CHAPTER XI: PATERNAL REGULATION.
§ 774. Though the above title covers nearly all the subject matter of this chapter, yet it is not entirely comprehensive. There are a few facts to be here noted which do not come under it. Though otherwise unfit, the title “Domestic Regulation” would, in respect of these facts, be the best.
For the control of the household group does not without exception centre in the husband and father. Historians and the earlier ethnologists, studying exclusively the records of Semitic and Aryan races, have regarded paternal rule and domestic rule as equivalent expressions. But qualification of their views has been necessitated by facts which study of the human races at large has disclosed. The truth which a generation ago was scarcely suspected, but which is now familiar, that commonly among uncivilized peoples kinship is reckoned through females and not through males, and that very generally descent of property and rank follows the female line, has necessitated remodelling the theories of Sir Henry Maine and others, respecting the primitive family-group. This change of view has been made greater by recognition of the fact that even among peoples who in past times reached high degrees of civilization, as the Egyptians and the Peruvians, this system of relationship obtained—modified, however, in the case of the Inca race by establishment of the rule that the king or noble should marry his Edition: current; Page: [423] sister or nearest female relative: so ensuring descent in the male line as well as in the female line.
Mitigation of that harsh treatment to which, in early stages of human progress, women have been subject, has resulted in some cases; and occasionally they have acquired both social and domestic power. This was conspicuously the case in Egypt, where autocratic queens were not unknown; and among a few uncivilized tribes it happens that chieftainship descends to women. Improvement in their domestic position caused by this system of kinship was shown in Tahiti, where a wife could divorce herself as well as a husband. Among the Tongans, too, the status of wives was good. Still better evidence is yielded by the Malagasy: the balance of power inclines in women’s favour. But in the majority of cases descent in the female line seems to have had little or no effect in qualifying the absolute subjection and domestic slavery of wives. In illustration may be named the Australians, Tasmanians, Snakes, Chippewayans, Dakotas, Creeks, Guiana tribes, Arawaks, Caribs, and many others. The power of the husband and father is exercised without limit, notwithstanding the fact that in all tribal relations the children are not reckoned as his but as their mother’s.
Africa furnishes mixed evidence which must be noticed. There is descent in the female line among the Western Bantus, and along with it there go both inferiorities and superiorities of domestic position. One inferiority is seen in the fact that wives are “usually inherited, together with other property”; and yet the wife owns her own hut, field, and poultry. But a special influence qualifies the domestic relation. A wife’s death is apt to bring on the husband a charge of guilt and a fine payable to her relatives, and fear of this leads to lax control of the wife and subjection to her family. Here it would seem then that descent in the female line qualifies male authority: one further indication of this being that the power of the father is unlimited over Edition: current; Page: [424] those of his children who have slave-mothers though not over the others.
But apart from qualifications of the marital relation and of domestic rule hence arising, we meet here and there with examples of dominant female influence, and even supremacy, having its effects upon industrial activities. Instances have already been given (§§ 326, 730) showing that in various places trade is in the hands of women, and that in some cases men yield to their authoritative dictation. Here is a more specific instance from New Britain.
The women of Hayter Island sat “calmly in the canoes, giving orders to the sterner sex what to sell and what to take in exchange. All barter goods that the men exchanged were handed to the women, who examined them very carefully, and placed them under where they were sitting.”
Something like domestic equality accompanying industrial equality occurs in Borneo. According to St. John, “marriage among the Dyaks is a business of partnership.” Boyle says of Dyak wives that their share of work is not unreasonable, and their influence in the family is considerable. And while St. John tells us that among some Sea-Dyak tribes, the husband follows the wife and lives with, and works for, her parents, we are told by Brooke that in Mukah and other places in the vicinity, inhabited by Malanaus, the wives close their doors, and will not receive their husbands, unless they procure fish. Here, then, the regulation of industry under its domestic form is in the hands of women rather than of men. In the Indian hills there are people—the Kocch—among whom, along with descent in the female line, there goes complete inversion of the ordinary marital relations.
“When a man marries he lives with his wife’s mother, obeying her and his wife. Marriages are usually arranged by mothers in nonage, but [only after] consulting the destined bride. Grown up women may select a husband for themselves, and another, if the first die.”
Thus, whether or not a sequence of descent in the female line, the authority of women is in some cases greater than Edition: current; Page: [425] that of men in relation to industrial government, notwithstanding men’s greater strength.
§ 775. These exceptional instances serve but to remind us that almost universally men, having, by gifts of nature, the mastery, use that mastery in every way—dictating to all members of the family-group in respect of their occupations as in other respects. For we may safely assume that where the subordination of women is unlimited, the subordination of children is also unlimited; and that along with the father’s despotic regulation of them in all else, there goes despotic regulation of their labours. Indeed, we see here in its simplest form the general truth that political rule, ecclesiastical rule, and industrial rule, are at the outset one; since the male head of the family enacts general laws of conduct for its members, exercises that authority which belongs to him as representative and priest of the deceased ancestor or household deity, and is the irresponsible director of daily work.
Naturally, where little or no political organization has arisen, there exists nothing to put a check on the father’s power—nothing save the ability of his children to resist or to escape. This check seems operative in families of Bedouins, among whom the sentiment of filial subordination is small, and among whom a son can easily set up a tent for himself. Hence, says Burckhardt, “the daily quarrels between parents and children in the desert constitute the worst feature of the Bedouin character.” But recognizing such exceptional cases, where, as also among some North American tribes, a wild predatory life conflicts with the maintenance of domestic government, we may say that generally among early pastoral and agricultural peoples, detached family-groups are subject to unlimited paternal rule. By his intended sacrifice, Abraham implied the possession of the life-and-death power; and by Jephtha that power was exercised. A régime of this kind, established during the ages of nomadic life and of scattered agricultural clusters, survives when social Edition: current; Page: [426] aggregates are formed for purposes of defence or aggression. And since the men who in their families severally exercise absolute power, even to the killing of wives and children at will, are also the men who rule the aggregate and make the laws; there is nothing tending to change this domestic régime, and it continues through the early stages of civilization. Of leading illustrations I may name first that furnished by China. Remarking that “in their most ancient books the family is declared to be the foundation of society,” Douglas writes—
“In private life, as long as his parents live, he [a son] holds himself at their disposal, and is guided by them in the choice of his occupation and in every concern of life.” . . . “Over the property of sons the father’s authority is as complete as over their liberty” . . . “Full-grown men submit meekly to be flogged without raising their hands.”
And here may be added a passage from the same writer showing that, as above said, the absolute power of the father long survives, because the heads of families themselves constitute the public authority.
“The affairs of each Ching [village community] were in the old days presided over by the heads of the eight families, and in the larger communities an extended assembly of elders adjudicated on all matters relating to the administration of their neighbourhoods. To a great extent this system exists at the present day. Now, as in the days of yore, the head of each household holds autocratic sway over all the members of his family. The very lives of his sons and daughters are in his hands, and if his conduct, however cruel toward his wife, concubines, and dependants, is not of a kind to outrage the feelings of his brother elders—and as a rule it takes a great deal to do this—it is allowed to pass without attracting the attention of any public judicial authority.”
And this absolute subjection is supported by law to the extent that disobedient sons are imprisoned by their fathers. So, too, unlimited paternal power is insisted upon by the sacred books of the Hindus. In the Code of Manu it is written:—
“Three persons—a wife, a son, and a slave—are declared by law to have in general no wealth exclusively their own; the wealth which Edition: current; Page: [427] they may earn is regularly acquired for the man to whom they belong.”
And according to Nelson’s View of the Hindu law, this relationship still continues.
“It is the undoubted fact that among the so-called Hindus of the Madras province the Father is looked upon by all at the present day as the Rajah or absolute sovereign of the family . . . He is entitled to reverence during life, as he is to worship after his death. His word is law, to be obeyed without question or demur.”
Alleging a parallelism between this state of things among the Hindus and that among the primitive Teutons, Sir Henry Maine writes:—
“The precinct of the family dwelling-house could be entered by nobody but himself [the father] and those under his patria potestas, not even by officers of the law, for he himself made law within and enforced law made without.”
Elsewhere quoting the Slavonian maxim that “A father is like an earthly god to his son,” Sir Henry Maine gives a kindred account of the patria potestas of the early Romans; but this may be most conveniently summarized in the words of Duruy.
“The father of the family! It is always he who is mentioned, for there is no one else in the house, wife, children, clients, slaves, all are only chattels, instruments of labour, persons without will and without name, subjected to the omnipotence of the father. At once priest and judge, his authority is absolute; he alone is in communication with the gods, for he alone performs the sacra privata, and, as master, he disposes of the powers and life of his slaves. As husband he condemns his wife to death if she forges false keys or violates her vow. . . . As father he kills the child that is born deformed, and sells the others, as many as three times, before losing his claims upon them. Neither age nor dignities emancipate them.”
It goes without saying that the father was the absolute regulator of industry. Wife and children were in the same position as bond-servants. Their acts were controlled just as much as the acts of cattle were controlled.
§ 776. That a kindred relationship obtained during early Edition: current; Page: [428] days throughout Europe, we may safely infer on remembering that down to the 13th century in France, it was in the power of a father to imprison a son who displeased him: the implication being that he could force his son to undertake whatever work he pleased. Though in England paternal power never went to this extreme, yet we see in the usages and ideas of quite recent times, how subordinate were children to parents, and especially to the father. If, even down to the earlier part of this century, filial duty was supposed to include obedience to parents in respect of marriage, it must also have included obedience in respect of avocations. We have indeed, in this matter, direct evidence given by a well recognized authority on rural life in general—the late Mr. Jefferies. The following extract exhibits the filial and paternal relations among farmers—
“The growth of half-a-dozen strong sons was a matter of self-congratulation, for each as he came to man’s estate took the place of a labourer, and so reduced the money expenditure. The daughters worked in the dairy, and did not hesitate to milk occasionally, or, at least, to labour in the hay-field. They spun, too, the home-made stuffs in which all the family were clothed. A man’s children were his servants. They could not stir a step without his permission. Obedience and reverence to the parent was the first and greatest of all virtues. Its influence was to extend through life, and through the whole social system. They were to choose the wife or the husband approved of at home. At thirty, perhaps, the more fortunate of the sons were placed on farms of their own nominally, but still really under the father’s control. They dared not plough or sow except in the way that he approved. Their expenditure was strictly regulated by his orders. This lasted till his death, which might not take place for another twenty years.”
This state of things is still in considerable measure that which the law recognizes; for the son under age is held to be legally his father’s servant, and, as shown by an action for seduction, the deprivation of a daughter’s services is put forward as the ground of complaint.
Let us not omit here to note the evidence furnished that coerciveness declines simultaneously in political, ecclesiastical, Edition: current; Page: [429] and industrial regulation. For with increase of political freedom and religious freedom, the freedom now practically if not legally given to children, is such that the father, instead of coercing them for his own benefit, habitually coerces himself for their benefit; and is largely swayed by their wishes in respect to their industrial careers.
§ 777. The preceding sections exhibit paternal government at large during early stages, and do but indirectly imply its extension over domestic industry. But facts may be given enforcing the inference that if the father has unlimited authority over his children in other matters, he must have unlimited authority over their labours.
That he dictated the occupations of his sons is implied by that industrial inheritance which has characterized early stages of civilization all over the world. Various influences made paternal power thus show itself. Already a son, ever present in the house, had learned something of the business carried on in it. To complete his knowledge was manifestly easier than to give him knowledge of another business even supposing this could be done on the premises, and much easier considering that, if done at all, it must be done elsewhere at considerable expense. A further motive operated. In early days modes of production were kept secret. The uncivilized and semi-civilized man, prone to superstition, regards every process he does not understand as supernatural; so that in Africa the blacksmith is even now looked upon as a magician. Hence the meaning of the word “craft,” which carries with it the idea of cunning and subtlety, or some skill passing the common apprehension. Evidently, then, the aim always was to keep the secrets of the business in the family. And evidently sons brought up with a knowledge of these secrets, and by years of practice made skilful, were compelled to continue on as journeymen under parental control, since no other career was open to them.
Edition: current; Page: [430]In many societies this industrial usage, naturally evolved, has been made imperative by law; and legislative wisdom has been credited with it and its supposed advantages. Ancient China yields an instance. Said a prisoner to the Marquis of Tsin—“Music was the profession of my father; dared I learn any other?” And in the Thsi-yu it is written—
“The sons of officers ought always to be officers; the sons of artisans ought always to be artisans; the sons of merchants ought always to be merchants, and the sons of farmers ought always to be farmers.”
The like happened in ancient Egypt. According to Duncker—
“We learn that no one was allowed to follow any other occupation than that derived from his father. The inscriptions tell us that the same office, as for instance that of architect, remained in the same family for twenty-three generations.”
Similarly in Greece, custom led to injunction.
At Athens “it was conceived, moreover, that, if men confined themselves to one calling, they would arrive therein at greater excellence; and the law, accordingly, forbade them to be of two trades.”
And it was so in ancient Mexico, where, says Clavigero—
“The sons in general learned the trades of their fathers, and embraced their professions. Thus they perpetuated the arts in families to the advantage of the state.”
Hereafter, in dealing with the organization and government of gilds, we shall find everywhere illustrated similar tendencies and results. In this place it concerns us only to observe that the power of the father as industrial regulator, is necessarily implied.