AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXX, Issue XVII, 25 April 1903, Page 1186

AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES.

Queer Marriage Customs. The Russian Government has undertaken the tremendous task of attempt-

ing to stop ehild marriages in Turkestan and the adjoining countries in Asia under the Russian dominion. It has been

customary for Mohammedan girls to marry between the ages of 10 anJ 12 years, but orders have been issued now that no Mohammedan shall marry under 14. This action of the Government has been brought about by the reports of the Russian officials in Turkestan, who say that 75 per cent, of the girls who marry under 12 die before they are 20. The Tartar and Mohammedan chiefs are much

incensed ever the new order ot tilings, as all of them seek to obtain brides as

v oung as possible. The custom of ehild marriage is rapidly passing away in all countries. Now that it will no longer be tolerated in Turkestan, the only other countries iu whieu this custom prevails are India, Persia, Siam, and among some ot the aboriginal tribes in Australia and South America. In Turkestan girls are considered marriageable between 10 and 15, although it is common for girls only nine years old to marry. The mother, or sister, or some female relative of the man who wants a wife, after having found what appears to be a suitable match, or, at all events, a girl who pleases the man himself, goes to the girl’s family and discusses the advantages of the marriage. The matchmaker is at once asked how much kalim will be given, and she, in her turn, is anxious to know the amount of the dowry, as it is desired that the kalim and dowry be nearly equal. It is commonly believed that the kalim, or money given by the husband, goes to the father of the wife, and that it is in the nature of purchase money, but this view is declared by many travellers to be incorrect. They say that the kalim is given to the wife herself, and it remains her property, so that, in case of divorce from her husband, she may have something to fall back upon. When the friend of the young man has carefully looked at the bride and found out all about her, she returns to the man and tells him about the appearance and manners of his future wife. The man is then allowed to look at her without her veil, but only on giving his solemn word that he looks at her with the intention of marrying her, and not out of idle curiosity.

By Musselman law every man is allowed to have four wives at or-* time, but

more than this he cannot legally possess without divorcing one he has already. The wife is obliged to obey her husband in all things, and to avoid evertyhing that is unpleasant to him, and cannot, without his consent, make any contracts. She has, however, a right to food, clothing, lodging and servants, and to money for those expenses which are usual among persons of her rank. She is obliged also to preserve her beauty as far as she can, and to try and please her husband; and for this purpose she is allowed by law to use various cosmetics. The wife may be divorced by her husband whenever he chooses, without his being required to give any reasons whatever.

In India, among many of the tribes, especially the Hindus, child marriage is an old-established custom. Marrying means simply the buying of a young girl. Her father names as high a price as he thinks he can in reason ask, and then he and the man who wishes to marry the girl haggle for days, until an agreement is reached. Of course, there is no courtship, and the bride-elect, being only a child, has no voice in the matter whatever. Her future husband and her father settle the thing to suit themselves. If, after the marriage, the bridegroom does not pay •he agreed upon price to his father-in-law, the wife must return to her father limit her husband has succeeded in raising the money. Omens play an important part in a Hindu wedding. If, when going over to see his father-in-law to be, the prospective bridegroom sees a eat, fox or serpent, he turns back, considering that it would be ill fortune to go fvther that day. The father-in-law comes out on his porch on the evening of the day on which he has been carrying on negotiations with his son-in-law- to be, and listens for the sound of the tree lizard. If he hears within a tew minutes the shrill tones of the lizard, he smiles happily at what he regards a lucky omen, and says: “Everything is well. The lizard has spoken.”

In Siam child marriage- are common enough. Sir P. J. Bowring speaks of having sat down to dinner in Siam with five generations.

In Persia the seclusion in which the women and young girls are kept renders love-making impossible. Matchmakers, who are old women, are invoked when a man wishes to take a wife, and they visit the parents of the girl for whom they wish to make a marriage, and arrange the details of the match.

In China, while parents often arrange for the marriage of their children when they are infants, or even before they are born, the marriage does not actually take place until the girl is at least fourteen years old and the men twenty. In the Soiomon and many others of the South Sea islands girls of nine years old are given in marriage. The poor little ehild brides must suffer a great deal of pain before the day set for the ceremony. Their beautiful white teeth must be filed down to one-half or one-f' ird their ordinary height, and stained with betel nut. The filing process takes two or three hours, and during the ceremony a native orchestra discourses wild music, which serves to diown the moans of the poor little sufferer.

In Afghanistan the women wear no veils, and a man picks out his bride to suit himself. The fond lover wastes no time in courtship, nor does he even take the trouble to get acquainted with th& lady of his heart. The lover waits for an opportune time, and then dashes out upon the object of his affections, and either cuts off’ a lock of her hair or else throws a sheet over her head, and by this act proclaims her as his bride. In some of the countries where child marriage prevails the custom is defended on the ground that the women in those climates fade so quickly that they are old and hideously ugly before they reach the age of 30. But this would seem to be because the wives have the eares of married life and motherhood thrust upon

them at such an extremely early age that they become old women when they should lx* just budding into womanhood.

As civilisation extends the ehild marriage is falling more and more into disrepute. While the English Government in India has not forbidden the custom, as the Russian Government has in Turkestan, it is doing all that it can to discourage the practice, and after a few years it may be that the little Hindu and Sikh girls will he permitted to play with their dolls and enjoy the precious years of childhood before they are compelled to become wives without even being able to realise what such a sacred role- ion means.