he American
dress fulfils this object. When I say American dress, I include also
the clothing worn by Europeans for both are practically the same. It
may be a matter of education, but from the Oriental point of view we
would prefer that ladies' dresses should be worn more loosely, so that
the figure should be less prominent. I am aware that this is a view
which my American friends do not share. It is very curious that what
is considered as indecent in one country is thought to be quite proper
in another. During the hot summers in the Province of Kiangsu the
working women avoid the inconveniences and chills of perspiration by
going about their work with nothing on the upper part of their bodies,
except a chest protector to cover the breasts; in Western countries
women would never think of doing this, even during a season of extreme
heat; yet they do not object, even in the depth of winter, to
uncovering their shoulders as low as possible when attending a
dinner-party, a ball, or the theater. I remember the case of a Chinese
rice-pounder in Hongkong who was arrested and taken to the Police Court
on a charge of indecency. To enable him to do his work better he had
dispensed with all his clothing excepting a loin cloth; for this he was
sentenced to pay a fine of $2, or, in default of payment to be
imprisoned for a week. The English Magistrate, in imposing the fine,
lectured him severely, remarking that in a civilized community such
primitive manners could not be tolerated, as they were both barbarous
and indecent. When he said this did he think of the way the women of
his country dress when they go to a ball?

It must be remembered that modesty is wholly a matter of
conventionality and custom. Competent observers have testified that
savages who have been accustomed to nudity all their lives are covered
with shame when made to put on clothing for the first time. They
exhibit as much confusion as a civilized person would if compelled to
strip naked in public. In the words of a competent authority on this
subject: "The facts appear to prove that the feeling of shame, far
from being the cause of man's covering his body is, on the contrary, a
result of this custom; and that the covering, if not used as a
protection from the climate, owes its origin, at least in many cases,
to the desire of men and women to make themselves attractive." Strange
as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that a figure partially clad
app