authority. There are usually one or more potential military
chiefs, who are the close companions and assistants of the
chief in time of war and, in case of the death of the chief,
take his place in the order of seniority.[124]

In this tribe the numerical recognition of women is striking, and
indicates that they are the original core of society. They are still
responsible for society, in a way, but all the offices involving
motor activity are deputed to men. Thus women, as heads of households,
choose four women councilors of the clan (gens), and these choose
the fifth member, who is a man and the head of the council and chief
of the clan. The tribal chief is, however, chosen by males, and in
the military organization, which represents the group capacity for
violence, the women have not even a nominal recognition. The real
authority rests with those who are most fit to exercise it. Female
influence persists as a matter of habit, until, under the pressure of
social, particularly of military, activities, the breaking-up of the
habit and a new accommodation follows the accumulation of a larger
fund of social energy.

The men of any group are at any time in possession of the force to
change the habits of the group and push aside any existing system. But
the savage is not revolutionary; his life and his social sanctions are
habitual. He is averse to change as such, and retains form and rite
after their meaning is lost. We consequently find an expression of
social respect for woman under the maternal system suggestive of
chivalry, and even a formal elevation of women to authority in groups
where the actual control is in the hands of men.

In the Mariana Islands the position of woman was distinctly superior;
even when the man had contributed an equal share of property on
marriage, the wife dictated everything and the man could undertake
nothing without her approval; but, if the woman committed an offense,
the man was held responsible and suffered the punishment. The women
could speak in the assembly, they held property, and if a woman asked
anything of a man, he gave it up without a murmur. If a wife was
unfaithful, the husband could send her home, keep her property, and
kill the adulterer; but if the man was guilty, or even suspected of
the same offense, the women of the neighborhood destroyed his house
and all his visible property, and the owner was fortunate if he
escaped with a whole skin; and if a wife was