c Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/b20442567 WESTERN MEN WITH EASTERN MORALS BY THE SAME AUTHOR WHAT GERMANY WANTS Crotun Svo, cloth 2/- net. Standard— " It ought to be read and pondered by every British house- holder in the Empire." Midland Gazette— " A book distinguished by clarity of thought, a grim irony and a frank, sincere appeal for British supremacy." Court Journal—"The author is a confirmed Imperialist; he writes conscientiously and convincingly, and this book deserves to be carefully and widely read." THE WHITE SLAVES OF LONDON Crown Svo, i/- net. — The Bishop of London says : " This book will, I hope, shock London. It is time that men and women's eyes were opened to what is taking place in their midst. I hope the book will be widely read and do much to dispel the apathy and ignorance with regard to the fearful ravages of the traffic." THE WHITE SLAVE MARKET By Mrs. Archibald Mackirdy, and W. N. Willis. Crown Svo, cloth gilt, with pictorial wrapper, 5/- net ; also 1/- net. The Christian World—"The book has a fascination such as can hardly belong to a novel. It is written in narrative form, and consists of short stories which are drawn from actual life in the slums. It should make for social reform, for it will be read where books on economics never penetrate, and it has a quality that stimulates." Westminster Gazette—" A really human document." London: STANLEY PAUL & CO., 31 Essex Street, W.C. WESTERN MEN WITH EASTERN MORALS BY W. N. WILLIS AUTHOR OF "WHAT GERMANY WANTS," "THE WHITE SLAVES OF LONDON," ETC. WITH INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY R. A. BENNETT, EDITOR OF "TRUTH 11 LONDON STANLEY PAUL & GO 31 ESSEX STREET First published 1913 INTRODUCTORY NOTE MR. WILLIS has asked me to write a few words of introduction to this book because, to some extent, it covers ground which was the subject of articles and correspondence which appeared in Truth two years ago under the title " Western Men and Eastern Morals." The facts which were then brought to light created a consider- able stir. They were in no respect disputed, but they gave rise to very wide differences of opinion. In this country the general sentiments expressed were horror and indigna- tion. In the East, as was to be expected, the mode of life into which unmarried British residents very frequently drop found many strenuous apologists and defenders. In the following book Mr. Willis, approaching the sub- ject from a somewhat different standpoint, throws a new and lurid light upon it. The significance of his book lies in its revelation of the effect upon women of the moral standards which so many European men consider good enough for them when they settle in Asia. He shows us how the " go-as-you-please " method of regulating sex relations works out for native women and their Eurasian daughters. What should bring the matter more closely home to us, he links up the markets of the East with the " White Slave " traffic of the West, and points to horrors vi WESTERN MEN WITH EASTERN MORALS and abominations in connection with the traffic surpassing any of those which are at present exercising the public mind in England and forcing Parliament into drastic action. When the prevalence of undisguised concubinage among settlers in Burma and the Malay Peninsula was under dis- cussion in Truth, apologists for the system had much to say on the social and physiological reasons which tend to justify such arrangements. There were some weak points in the argument, and notably this —that nothing like the conditions for which Burma has become notorious have ever prevailed among our countrymen in India proper (Assam appears to be an exception), though the argument would apply with equal force to India if it were intrinsic- ally sound. But be that as it may, no argument based upon what is convenient, expedient, or even necessary for men can be accepted as conclusive of this question with- out equal regard to the interest of women in it. Those who read the following pages will find presented with ghastly fidelity the women's side of the question. I do not think that any one who peruses all the facts which Mr. Willis has here collected can come to the end without a feeling that such things must be stopped, however incon- venient the consequences may be to Western men tempo- rarily domiciled in the East. Personally, I do not agree with all the remedies that Mr. Willis advocates for the evils which he describes. But he has personal knowledge of the country and the local conditions, which I have not, and it is not necessary here to debate this side of the question. There is, how- INTRODUCTORY NOTE ever, one aspect of it on which I should like to say a word. This matter first came under my notice in 1910 in con- nexion with regulations laid down by certain firms, tending to discourage the marriage of their employees in Burma. In the course of the discussion which followed in Truth much was said of the inconvenience of having married men in such services and as to the unsuitability of up- country life for young English married ladies. Nothing that was said on either point, however, was calculated to convince anybody who was not predisposed to accept the argument. So far as business considerations are con- cerned, there are others, higher and more important to humanity generally, to which they must yield, and con- stantly have to yield. As to the suitability of up-country life to young English wives, that is a matter of which the ladies themselves are the best judges. Plenty of young Englishwomen rough it with their husbands or brothers on the outskirts of civilisation in Canada, South Africa, and elsewhere, and there is no reason why they should not do the same thing in the East if they are willing. Hundreds of young Englishmen have been going out every year of late to Burma and all the countries of the " Middle East." Most of them are too young to take wives, but what reason is there why their sisters should not go with them ? What, doubtless, is highly inconvenient to the British residents in " Darkest Asia " is the intrusion of English- women into communities where the majority of their countrymen are living in concubinage with native women. But if this is so, is not the inference that if Englishmen viii WESTERN MEN WITH EASTERN MORALS were encouraged to bring their female relatives into the country, and if married men were not given to understand that they are not wanted, the whole social conditions would be transformed at once ? We see the striking difference between India and Burma in this matter. Is it not explained in a great measure by the fact that the British community in India has, throughout its existence, been largely leavened by British women ? The lesson which seems to stand out most conspicuously in the follow- ing pages is this —that nothing but evil can follow from encouraging communities of men only to grow up in colonial dependencies, and that all who have the welfare of such dependencies at heart should make it their business to encourage the emigration of women side by side with that of men. Nor is this only desirable from the point of view of the dependencies. The practice of shipping abroad half your young men and leaving all the young women behind creates other difficulties and troubles at home. The balance of nature is upset. East and West each suffer the consequences in their several ways, and, as usually happens when social arrangements are dislocated, the suffering falls hardest on women. The Editor of " Truth." WESTEEN MEN WITH EASTEEN MOEALS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY /~\NE of the most difficult problems which await the ^ solution of the Empire-builder is that provided through the relationships that invariably spring up be- tween men and women—black and white, or brown, copper-colour, or yellow and white, as the case may be. Hitherto it has been the custom to slur over the question, and to burke any discussion of it. It is not a nice sub- ject. The good people at home have a dim sort of idea " that even if East of Suez, the best is like the worst," the average Englishman is no more prone to think that there " ain't no ten commandments," than if he were domiciled in Clapham or Newcastle. Those who know better do not imagine their duty is to undeceive the " others. Why," they argue, " should the Sunday after- noon slumber of the satisfied Christian citizen be dis- turbed by thoughts of the adoption by his white relatives overseas of Oriental manners and customs, or B — 2 WESTERN MEN WITH EASTERN MORALS Oriental ethics ? They do not know our needs. They are not aware of our temptations. They cannot realise the position of the white man in the distant outposts of civilisa- tion without any human companionship to relieve the tedium of existence. It is far better for them to cherish the bliss of ignorance, and allow us to square our conduct and conscience in our own way." Yet there are powerful reasons why that ignorance should be dissipated. Day by day there is a steady flow of adolescent white men Eastward. At least they and their parents should know exactly the conditions which im- mediately on their arrival they will be called upon to face. If for no other reason I should feel justified in publishing the information bearing on this subject which, in the course of some years' travel in the East, has come into my possession.