I read a short while ago that in some places Christian missionaries imported plants that would drop sharp nettles so that the indigenous people would be forced to wear footwear. I told someone this, and now he wants proof, but despite extensive googling I haven’t been able to locate the original article I read. Anyone familiar with this?
Sounds like UL to me. Why would they care about footwear?
bdgr, a lot of people are really hung up on bare feet. A barefooted adult somewhere “inappropriate” (i.e. not on the beach or the deck of a swimming pool) gets a lot of funny looks.
I can see missionaries being keen on footwear as a civilizing influence. Part of “saving souls” to them was bringing civilization to the ignorant savages of the world, and part of being civilized is wearing the garments of civilized man, including uncomfortable and unnecessary shoes. 
Nothing to add to the OP, though.
If you look up O. Henry’s "Cabbages and Kings ", you will find a pair of associated short stories about a U.S Consul named Atwood doing EXACTLY that for the purpose of creating a demand for shoes for a shoe salesman who wrote to ask about setting up shop on this beautiful island paradise where no one wears shoes. The story is a gem, and I hope you read it, but the OP sounds like someone trying to give missionaries bad press (undeserved, in this case)using a bit of an old story with a new villain. I hope you will (as I occasionally must) tell the person you are speaking to that you may have been misinformed. I will do the same for you if you can produce a legitimate document, but I think the O. Henry reference is telling.
The story was published in 1904, by the way…
I could have sworn I read it from a legitimate source. I guess I was mistaken. thanks for the response hammerbach
Possibly you DID read it from a legitimate source. I’m just very doubtful. I would like to read it if you ever do find it; no slight of you was intended.
I don’t know that wearing shoes would civilize anyone, but it would go far in preventing hookworm and other diseases picked up by going barefoot.
Also, it very well could have been a legitimate source - citing a UL. I’ve seen it everywhere. I refer to that clever article re: Congress wanting a new Capitol, and how it was quoted in a chinese paper.
Sounds like a crock to me.