stationary life and practice agriculture. Indeed, the general theory that women are more oppressed in proportion as they are less useful is open to doubt. Commonly they are said to be oppressed by their savage husbands just by being compelled to work too hard; and that work does not necessarily give authority is obvious from the institution of slavery. But, at the same time, the notion, prevalent in early civilization, that the one sex must not in any way interfere with the pursuits of the other sex, may certainly, especially when applied to an occupation of such importance as agriculture, increase the influence of those who are engaged in it. Considering, further, that the cultivated soil is not infrequently regarded as the property of the women who till it, it is probable that, in certain cases at least, the agricultural habits of a people have had a favorable effect upon the general condition of the female sex.

It is often said that a people's civilization may be measured by the position held by its women. But at least so far as the earlier stages of culture are concerned, this opinion is not supported by facts. Among several of the lower races, including peoples like the Veddahs of Ceylon, the Andaman Islanders, and others of a very backward type, the females are treated with far greater consideration than among many of the higher savages or barbarians. Travelers have often noticed that of two neighboring tribes the less cultured one sets an example in this respect to the other. Among the Bushmans," says Dr. Fritsch, "the women are lifecompanions; among the Kaffirs they are beasts of burden." Lewis and Clark even affirm that the status of women in a savage tribe has no necessary relation to its moral qualities in general: The Indians whose treatment of the females is mildest, and who pay most deference to their opinions, are by no means the most distinguished for their virtues. On the other hand, the tribes among whom the women are very much debased, possess the loftiest sense of honor, the greatest liberality, and all the good qualities of which their situation demands the exercise. That the condition of women, or their relative independence, is no safe gauge of the general culture of a nation also appears from a comparison between many of the lower races and peoples of a higher civilization, like the Chinese, Hindus, Hebrews, and civi

....

lized Mohammedan nations. Among these peoples the married women are, or have been, much more subjected to their husbands than they are among many, if not most, of the uncivilized races. The great religions of the world have had a tendency to treat women as inferior beings. They attach much importance to ceremonial cleanliness; nothing unclean must approach the deity. And women are regarded as unclean.

It is pleasant to note that, even where the position of the female sex from a legal, religious, and social point is disgracefully low, the women, in spite of their physical weakness, are not quite unable to influence the men, and even to make their husbands tremble. They have in their hands a weapon, which is invisible to the superficial observer, but which is powerful enough to give them a secret authority which may be very considerable. They have their curses, and they have their profound knowledge of magic. Being commonly invested with a certain mystery, they are supposed to have the command of mysterious, magic powers. It is said in the Laws of Manu, the mythical legislator of the Hindus, that a man ought to be kind to the women of his house, because otherwise they may burn the whole house with their fury, that is, with their curses. And during my stay among the country people of Morocco, Arabs and Berbers alike, I was often struck by the fear which the women inspired in the men. A woman is looked upon by them as quite a dangerous being. may be sure that, if he maltreats his wife, she will port of the other women of the village, whereas he himself will not be equally supported by the other men. But the chief danger is of a supernatural kind. For instance, the wife only needs to cut a little piece of donkey's ear and put in into the husband's food. What happens? By eating the little piece the husband will, in his relations to his wife, become just like a donkey; he will always listen to what she says, and the wife will become the ruler of the house. It is better, therefore, to treat her with kindness than to provoke her anger. In Mohammedan countries married women also derive much influence from the children's affection for their mother. We must not look upon the oriental woman only as a wife; we must also take into account her posi

First, a man have the sup

tion as a mother. The Berbers of the Atlas have a saying. attributed to their great sage, Sidi Hammu-which indicates the feelings of the men both toward women in general and toward their mothers. Sidi Hammu said: "Oh you women, you seed of the oleander tree, I should like to burn all of you, if my mother were not one of you."

As I said in the beginning of my paper, I could offer only a fragment. I have emphasized a few points which, I think, have often been more or less overlooked. But I have also been anxious to point out how little we know at present about the real causes on which the position of women in the various human societies depends. I dare say that some twenty years hence we shall know much more. Those who are interested in sociology should well understand that sociology is still in the making. But if kindly taken care of, it will no doubt grow rapidly. Hence all sociologists must hail with extreme gratification the foundation of the society which is now having its first meeting. As a foreigner, I think I may be allowed on this occasion to pay to its founders the tribute of continental esteem, and express the conviction, widely shared, that the new tree could not possibly have been planted in better soil.

HELSINGFORS.

EDWARD WESTERMARCK.

NOTES AND ABSTRACTS.

The Development of a People.-There still lingers a sort of fatalism about the views of many people in matters of economic and spiritual development. Things are judged to be as they are because, in the absence of intelligent study of the problem, it is thought that they cannot be otherwise. Nowhere is there more need of real facts and clear thinking than in answering the many questions that concern the American negro. All will agree that every negro should, in the interests of every American, make the best of himself; but this is only the statement of a very complex problem. What are our standards? What is a satisfactory rate of development for an enfranchised people? Should they be expected to learn to read and write in a generation or a century? How quickly may we expect them to acquire habits of thrift and saving?

Peoples in their development pass through four stages; not in succession, for the stages are more or less simultaneous, with shiftings of emphasis as time passes. These periods are: a struggle for physical existence, the accumulation of wealth, the education of the young, and the wider culture-contact of spiritual intercourse with the world. One phase of activity may not be suspended while another continues, but all in some degree and in some fashion must go on together. Guidance may be given by parents, by leaders, by the prevailing ideas of the society, by tradition. Let us notice these great means of growth among the American negroes. The pitiful degradation of many of the blacks in the cotton kingdom is not to be explained by the forces that today are keeping them down, nor by inherent inability to rise, but rather by the nearly four centuries of slavery which elapsed between the importation of the first slaves into Portugal and the checking of the slave trade in the early years of the last century. During these centuries the great and good of the earth seemed to unite in the effort to make prosperous the traffic in human beings. Pope Alexander VI., the thrifty Dutch, Oliver Cromwell, James I.- all lent it their support.

American slavery was not simply forced labor, nor toil without pay; it was the destruction of the African family and of all just ideals of family life. The effect of which this was the cause is seen in the family life among the colored population today. But many have risen above this degradation, although few have escaped the lack of foresight which the life of slavery taught them. And then, too, the complete break with past centuries of tradition and tribal experience which enslavement meant has produced a peculiar lack, which the economic revolution of emancipation accentuated, which can only be filled by the growth of a cultured class among them, who shall interpret the significance of the twentieth. century to a people without a past upon which to build. Recurring for a moment to the means for a people's guidance, mentioned above, we find here a group of people in which every one of these great sources of inspiration is partially crippled : the family group is struggling to recover from the debauchery of slavery; the number of enlightened leaders is small; the surrounding and more civilized white majority is cut off from its natural influence by the color line; and the traditions of the past are either lost, or are largely traditions of evil and wrong. Under such conditions is the progress which has been made not surprising?

In order to secure negro advancement, help of several sorts is necessary. Trained guidance in matters of civilization and ideals of living must be furnished them. Their family life must be elevated by bringing home to them the morals of sane and sanitary living. Such help can come only from trained leaders of their own race, who shall be to them priests and interpreters of civilization. Furthermore, the mass of negro children must be given the means of a good elementary education. A decent public-school system in the South, aided by the national

government, must come in the near future, if the race problem is to be settled. And, lastly, the negro youth must have the opportunity to learn the technical skill of modern industry.-W. E. BURGHARDT Du Bois, in International Journal of Ethics, April, 1904. E. B. W.

Commercial Leadership and Trade Morality.-Americans in their gratification at the commercial prosperity of the nation, should not relinquish a careful scrutiny of the great field of international enterprise. For never yet in the world's history has industrial supremacy taken up a very permanent abode even with the most prosperous of nations. Nineveh, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, the Arabs, all in turn dominated commerce. The Crusades, looked at from one point of view, were struggles for markets and trading-routes. The cities of Italy early achieved distinction, but gradually the Portuguese wrested their commercial pre-eminence from them, and enjoyed for a time a leadership which the enervating effects of their own success compelled them to pass on to the Spaniards and the Dutch. With the rise of Holland manufactures and commerce entered upon closer relations. Mere trading gave way to vigorous industrial, agricultural, and financial enterprises. But Holland could not maintain her place against such formidable rivals as England and France. The former, favored by political and social conditions, as well as by situation, forged ahead, and, thwarting the designs of Napoleon, achieved under a consistent free-trade policy a most remarkable supremacy. Today her mercantile marine is nearly equal to that of the whole of the rest of the world. The rise of the United States and of Germany has been due to their own vigor rather than to the weakness of England. The commercial strength of America is commonly stated to lie in its coal and mineral deposits, and the organization of its industry. But a changing environment, the novelty of a new continent, has doubtless afforded the secret of much of our progress. Will zeal and interest in an unending series of such material conquests continue ever fresh and strong, or will the day come when we shall be glad to turn over to China the work of brute production? An industrial China means an unlimited market for American wheat, and the thorough cultivation of our arid West. The question of the " open door in China is only a phase of the broader question of government control of commerce. As long ago as the Napoleonic wars it was decided that trade was not to be acquired by conquest of neighboring nations equal in civilization to the conqueror, and it is hard to believe that, in the event of the partition of China, the mediæval policy of exclusive colonial trading privileges would be re-enacted. The increase of our trade with Great Britain in spite of the American Revolution goes to show that trade follows the flag so long as it is compelled to, but that political relations are not at all essential to commercial relations.

It is plain from this sketch of the world's commerce that in modern times it is becoming more and more difficult for trade to be forced into certain channels by trade regulation. The medieval colonial empires were practically founded in order to rob weak peoples under the guise of trade. Modern colonies cannot be controlled on this basis. The complexity of modern commerce will enforce a new morality, and if this new morality prohibits the policy of the closed door, and if mere aimless display of empire is not a sufficient ground for conquest, why, then the only rational excuse for the maintenance of colonies will be in order to moralize and police them, and thus to gain trade advantages which will benefit the power in control, while they will not be denied to other countries.-W. G. LANGWORTHY TAYLOR, in Journal of Political Economy, March 1904. E. B. W.

Hugo de Vries's Theory of Mutations.-It has often seemed as if the immense mass of facts which Darwin collected and arranged with so much care and skill was provisionally looked upon as sufficient. The voluminous literature of biological science shows that the number of biologists who have preferred patient experimentation to theoretical speculation is very limited. Yet for those who came after Darwin the task should have been to test, by new experiments, the two great groups of facts on which descent and selection are founded, viz., the phe