Marriages.

European - Polynesian

“W.G.B.” is outspoken on a delicate subject: The opinions, expressed, by “Sul phonal” in “The Pacific Islands Monthly” for July in an article en titled, “How the White Man Goes Native,” are unadulterated rubbish, and are insulting to many highly-respected residents of the Pacific.

There is something to be said against casual unions between European men and native women, on account of the often unhappy fate of any children that may result. But, so far as the asso ciation itself is concerned, I have never seen much actual harm done, and I have travelled and resided in most parts of the Pacific. White men who habitually associate with native women in an irregular manner are usually of a poor type, however, and are held in little regard by both Europeans and natives.

But what of white men who have married Polynesian women —particu larly high-caste women of the Samoan,

Tahitian or Tongan race? Would “Sul phonal” say that they are “fish-eye,”

with “occipital protuberances,” and

“distinctly oxycephalic head,” and gen erally degraded? If he does, I will say that he is not only the ass that his language suggests, but also a blither ing idiot, without any real knowledge of the Pacific.

Some of the most highly-respected men in the Pacific are happily married to Polynesian wives.

EDITORIAL NOTE. —We are glad to endorse the views of “W. G. B.” We think that “Sul phonal” was writing only about irregular unions between white men and the lower types of Melanesian women; but his remarks might have been applied to regular marriages between European men and Polynesian women, and to that extent they were untrue and deplorable.

Very many white men in the Pacific are married to Polynesians, and we could cite scores of such marriages which have been quite happy and successful. The writer has frequently met the Samoan wives of white traders and planters, and can testify to their intelligence and charm and to their ability as housekeepers.

The children of such marriages—and there are thousands of them in the Pacific —have the same status as full-blooded Europeans, and, so far as personality, ability and the qualities of good citizenship are concerned, are fully entitled to that status.