that I have shown you that it is in absolue conformity with the ment as rare as sure that, however laud to take unto yourselves wives of ma ture years, wives your equal in both physical and mental development. I hope I have heard the last of that foolish protest." And there is no de nying the fact that the protests are waxing feebler before the whirlwind force of Miss Tennant's campaigns and that the erstwhile stagnant reform has been galvanized into very lively life. m The force of Miss Tennanfs personal ity, her energy, her resourcefulness are carrying the day for the reformers. She has the courage to ask anybody be he coolie or Maharajah. She is never squelched, never beaten, never discour aged, and to see her chivvy about a stage full of her bemedaled and be titled sponsors at one of her lectures is a show in itself. "I don't know why it is," said the (Concluded on Paira .) that I well, really, it's hard to express it." he said smiling, "but for a long time, to tell you directly, I've wanted to win you as my wife! Will you marry me?" "No, Mr. Bradley," she replied. VI was engaged before I ever knew you. I have chosen the man I shall marry. I love him, I am sure shall love him al ways as the service says, 'for better or for worse." " t ' Kennlston Bradley showed his aston ishment in a way that was not pleas ant to see. Then he turned suddenly, and with more emotion that he had ex hibited in years, extended his hand. "Miss Hanscombe, I want to thank you for what you have been to me for so many years. I've shown you some appreciation. I hope. Now let things go on as before. I've no more profound respect for any one than for you and for your lover, whoever the fortunate man may be. my sincere congratula tions." t When Holton Dodge was out of work. Miss . Hanscombe generally helped to find "a place. A few weeks after these events, an important vacancy took place in the United Metals & Supply Com pany. She told him to apply for It, and he sent in his references. "This Is the place that will end all our waiting, dearest," she said. "You'll have to travel for them for a while; but later there will be a place in the firm for a faithful fellow like you." A few days later, Mr. Bradley handed a letter to Miss Hanscombe. "You just answer that for me," he said "You know what to say. Just thank him for saving- us." As he went out. Miss Hanscombe picked up the letter, and went to her desk. It read as follows: My Iear Bradley: Answering your Inquiry, I could not sd vlae you to engage Holton Dodge. He wn with us for about a year, when we discov ered there waa something wrong with his money returns to the cashier. - ",-e confronted him with the facts, and he broke down and confessed. In some way he secured enough money to make the firm whole. I believe by lorae story he told to his sweetheart. Bhe, I understand. Is a sav ing little woman, and worships him. She knows nothing about the fellow, and wilt have to marry him to find out, I suppose. We pitied him enough to give him a letter that we had employed him. Since then he has been in half a dozen different places. I have too high a regard for you and our business relations not to give you the facts of course In the strictest confidence. Very truly yours. C. L. CLEMENT. Mgr. Federal Lead Co. Miss Hanscombe swayed for a second In her chair and sobbed. But in a mo ment she struck the keys In her usual gentle, sure manner. She placed the letters on her employer's desk. Her day's work was ended; she put on her jacket and walked out, (Copyright by Shortstory Pub. Co.)
