[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—Not one letter that
I have, so far, read on this subject has mentioned what seems to me to lie at the root of the trouble ; viz., objection to the inter-marriages which would probably result from free mixing of white and coloured.
I have no prejudice against colour, but I strongly object to the treatment of my sex by the majority of coloured people. When I see a veiled woman it is as if she shouted at me, " My menfolk are barbarians." To my mind the veil is a badge of shame which dishonours not the wearer, but her fellow-countrymen.
I consider that the status of a country depends largely upon that of its women, and only when polygamy is a thing of the past and Indian women are treated by their men as equals will India be able to achieve and profit by " political and economic independence." The same, of course, applies to other nationalities. So long as polygamy persists I can only regard the races who practise it as younger brothers; centuries behind the white races in civilization.
I would add that I realize such a change can only come gradually, and that enormous strides have been made in the past few decades ; also that the efforts of the more enlightened men of the Orient are to some extent hampered by the women themselves, who cling to old customs and resist all change.
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