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Cornell University Library 
 HQ 1255.B83 
 Maids, wives and <wwl«Sarws: JSjSjSumMiHiMM^ ' 
 
 3 1924 014 058 105 
 
MAIDS, WIVES 
 AND WIDOWS 
 
MAIDS, WIVES 
 AND WIDOWS 
 
 THE LAW OF THE LAND AND OF 
 
 THE VARIOUS STATES AS 
 
 IT AFFECTS WOMEN 
 
 BY 
 ROSE FALLS BRES 
 
 Member of the New York Bar 
 Author of " The Law and the Woman " 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 MARY WOOD, LL.M. 
 
 Chairman of the Legislative Department of the General 
 
 Federation of Women's Clubs of the U. S. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 
 
 68 1 Fifth Avenue 
 
COPYRIGHT, 
 
 By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 
A FOREWORD 
 
 When The Law and the Woman, a book dealing 
 with the legal conditions affecting women and minors 
 in the several States appeared in a small edition it was 
 received kindly and quickly passed out of print. The 
 succeeding pages contain all of the information covered 
 in the first volume, together with additional data, com- 
 ment and simple and adaptable forms. The first edition 
 went out to women with the endorsement of Olive Stott 
 Gabriel, then president of the Women Lawyers' Associa- 
 tion, and of Mary Wood, chairman of legislation of the 
 General Federation of Women's Clubs. The New York 
 Times said of it: 
 
 As the first attempt to present in a single volume 
 the status of woman in the United States under the 
 Federal and the State laws, Mrs. Bres's book has unique 
 value and interest. . . . Her digest and discussion of 
 the present legal status of women in this country is 
 scholarly and readable and makes a worth-while addition 
 to feminist literature. 
 
 5 
 
6 FOREWORD 
 
 And Everywoman, the official organ of the Na- 
 tional Council of Women, said: 
 
 It is written in a manner to give the reader the funda- 
 mental principles of the law governing the subject, 
 divested of the technical phraseology which only lawyers 
 understand, and furnishes a comprehensive grasp of 
 all the law indespensable for women to know in her 
 broader field of life. As such, this helpful and instruc- 
 tive volume should be in every woman's library. 
 
 In this volume the entire subject matter in the first 
 publication is covered, the intent being to make it of 
 greater service to women as legal first aid. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Woman God Gaveth 13 
 
 The Law for Women 17 
 
 Woman's Legal Status 45 
 
 Marriage and Divorce 54 
 
 Mother's Pension 74 
 
 Child Labor and Minimum Wage 84 
 
 Contracts and Forms — Simple Legal Add ... 97 
 Digest of the Laws of the Several States . .127 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 The Great War has called women to new service. 
 From necessity, or a high sense of patriotic duty, they 
 have become co-workers with men in every line of effort 
 for the furthering and fostering of commerce and indus- 
 try and the preservation of the highest ideals of our 
 American institutions. 
 
 Women of every class and creed find themselves 
 forced to face new problems; their influence and aid in 
 legislation necessary to meet the new condition is brought 
 home to them. 
 
 An intelligent understanding of what the Government 
 has done, is doing and should do for the legal protection 
 of the interests of women and children is sought by all 
 progressive women to-day. But the usual text-books are 
 such a labyrinth of technical expression the information 
 cannot be generally had from them by laywomen. 
 
 Rose Falls Bres' book, "Maids, Wives and Widows," 
 discusses broadly and entertainingly the legal status of 
 women since the time of Mother Eve. It presents in a 
 correct, comprehensive and most readable way what is 
 called "advanced legislation" for women. Of especial 
 interest is her dissertation on Marriage and Divorce, 
 Child Labor and Mothers' Pension. 
 
 9 
 
IO INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 Rose Falls Bres has been admitted to the Bar of three 
 States, Louisiana, Kentucky and New York, and she has 
 had twenty years' experience in State and Federal courts. 
 This work which passes on to other women the result of 
 her long study of the law must prove an invaluable text- 
 book to those who are interested in civic betterment. To 
 clubwomen it comes as an answer to a demand for a 
 presentation of the laws in an understandable way. To 
 all womet I cordially endorse and recommend it. 
 
 Albany, N. Y., 
 March 30, 1918. 
 
MAIDS, WIVES 
 AND WIDOWS 
 
THE WOMAN GOD GAVETH 
 
 "And of the rib which the Lord God had taken from 
 the man made he a woman." 
 
 For forty succeeding centuries it was only the 
 peculiar attributes of the feminine nature which were 
 thought worth woman's while to cultivate. Yet a great 
 mass of historic fact gives evidence that it was not alone 
 the feminine attributes, but in larger measure the exer- 
 cise of wisdom and virtues neither masculine nor fem- 
 inity which brought increasing fulfillment of the prophecy 
 contained in the twenty-eighth verse of the first chapter 
 of Genesis : "God gave them joint dominion." 
 
 Notwithstanding the gross wickedness of Cleopatra 
 she had the virtue of patriotism and was true to her 
 country and her people, while Marc Antony was a 
 traitor and a deserter. Unlovely as the memory of 
 Aspasia comes to later generations she had such subtle 
 wisdom and wit she held Pericles her slave, and 
 Socrates, wisest of heathen sages, not only her admirer 
 but her friend. It was not alone the personal attractions 
 of Abagail which gave her place in the First Book of 
 Samuel, for David blessed the Lord God of Israel for 
 having sent her to him, and, for her "advice." It was 
 the courage and martial spirit of Deborah which deliv- 
 ered Israel from the Canaanites. And Cicero, said of 
 Cornelia, daughter of Scipio Africanus, wife of Tiberius 
 
 13 
 
i 4 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Gracchus, "Cornelia, had she not been a woman, would 
 have deserved first place among philosophers." 
 
 In this day, and in this land of modern chivalry, the 
 moral qualities of the woman are highly valued; she is 
 admittedly the conservator of domestic purity, of social 
 decorum and of public sentiment. Also, wise and reason- 
 ing women are no longer condemned for witchcraft. It 
 is the dual creature, the good mother and home-maker, 
 the conservator of domestic purity and public sentiment, 
 who can take her brother's place in war and commerce 
 when there is need, who is "the glory of the man." 
 
 Cornelias of this era are not denied first place among 
 philosophers because of sex, but there are no blaring 
 trumpets to herald them and their pay envelopes are not 
 plethoric. 
 
 There are Messalinas as well as Lucretias, for roses 
 and weeds will always grow in the same soil. But as 
 in the days of yore it is the Lucretias who preserve the 
 republic. 
 
 This Age of Woman has produced a race where the 
 question of sex is being put more and more in the back- 
 ground to play an ever decreasing part in the conflict of 
 life, for all humanity is seeking, and finding saner levels. 
 The peculiarly feminine attributes, or wiles and sweet 
 sentimentality, breeding and broiling, are subordinate to 
 reason and that ambition which has won for woman an 
 assured place in the man's world of war and work. 
 Women and men grow more and more real comrades, 
 interdependent parts of the machinery of commerce and 
 government which makes the world go round. 
 
 In ancient Babylon there was a monument set up in 
 a central place on which was inscribed the laws so that 
 citizens might there look up their citations of legal 
 
THE WOMAN GOD GAVETH 15 
 
 authority for the justification of their deeds. That legal 
 Baedeker of Babylon declared husbands were the mas- 
 ters of their wives as of their slaves. A husband could 
 repudiate a wife or change her at will. And, as might 
 have been expected as a result of this license of fancy, 
 many were called but few were the wives chosen to 
 remain as permanent helpmates. Husbands viewed their 
 wives as commercial assets and they pledged them for 
 debt on an agreement much like our form of chattel 
 mortgage. But if a woman repudiated her husband she 
 was given the extreme penalty, fully and thrillingly de- 
 scribed as "impaling on a stake." This, be it remembered 
 was about 2250 B. C, and in Babylon. Every step of 
 woman's advance from that day of her degradation to 
 the high place she now holds in the civilized world is the 
 result of her intellectual power and activity; the purely 
 feminine attributes playing but an insignificant part. 
 
 Such laws as those which obtained in Babylon, and 
 such conditions as existed through the ages when girl 
 babies were considered a curse, encouraged in women 
 self-pity and an instinctive antagonism to exclusively 
 man-made laws. Justice Blackstone's opinion that : "The 
 very being or legal existence of the wife is suspended 
 during marriage, or, at least is incorporated and consoli- 
 dated into that of the husband," planted revolution in 
 the hearts of women, and in that well-sustained English 
 law of coverture of the husband grew the cry for 
 "woman's rights," when there should be neither man's 
 rights, nor woman's rights, but only human rights. 
 
 Christianity and the law, aiding and abetting each 
 other, helped women to free themselves from bondage, 
 gave them protection and inculcated the defensive spirit 
 to stimulate their intellectual powers. They have found 
 
16 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 their way to liberty's fount. Its water has given them 
 power and strength. But it is an intoxicating draught 
 when taken intemperately. Thicker and faster they come, 
 women from all lands and of all nations, pleading for 
 more and yet more freedom and independence. Chris- 
 tianity and the law must be kept close to curb, to school, 
 to temper. 
 
 Women are demanding their bodies as their own, and 
 at least equal control in the guardianship of their off- 
 spring. They are demanding more uniform laws on mar- 
 riage and divorce. They want wider scope and consid- 
 eration for their activities, for they are willing to bear 
 life's burdens equally. They are straining at every leash. 
 They grow impatient of every barrier, more intolerant 
 of injustice. 
 
 Nothing on earth can stem the stampede of women to 
 perfect freedom. Only Christianity and the law can 
 guide them into the safe paths. There must be give 
 as well as take. Something, indeed much must be yielded 
 to womankind if men would preserve her gentle spirit 
 and would continue to hold her as the great living help- 
 mate of the world. 
 
II 
 
 THE LAW FOR WOMEN 
 
 There shall be no discrimination because of race, 
 color or previous condition of servitude our Constitution 
 provides, and with the great onsweep of the woman's 
 movement to equality of citizenship comes also the oblit- 
 eration of the lines of discrimination because of sex. 
 
 It is the restraining and equalizing influence of Chris- 
 tianity and the law which has proven the great arm of 
 protection and defense for women while they have fought 
 upward and onward. It is the great arm they must 
 strengthen, as well as rest on, in the future. 
 
 With the broadening of the scope of her activities 
 woman should be given the widest opportunity to make 
 the most of the place she has won in every avenue where 
 her efforts have found recognition. She should be 
 equipped to aid in the making of better laws for the 
 protection and defense of women and minors. There 
 should be this eleventh commandment taught her ; Thou 
 shalt know the laws thy brother hath made for thee, that 
 knowing, thou shalt be enabled to avoid litigation and 
 to be an aid in making better laws. 
 
 It is for the courts to say what the law is, not what it 
 should be. Real remedies for real ills, and crimes which 
 menace homes and society, will be found by women in 
 the short cut of the law. They should know how to see 
 to it that only good laws are added to old ones and that 
 
 17 
 
18 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 amendments go to the core and secure the greatest 
 protection for the helpless and dependent. 
 
 Every boy may cherish the hope to be President, but 
 every woman does not cherish an ambition to sit with the 
 law makers of the land. Nor is it possible for every 
 woman to at all times act as her own lawyer, for deep 
 seated troubles and intricate legal tangles require expert 
 attention. But it is proper for women to have first aid in- 
 formation in the law with which we come in daily asso- 
 ciation and contact, even as it is well for women to know 
 how to dress burns and hold baby with her head down 
 if she tries to swallow her first money allowance. 
 
 Women have always been relied upon to make homes 
 of their dwelling places. By their feminine attributes 
 and the gentle influence inherited from generations of 
 the mothers of men they may make the humblest abode 
 a dwelling place of light. They will now be expected 
 to use their more intimate knowledge of their 
 sisters, and the human side of affairs, to induce better 
 labor and social laws, and a more even-handed enforce- 
 ment and administration of the laws which affect 
 women and minors. 
 
 Knowledge of the law should not be confined to those 
 who make of it a profession, but it should be taught 
 children along with their "Now I lay me." There is 
 no other knowledge more essential to their good citizen- 
 ship. A bowing acquaintance with the statute of limi- 
 tations saves loss and law suits. There isn't anything 
 "unwomanly" in becoming familiar with the time limit 
 set by the law wherein an action to enforce a right 
 or obligation may be maintained, or when a promissory 
 note becomes a worthless scrap of paper. 
 
 To know what constitutes a valid contract is to 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 19 
 
 encourage a high regard for the observance of its re- 
 quirements. Signatures are not carelessly attached to 
 documents by those who know that the signing is a 
 personal pledge, or a waiver of interest which the law 
 may be invoked to enforce. 
 
 Women need the strong arm of the law's defense 
 more than men do. If John's office is invaded by a 
 too insistent individual, who refuses to leave, he throws 
 him out. If John goes home unexpectedly and finds 
 the butler stealing his cigars, or a strange man making 
 love to his wife, he is universally conceded the right to 
 at least thrash the offender until he is rescued for hos- 
 pital attention. If John learns a business or social rival 
 has been lying about him, he promptly blacks his eyes. 
 Women have exactly the same trials and aggravations, 
 but no matter how much they may feel inclined to resort 
 to physical violence they are prevented by all the rules 
 of decent ladylikeness. If they are of the scullion class 
 they may throw ugly adjectives, and maybe a pot or pan, 
 or two, but then women are notoriously bad marksmen 
 and so no damage is done. Women have but one re- 
 course for abuses great or small — the law. (If men 
 realized the wonderful advantage and comfort which is 
 theirs in being able to fight certain battles outside the 
 law, in the goodness of their hearts, and the gratitude 
 of their souls, they would even up by granting women 
 about all the other rights they ask.) 
 
 The woman who has been taught nothing of the un- 
 yielding lines of certain legal principles is not only unfit 
 to assume control of her own affairs if she is bereft of 
 her male protector, but she is predestined to failure in 
 any business in which she may embark. She is sure to 
 get entangled in litigation and she is the kind of client 
 
20 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 every lawyer dreads. She doesn't understand, and she 
 cannot be made to understand, that laws are made for 
 the greatest good of the greatest number and must 
 inevitably work individual hardship. Because she does 
 not know she very often takes the wrong step when it 
 would be just as easy, and probably preferable to her, 
 to take the right step. She violates 'obligations and 
 resents the enforcement of her agreements. She doesn't 
 know how to avail herself of the protection the law gives 
 her. Estates are wasted. Interests are sacrificed. Effort 
 is misdirected and many an ingrowing grouch is 
 acquired. All because knowledge of law has not been 
 deemed necessary for women. 
 
 When little Marys and Janes reach the age for 
 selective draft of husbands a little information on the 
 limitation the law places on the acts of minors, the 
 force and effect of obligations, especially the marriage 
 contract, and a few other bits of legal learning, might 
 prove the ounce of prevention to avoid pounds of later 
 sorrow. Mistakes would not so certainly be blamed on 
 father and mother along with the charge of contributory 
 negligence. 
 
 Mathematics, geography and history are often dis- 
 tasteful to students, yet every girl as well as every boy, 
 is required to master the rudiments. It is not more 
 necessary for a woman to know how to add and sub- 
 tract than it is for her to understand how far her right 
 in the guardianship of her children extends, what pro- 
 vision the law makes for her in the estate of her hus- 
 band, and how free she is to acquire or alienate property 
 in her own right. Likewise it is essential that women 
 should know at what age they may contract marriage 
 and under what circumstances and provisions of the 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN ai 
 
 law the contract may be annulled or abrogated. It may 
 not be thrilling, but it should be interesting to every 
 woman to know the origin and history of the mother's 
 pension, which keeps thousands of children in their 
 homes and out of charitable institutions. There should 
 be some fascination in a survey of the labor laws and 
 regulations which affect those who must work to live, and 
 every woman should know that the married woman has 
 no control of her citizenship, and that she is no longer 
 an American if she marries an alien, or, at least, so long 
 as her marriage to the alien exists. 
 
 The laws of the land are not the dry-as-dust accumu- 
 lation of technical terms generally supposed. Out of 
 queer kinks in the legislative diary novelists have woven 
 some of their finest romances and the court records of 
 every State are the never-ending theme for writers of 
 thrills. 
 
 Columbia University, for the first time in its exist- 
 ence, added a course of legal study for women in 1917 
 and appointed Miss Mabel E. Witte, a graduate of Vas- 
 sar College and the New York University Law School, 
 to give a series of lectures on the every day laws which 
 directly affect women in every walk of life. These lec- 
 tures are not to prepare women for the practise of law 
 as a profession, but are intended to aid women of every 
 class and station to keep within the law, to manage their 
 affairs without having to seek the aid and advice of a 
 lawyer on every turn, and to avail themselves of the 
 privileges and protection afforded them by the State. 
 The Brooklyn Law School, about the same time, added 
 Mrs. E. Jean Nelson Penfield to its corps of lecturers 
 to follow about the same course launched by Columbia. 
 Of her proposed work in the Brooklyn Law School, 
 
22 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Mrs. Penfield wrote The Woman Citizen: "Perhaps 
 our largest service in the first few years will be to the 
 'woman left behind' — this woman who faces the double 
 burden, for she must not only part with the one who 
 goes to the front, but it is she who must square her 
 shoulders to carry wholly unaccustomed responsibilities 
 in his absence." Mrs. Penfield, discussing the legal prob- 
 lems of every woman says : "These problems are the age- 
 old problems, involving the fundamental rights of the 
 citizen under the Constitution, the ordinary rights of per- 
 son and property, contracts and agency, the relation of 
 landlord and tenant, buyer and seller, lawyer and client, 
 physician and patient, employer and employee — problems 
 which touch the daily life of every woman and involve 
 her comfort, her safety and her property. Then there 
 are the domestic relation laws, and the laws controlling 
 the relationship between parent and child and also the 
 laws of inheritance and wills." 
 
 It is quite generally true that a little learning is a 
 dangerous thing. But it must be conceded that the laws 
 of the land affect each individual and every condition of 
 life, and so a little learning of the law is necessary for 
 the making of good citizens. Ignorance of the law is no 
 excuse for its violation by man or woman and that being 
 the case it would seem but a precautionary measure to 
 equip the citizen, regardless of sex, with the legal infor- 
 mation so necessary to assure peace and good will and 
 good government. 
 
 It appears that whether it be to know when citizen- 
 ship may be acquired or lost, legislation pertaining to 
 real or personal rights, or obligations, the woman citizen 
 enfranchised, or to be enfranchised, fighting for an 
 equal place with her brother, needs an intensive course 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 23 
 
 in every-day laws. Blackstone said: "It is unde- 
 niable that a competent knowledge of the law of the 
 society in which we live is the proper accomplish- 
 ment of every gentleman and scholar." Cicero said 
 that even the boys of Rome were required to learn 
 the Twelve Tables as a carmen necessarium. Woman, 
 if she would advance the cause of her sex and would 
 fit with less friction into the general scheme of things, 
 should know at least the outline of those laws which 
 affect her status, how and when she inherits, the require- 
 ments of the law of those who control the property 
 interests of minors, and others, the contracts daily used 
 by business and professional women, the obligations of 
 landlord and tenant, the simple form of a will and the 
 general laws governing marriage and divorce. 
 
 It was considered a very radical step when the first 
 women in the United States who had prepared them- 
 selves to practise law as a profession sought admission 
 to the Bar. They found it necessary to get the courts 
 to interpret the clause regulating admission to practise, 
 which read "any male citizen having the necessary quali- 
 fications," as including in the term "male," also the 
 female of the species. That was in 1869, and since that 
 time the history made by women at the Bar is creditable 
 and interesting. There has never been a woman dis- 
 barred for breach of professional conduct and it is gen- 
 erally conceded that women lawyers are painstaking and 
 conscientious. It has, and will be for many years, a 
 difficult thing for a woman to establish a lucrative prac- 
 tise. She has not the confidence she should receive from 
 her own sex — not past the line where a fee is exchanged 
 for advice. The experience of women lawyers generally 
 is that their paying practise is from men clients. Ap- 
 
24 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 preciating the added touch of woman's intuition, diplo- 
 macy, adaptability and patience, when added to legal 
 training, men very frequently seek their service, and 
 when they do they give them full confidence and their 
 acts perfect credence and ratification. It must be admit- 
 ted, when the matter of fee is reached the male as well 
 as the female client is apt to "hedge" that idea of value 
 with the age old notion that women are not entitled to 
 as much monetary return for service as men. Men are 
 so used to spending the dollars and leaving only the 
 penny expenditures to the women of their household it 
 is something of a jolt to preconceived ideas to pay a big 
 fee for feminine advice. But while they swallow hard 
 they take the medicine. 
 
 It is hard for a woman lawyer to sustain that aloof- 
 ness from her female clients necessary to sustain the busi- 
 ness relation. Every woman lawyer has had dozens of 
 women seek her for advice who, after a few calls, de- 
 clares: "You know Mary Brown; she is a very dear 
 friend of mine; she's a lawyer, you know, and when 
 I want to know what to do, or not do, I just drop in 
 and have a chat with her and find out the safe course 
 without having any fee to pay." The same women will 
 seek to enlist the womanly sympathy of the woman 
 lawyer in any trial, and, once seeing that sympathy, be- 
 lieves the call of woman to woman demands every 
 effort on the part of the lawyer quite without fee or 
 remuneration. A little old woman lawyer in a western 
 town was once asked by her minister why she did not 
 enjoy the chat of her sex more, why she refrained from 
 all social intercourse with other women, and the old 
 lady replied: "You would never understand, Dominie, 
 for it is your job to hand over all you know of the laws 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 25 
 
 of God without remuneration other than your small sal- 
 ary, but every time I talk to a woman and she filches free 
 advice from me I am not only swindling myself but 
 some man lawyer out of a client." These facts probably 
 constitute one of the reasons why women lawyers so 
 heartily advocate the instruction of every woman in the 
 outline of certain laws which should be known by every 
 citizen. They are well aware that it would teach, among 
 other things, that taking something for nothing isn't 
 honest and that lawyers should be consulted only where 
 paid service is required in adjusting some matter beyond 
 the power and ability of one untrained in the profession 
 of the law. 
 
 Women are received in most of the law colleges in 
 the United States and upon the same footing as the male 
 students. Every year comes many additions to the ranks 
 of women lawyers. There are no especial favors shown 
 them. They must meet every requirement, pass the 
 examinations, and in every way show their fitness before 
 they are admitted to practise. Once upon a time, a very 
 little smattering of law, combined with the gift of 
 oratory, was the only requirement for admission to the 
 bar. That is part of the ancient history of the legal pro- 
 fession. The tendency is more and more toward fear- 
 ful dignity, solemn procedure and mazes of technicalities. 
 The trial of a case is a battle of polished wit, of trained 
 methods and wide information on cases precedent. No 
 great dependence is put in persuasive argument, but 
 it is feint and counter and throw with the legal jiu jitsu 
 methods of experience and information. In bygone days 
 when a member of the Bar in a small village or town 
 found times unusually hard, prospects discouraging, 
 poor clients too many and the rich clients for whom all 
 
26 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 lawyers lie in wait, but a will-o'-the-wispish hope never 
 materializing, he, or she, packed up and set face toward 
 that mecca for all professional climbers — New York. The 
 certificate from the county clerk of "honesty, probity and 
 good demeanor" was the only introduction necessary. But 
 about nineteen hundred and ten there seemed such a 
 glut of lawyers in the New York market, albeit certain 
 skyscrapers were so full their legs and arms protruded 
 from the windows, the Bar Association resolved to put 
 another plank across the portal of such height, breadth 
 and thickness, no lame brother or sister could surmount 
 it, and up went the new rules. A period of service as a 
 law clerk, in addition to the legal course, is required of 
 those who are admitted to practise in New York, and if 
 the applicant seeks admission "on motion" as a lawyer 
 from another State he, or she, must have such an array 
 of affidavits as to character and fitness as even St. Peter, 
 standing guard at the gates of Heaven, has not asked of 
 mankind. There must be proof that the applicant has 
 lived in the State and County not less than a year, there 
 must be the affidavit of two good citizens, and two lawyers 
 of good repute, that the applicant has conducted himself, 
 or herself, as a good citizen since removing to the new 
 location. A certificate must be produced from the court 
 back home, showing the applicant has practised in all 
 the courts and has been of record in cases in the court 
 of last resort for not less than five years before remov- 
 ing to New York. Also there must be a personal letter 
 from one of the judges of the court of last resort, testify- 
 ing to the personal record of the applicant and his stand- 
 ing at the Bar of his home State. With these credentials 
 the applicant must find a lawyer in New York who 
 will present him, or her, to the character committee, 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 27 
 
 and at least two members of that character committee 
 must have a personal acquaintance with the applicant. 
 All the credentials of the applicant are scrutinized by 
 the committee, and if the endorsement of that august 
 body is secured the applicant, if he or she has survived 
 to that point, is stood before the judges of the Appellate 
 Division of the Supreme Court of New York and there 
 is administered the oath obligating the newcomer to sup- 
 port the Constitution of the State, and the Constitution 
 of the United States, and to conduct himself, or herself, 
 as an honorable member of the profession of the law. 
 
 The first record obtainable of the admission of women 
 at the Bar comes from the State of Iowa which, in 1869, 
 admitted Mrs. Emma Haddock, wife of Judge Haddock, 
 of Iowa City, and Mrs. B. A. Mansfield, of the same 
 place. The "Legal News," of February 9th, 1870, says : 
 "Mrs. Haddock and Mrs. Mansfield were admitted to 
 the Bar of Iowa under a statute providing 'any white 
 male person, with the requisite qualifications, should be 
 licensed to practise law.' " In explanation further of a 
 departure from all rule and precedent, the "News" said : 
 "It was held that words imputing the masculine gender 
 only may be extended to females, and the court finds 
 that the affirmative declaration that male persons may 
 be admitted is not an implied denial to the rights of 
 females." 
 
 Mrs. Haddock and Mrs. Mansfield probably proved 
 the inspiration to Phoebe Cousins, who applied for ad- 
 mission as a law student in the Law School of Washing- 
 ton University at St. Louis, in 1869. Two years later, 
 in 1 87 1, Miss Cousins graduated from the institution and 
 at once applied for a license to practise law in all of 
 the 'courts of the State of Missouri, which was granted 
 
28 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOW 
 
 her. "The Legal News" said: Missouri under a 
 statute providing that any person possessing the neces- 
 sary qualifications may be licensed and admitted to the 
 courts, including the Supreme Court of the State, in 
 April, 1871, admitted Miss Phoebe Cousins." It was 
 recorded in the same journal that a Miss Barkalow was 
 admitted in the same year, in the same court which passed 
 on Miss Cousins' application. 
 
 Maine under a similar statute admitted Mrs. C. H. 
 Nash in 1872. 
 
 Belva Lockwood, probably the most widely known 
 woman lawyer in the United States for nearly half a cen- 
 tury, was admitted in the District of Columbia in 1871, 
 and was the first woman admitted in the United States 
 Supreme Court at Washington, her appearance and argu- 
 ment of an important case creating a sensation at the 
 time. Mrs. Lockwood remained in active practise from 
 the time of her admission in '71 to the time of her death 
 in 1917. 
 
 The difficulty experienced by some of the women who 
 blazed the way for the sex at the Bar is shown in the ex- 
 perience of Myra Bradwell and Alma Hulett, in Illinois. 
 Myra Bradwell was editor of the "Legal News," was 
 recognized as an authority on many legal matters and 
 was highly honored for her extensive education and in- 
 formation. She applied to the Bar of Chicago for an 
 examination to practise law. She was refused on the 
 ground that she was a married woman. The opinion 
 was held that a married woman had no right to inde- 
 pendent action, that her husband controlled her and 
 hence she could not represent the interest of clients. She 
 appealed to the United States Supreme Court and lost 
 her cause. Then a young woman named Alma Hulett, 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 29 
 
 who studied law assiduously while working as a clerk in 
 a law office at Rockford, Illinois, presented herself as 
 an applicant for examination and a license to practise. 
 She was refused. Possessing that persistence of purpose 
 which is an attribute of a good lawyer, as well as 
 knowledge of the law, she prepared an elaborate expo- 
 sition of her case, with many legal citations on constitu- 
 tional rights and technicalities. She also prepared a lec- 
 ture and she travelled about giving this lecture in order 
 to earn necessary funds and to awaken general interest 
 in her case. Then she went before the Illinois legis- 
 lature and secured the privilege of addressing that 
 body. So well did she argue and so just was her cause, 
 the following bill was passed, and under its provisions 
 she was permitted the examination for applicants to prac- 
 tise law and was admitted to the Bar, being the first 
 woman to secure that privilege from the State of 
 Illinois : 
 
 "Be it enacted by the State of Illinois represented in 
 the General Assembly, that no person shall be precluded 
 or debarred from any occupation or profession or em- 
 ployment (except military) on account of sex. Provided 
 that this Act shall not be construed to affect the eligibility 
 of any person to an elective office." 
 
 It was a full quarter of a century later before a 
 woman was admitted to pratcise law in Europe. In 
 1900 France admitted women and they are now prac- 
 tising before the Tribunal of Commerce, all civil and 
 criminal courts, military courts, courts of appeal and 
 children's courts. In 1916 there were thirty-six regis- 
 tered women lawyers actively engaged in the practise 
 of law in Paris. France has long held men and women 
 nearer equality of citizenship than other countries. 
 
3 o MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 While women are granted the rights and privileges of 
 citizens that they are held to the same accounting for 
 breaches of the law may be judged by the even-handed 
 justice meted the dancer, Mata Hara, who was dis- 
 covered and convicted of espionage early in 1917. 
 The woman had relied on her sex for immunity, but 
 when she had been given a fair and impartial trial, when 
 she had been proven guilty as a spy, she was convicted, 
 and one morning she was taken out and shot with the 
 same form and procedure which would have been given 
 a male criminal. 
 
 Some of the countries of Europe exclude women 
 from law colleges and it goes without saying they are 
 the countries in the rear of the march of progress. 
 Bulgaria is an instance. Turkey also excludes women 
 from law schools and refuses to permit them to act as 
 lawyers, but any woman may appear in court and plead 
 her own cause. In Russia women have had a long 
 and varied experience. With the rise of certain revolu- 
 tionary elements they would win a degree of recogni- 
 tion in the law colleges, only to lose it on the downfall 
 of the movement. Their patience and perseverance 
 seems never to have flagged. Women ambitious to be- , 
 come lawyers appear to have possessed something of 
 the rugged courage which enabled a company of Rus- 
 sian women to so prepare and equip themselves as sol- 
 diers and to so fearlessly fight when sent into battle, 
 they won honors and decorations and the title of the 
 Legion of Death. For notwithstanding the fact women 
 law students had repeatedly been turned from the col- 
 leges of Russia there was held intact nearly two hun- 
 dred members of a woman lawyers' association in Petro- 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 31 
 
 grad and Moscow for ten years. A majority of these 
 women graduated from universities in France. 
 
 In 1906 Russia threw wide the doors of her colleges 
 in all branches to women, but the right to study law was 
 taken from them again in 1908 and they were expelled 
 from the institutions. Oppression was so great through- 
 out Russia it seemed to breed among women, as well as 
 men, a desire to know law, to be able to practise law, so 
 that they might go before the justices and tribunals with 
 their complaints. With faith in ultimate freedom women 
 went on with their legal studies, sometimes finding it 
 possible to attend the universities of other countries, and 
 when they could not, they pursued their studies under 
 private tutelage. Between 1908 and 1910 there was much 
 agitation of the question of the right of women to admis- 
 sion to the law classes of the colleges and they were again 
 given permission to enter the law departments and to the 
 same examination as male students, and there was a 
 decree empowering the Minister of Education to enforce 
 the right of the women. It is of record, however, that 
 in the same year a woman appeared in court to defend a 
 criminal case and the Chief Justice thereupon adjourned 
 court and left the room to show his disapproval of 
 women lawyers. 
 
 Relating the difficulties experienced by women in 
 their effort to find recognition in Russia as lawyers, 
 Mile. Justine Klotz, a well educated young French woman 
 lawyer, who lived long in Russia, says : "In 1910 the rep- 
 resentatives of the Progressive Party introduced in the 
 Douma a bill, which would enable women to be admitted 
 to the Bar. During the discussion the Progressive Party 
 and the Centre declared themselves in favor of the bill ; 
 however, no definite action was taken. Delegations of 
 
32 MAIDS,. WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 women law students had interviews with representatives 
 of the Department of Justice and everyone of them 
 declared emphatically in favor of the reform advocated in 
 the bill. As a result of the campaign made there was 
 introduced in the Douma on February 20th, 1912, a bill 
 entitled "Rights for Women Lawyers." In May the 
 Douma discussed and favorably passed the bill. In an 
 extensive report printed, which gives details of the discus- 
 sion, a comment is made on the ease with which people 
 may be deprived of rights, who have no status before the 
 law, as a reading of the Law Statutes of 1864 shows 
 very clearly there was no prohibition of admittance to 
 the Bar of women." 
 
 In December, 1913, the Commission of the Imperial 
 Council accepted the Proposition of Law concerning 
 "The Rights of Women Lawyers," but in 1915 the propo- 
 sition was abrogated by the Council and a new Proposi- 
 tion of Law relating to women lawyers was introduced, 
 as follows: "1 : Women are enabled to act as lawyers. 
 2: Women have equal rights with men to be eligible to 
 the jury." Clause "2" was the joker put in the bill to 
 assure its rejection and when it came up for final action 
 in 1916 the bill was overwhelmingly defeated. 
 
 Mile. Klotz says: "As to the admission of women 
 lawyers to the Bar of Russia, nobody believes that the 
 profession should be closed to them; and as the reform 
 is advocated by the majority of the Douma, the Bar Asso- 
 ciation and public opinion, there is hope that in the near 
 future women lawyers will be practising in Russia the 
 same as men." This opinion of Mile. Klotz, expressed 
 late in 1916, was prophetic, as the successful revolution- 
 ists who deposed Czar Nicholas declared, as one of their 
 first acts, the entire equality of women in citizenship and 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 33 
 
 all its rights and obligations. The see-saw of events 
 which placed His Imperial Highness Czar Nicholas in 
 the depths of despair and the degradation of .forfeited 
 civil rights and personal freedom, elevated the women 
 of Russia to the independence of place and position in 
 the law they had so long sought, but a peaceful and 
 stable government for Russia is but a hope and desire 
 of this decade, and women will have much of the conflict 
 which must be faced by all the people of that great 
 Empire. 
 
 Sweden admits only unmarried women to the Bar, it 
 being the Swedish belief that married women are not 
 free agents, hence they are unable to represent the 
 interests of others. 
 
 In British India in 1916 Miss Guha who had received 
 her degree as Bachelor of Law from a French university 
 was denied the right to practise there. 
 
 Italy permits women to take the degree of law in 
 her colleges, but the courts are not open to them as 
 lawyers. The question has given rise to much agitation 
 by the progressive women of Italy, for, like the girl who 
 sought permission to go in and swim and was told : "Yes, 
 my dearest daughter, hang your clothes on a hickory limb, 
 but don't go near the water." The degree of law, without 
 the right to practise, grants something but withholds 
 much. 
 
 Australia has long treated her women citizens gen- 
 erously. There they are permitted to enter the colleges, 
 take degrees the same as male students and they are per- 
 mitted to practise in all of the courts. 
 
 Switzerland admits women as lawyers in her courts 
 and there are women actively engaged in the practise of 
 law in Zurich, Geneva, and some of the Cantons. 
 
34 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 In 1913 the first woman lawyer to break into the 
 courts of Portugal was Dr. Regina Quintelitza, and her 
 conduct of a case at Lisbon was so brilliant and success- 
 ful it was commented on by the press of the whole world. 
 
 Women may study law and take degrees in Rou- 
 mania, but they are denied the right of appearing as 
 counsel in the courts, the privilege having been expressly 
 denied to Madam Melie Nugratel in 1912. 
 
 Late in 1916 Nativedad Alemade, a young woman who 
 graduated from a New York law college, was admitted 
 to practise in all of the courts of the Philippine Islands. 
 Some time later she took a case on appeal to the highest 
 tribunal at Manila, wrote her own briefs, argued the 
 questions of law and fact and secured a judgment for 
 her clients, though opposed by some of the most brilliant 
 men at the Manila bar. 
 
 Women lawyers in England have had a long and 
 fierce fight for admission to practise in the courts. They 
 have won the right to study in all of the law colleges, 
 but the bar examinations are open to but one of the four 
 Inns of Court. The benches of the Inns have the right 
 and forbid women practising before the courts. In 1912 
 four Cambridge and Oxford students, Misses Bebb, Cos- 
 tello, Ingram and Nettlefold applied for examination to 
 the Law Society. They based their claim upon the Solic- 
 itors' Act of 1843, ^e governing statute regulating the 
 qualification and admission of solicitors. This Act con- 
 tains an interpretative clause, enacting inter alia "That 
 any word importing the masculine gender only shall 
 extend to and be taken to include the female." The 
 young women were denied the right of examination, the 
 Court of Appeal sustaining the refusal of the Law 
 Society. The sense of the decision in the matter was 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 35 
 
 that, as women never had been admitted they were there- 
 fore disqualified, the common law of custom overriding, 
 and the only road to admission, it was pointed out, was 
 recourse to Parliament for an enabling statute. 
 
 In 1913 Lord Wolmer sought to secure the enabling 
 statute for women solicitors, barristers and parlia- 
 mentary agents, but it found no support. Later in the 
 same year a one-clause bill was introduced by J. W. 
 Hills, with intent at the least time and consideration of 
 Parliament to enable women to become solicitors. There 
 developed much sentiment in favor of the proposition 
 and it seemed well on the way to successful passage 
 when the outbreak of the war halted all consideration of 
 the matter. 
 
 In the British dominions generally the disqualifica- 
 tions of women as practising lawyers has been removed. 
 They are received on the same footing as men in New 
 Zealand, the greater part of Australia, and in Canada. 
 That the self-sacrifice of all the women of Great Britain, 
 and their whole-hearted support of the government in 
 war time will secure for them the long-desired recogni- 
 tion in all branches of politics, commerce and the pro- 
 fessions is generally conceded, that it will also go farther 
 than any demonstration of militant tactics in winning for 
 women lawyers the right to practise in the courts, is a 
 foregone conclusion. 
 
 In the United States women have been admitted to 
 practise law in all of the States but Virginia and 
 Arkansas, and as the latter State has granted women 
 limited suffrage and many concessions in regard to their 
 property rights, the way is paved for women at the 
 Arkansas Bar. Late in 1916 Georgia passed the "Portia 
 
36 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Bill," which opened the courts of that State, after many 
 years of effort, to women lawyers. 
 
 Illinois has many women practising in her courts and 
 she has women doing splendid work in the children's 
 and morals' courts and as justices of the peace. The 
 Illinois Woman's Bar Association has a standing quite 
 equal to the State association of men lawyers. Boston 
 has an organization of women lawyers and there are other 
 organizations of women of the legal profession, but the 
 only association national in scope is the Woman 
 Lawyers' Association, which meets at the County 
 Lawyers' Association Rooms in New York City. It 
 counts among its members women lawyers in every State 
 where they practise, having a total membership of more 
 than two hundred members. The president for two terms 
 of the organization, Mrs. Olive Stott Gabriel, graduated 
 from the New York University law department. Mrs. 
 Gabriel is a native of Portland, Oregon, but has lived 
 long in New York City and has an international repu- 
 tation -among those who labor to save and secure young 
 girls who have drifted from the strait and narrow way 
 or who have been the victims of the white slave traffic. 
 
 Mrs. Gabriel has done much to gain for women 
 lawyers the recognition to which they are entitled. Dis- 
 cussing the aim of women lawyers to secure better legis- 
 lation for women and minors, Mrs. Gabriel says: 
 
 "Woman's chief interest is first and foremost of the 
 children. With primitive woman this interest centered 
 in her own offspring, but organized womanhood has 
 evolved or developed a spirit of universal motherhood, 
 and the women's clubs once criticized and condemned 
 as the menace of the home, has come to be recognized 
 as the agent of home extension as well as home making, 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 37 
 
 the friend and guardian of defenseless little ones and the 
 sworn ally of the public school system. Women lawyers 
 individually, and in their associations, seek untiringly for 
 laws to protect and defend the home, for clean milk for 
 the babies, home economics, sanitation, education, pure 
 drinking water and a better moral standard. They seek 
 civil service reform, opportunities for industrial train- 
 ing and knowledge of parliamentary law. We have a 
 close walk with nature, a better understanding of art, 
 literature and music, a wider outlook upon life, a broader 
 vision, deepened sympathies and an optimistic faith in 
 a future big with promise for women because of our legal 
 education and our opportunities to come in close contact 
 with everything worth while in the march of a progressive 
 civilization." 
 
 Miss Mary Wood and Miss Helen Varick Boswell, 
 both graduates of law colleges, preferred the field of 
 politics to the practise of law and both have stood high 
 in the political history of the nation. Miss Boswell 
 was put in charge, at national headquarters, of the 
 woman's division of the Republican party, in four suc- 
 cessive Presidential campaigns. With extreme tact and 
 ability she kept herself in touch with the political situa- 
 tion throughout the country, and, largely due to her legal 
 education, she had a grasp and understanding of the com- 
 plex questions presented the people to decide them in 
 their vote for governmental protection, and so was 
 enabled to direct the campaign in masterly fashion. Miss 
 Mary Wood was associated with Miss Boswell in 
 directing the woman's political aid in national campaigns 
 and as chairman of the legislative committee of the Gen- 
 eral Federation of Women's Clubs, she patiently pur- 
 sued a campaign of education of her sex in the laws 
 
38 MAIDS, WIVES t AND WIDOWS 
 
 most needed for the best interest of women and minors 
 throughout the United States. 
 
 Mrs. Jean Norris, who preceded Mrs. Gabriel as 
 president of the Woman Lawyers' Association, held place 
 as one of the best known women lawyers at the New 
 York Bar, and when Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt sought 
 to place the proper legal safeguards around the million 
 dollars left by Mrs. Frank Leslie to the cause of 
 woman suffrage, she employed Mrs. Norris to form a 
 corporation and to act as the legal adviser on all disburse- 
 ments, expenditures and investments from the fund. 
 
 Within a week after the suffrage amendment was 
 passed in New York, Miss Helen P. McCormick was 
 appointed to the post of Assistant District Attorney by 
 Mr. Harry Lewis, District Attorney of Kings County. 
 Thus for the first time, in 1917, a woman invaded the 
 judicial arm of the law in the East, though in the west 
 and middle western States women held office as Assistant 
 Prosecutors, Assistant United States District and States 
 Attorneys since 1912. Miss McCormick being a young 
 woman of unusually charming personality, educated in 
 broad fields and possessing ability in her profession to an 
 unusual degree, her appointment met with the high favor 
 and the commendation of the entire legal profession and 
 community. 
 
 Another early result of the granting of suffrage to 
 women in the State of New York was the appointment 
 by Governor Whitman of Mrs. John Francis Yawger 
 to the Board of Probation Officers. While Mrs. Yawger 
 did not come from the legal profession to the post, as the 
 wife of a well known member of the bar of New York 
 she had pursued with him the study of law in all its 
 branches and so her appointment came as the opportunity 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 39 
 
 to use her information not only of humanity, social con- 
 ditions and the rules of government, but her actual 
 knowledge and experience of the enforcement of law, 
 tempered with that mercy which betters the community 
 and the State. 
 
 It is no longer an unusual sight when women appear 
 in the courts of New York to argue their cases and it 
 would be noticeable if any day passed without women 
 lawyers and women law clerks going in and out of every 
 court room and every city department. There is no con- 
 flict between them and the men in the same profession, 
 rather is there a spirit of great kindness and a desire to 
 be of mutual aid and assistance. The matter of sex is 
 disregarded in noting the strength or weakness of the 
 case the woman represents. 
 
 Mary Elizabeth Lease, the lawyer, author, lecturer and 
 publicist, was long affiliated with the New York Bar. It 
 was Mrs. Lease who about eighteen eighty-six jarred 
 the attention of Kansas, and later of the whole nation, 
 by her meteoric career across the West in a blaze of 
 wonderful oratory advocating certain reforms. She had 
 studied law from small girlhood and was admitted to the 
 Bar of Kansas when she was twenty-one. At various 
 times she appeared in different States as associate counsel 
 in important cases, for she was everywhere conceded the 
 silver-tongued woman orator of America. She was one 
 of the early "homesteaders", and to her "home" meant 
 not merely a place of residence, but a sanctuary built 
 upon a foundation of toil and privation vesting in it 
 certain inalienable rights of the homesteader — so she 
 launched a campaign against excessive taxation and fore- 
 closure. It was largely due to her unceasing efforts an 
 abatement was brought about of the worst of the troubles 
 
40 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 of those who sought to maintain in security a permanent 
 roof tree in her native State of Kansas. It was she, too, 
 who was largely instrumental in bringing to public atten- 
 tion the theory of land as surety for loans and govern- 
 mental aid for homesteaders. It was Mrs. Lease who 
 was able, by reason of her legal education and training, 
 to sweep clean of lax systems the harbors of the State's 
 charges of excesses and abuse, and while at the head of 
 a board of investigators of the eleemosynary institutions 
 of Kansas, to which place she was appointed by the 
 Governor, she brought justice to children, the witless, the 
 dependent, and social pariahs, purging the public institu- 
 tions of the State from reproach. Following this work 
 she was called to the National Conference of Eleemosy- 
 nary Educators and was by that body presented with a 
 bronze medal of honor. Her work was lasting in Kansas 
 because always Mrs. Lease was the lawyer and she went 
 to the fountain head to secure proper reforms, and 
 secured from the law-making bodies the corrective legis- 
 lation needed to work out the best ends. 
 
 In addition to her legal work Mrs. Lease, on the 
 rostrum of almost every State, delivered her stirring 
 addresses: "Sinews of Suffrage," "The Constitution of 
 the Republic," "Statesmanship and Peace," "A Vision 
 and a Realization," "America," "As a Man Thinketh So 
 Is He," and "The Women of Shakespeare." 
 
 In 1917 Illinois had an Assistant Attorney-General, a 
 woman lawyer, and Arizona similarly honored a woman. 
 The same year Lita Belle Hibbin assumed the office of 
 District Attorney of Los Angeles, California, and 
 Annette Adams became Assistant United States District 
 Attorney for the northern district of the same State. 
 Western States all along the line placed women in pub- 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 41 
 
 He office where legal training was necessary, and, the 
 first woman appointed to responsible place having 
 demonstrated their efficiency there followed the appoint- 
 ment of women as Public Defenders, Justices of the 
 Peace, Assistant Judges, Judges of Children's Courts and 
 other judicial place and preferment. 
 
 Nellie Carlin, the dynamic and brilliant woman 
 lawyer of Chicago, was appointed in 191 5 to the post of 
 Public Guardian of Cook County and at no time during 
 the incumbency of her office was there less than a thou- 
 sand estates of minors in her care. 
 
 Judge Reah Whitehead made history for women as 
 Seattle, Washington's, woman judge. Miss Whitehead 
 in an interview about her work and the aspirations of 
 women to the bench and Bar said : "I have no ambition 
 higher than the justice's court. People seem to think that 
 when a woman steps into some public office she expects 
 to hurdle along and become President of the United 
 States. I'm not bothering my head about anything except 
 the business of my court. There is plenty of need and 
 plenty of work for women on the bench." It may be 
 noted, en passant, that Judge Whitehead heard and dis- 
 posed of five hundred and seventy criminal cases in the 
 first year she was a judge. She said "Women pioneers 
 in the law are not on the defensive. I don't believe that 
 the world should expect women who are on the bench, 
 or who are practising law, should produce great judges 
 or particularly brilliant lawyers for some time to come. 
 Occasionally there are brilliant men in these fields, but 
 you must remember that for years and years, and hun- 
 dreds of years, men have made the laws and men have 
 passed on the interpretation of man-made-laws. Until 
 women have an actual hand in the framing of laws, the 
 
42 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 point of view between men and women judges and men 
 and women lawyers will be different. There is no man's 
 world and woman's world as separate planets. We are 
 living in the same world. But the point of view of men 
 differs from that of women and until laws are framed 
 with a common idea of justice it is not likely that women 
 will produce the proportion of brilliant legal lights that 
 comes from the ranks of men." 
 
 As an instance of the inadvisability of forcing public 
 opinion by legislation may be cited the record of Mar- 
 garet Gardner, one of the most capable women lawyers 
 of the West. After her graduation in law from a Cali- 
 fornia University, but before her admission to the Bar, 
 she was appointed to the position of clerk in the office of 
 the City Prosecutor of Los Angeles. Her salary at the 
 beginning was very small and the appointment was looked 
 upon in the nature of an experiment. Within three 
 months, her salary was doubled because of the excellent 
 work she accomplished. When Miss Gardner was regu- 
 larly admitted to the Bar she was appointed Deputy 
 Public Prosecutor, serving under the terms and conditions 
 and the salary provided in the ordinance establishing the 
 office. No special legislation had been evoked to give her 
 the position of Deputy Prosecutor, the question of sex 
 was not raised, it was simply a matter of appointing to 
 the position a person qualified and having shown spe- 
 cial fitness. She made good. The precedent was thus 
 established of appointment to public office being made 
 on qualification and without reference to sex. In direct 
 contrast to this was a condition soon after established 
 by the special ordinance which was passed, CREATING 
 the office of WOMAN Deputy District Attorney of Los 
 Angeles. Under this abortive legislation there could be 
 
THE LAW FOR WOMEN 43 
 
 but one woman Assistant District Attorney in Los 
 Angeles. 
 
 Katherine S. Clark was a Justice of the Peace in Oak 
 Park, Illinois, and Mrs. John C. Duff occupied a similar 
 position in Chinook, Montana. In 1914 Mary Bartelmy 
 was raised from a minor court office in Chicago to the 
 position of associate judge of the Children's Court. 
 Chicago has what is known as "The Morals Court" for 
 the trial of women for violations of the law regulating 
 moral conduct, and Mrs. John Francis Yawger, the first 
 woman to serve on the Board of Probation of New 
 York, president of the Federation of Clubs of New York 
 City, and one of the best known, ablest and most pro- 
 gressive clubwomen in this country, visited this Moral's 
 Court, and when asked for an opinion from her personal 
 observation, said : "I spent a few weeks in Chicago, and 
 while there I visited the several courts, among them the 
 Morals Court, and there I saw a demonstration of 
 what a wonderful amount of good a woman assistant 
 judge in any court could do, for, the woman assistant 
 judge of the Morals Court in Chicago was doing a 
 remarkable work. It has made me glad to know women 
 are striving to be appointed as judges of Children's and 
 Domestic Relations Courts in New York. I truly hope 
 for the day when we will see New York wake up to the 
 necessity, for I made a short study of the work of a 
 woman as judge, and I had ample proof of the wonder- 
 ful amount of good a woman in such a position can 
 accomplish." 
 
 Irvin S. Cobb, the very successful writer, was at one 
 time a student of law in Paducah, Kentucky, his home 
 town, and found in court records, and in the romantic 
 and eccentric old Circuit Court judge of McCracken 
 
44 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 County, who he named in his stories "Judge Priest," 
 a never-ending source of inspiration for his best work. 
 When a number of women lawyers launched a woman 
 lawyer's magazine in New York, called "Oyez," which 
 had to be put aside after a short career, to await condi- 
 tions more advantageous and normal after war time, they 
 called on Mr. Cobb for his opinion of women in the 
 legal profession, and Mr. Cobb sent them the following: 
 "When the world is so full of half-portion lawyers 
 of the masculine gender we should welcome every full- 
 sized Portia who comes along. Personally I am for the 
 woman lawyer and I wouldn't object to a woman judge 
 once in a while. 
 
 "Irvin S. Cobb." 
 
 If a nation is strong and stable it is because it has 
 good laws and their fair and just enforcement. As 
 women forge ahead in every branch of commercial effort 
 and all of the professions, becoming every month and 
 every year a larger element in the life of the nation, 
 they should be given the greatest facility for securing 
 information in the laws of the land to assure their being 
 an aid to the Government. Along with the history of 
 the rise and fall of nations, the record of literature in 
 its many angles and colors as it has been built since the 
 day of Moses, and side by side with the geography of 
 the world, women of today and tomorrow ask and need 
 light on the laws which guide and control their daily 
 affairs. Through the confusing haze of technical phras- 
 ing the plain lines of law and equity must be more 
 clearly etched that all may read and understand. 
 
 Truly the best thought of a generation crystallizes in 
 a reform. 
 
Ill 
 
 WOMAN'S LEGAL STATUS 
 
 The power is vested in the legislatures of the several 
 States to make, ordain and establish all manner of laws, 
 statutes and ordinances not repugnant to the Constitution 
 and deemed for the best good and interest of the Com- 
 monwealth. It is by and through these law-making bodies 
 women must seek more uniform laws, for conflicting 
 legislation increases the ambiguity of their legal status 
 in the United States. In Colorado a woman has about 
 all of the rights accorded the male citizen, except jury 
 duty, while in Louisiana a woman, if she is married, 
 can only sue and be sued when authorized by her hus- 
 band, or the court of her domicile. In one State she 
 may contract and be held for her contractual obliga- 
 tions, while in the adjoining State she is often a rim- 
 less cipher in the purview of the law. By study and 
 comparison of the statutes of the several States may be 
 evolved such measures as will tend to establish a gen- 
 erally fair legal status for women, which would mean a 
 government of the people, for the people, and by the 
 people, along with the concession that women are 
 "people." 
 
 A woman may be divorced in one State and held to 
 be not divorced in another State, which means that chil- 
 dren may be legitimate in one State and deemed illegiti- 
 mate in another. 
 
 45 
 
46 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 In some of the States children of very tender years 
 are permitted to legally contract marriage, though in the 
 same States they would not be held competent to make 
 any other form of agreement. In States where the 
 greatest protection is given minors the age limit for 
 contracting marriage is the same as for any other form 
 of contract. 
 
 Equal guardianship of children is yielded mothers in 
 some of the States, joint guardianship in others, while 
 in certain States the guardianship falls to the mother 
 only if the father died without having delegated his 
 authority to another. 
 
 Surveying the varying laws of the forty-eight States, 
 women note the fact that in one place she may own 
 property and in another only with the by-your-leave of 
 her lord and master, that she can do certain things here 
 which she would be refused elsewhere, and as the hus- 
 band is generally the head of the marital domicile, mov- 
 ing it where he pleases, women chance much sacrifice 
 when they promise to love, honor and obey. 
 
 In any State where married women are not sui juris, 
 where they cannot sell, mortgage or otherwise hypothe- 
 cate their property, where they cannot have a voice in 
 the selection of the marital domicile and have the right 
 to assert choice of citizenship, where they cannot con- 
 tract and be held for their contractual obligations, they 
 are in a state of legal servitude, which, if more generally 
 understood, might reduce the business of the Marriage 
 License Bureaus. 
 
 The torch of woman's emancipation comes blazing 
 new ways and lighting dark corners. In its wake follows 
 legislation which gives to men and women the same 
 
WOMAN'S LEGAL STATUS 47 
 
 legal status, whether constituting a right, or privilege or 
 claim, the protection or defense of the party. 
 
 Legal status is of vital import to women. They 
 should know the laws of the State where they dwell, 
 which affect their personal and property rights, and 
 something of the legislation of other States, especially 
 where it affects labor conditions. When they bid fare- 
 well to school it should be with some idea of the rights 
 and obligations of citizens. They should know how to 
 make valid contracts and under what provisions of law 
 obligations may be enforced or abrogated. The legal 
 status of women can only be clearly and satisfactorily 
 established by uniform laws throughout the United 
 States and that great desideratum will be assured only 
 when women citizens themselves understand their legal 
 disabilities well enough to make concerted effort toward 
 betterment. Information will lead to interest, interest to 
 effort, and effort to uniformly fair and equal protection 
 of personal and property rights, wise safeguards for 
 working women, for destitute mothers and orphans, and 
 a better adjustment of social and morals laws and pen- 
 alties. 
 
 Careful and intelligent progress by women in the 
 shaping of such new laws as are intended to equalize 
 their status with the male citizen will best demonstrate 
 their right to citizenship with its resultant duties and 
 obligations. In the multiplicity of laws now cluttering 
 our Statute books a few more, unless direct, forceful 
 and pregnant with reform, will but add to confusion. In 
 191 3 more than two thousand bills were introduced in 
 the Wisconsin Legislature, of which eight hundred and 
 twenty-three were passed. Like the king who, with his 
 forty thousand men marched up a hill, many of those 
 
48 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 eight hundred and twenty-three bills will march down 
 again without results. The legislative bodies of other 
 States stagger session after session under useless loads. 
 Wherefore it would seem that a Bureau of Legislation, 
 with women fairly, represented, to which all bills 
 would have to be submitted for approval before introduc- 
 tion, is a dire need. 
 
 In the matter of American citizenship the Govern- 
 ment leaves nothing in doubt. The American woman who 
 marries an alien loses her American citizenship during 
 the existence of such marital relation. Even if the couple 
 live in this country, unless the husband becomes a natural- 
 ized American citizen, the American-born wife remains 
 from the moment of her marriage the subject of the 
 country of her alien husband. The Act of March 2, 
 1907, provides: "Sec. 3. — That any American woman 
 who marries a foreigner shall take the nationality of 
 her husband. At the termination of the marital relation 
 she may resume her American citizenship, if abroad by 
 registering as an American citizen, within one year, with 
 a Consul of the United States, or, if residing in the 
 United States, at the termination of the marital relation 
 by continuing to reside therein. 
 
 "Sec. 4 — That any foreign woman who acquires Amer- 
 ican citizenship by marriage with an American shall be 
 assumed to retain the same after the termination of the 
 marital relation if she continues to reside in the United 
 States unless she makes formal renunciation thereof 
 before a court having jurisdiction to naturalize aliens, 
 or, if she resides abroad she may retain her citizenship 
 by registering as such before a United States Consul 
 one year after the termination of the marital relation." 
 
 Within the first twenty-four hours after the vote had 
 
WOMAN'S LEGAL STATUS 49 
 
 been counted which assured suffrage to women in New 
 York by reason of the passage of the suffrage amend- 
 ment, there was started by someone the rumor that mar- 
 ried women would be unable to avail themselves of the 
 newly granted franchise, the marital disability disqualify- 
 ing them. There was consternation. The telephones of 
 every lawyer in New York were overtaxed with pleading 
 for information. Every male lawyer consulted who 
 chanced to be a married man, sidetracked any business 
 on which he was engaged to fully relieve the doubt 
 about the right of a married woman to vote, the same 
 as an unmarried woman, provided she had the same 
 qualification the law would require of a male voter. 
 Any bar in the way of the great mass of women who 
 had worked, almost without ceasing for years, to their 
 exercise of the vote, boded ill for the marital relation! 
 The misapprehension grew out of the words in the 
 suffrage amendment : "Provided, however, that a citizen 
 by marriage shall have been an inhabitant of the United 
 States for five years." That reads quite clearly, but the 
 meaning became twisted into a bar to all married 
 women. The law and the fact is that when a foreign 
 woman marries an American citizen she at once, ipso 
 facto, becomes an American citizen by reason of her 
 marriage, under the clause heretofore quoted of the Fed- 
 eral Act, but she could not at once exercise the right of 
 an American citizen by the vote, she would have to be a 
 resident of the United States for a period of five years, 
 after citizenship had been conferred by marriage to an 
 American, before she could exercise the right of voting. 
 Under the same Act the American woman married to an 
 alien husband, though continuously residing in the 
 
So MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 United States, could not avail herself of the right of 
 women to vote. 
 
 A striking illustration of the hardship which must 
 sometimes result when a woman is not permitted to 
 declare citizenship regardless of her husband, is that of 
 the late Inez Milholland Boissevain. This intensely 
 patriotic American girl married a Belgian gentleman, 
 and after a brief honeymoon they came to this country 
 to live. Miss Milholland had been a conspicuous figure 
 in the front rank of women lawyers prior to her mar- 
 riage, but on her return to America after her marriage 
 she found she had forfeited not only her American citi- 
 zenship, but by reason of that loss, her right to practise 
 law in the courts. On a trying campaign in the interest 
 of women, which took Mrs. Boissevain to the Pacific 
 Coast, she died. There have been few men with minds 
 more brilliant than this wonderful superwoman possessed, 
 and there never will live any man with a finer concep- 
 tion of real citizenship and its duties. While there was 
 much said at the time of Mrs. Boissevain's death of the 
 injustice done by the Government in its refusal to permit 
 her to retain her American citizenship, war conditions 
 immediately following showed the Act of 1907 to have 
 been a wise provision for the greatest good of the great- 
 est number. No one would have recognized the value 
 of the precaution more quickly than Mrs. Boissevain, or 
 would have seen more clearly the need for more restric- 
 tions against these houses divided against themselves by 
 fealty to husband or wife, and to country. 
 
 Even the most superficial examination of the com- 
 mon law and the statutes of the several States, shows 
 almost uniformly the complete guardianship of the wife 
 by her husband is recognized. It is the carrying out of 
 
WOMAN'S LEGAL STATUS 51 
 
 the contemplation of the law that the husband and wife 
 are one person, giving the husband wide power and 
 authority over the acts and estates of his wife, the merger 
 having submerged the personality of the wife in the 
 personality of the husband. While Legislatures have 
 attempted to protect the property of women after they 
 married there has been little done»to protect the personal 
 rights of the woman. The domicile of the husband is 
 the domicile of the wife. The citizenship of the hus- 
 band is the citizenship of the wife. The name of the 
 husband is the name of the wife. Hence, with customs 
 established so long (since when the mind of man run- 
 neth not to the contrary), giving certain advantages to 
 men, changes to equalize the status of woman must come 
 slowly and by the only safe road of the law. 
 
 From the legal viewpoint the status of women has 
 been gradually changing and bettering for women and 
 is a reflection of the civilizing and Christianizing effect 
 of understanding and toleration. Some idea of the 
 progress made by women in the past few decades may 
 be gained by a comparison of their status in States 
 where they may contract and be contracted with, sue 
 and be sued, and their condition in the time of Edward 
 III., as shown in the recently evoked statute under 
 which Sir Roger Casement was tried for high treason. 
 That statute defined "petty treason'' to be "lack of faith, 
 as when a vassal slays his lord, a priest, his bishop, or 
 a wife her husband." Women advanced by leaps and 
 bounds in the next three hundred years, for when Queen 
 Mary, the consort of William III., passed on to that 
 reward promised even to some crowned heads, her body 
 was accompanied from Whitehall to Westminster Abbey 
 by all the justices and sergeants of law attired in black 
 
52 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 silk gowns as mourning garb. Since that time justices in 
 England and elsewhere have worn the self-same style 
 of black silk gown as an insignia of the high office. 
 Women find some pleasure in this honor paid a woman, 
 even though a dead woman. 
 
 In the United States the legal status of women grows 
 yearly nearer that perfection of equality and freedom 
 which might be expected under our Constitution. 
 Women are coming to be regarded more generally in 
 the law as citizens who are taxed and who pay, who are 
 called upon to bear an even share of the nation's burdens 
 and who are not slackers, who utilize the equal educa- 
 tion and commercial opportunity granted them to do 
 their part of the day's work. 
 
 That woman suffrage aids in the advance and equali- 
 zation of the status of women there can be no doubt. 
 In States where suffrage is granted to women much has 
 been done in the way of wiping out the inequalities 
 between men and women in their property rights. Gov- 
 ernor Carlson of Colorado declared : "One of Colorado's 
 greatest assets is her voting population, which consists 
 of intelligent women as well as men. In all reforms the 
 women have taken an active part, and important move- 
 ments have often had their inception in small gather- 
 ings of public spirited women who were willing and able 
 to give time to forwarding questions which at first sight 
 men may have deemed unimportant." And John M. 
 Parker, of Louisiana, Vice-Presidential candidate of the 
 Progressive Party in 1916, a man who has led every 
 worth-while reform in his native State since the Civil 
 War, a man whose high ideals and honor has never been 
 impugned, pays to women a high tribute in the following 
 story he once wrote the author : 
 
WOMAN'S LEGAL STATUS S3 
 
 "My fondness for fishing and hunting has made me 
 many friends among those leading the simple life and 
 living close to nature. Their judgment is clearer and 
 better than those contaminated by commercial and 
 political life. 
 
 "One day, sitting on a log eating lunch, one of those 
 grizzled farmer friends, a splendid man, said: 'John, 
 this woman suffrage business has made me do a lot of 
 tall thinking. Nine times in ten my wife would vote 
 with me, the tenth time SHE would be right.' 
 
 "Woman's sense of right and wrong," concludes Mr. 
 Parker, "is much better than man's, her sense of per- 
 fect justice, much sounder." 
 
 There will always be women shielded in their 
 homes from every adverse wind of fortune, and these 
 women may not feel so keenly the need of legal status 
 as women who must work to live and those who have 
 great responsibilities thrust upon them. But it would 
 seem quite beyond question that the greatest good to 
 the greatest number of women demands that there be no 
 sex discrimination in the application of the law or the 
 status of women in the law. Whether a woman is mar- 
 ried or unmarried she should be fully able and have the 
 same capacity to acquire, hold, manage, control, use 
 and enjoy property as the male citizen, and married 
 women should be emancipated from all disability on 
 account of coverture. The whole trend of legislation 
 is toward granting to women this equality of citizen- 
 ship. The legal status of women in the United States 
 is seeking, and finding, the level of justice. 
 
IV 
 
 MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 
 
 The disabilities of married women seem incompat- 
 ible with the freedom enjoyed under our laws by men 
 and unmarried women. The single woman, over 
 twenty-one years of age, has nearly all of the rights 
 of the male. She may contract and be contracted with, 
 she may sue and can be sued, she buys and transfers 
 real property without the permission being required of 
 anyone, and she divests herself of these rights when she 
 becomes a wife, to a varying extent in the several States. 
 The condition in some of the States of a woman who 
 marries is but a step removed from that which existed 
 in the days of the feudal system when it was believed 
 the peace of the community could only be assured by 
 the dependence of the population on feudal superiors. 
 
 Legislatures seem to have legislated all around the 
 subjection of the wife to her husband. Property rights 
 approach an equal standard, but there has been little or 
 no change in the legal servitude created by the lack of 
 personal rights for married women. Girls are educated 
 with an idea of their marriage at or about the time of 
 their maturity — the age of reason. The moment a girl 
 enters the marriage contract she renounces that legal 
 freedom she should enjoy the more liberally on attain- 
 ing her majority, and she places her body and her 
 
 54 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 55 
 
 mental powers in a state of subjection approximating a 
 lease for life for her board and keep. 
 
 It is not the intent of the law or lawmakers to dis- 
 courage the marriage contract or to have women find 
 its terms obnoxious. It is the "noble institution" upon 
 which home and the Nation is safely builded. In some 
 of the States once the contract is made the parties to it 
 find great difficulty in securing a dissolution. One State, 
 South Carolina, makes no provision whatever for 
 divorce. Once married always married seems to be the 
 maxim of that unique State. The Legislatures of the 
 several States have not met the conditions created by 
 the strides of women in commerce and politics in new 
 marriage and divorce laws. The slowness to meet 
 changed conditions with new laws granting to women 
 greater personal freedom is responsible for the odious 
 "trial marriages," and other forms which seem to 
 guarantee to the woman in the arrangement the oppor- 
 tunity to free herself without the law's delays and at 
 her own option. It seems a very short step from rea- 
 sonable freedom of action to license. There is no 
 graver problem to the woman of the future than the 
 wisest direction of her efforts in newer and broader 
 legislation on marriage and divorce. 
 
 Whether it is agreed that marriages which have not 
 resulted in the perfect union sometimes described as 
 "originating in Heaven," should be dissolved with 
 greater ease, sans ceremonie, or that there should be 
 greater difficulty and more legal obstacles, there must 
 be unanimity of opinion that the rule should be uni- 
 form throughout the States. The age when the contract 
 of marriage may be entered should also be the same 
 in every State, and until the age is everywhere at 
 
5 6, MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 least the same as required to enter any other agree- 
 ment, there must follow too numerous suits on the 
 divorce dockets. So long as boys and girls, in a spirit 
 of jest, or over-novelized or over-photoplayed emotion, 
 can take on the serious obligations of the marriage con- 
 tract, there must follow spoiled lives and plenty of 
 business for lawyers who specialize in divorce cases. 
 Section 16 of the Domestic Relations Law of New 
 York, requires with the application for a license to wed, 
 the filing of the written consent of parents or guard- 
 ians if the male be less than twenty-one years of age 
 and the woman less than eighteen. This wise precau- 
 tion is nullified, however, if the couple has the fare to 
 some more obliging Gretna Green. Lex loci celebrati 
 contractus. There is not in any State any dictum or 
 authority permitting the dispute of contracts made 
 according to the forms of the State where the contract 
 was made. Hence the law of one State requiring a 
 woman to be not less than eighteen years of age when 
 she enters the marriage contract has no force, proprio 
 vigore, beyond the jurisdiction of that State, nor can the 
 marriage of children of tender years be disputed by 
 a State with a higher age limit if the marriage was con- 
 tracted according to the forms of law obtaining in the 
 State where the ceremony was performed. 
 
 It is inconceivable that civilized mothers anywhere 
 would sanction the statutory permission to marry at 
 an age less than maturity, and it is not too much to say 
 that where a girl may legally wed at twelve not one 
 woman in one hundred knows anything about law. 
 The awakening of women to the fact that their pro- 
 tective and defensive measures must come from the law- 
 making source of the State arouses them to consider 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE S7 
 
 cause and effect and to discriminate between good and 
 bad laws for women and minors. Whether they exer- 
 cise the right of suffrage or oppose that privilege, there 
 is started a revolution against legal influence which 
 destroys the home, a revolution, when based on legal 
 information, which must result in the purifying better- 
 ment of statutory enactments. 
 
 The dissemination of information from public 
 records should urge women to seek legislation restrain- 
 ing incompetents, mental and physical, from marrying. 
 Women of stunted mental growth should be safeguarded 
 from marrying or from becoming mothers, and it is 
 what may not be written or printed which is the strong- 
 est argument against permitting the physically and 
 mentally unfit from contributing to the jails and asylums 
 another generation. If you would know at first hand 
 something of the pathetic side of this question go down 
 to the foot of Seventieth street, Manhattan, and watch 
 those who go and come from the charities end of Black- 
 well's Island, and the city. There is a little ferry, a bit 
 of a water conveyance with a gilt band around the cap 
 of its pilot house, reading "The Bronx." Every 
 hour in the day a motley crowd surges on or off the 
 gang-plank. There are bareheaded women and women 
 with shawls tied over their hair, many foreigners and 
 the daughters of foreign women as well as Americans. 
 They are of all ages, classes and descriptions. All the 
 passengers, old and young, well dressed and well fed, 
 shabby and hungry, foreigner or native born, are going 
 or coming from Blackwell's, that slender ridge of land 
 in the East River which lies like a dead arm on the live 
 civic body of New York. The little ferry makes a brief 
 stop at the end of the Island where the Workhouse is 
 
58 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 located, but its terminus is the upper end of the Island, 
 which is under the administration of the Department 
 of Charities. There isn't any fuss and feather. It is 
 the water transport for those who go for a definite or 
 indefinite stay on the island, or who are returning from 
 that internment, with a sprinkling of "visitors" and 
 charitably disposed. Would-be passengers who race 
 down the incline waving for delay are not heeded. The 
 boat leaves when the crowd at hand has been stowed 
 aboard, and with almost as much regularity as the trains 
 at Grand Central Station. The little boat bobs over and 
 back, over and back, every hour in the day. Some- 
 times at one end of the deck is stacked pine boxes, and 
 the grewsome tenants will no longer be a care or an 
 expense to friends or the State. 
 
 The big, squat gray building at the end of the walk 
 from the landing is the Metropolitan Hospital, and up a 
 curving stairway to the second floor will bring you to 
 the baby wards. Behind the glass doors marked "Ward 
 C" there is more romance and tragedy than in any other 
 department of the city, or State of New York. Not- 
 withstanding the popular belief that the mothers cared 
 for here are unmarried, most of the unfortunates have 
 wedding rings, though there are the "other mothers," 
 too. Round the room at the front end of the big hall 
 are the babies in boxes arranged in tiers, all in nice 
 even rows and all scrupulously clean and quite scien- 
 tifically nurtured. Each box and each baby has a tag 
 with a number on it. But for this numbering system 
 there would be danger of some French or English 
 mother finding herself with a German baby, after awhile, 
 for very little infants look much alike and little Rus- 
 sians, Japanese, Americans, Mexicans, Swedes and Bra- 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 59 
 
 zilians might easily be tangled beyond future identifica- 
 tion. 
 
 "Want to see the babies?" the snowy haired nurse 
 asks, and then she uncovers the bits of humanity. "This 
 one," she declares, "is one of the prettiest babies ever 
 born here. Lovely blonde hair and blue eyes, hasn't 
 she? But she is a mute, poor little thing, and her 
 mother died when she was born." There are all kinds 
 in the boxes, chubby and weazened, bright-eyed and 
 red-lidded, pretty and ugly, and the sun which streams 
 through a west window bathes them with the same 
 gentle warmth it yields the happier placed babies who 
 are being sunned in luxurious carriages over in Central 
 Park. In the see-saw of life all things are possible for 
 even these little folks who start with less than nothing, 
 unless a heritage of physical defect weights them. 
 
 The mothers of these babies are, almost without 
 exception, women of inferior mentality. Many are very 
 young. There is recorded on the books of the depart- 
 ment dozens of cases where the mother was less than 
 sixteen, and even twelve and thirteen-year-old girl- 
 mothers are not infrequent. Also these very young 
 girls are almost without exception, sent afterward to 
 Randall's Island to protect them from further trouble, 
 and the medical examination shows they have the men- 
 tality of children of six or seven years. 
 
 When an older woman who sat nursing her baby was 
 told the infant was pretty she looked up with a snarl: 
 "Pretty! Huh! What's the use of that? You social 
 servicers and church dames come in here to look us 
 over same as you do the animals in the Zoo. My Gawd, 
 what do you know of trouble! It was hard enough 
 before, but next week I'm ieavin' here and how am I 
 
6o MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 goin' ter make a livin'? Who's goin' ter give work to 
 a woman luggin' a kid along." She noticed the glance 
 at her wedding ring. "Oh, I'm married all right. That's 
 the trouble. My man's got epilepsy and can't work. I 
 helped take care of him before the kid came, but how 
 can I work for both ? And it's goin' ter be a sickly kid, 
 too, can't you see? It had a fit yesterday. Trouble! 
 Trouble!" 
 
 It is a very rare occurrence that a woman of even 
 fair intelligence finds place in Ward C, and when she 
 does the record is almost sure to show that the father, 
 if anything is known of him, is crippled, in some pub- 
 lic institution, or should be. 
 
 Perhaps the most tragic part of the experience of 
 the women who are sheltered in Ward C is when they 
 are homeward bound. When they climb down to the 
 deck of the little ferry they seem fiever to have known 
 how to smile or to hope. Great fajltory walls, rows and 
 rows of tenements loom against Manhattan's sky-line, 
 a spiked fence to the outcast. Even in the churches 
 there is no time to halt the great work of general uplift 
 and reclamation, done by rule and rote of committees, 
 to seek and aid individual cases. That tide of despair- 
 ing mothers, clasping babies to rebellious hearts, isn't 
 an upgrade march to the peace and plenty which makes 
 good citizens. The history of many crimes and crim- 
 inals might be found to have a starting point here. 
 
 If the law would safeguard the unfit and raise the age 
 when the contract of marriage may be entered into, 
 there would be fewer criminals and fewer divorce 
 cases. 
 
 Marriage between whites and persons of negro 
 descent is forbidden in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 61 
 
 California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, 
 Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missis- 
 sippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, 
 Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vir- 
 ginia and West Virginia. 
 
 The States of Arizona, Oregon, North Carolina, and 
 South Carolina forbid the marriage of whites and 
 Indians, and Arizona, California, Mississippi, Utah and 
 Oregon forbid the marriage of whites and Chinese. 
 
 Minnesota and Connecticut prohibit the marriage of 
 epileptic women or an imbecile and the marriage of 
 lunatics is void in Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, 
 Nebraska, Louisiana and the District of Columbia. 
 
 Adultery is ground for absolute divorce in every 
 State except South Carolina. 
 
 A residence of one year is required in the following 
 States to permit the institution of divorce proceedings: 
 Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, 
 Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, 
 Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, 
 Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New Hamp- 
 shire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahama, Oregon, Pennsyl- 
 vania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, 
 Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 
 
 A residence of two years is required to permit the 
 filing of divorce action in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, 
 New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee 
 and Wisconsin. 
 
 A residence of three years or more is required by 
 Massachusetts, Connecticut and the District of 
 Columbia. 
 
 The States of Nevada and Idaho increase their float- 
 ing population by permitting citizens of six months to 
 
62 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 institute divorce proceedings in their courts. Residence, 
 however, must be actual, not constructive. 
 
 The law of Nevada which is deemed the Mecca for 
 so many unhappily wed, is an old one and has been in 
 effect since 1861. Under its terms for a long time it 
 was permitted men and women to stop a brief time in 
 the State, engage a residence, or an office, then leave 
 and only return at the end of six months for the pur- 
 pose of starting divorce proceedings. This abuse is no 
 longer permitted. If the applicant for divorce leaves the 
 State within the first six months of residence the length 
 of time of the absence, and the reason, must be fully 
 set up, and if it was anything but a necessary and brief 
 trip out of the State, it will be deemed to have inter- 
 fered with the required time limit wherein divorce 
 action is permitted a citizen. The law reads: 
 
 "Divorce from the bonds of matrimony may be 
 obtained by complaint under oath to the District Court 
 of the County in which the cause therefor shall have 
 accrued, or in which the defendant shall reside or be 
 found, or, in which the plaintiff shall have resided, if 
 the latter be either the County in which the parties 
 cohabited, or in which the plaintiff shall have resided 
 six months before the suit was commenced." 
 
 The reasons, or grounds, constituting an action for 
 divorce are so many it may be said about the only 
 requirement is a lawyer, but the allegation most fre- 
 quently made is "Desertion," or "Cruelty." These pleas 
 allow wide latitude. The decree becomes immediately 
 effective. Where personal service of the complaint may 
 be had on the defendant the action may be started with- 
 out any delays whatever. 
 
 In an article discussing the "Divorce Laws of 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 63 
 
 Nevada," Felice Cohn, a brilliant young woman lawyer, 
 the only member of the Bar of that State, says: "The 
 fact that it requires but six months to acquire a resi- 
 dence in the County in which the suit is brought, added 
 to the numerous statutory grounds on which a decree 
 may be obtained, has attracted the attention of residents 
 of other States and caused a great influx into Nevada. 
 Residence must be actual and bona fide for six months 
 preceding the filing of a complaint, not constructive, as 
 some believe. Absence out of the State during the 
 period indicated is closely scrutinized, and unless the 
 reasons are of the best a decree will not be granted. 
 Divorce may be obtained before the six months' resi- 
 dence has accrued if personal service be had on the 
 defendant in the State of Nevada, and no collusion 
 exists. Our laws are liberal, but more than that, they 
 are just, and humane, and it is to be regretted that more 
 States do not amend their laws to conform to Nevada's. 
 Better still would be a uniform divorce law in the United 
 States. New York sends more matrimonial misfits to 
 Nevada than any other State, and in most cases a 
 divorce could be obtained at home, but for the sake of 
 avoiding scandal the litigants come to Nevada to secure 
 a divorce on any other ground than New York's lone 
 ground — adultery. More than four-fifths of the decrees 
 granted yearly in Nevada are to residents of other 
 States who come here for relief denied them at home. 
 This is a condition which should not exist, and will not 
 exist, when laws are enacted in the different States giv- 
 ing adequate and prompt relief to deserving cases." 
 
 In Oregon, when the defendant is not in the State, 
 and personal service cannot be had, the law requires 
 service of the complaint on the District Attorney, who 
 
64 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 must defend the rights of the absentee. The party to 
 whom the decree is given is entitled to an undivided one- 
 third of the real property. The divorced persons are 
 prohibited from remarrying within six months after the 
 decree, and if they go to another State and remarry to 
 avoid the restriction, Oregon regards such marriage as 
 null within its boundaries. 
 
 The State of Louisiana has a long list of reasons 
 for a decree of what is known as "Separation from 
 Bed and Board," and if the parties to such decree have 
 not become reconciled within one year after it has been 
 granted, upon a simple motion showing the fact, the 
 decree becomes one of final and absolute divorce. The 
 woman who is party to such proceeding is forbidden to 
 remarry within nine months. When suit for divorce is 
 filed it must be on the ground of adultery, an attempt 
 upon the life of the applicant, or showing the defendant 
 has been convicted of a penal offense. In either suit for 
 separation, or suit for divorce, there must be personal 
 service on the defendant when possible, and where it 
 is not possible the court appoints an attorney to repre- 
 sent the absentee upon whom all papers are served and 
 who must defend the rights of the defendant. 
 
 Kent in his "Commentaries," vol. ii, p. 87, says of 
 marriage : 
 
 "No peculiar ceremonies are requisite by the com- 
 mon law to the valid celebration of the marriage. The 
 consent of the parties is all that is required; and as mar- 
 riage is said to be a contract jure gentium, that consent 
 is all that is required by natural or public law. If the 
 contract be made per verba de praesenti, and remain 
 without cohabitation, or if made per verba re futuro, and 
 be followed by consummation, it amounts to a valid mar- 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 6s 
 
 riage in the absence of all civil regulations to the con- 
 trary, and which the parties (being competent as to age 
 and consent) cannot dissolve, and is equally binding as if 
 made in facie ecclesiae. There is no recognition of eccle- 
 siastical authority in forming the connection, and it is 
 considered entirely in the light of a civil contract. This 
 is the doctrine of the common law, and also the common 
 law which governed marriages in England prior to the 
 Marriage Act of 26, George II." 
 
 Endless litigation has grown out of "Common Law 
 Marriages," those marriages where the parties deemed it 
 sufficient to agree between themselves to live as husband 
 and wife and without conforming to any religious or civil 
 ceremony. When questioned, the vital fact to be estab- 
 lished is the existence of a valid contract. By that 
 is meant that both parties to the agreement were able to 
 contract and did contract to hold each other as husband 
 and wife. Mere habitation for any length of time does 
 not make a common law marriage. In the case of the 
 State vs. Hansbrough, 181 Mo., p. 350, where the State 
 based a prosecution for bigamy on recognition of the 
 parties by their friends and acquaintances for twenty 
 years as husband and wife, it was held: It is not 
 sufficient to prove the contract of marriage to show 
 cohabitation and general reputation as husband and 
 wife, for "while a marriage at common law required 
 no particular form or ceremony to make it valid, enough 
 had to be said and done by the contracting parties to 
 make a contract." 
 
 When a minor, under the age specified by law when 
 marriage may be contracted, makes a common law 
 agreement of marriage in New York, a suit for nullity 
 may be brought by the minor, or by parents or guard- 
 
66 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 ians. Section 1744 of the Code of Civil Procedure of 
 New York reads: 
 
 "An action to annul a marriage on the ground that 
 one of the parties had not attained the age of legal con- 
 sent may be maintained by the infant, or by either parent 
 of the infant, or by the guardian of the infant's person, 
 or the court may allow the action to be maintained by 
 any person as the next friend of the infant." 
 
 Similar relief is granted in other States where a 
 minor contracts a common law marriage. But when 
 the judgment of annulment is rendered in the case of 
 minors and there are children of the marriage, much 
 hardship must follow. Justice Ordway, of the Supreme 
 Court of New York, filed the following memorandum in 
 the case of McCan vs. McCan to direct attention to this 
 matter of the children of common law marriages where 
 the contract is annulled : 
 
 "This is an action for the annulment of a marriage 
 on the ground that the plaintiff was only seventeen years 
 of age when she married the defendant, and left him 
 before reaching the age of eighteen years, and had not 
 cohabited with him since. There is one child born of 
 the marriage and still living. The plaintiff has offered 
 no evidence tending to show misconduct on the part of 
 the husband or any reason for the annulment of her 
 marriage beyond the facts already stated ; but she is not 
 required to do so, and any such evidence would prob- 
 ably be immaterial and irrelevant. I regret that I am 
 compelled to grant the decree asked for. It seems to 
 me unfortunate that the law of this State should per- 
 mit these "trial marriages" which may be annulled at 
 the mere request of either party if he or she was mar- 
 ried and left the other party before reaching the age 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 67 
 
 of eighteen years. In this case such a law is particularly 
 unfortunate in view of the fact that no power is given 
 to the court in an action for annulment of this kind 
 to make any provision for the care or support of chil- 
 dren of the marriage. It seems to me most desirable 
 that the Legislature should consider this matter and 
 amend the law so as to protect more fully the marriage 
 relation and family ties. Decision and interlocutory 
 judgment signed and filed." 
 
 It has been held that bona fide residence of either 
 husband or wife in a State gives jurisdiction in divorce 
 actions. But if a party goes to a jurisdiction, other than 
 that of his domicile, for the sole purpose of securing a 
 divorce, and his residence can be shown not to have been 
 bona fide, the jurisdiction had over the marriage in the 
 State of temporary residence, and the decree obtained 
 by such fraud, might be open to attack by the other 
 party. In general the domicile of the husband is the 
 domicile of the wife, but when living apart, and for the 
 purpose of establishing the right to sue for divorce, the 
 wife may acquire a domicile in a State where she goes 
 with the intent to make such place her home. But where 
 neither party has actual domicile within a State the 
 judgment of its courts in divorce proceedings must be 
 nugatory. 
 
 Nor can service of process on a defendant be had 
 in another State than where the action is brought. He 
 must be cited either through an attorney appointed to 
 represent his interests by the court, or he must be cited 
 by publication, which is deemed general public notice. 
 Notice by publication is accomplished by a form printed 
 in a public journal or posted as the Statute may direct, 
 usually being on the courthouse door. Notice by publi- 
 
68 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 cation is the last resort of the law to give the defendant 
 an opportunity to appear and defend his rights, and it is 
 never so safe in guarding the ultimate judgment from 
 attack as when personal service is shown in the record. 
 
 The great need in regard to divorce laws and the age 
 requirement for marriage contracts is that they be made 
 uniform in the United States. Of what avail is it to 
 complain of the New York law, which grants divorce 
 but for one proven cause, when domicile for six months 
 in Nevada will enable an aspirant for freedom to 
 secure a divorce for almost any real or fancied griev- 
 ance, plus court costs and a lawyer's fee? Of what 
 avail is it to complain that one State forbids the 
 re-marriage of divorcees before the expiration of a 
 specified time, when the seeker for new matrimonial 
 pastures may go to the next State, marry, and be within 
 the law. Or why regulate the age to contract marriage 
 in one State at twenty-one when it is but twelve in 
 another? There is a crazy patchwork of laws so long 
 as the dissolution of the marriage bond is ludicrously 
 easy after a six months' sojourn in one State, while in 
 another there is no provision made for divorce, and in 
 another the bond can be severed only for the gravest rea- 
 son when a girl not yet in her 'teens can contract mar- 
 riage in one State when the four surrounding States on 
 its boundaries place the limit at eighteen years. 
 
 The great difficulty in establishing uniform divorce 
 laws is to ascertain the precise extent of relief which 
 should be granted to apply to the infinite variety of cases 
 arising from the complicated grievances of society in 
 these modern times. Conditions in one class of society 
 would not be tolerated in another ; what is deemed free- 
 dom of action in one locality, freedom acquiesced in and 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 69 
 
 practised by husbands and wives generally, would be 
 deemed intolerable licentiousness in another locality. It 
 is manifestly a hard problem to adjust the divorce laws 
 of Nevada to the New England idea of the moral laws 
 and the sanctity of the marriage contract — as well try 
 to adjust the heathen habits of polygamy, incest and 
 cruelty to the Christian view of morality, law and jus- 
 tice. But one State should not make its jurisprudence 
 an instrument of injustice to the people of another State, 
 and there is injustice in the extremes of the law in the 
 family of States. 
 
 There is no branch of the law which should receive 
 from women so much attention as that which regulates 
 marriage and divorce — on the contract of marriage and 
 on the decree of divorce rests property rights, personal 
 rights and the legitimacy of children involved in the 
 maelstrom of marital misfits. If there is necessity for 
 appeal to the law for a dissolution of the marital bond 
 then every step should be taken carefully and every line 
 of the record should be doubly safeguarded. The dis- 
 regard of rules and laws and recordations has spelled 
 grim tragedies and created much litigation. An interest- 
 ing instance of this nature occurred in the succession of 
 Benton, a cause which occupied the courts of Louisiana 
 for a long period. The widow of Benton, who sought half 
 the estate of Benton under the Louisiana law of commu- 
 nity, and her daughter, who sought the remainder under 
 the law of forced heirship, had to unravel a veritable 
 skein of complexity purposely raised by Benton before 
 his death when he declared he would so tangle his estate 
 that, notwithstanding the provisions of Louisiana law, 
 the wife and daughter should never inherit any part of 
 his property. He allowed his property to be sold for 
 
70 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 taxes and bought by a friend with an understanding for 
 later adjustment. But Benton died before the time had 
 elapsed, which permits property sold at tax sale to be 
 redeemed by persons in interest, by the payment of cer- 
 tain penalties. He made a will and left the estate to 
 relatives and friends. He left acknowledgment of 
 debts and obligations which the widow disputed and 
 which, if allowed, would have consumed the estate. 
 Back and forth from the Parish Court of St. Tammany 
 to the Supreme Court of the State branch after branch 
 of the case was fought over. Then one day attorneys 
 for contestants produced a certified copy of a record 
 from the County Court in Vincennes, Indiana, which 
 showed that the divorce from a previous husband, 
 obtained by Mrs. Benton, some thirty years before, had 
 been made final three days after the record showed she 
 had married Benton in Cairo, Illinois. If that record 
 was correct then the estate would go to the collateral 
 relatives of Benton for the marriage claimed by his 
 alleged widow would have had no validity. With con- 
 siderable difficulty the lawyers for the widow Benton 
 secured an adjournment of the case for two weeks and 
 they hurried to Vincennes to find how a divorce secured 
 there bore date several days later than the date declared 
 by the widow Benton to be correct. The books kept by 
 the clerk of thirty years before were unearthed from the 
 archives beneath the ancient courthouse and there it was 
 found that all judgments rendered during the week were 
 entered on Saturday. The original decree which the 
 judge signed was then found and it was discovered that 
 the judgment of divorce between Mrs. Benton and her 
 former husband was rendered on Tuesday of a week, 
 it was not entered in the books of the clerk until Sat- 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 71 
 
 urday, and she had gone immediately after the decree 
 to Cairo, Illinois, where she married Benton on Thurs- 
 day of the same week. The copy which found its way 
 to New Orleans, and which had been made from the 
 records kept by the clerk in his once-a-week entries, was 
 incorrect. But that careless entry very nearly diverted 
 a large estate from a widow who would have been left 
 destitute when she was more than seventy years old, and 
 a daughter of the marriage, who had several children 
 of her own, would have been shown to be illegitimate. 
 Benton and his wife had quarreled seriously, and often, 
 and he believed he could prevent her from enjoying his 
 estate after his decease. He was not able to carry his 
 relentless antagonism beyond the grave, but the careless- 
 ness of a clerk, with no animosity whatever in the mat- 
 ter, very nearly accomplished Benton's design. 
 
 That marriage should be viewed by the parties to it 
 as a contract, that the duties and obligations of that con- 
 tract should be conscientiously carried out, and, in the 
 event of failure-to carry out the duties and obligations 
 there is created a right of action to dissolve the contract, 
 there seems generally full agreement. 
 
 Even the Koran recognized the divorce requirement. 
 Mohamet's regulation with respect to wives was : 
 
 "1. — Never marry idolatrous women unless they 
 will become believers. A mussulman servant is better 
 than an idolatrous woman, though of highest rank. 
 
 2. — They who having wives, wish to make a vow of 
 chastity, shall wait four months before they decide. 
 Wives shall conduct themselves toward their husbands 
 as their husbands conduct themselves toward them. 
 
 3. — You may separate yourself from your wife 
 twice; but if you divorce her a third time it must be 
 
72 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 forever. You must either keep her humanely or put her 
 away kindly. You are not permitted to keep anything 
 away from her you have given her. 
 
 4. — Good wives are obedient and attentive, even in 
 the absence of their husbands. If your wife is prudent 
 be careful not to have a quarrel with her; but if one 
 should happen let an arbiter be chosen, one from your 
 own family and one from hers. 
 
 5. — Take one wife, or two or three or four, but 
 never more. But if you doubt your ability to act equit- 
 ably toward several take only one. Give them a suit- 
 able dowry, take care of them, and speak to them always 
 like a friend. 
 
 6. — You are not permitted to inherit from your wife 
 against her will, nor to prevent her from marrying 
 another after her divorce in order to possess yourself 
 of her dower, unless she has been declared guilty of 
 some crime. When you choose to separate yourself 
 from your wife and take another, you must not, though 
 you have given her a talent at your marriage, take any- 
 thing from her. 
 
 7. — You are permitted to marry a slave, but it is 
 better that you do not do so." 
 
 Voltaire, speaking of the foregoing sections of the 
 Koran, said : "Here is sufficient to reconcile the woman 
 to Mohamet." 
 
 There are many sides and many views of the con- 
 tract of marriage, the responsibility of the contracting 
 parties, the obligation arising to the society in which we 
 live, property rights and the consequences to heirs. 
 Courts can only apply the laws as they are written. The 
 great need is of a general housecleaning of the statute 
 books, and in some instances amendments to State con- 
 
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 73 
 
 stitutions, expugning of a great accumulation of useless 
 and conflicting enactments, and uniform legislation 
 along certain lines so that full faith and credence may 
 be given by each State to the laws and judgments of 
 the courts of other States, without injustice or confu- 
 sion resulting. 
 
 Under existing conditions of our varied divorce and 
 marriage laws it would seem we have no right to exclaim 
 in horror at the record of certain Biblical characters who 
 maintained wives by the hundred — notably Mr. Solomon. 
 For there are States where it is so easy and inexpensive 
 to have the bond of matrimony legally removed, a man 
 bigamously inclined, or a woman with a hard taste to 
 please in husbands, may take, and dispose of a variety 
 of spouses, one at a time, quite legally. 
 
K 
 MOTHER'S PENSION 
 
 It has taken centuries of civilization to bring appre- 
 ciation of the obligation of the Government to children. 
 In the mad race for place, and power and position, crea- 
 tion has been too prone to overlook those who could be 
 kicked out of the way and whose voices were too puny 
 to reach the public. There was a time in England when 
 children were not provided with free education in any 
 form, and when the children of the very poor were sold 
 into service by a form of apprenticeship, which spelled 
 absolute bondage. Children of tender years, if con- 
 victed of stealing, were condemned to the extreme 
 penalty, which was public execution by hanging. It is 
 a matter of record that in this country, in 1829, there 
 was an uprising of citizens in Philadelphia, the City of 
 Brotherly Love, the city with which we connect our ven- 
 eration for the Liberty Bell, because the establishment 
 of free public schools was unpopular. There were 
 public demonstrations and the people declared it unfair 
 that one man should be taxed for the education of the 
 children of his neighbor. It was even argued from 
 public rostrums that schools run at public expense 
 would demoralize the community. Men, they said, would 
 grow lazy if not called on to work in order to pay for 
 the education of their offspring. They thought the plan 
 
 74 
 
MOTHER'S PENSION fi 
 
 proposed would undermine their high standards of vig- 
 orous citizenship. But a reasoning people, after a hun- 
 dred years of broadening legislation for the benefit of 
 children finds that child poverty is the chief cause of 
 mental defectives, delinquents and criminals, and the 
 most expensive waste which the taxpayer supports. 
 
 It required much investigation of statistics showing 
 the amount required to maintain destitute orphans in 
 public institutions before law-making solons viewed 
 kindly the proposition to give an appropriation to 
 destitute mothers so their children might be cared for 
 by them in their homes. Of course there were instances 
 of private purses being hung by political pull to public 
 coffers. Oliver Twists who dared to be hungry and 
 ask for "more," to complain if the soup was made with- 
 out meat, the bread was not buttered and the weak tea 
 was never diluted with sugar, were plainly incorrigible 
 and ungrateful. Their wailing brought punishment and 
 a new coat of whitewash for the institutional feeding 
 trough, perhaps a change of handle for the purse. 
 
 Then Judge Henry Niel went to the rescue of the 
 poor children. 
 
 The public has always been bored by pictures of 
 poverty when there are pleasanter things to view. 
 Orphans without estates to guard were easily lost in the 
 shuffle of affairs. The church with the strongest fol- 
 lowing secured the largest amount of appropriation and 
 the greatest number of charges to teach its particular 
 creed, in violation very often of the Constitutional pro- 
 hibition in certain States on the use of public money 
 in sectarian schools and institutions. Children were 
 consigned by courts to institutons without regard for 
 their religious belief, and the iron-clad rule of wor- 
 
76 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 ship in the institutional home had to be conformed to, 
 though many times it was like making a round peg to 
 fit in a square hole. Religion taught at a mother's knee 
 is something which cannot be beaten or ruled out of 
 children, somehow each brand of faith, first learned, 
 remains the only known road to salvation. Thus in 
 States where the appropriation for destitute children 
 went to institutions, instead of mothers, many things 
 were considered except the hearts, souls and personal 
 preferences of the children. 
 
 It was Illinois which enacted the first Mother's Pen- 
 sion law. It was the effort of Judge Henry Niel which 
 secured it. 
 
 In 191 1 Judge Neil became deeply interested 
 in the fact that the separation of mothers and children 
 by the courts so the children might be supported in 
 asylums by the State was one long record of heart 
 break. He noted the fact that ten dollars a month was 
 paid from the County Tax Fund of Illinois for each 
 child consigned by the courts to a public institution. 
 "Why is the money not paid the mother," asked Judge 
 Niel, "when it would allow her to support her children 
 at home?" But poor children being everybody's busi- 
 ness and everybody's business being nobody's business, 
 there was no answer to Judge Niel. Realizing that a 
 large percentage of the am6unt annually appropriated for 
 the care of destitute children went to pay high salaried 
 institutional employees, and that far more direct benefit 
 would be enjoyed by the children if they could remain 
 with their mothers, Judge Niel went to the Legislature 
 and asked an amendment to the Juvenile Court Act. 
 The amendment reading: 
 
 "If the parent or parents of such neglected child are 
 
MOTHER'S PENSION 77 
 
 poor and unable to care for such child, but are other- 
 wise proper guardians, and it is for the welfare of such 
 child that it remain at home, the court may enter an 
 order finding such facts and fixing the amount of money 
 necessary to enable the parent or parents to properly 
 care for such child, and thereupon it shall be the duty 
 of the County Board, through its County Agent or 
 otherwise, to pay to such agent or parents, at such times 
 as such order may designate, the amount so specified 
 for the care of such dependent or neglected child until 
 further order of the court." 
 
 This amendment was adopted and from the day of its 
 first application it was declared the real remedy. Otto 
 McFeely relates the following story of the first case 
 which came under the amendment to the Juvenile Court 
 law. "The law was to go into effect on July 1st, 191 1, 
 and on June 1st Judge Niel was in the Juvenile Court 
 of Chicago. A mother sat weeping inside the rail 
 which barred out the general public, in her arms she 
 held an infant and there were two children clinging to 
 her skirts. The court was about to take the children 
 away from her and to send them to some asylum as it 
 had been shown the mother was without means and 
 could not properly support them. The story drawn 
 from the woman showed she was well educated and 
 but ten months before she had lived in a comfortable 
 home and had been well provided for by her husband. 
 The couple had not only lived comfortably but they had 
 saved five hundred dollars towards a home they planned 
 to buy. Then the husband, an employee in a steel mill, 
 was killed. The woman had to pay the expense of the 
 funeral and with the remainder of her savings she 
 opened a small boarding house. The venture was not 
 
78 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 successful, her small fund was soon used, and she had 
 no further means to pay for food and shelter for her 
 children. Charity experts, the judge, and solicitous 
 lawyers, heard the woman's statement that she could get 
 sewing to do at home which would help keep her chil- 
 dren at home but it would not amount to enough to 
 meet the entire expense. It was obvious the individual 
 effort of the woman could not result in sufficient returns 
 to assure subsistence for three children and it was 
 agreed the only thing possible was the asylum. "I will 
 pay her expenses until July ist," offered Judge Niel, 
 "and then she can get the regular mother's pension." 
 The proposal was accepted and the woman was the first 
 to come under the provisions of the amendment to the 
 Juvenile Court law when it went into effect. For the 
 first time in the history of America the State stepped in 
 to preserve the family. Without the legal aid given a 
 family would have been disrupted when the only charge 
 lodged in the court to justify it was the crime of poverty. 
 
 A majority of the States now have the Mother's 
 Pension provision and in 1916 more than twelve million 
 dollars passed directly to mothers for the care of their 
 children who would otherwise have been placed in 
 charitable institutions. 
 
 It has been shown that it costs seventy-six per cent 
 of the amounts appropriated to institutions for the care 
 of children to administer the donation. Salaries, salaries 
 everywhere, while the orphans are in uniforms, brow- 
 beaten, underfed, treated in bunches, numbered and 
 tagged, filed in compartments from a to z, with all 
 spirit and pride, human emotion and ambition well 
 pressed out, each in turn comes to the great outside 
 not understanding and not understood. The spirit of 
 
MOTHER'S PENSION 79 
 
 initiative, the backbone of independence and the germ 
 of originality never thrived in an institution with the 
 label of charity on its machinery. There are good 
 mothers, bad mothers and indifferent mothers, but any 
 kind of mother is better than the institutional mother 
 created in charitable dispensaries — that heartless, soul- 
 less, fictional mother, with no soul to save and no heart 
 to respond, the embodiment of a system. 
 
 "It is cheapter to hire the mother to care for her 
 own children than to pay institutions," declared Judge 
 Niel, and he proved it by facts and figures, the result 
 of much patient study and investigation. "It is more 
 human. Children reared by their own mothers will make 
 good citizens. It is folly to spend money for public 
 schools and try to educate children who are not properly 
 fed, clothed and cared for. The physical and mental 
 defective, the incompetents and the criminal element are 
 largely produced by child poverty. Money paid for 
 mother's pensions to abolish child poverty returns in the 
 reduced cost of hospitals, police courts, jails and 
 asylums." 
 
 There have been repeated amendments to the amend- 
 ment first passed by the Illinois Legislature in 191 1 
 and the law as it now stands, reads: "A woman 
 whose husband is dead, or permanently disabled by 
 physical or mental infirmity, who has resided in the 
 County for three years and is the mother of a child 
 or children, may file an application for relief. If 
 after investigation and hearing the appeal is accepted 
 an allowance may be made to the mother not exceed- 
 ing fifteen dollars a month for one child under fourteen, 
 nor ten dollars a month for each of the other chil- 
 dren — in no event to exceed sixty dollars a month. Re- 
 
80 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 lief may be granted for a child over fourteen and under 
 sixteen if the child is ill or incapacitated for work, such 
 relief to cease with the removal of the incapacity." 
 
 "Before relief is granted the following facts must 
 be ascertained: that the children are living with their 
 mother, and that it is for their welfare that they re- 
 main with her; that without such relief the mother 
 would be required to work regularly away from home, 
 but that with it she can remain at home with her chil- 
 dren, except for such definite number of days each 
 week as may be specified in the order of court during 
 which she may perform such work as can be done with- 
 out sacrifice of health, or neglect of her home; that the 
 mother is a fit person to care for her children ; that she 
 is not the owner of real or personal property, except 
 household goods; that she is a citizen of tne country 
 or has made declaration of her intention to become a 
 citizen of the United States, and has resided for three 
 years in the county where such application is made and 
 is the mother of a child or children." 
 
 The law which provides for a fund out of which 
 destitute mothers are so pensioned they may keep their 
 children, does not attract that jealousy or prejudice to- 
 ward it which would naturally arise where the benefi- 
 ciary is a matter of choice or political preference, and 
 the apprehension is created that interests might be pro- 
 moted at the sacrifice of others whose interests should 
 be equally regarded. It is a law, once suggested, rallies 
 popular support. Antagonism to the new order of 
 things for poor children must show its selfish intent and 
 yield to the broader and kinder view. It is universally 
 understood to be one of the implied and necessary con- 
 
MOTHER'S PENSION 81 
 
 ditions upon which men enter into society and form 
 governments, that sacrifices must sometimes be required 
 of individuals for the general benefit of the community. 
 A law therefore enacted for the general good of the 
 community in taking indigent children from institutions 
 and providing for their care and education in their 
 homes, at no increase of cost to the public, even if it 
 cramp a few individual or institutional purses must be 
 deemed a public benefit calling for every good citizen's 
 support. 
 
 It is assuredly a grim tragedy when children are 
 born into or are reduced to poverty, and it is a still more 
 tragic sequence when they are deprived of such support 
 as their fathers could give, but children who have 
 neither parent and who face the only alternative care — 
 asylum life, are the most pathetic figures in human 
 affairs. They should not be forgotten while the fight 
 goes on for mothers needing financial support for the 
 care of their children. There should be nowhere in the 
 land an institution of any kind, character or description 
 not open to public inspection and not under the sur- 
 veillance of the State. The poorest and meanest and 
 most forlorn children are entitled to the State's care 
 and protection — they are the citizens of tomorrow, and 
 whether they are good citizens or bad citizens depends 
 upon the proportion of decent treatment, training, edu- 
 cation and happiness put into their making. 
 
 Property rights are so surrounded by legal regula- 
 tions every possible question arising out of or apper- 
 taining thereto may be found in cases precedent, and 
 lawyers have but to turn to their Codes and Digests to 
 be armed for the protection or defense of minors 
 
82 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 monetary interests. When there is an estate to admin- 
 ister the law provides for the surety and responsibility 
 of guardians and trustees and tutors and the gravest 
 care is taken for the protection of every right of the 
 minor. The moral obligation is just as great, though 
 perhaps not so recognized, in reference to the care of 
 the minds and bodies, the health and happiness and op- 
 portunities of destitute children. The mother's pension 
 may be deemed by some persons as mad generosity on 
 the part of legislative bodies, but if so it is the first 
 charge of extravagant disbursement for the destitute ever 
 made against our law makers. 
 
 The extent of supervision usually maintained by the 
 State over its public homes for destitute is an occasional 
 perfunctory official visit, and as an announcement pre- 
 cedes the call the inmates usually look happy and con- 
 tended because an extra ration has been provided to 
 assure it. Many States require that a married woman 
 be examined separate and apart from her husband in 
 the juggling of property and monetary matters, but no 
 State requires that the helpless and dependent charges 
 in public institutions be examined separately and apart 
 from institutional employees to find how well and how 
 humanely they are cared for and treated. 
 
 Amos Pinchot says of the mother's pension: 
 "Poverty is the curse of civilization. Child poverty is 
 the worst kind of poverty. If you strike a sapling with 
 an ax it may live but it will grow up a scarred tree. 
 K you give a child a bad start you cannot expect it to 
 become a strong man or woman or a first rate citizen. 
 That is why the mother's pension is fundamental. We 
 want to place American children beyond the necessity 
 
MOTHER'S PENSION 83 
 
 for charity — to have them grow up in their homes, to 
 have the State give the widowed mother enough money 
 to raise her family independent of the bounty of the 
 rich. This is nothing but hard common sense. It should 
 have been done a half century ago." 
 
VI 
 
 CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM WAGE 
 
 The fundamental reason for creating laws for the 
 regulation of work hours and days, wages and conditions 
 for women and minors in the field of labor, was the 
 prevalence in many localities of an entire disregard of 
 the health, morals and mentality of the workers. Within 
 a half dozen years there has been secured the Federal 
 Workmen's Compensation Law for the Government's half 
 million employees, uniform laws for accident and disease 
 reporting, one day of rest in seven for thousands of 
 workers, co-operation in the establishment of public em- 
 ployment bureaus, basic educational work through con- 
 ferences and publications, industrial commissions, com- 
 missions in eight States for official investigation of work- 
 men's health insurance and a well sustained campaign to 
 maintain protective standards for labor in war time. 
 
 On September ist, 1916, President Wilson signed the 
 Federal Child Labor Bill, which was the first effort of 
 the National Government to protect the children of this 
 country from labor conditions which were a growing 
 menace to the citizens of tomorrow. The bill must with- 
 stand much attack, but it will remain an everlasting mon- 
 ument to the better element in the nature of our highest 
 law makers. It is the answer to the plea of generations 
 of mothers for child protection. It cannot, unfortunately, 
 
 84 
 
CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM WAGE 85 
 
 be retroactive, and there is a standing army, a living 
 reproach, of crippled and maimed, of mentally defective 
 and weazened incompetents, the harvest of child slavery. 
 
 It is the fulfilment of a plain duty when the Federal 
 Government reaches out a protective arm to the over- 
 worked, underfed army of infants whose puny frames 
 and untutored minds waited helplessly for legal aid. No 
 matter whether the Child Labor Law be the result of 
 sympathy for children, regard for the strength of the 
 next generation or aversion to money-mad taskmasters, 
 the result is one hundred per cent good. It was once 
 said that "The Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because 
 it gave pain to the bears, but because it gave pleasure 
 to the spectators." Nevertheless the protection the Puri- 
 tans felt called upon to give was good — for the bears. 
 
 The general provisions of the Child Labor Law are: 
 
 No producer, manufacturer or dealer shall ship in 
 interstate or foreign commerce any article or commodity, 
 the product of any mine or quarry situated in the United 
 States, in which within thirty days prior to the time of 
 removal children under the age of sixteen years have 
 been permitted to work, or any article or commodity 
 the product of any mill, cannery, workshop, or factory 
 in the United States, in which within thirty days prior 
 to the removal of such product children under the age 
 of fourteen years have been permitted to work, or, where 
 children between fourteen and sixteen years have been 
 permitted to work for more than eight hours in any day, 
 more than six days in the week, or after the hours of 
 seven in the evening or before six o'clock in the morning. 
 
 That this Federal Law will be subject to the attack 
 of those who have profited by child slavery is quite sure. 
 Such attacks will be based on the claim that it contra- 
 
86 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 venes the promise that there shall be "no restraint of 
 trade," that it is an interference with free interstate 
 commerce and in violation of the fourteenth amendment : 
 "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall 
 abridge the privileges and immunities of the citizens of 
 the United States." But a law which is for the protec- 
 tion or betterment of the public health, peace and wel- 
 fare, or reasonably tends to that end, is a police regula- 
 tion for the common good which does not conflict with 
 anything in the law or the Constitution. A very good 
 definition of "police power" has been given by Prof. 
 Tucker in 8 Cy., p. 863, reading "Police power is the 
 name given to the inherent sovereignty which it is the 
 right and duty of the government or its agents to exer- 
 cise whenever public policy, in a broad sense, demands 
 for the benefit of society at large regulations to guard 
 its morals, safety, health, order, or to insure in any re- 
 spect such economic conditions as an advancing civiliza- 
 tion of a highly complex character requires." 
 
 While many of the States had some form of regula- 
 tion of hours and conditions of labor for women and 
 minors the Federal Bill was the sweeping relief required. 
 In the beginning of 1916 twenty-eight States allowed 
 minors to work more than eight hours a day in mer- 
 cantile and other establishments, and nineteen of the 
 twenty-eight States permitted minors to work at night, 
 Husky men found protection in labor unions, men of full 
 stature, strength and mentality organized and stood to- 
 gether for their common good, while infants with no 
 option but to obey, had not the legal measures between 
 them and their taskmasters to which their helplessness 
 and future importance entitled them. Twenty-eight 
 States had half-hearted prohibition of street work for 
 
CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM WAGE 87 
 
 children, but twenty of the States made not even a 
 pretense of forbidding children to loiter on public high- 
 ways as mendicants and beggars or as rope walkers and 
 other penny producing stunts to please gaping crowds of 
 the curious. Twenty-two States asked no medical ex- 
 amination of children before granting them work per- 
 mits, and so puny minors got into the harness of factory 
 or mill or sweatshop, forced to take the long chance of 
 surviving to maturity. Girls who chanced to be weak or 
 defective, if they survived, were predestined to stunted 
 growth, narrow chests, weazened frames, and as future 
 mothers to become the feeders of institutions for the 
 feeble minded, the mentally defective, or the jails and 
 hospitals. Thirty-two of the States had educational re- 
 quirements lower than the fifth grade, and so children, 
 barred by long hours of work from the full education 
 which would help make them good citizens, were predes- 
 tined to get wrong ideas of politics and economics, to 
 have the milk of human kindness which feeds brotherly 
 love dry in their veins. Then when the human product 
 of bad labor conditions blundered into law breaking the 
 same power which did not protect their youth and give 
 them the chance of opportunity, was ready to exact the 
 full penalty. 
 
 Between July 1st and September 1st, 1916, the Indus- 
 trial Commission of New York found six hundred and 
 ninety-four children under fourteen years of age work- 
 ing in factories and mercantile establishments and tene- 
 ment apartment shops in one district of the City of 
 New York. The inspectors found seven hundred and 
 sixty-nine children working without the legally required 
 certificates from the Board of Health. Two hundred and 
 ten children were working longer hours than permitted 
 
88 MIADS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 under the labor law, and in one district seven hundred 
 and twenty-seven women were working longer than fifty- 
 four hours a week. Many arrests and convictions fol- 
 lowed the report of the Industrial Commission of the 
 violations discovered, and it is probable that particular 
 district of New York City will keep within the law until 
 the lesson taught is forgotten. But the conditions un- 
 covered in that one district may exist in many other dis- 
 tricts. The owners of mercantile establishments, fac- 
 tories and workshops must be educated up to spending 
 more time in observing and less time in the finding of 
 ways to evade the law, more time in considering sanitary 
 and social betterment in their work rooms and less time 
 in the observance of their favorite commandment, Thou 
 shalt not be found out. The Autocracy of Greed goes 
 on. The souls and bodies of women and children are 
 weighed in the scale against perishable fruit and vegeta- 
 bles and changing styles. It will be well when humanity 
 believes that the firm, or corporation, or individual, un- 
 dermining the health of employees by preventable con- 
 ditions, sending their souls along the pitfalls of Poverty's 
 Highway to Kingdom Come, commits a felony in the 
 sight of High Heaven, and it will be better when we 
 commence the punishing for the offense by man-made 
 laws while civilization goes marching on. 
 
 The first American Minimum Wage Commission was 
 created by the law of Massachusetts and it was empow- 
 ered to investigate and report on the advisability of 
 establishing a permanent wage commission. That was 
 in 191 1. In 1912 Minnesota and Wisconsin followed 
 with similar commissions. In 1912 Massachusetts 
 created the first permanent Minimum Wage Commission. 
 In 1913 eight States adopted minimum wage laws : Cal- 
 
CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM WAGE 89 
 
 ifornia, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, 
 Minnesota and Wisconsin. 
 
 The minimum wage, it was decided, must be a living 
 wage, and just what constituted a living wage was the 
 subject of much argument. The National Conference of 
 Charities recommended the following definition: "The 
 monetary equivalent of a living wage varies according 
 to local conditions but must include enough to secure 
 the elements of a normal standard of living: to provide 
 for education and recreation ; to care for immature mem- 
 bers of the family during periods of sickness; and to 
 permit of reasonable saving for old age." 
 
 There was a protest against the inclusion of men in 
 the minimum wage provision and the American Federa- 
 tion of Labor in the report of its Executive Council to 
 the convention in 1913, said: 
 
 "It will be observed that the movement for a min- 
 imum wage for women and minors has gained consider- 
 able headway in our country and that sentiment in favor 
 of a living wage is rapidly crystallizing. That this growth 
 of sentiment among the people is due to the activities of 
 the organized wage earners there can be no doubt. The 
 organized labor movement has insisted from the begin- 
 ning upon the establishment of a living wage as a min- 
 imum, and it has through the force of organized effort, 
 succeeded in establishing minimum wages and minimum 
 hours of labor far superior to those prescribed by the 
 wage boards of other countries. 
 
 There is a marked difference, however, between the 
 laws of other countries and the laws enacted, or pro- 
 posed, in various States in our country. In England 
 and in Australia authority is vested in wage boards to 
 fix minimum wages for men workers as well as women 
 
po MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 and minors; whereas in America these laws relate ex- 
 clusively to women workers and to minors. If it were 
 proposed in this country to vest authority in any tribunal 
 to fix by law wages for men, Labor would protest by 
 every means in its power. Through organization the 
 wages of men can and will be maintained at a higher 
 minimum than they would be if fixed by legal enactment. 
 
 But there is a far more significant ground for oppos- 
 ing the establishment of a minimum wage for men. The 
 principle that organization is the most potent means 
 for a shorter work day, and for a higher standard of 
 wages, applies to women workers as well as men. But 
 the fact must be recognized that the organization of 
 women workers constitutes a separate and more difficult 
 problem. Women do not organize as readily or as stably 
 as men. They are, therefore, more easily exploited. They 
 certainly are in a greater measure than men entitled to 
 the concern of society. A fair standard of wage, a living 
 wage, for all employed in an industry, should be the 
 first consideration in industry. None are more entitled 
 to that standard than the women and minors. An indus- 
 try which denies to all its workers, and especially to its 
 women and minors who are toilers, a living wage, is 
 unfit and should not be permitted to exist." 
 
 Women in the industrial field are more frequently 
 transients than placed for a life time, and because of the 
 failure of intent to remain a fixture in the business world 
 women fail to feel the need of organization, and too fre- 
 quently they fail to show the interest in the women who 
 remain workers, and in those who are to come. These 
 facts constitute in part the reason women in many locali- 
 ties and industries were not paid a wage sufficient to 
 
CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM WAGE 91 
 
 maintain them in health and to provide reasonable com- 
 fort. 
 
 The first nine States to adopt minimum wage laws 
 gave to the administrative bodies different appellations. 
 In Massachusetts, Minnesota and Nebraska the power is 
 lodged in "The Minimum Wage Commission." In Cal- 
 ifornia, Oregon and Washington, where broader powers 
 were conferred than the regulation of wages alone, the 
 title of "Industrial Welfare Commission" was given. 
 Colorado has "The State Wage Board," Wisconsin "The 
 Industrial Commission," while in Utah the Commissioner 
 of Labor and Statistics has the power to enforce the 
 minimum wage provided by the State law 
 
 In Colorado the law extends only to mercantile and 
 manufacturing establishments, laundries, hotels, restau- 
 rants and telegraph and telephone offices. In Massachu- 
 setts, Nebraska and Colorado the Commission is given 
 power to investigate any and all industries where the 
 women and minors are not receiving a living wage. 
 
 The labor and minimum wage laws apply to females 
 and to male minors under eighteen in all States except 
 Minnesota and Wisconsin where the age limit for males 
 is twenty-one, and in Utah where the Act applies only to 
 females. The commissions in the States having regula- 
 tion of labor and wages are required to investigate the 
 wage rate and conditions of work in Washington, the 
 wage rate and condition and hours of work in California 
 and Oregon and Wisconsin. 
 
 The Commission in each State is empowered to make 
 special exemptions for defectives, old, crippled and other- 
 wise incapacitated. This applies only to women, except 
 in Wisconsin, where "minors" are included. 
 
 While Massachusetts made first provision for a min- 
 
92 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 imum wage to women it was Oregon in 1913 which first 
 organized its commission and issued the first American 
 minimum wage order on October 4th, 191 3, it read: 
 
 "No girl under the age of eighteen years shall be 
 employed in any manufacturing plant or mercantile es- 
 tablishment, millinery, dressmaking or hair dressing shop, 
 laundry, hotel or restaurant, telegraph or telephone estab- 
 lishment or office in the State of Oregon for more than 
 eight hours and twenty minutes in any one day or more 
 than fifty hours in any one week. 
 
 (2) No girl under the age of eighteen shall be em- 
 ployed in any of the above named occupations after the 
 hour of six o'clock p. m. 
 
 (3) A minimum wage of one dollar a day shall be 
 established for girls between the age of sixteen and 
 eighteen years working in the above mentioned occupa- 
 tions except as otherwise arranged in the cases of ap- 
 prentices and learners." 
 
 Many additions and extensions of the first order 
 issued by the Oregon Industrial Welfare Commission 
 have been made and women and minors are now rather 
 fully protected in that State. 
 
 The first minimum wage legislation anywhere was 
 the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, passed 
 by the New Zealand Parliament in 1894. It was mainly 
 intended to aid in the settlement of trade disputes, but 
 it was the first move toward a foundation upon which 
 has been reared the minimum legislation in Australasia, 
 England and America. When it was first put into effect 
 in Victoria it was freely predicted that all industries 
 would be driven out of the country, but the effect has 
 been to increase and equalize the pay of those classes 
 of labor least able to obtain fair conditions of employ- 
 
CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM WAGE 93 
 
 ment through their unassisted efforts. Prof. M. B. Ham- 
 mond, of the Ohio State University, who has made a 
 thorough study of labor conditions abroad and in this 
 country, says of the minimum wage legislation: "Indus- 
 tries have not been paralyzed nor driven from the State 
 as was freely predicted by the extreme opponents of 
 the wages board plan." Taking Victoria as an instance, 
 he says: "In 1896, when the factories Act was passed 
 which contained the wages board provisions, there were 
 in Victoria 3,370 factories. In 1910 there were 5,362. 
 In 1896 the number of workers in factories was 40,814; 
 in 1910 it was 83,053." 
 
 The following list of questions concerning the opera- 
 tion of the minimum wage law in England was sent by 
 the New York Factory Investigating Commission to the 
 Board of Trade of London: 
 
 "First. Does the minimum wage become the maxi- 
 mum? 
 
 "Second. How far are the unfit displaced by such 
 legislation ? 
 
 "Third. Do such laws tend to drive industry from 
 the State? 
 
 "Fourth. Do they result in decreasing efficiency ?" 
 
 The answers were as follows: 
 
 "(1) The board are not aware of any general ten- 
 dency among employers to reduce to the minimum al- 
 lowed by law in cases where higher rates have been paid 
 in the past. On the contrary, there is reason to suppose 
 that the better organization of the workers, which has 
 been observed to have taken place in the trades where 
 the act has applied, tends to prevent the legal minimum 
 rate from becoming in fact the maximum. 
 
 "(2) So far as the board are aware, there has been 
 
94 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 no general dismissal of workers as the result of the fix- 
 ing of minimum rates, and even where workers have been 
 dismissed on this account it has frequently been found 
 that this has been due to misunderstanding of the act 
 and not to its actual provisions. 
 
 "(3) The board are not aware of any tendency on 
 the part of manufacturers to transfer their business to 
 foreign countries, or, where lower rates have been fixed 
 for Ireland than for Great Britain, to transfer their busi- 
 ness from Great Britain to Ireland. 
 
 "(4) There is no evidence in the possession of the 
 board to show that the efficiency of the workers has been 
 reduced as the result of the fixing of a minimum rate of 
 wages. On the contrary, there are indications that in 
 many cases of efficiency of the workers has been in- 
 creased. The fixing of minimum rates has also resulted 
 in the better organization among employers and in im- 
 provements in the equipment and organization of their 
 factories." 
 
 In this and in foreign countries special study and 
 investigation have been devoted to the effect of long 
 hours, and inadequate wages, upon the health and morals 
 of women. In the case of Muller vs. The State of 
 Oregon the court held: 
 
 "That woman's physical structure and the perform- 
 ance of her maternal functions place her at a disadvan- 
 tage in the struggle for subsistence is obvious. This is 
 especially true when the burdens of motherhood are upon 
 her. Even when they are not, by abundant testimony 
 of the medical fraternity, continuance for a long time 
 upon her feet, repeating this from day to day, tends to 
 injurious effects upon the body, and as healthy mothers 
 are essential to vigorous offspring, the physical well 
 
CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM WAGE 95 
 
 being of woman becomes an object of public interest and 
 care in order to preserve the strength and vigor of the 
 race. . . . That her physical structure and a proper 
 discharge of her maternal functions — having in view not 
 merely her own health, but the well being of the race — 
 justify legislation to protect her from the greed as well 
 as the passions of men. The limitations which this 
 statute puts upon her contractual powers, upon her 
 right to agree with her employer as to the time she shall 
 labor, are not imposed solely for her benefit, but also 
 largely for the benefit of all. This difference justifies 
 a difference of legislation for women and upholds that 
 which is designed to compensate for some of the burdens 
 which rest upon her." 
 
 In 1898 the Supreme Court of Illinois declared in- 
 valid a statute which limited the work of women in 
 factories to ten hours a day declaring there was "no 
 fair and just and reasonable connection between their 
 work and the public health, safety and welfare." How- 
 ever, this same court reversed itself in a most humane 
 enveloping opinion in 1909 which acknowledged the rela- 
 tion of the Act and the public health, safety and welfare, 
 the organ of the court declaring "What we know as 
 men we cannot profess to be ignorant of as judges." 
 
 In mid-April, 1917, the test case taken from Oregon 
 to the United States Supreme Court affecting the con- 
 stitutionality of the Minimum Wage Act, resulted in the 
 court affirming the decision of the Oregon court which 
 had declared in favor of the Act. Eleven States which 
 had passed similar legislation were thus maintained in 
 their position by the highest court of the land. 
 
 In 1916 there were five thousand children working 
 in the beet fields of Colorado, sixteen thousand children 
 
9 6 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 in the agricultural fields of Iowa, and on the farms and 
 cotton plantations of North Carolina there were one hun- 
 dred and twenty thousand children laboring. When such 
 numbers of minors are engaged in one line of effort alone 
 it shows the serious need for governmental protection. The 
 consideration of labor by capital is through eyes blurred 
 with columns of figures representing producing labor at 
 minimum cost. But public conscience has aroused and 
 demands legal protection for women and children to pre- 
 clude their enslavement at the price of very poor board 
 and keep. Georgia has enacted a measure declaring "No 
 boss in any factory shall inflict corporal punishment on 
 minor laborers." States north, south, east and west have 
 passed laws prohibiting minors from working in places 
 dangerous to life, limbs or morals. Louisiana, which had 
 the highest rate of illiteracy in the United States, passed 
 a compulsory education law in 1914. These laws are 
 useful and salutary and there is nothing in their terms or 
 effect inconsistent with any principle of humane consid- 
 eration or legitimate commercial ambition. They are 
 provisions of law capable of being executed in accord- 
 ance with the legislation intent, and they constitute a 
 heritage of physical and mental well being for the citizens 
 of tomorrow. 
 
VII 
 
 CONTRACTS AND FORMS. SIMPLE LEGAL 
 
 AID 
 
 If all contracts, express or implied, were carried into 
 effect there would be so little need of courts and lawyers 
 the judiciary and the profession would be depleted al- 
 most to extinction. 
 
 A contract is the mutual covenant or agreement be- 
 tween two or more persons for the doing or not doing 
 of some particular thing. 
 
 There are four necessary requisites to a valid con- 
 tract: first, the parties must be capable of contracting; 
 second, their consent must be legally given; third, there 
 must be a certain object to be carried out by the agree- 
 ment, and fourth the purpose must be a lawful one. 
 
 All persons have the capacity to contract except those 
 whose disability is specifically expressed by law, as, for 
 instance, minors, persons of insane mind, and, in some 
 of the States, married women. 
 
 The taint of fraud, or where the agreement is founded 
 upon error or accident or would work injury, may in- 
 validate a contract by appeal to the courts. 
 
 There are written and verbal contracts, each is bind- 
 ing on the parties if proven. Written contracts should, 
 for greater safety, be sworn to before a Notary Public. 
 
 A simple form to attach to any form of contract, 
 
 97 
 
98 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 when presented by the parties and sworn to before a 
 Notary, who adds his signature and seal, is as follows: 
 
 State of 
 
 County of 
 
 City of 
 
 Before me , a Notary Public, duly quali- 
 fied and commissioned by the State of , per- 
 sonally came and appeared and , 
 
 who, after being duly sworn by me depose and say they 
 are the persons who have signed the contract to which 
 this affidavit is attached, and they are by me personally 
 known to be the persons who have signed same. 
 
 Signed and sworn to before me this day 
 
 of 
 
 Notary's Signature and Seal. 
 
 Contracts which have to do in any way with real 
 estate should always be in writing. Such contracts 
 should always be signed before witnesses and in dupli- 
 cate so that both parties to the contract may have a copy, 
 as things which do not exist, and things which cannot 
 be proved, are the same in law. 
 
 Where several persons join together in an obligation 
 to do a certain thing, if the contract reads "we jointly 
 and severally" then the parties either jointly or severally 
 may be made to comply, but if the contract merely men- 
 tions that Tom, Dick and Harry agree to do a certain 
 thing, then they are called on jointly to fulfil the obliga- 
 tion and no one of them can be held individually for 
 the whole. 
 
 A simple form of contract which may be, by filling in 
 the details, made to cover almost any condition of busi- 
 ness agreement follows: 
 
 This contract entered into this day of. , 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 99 
 
 nineteen hundred and between , party 
 
 of the first part, and party of the second part, 
 
 Witnesseth: That , party of the first part 
 
 hereby agrees to (state plainly what party is to do), and 
 
 , party of the second part hereby agrees to 
 
 (here state plainly what party of the second part agrees 
 to do). In consideration of the promises hereinbefore 
 
 made by (here state what it is that is agreed 
 
 to be done), and the consideration hereinbefore men- 
 tioned (here state what amount or consideration was in- 
 volved) the aforesaid party of the first part , 
 
 and party of the second part hereby covenant 
 
 and agree (here set forth briefly and plainly the general 
 tenor of what the agreement consists), 
 
 Wherefore we have hereto signed this contract in the 
 
 presence of and witnesses. 
 
 Signed in duplicate in the presence of 
 
 Witnesses : • 
 
 A contract between employer and employee may be 
 drawn as follows: 
 
 This contract entered into this day of 
 
 19.., between , party of the first part and 
 
 , party of the second part, 
 
 Witnesseth: The party of the first part agrees with 
 the party of the second part to do the following work 
 for the following consideration: (set forth the nature of 
 the work and the amount of consideration agreed upon), 
 the said work to be done within the following time (set 
 out the number of hours in the day and in the week 
 and what hours or days are to be given the employee as 
 "time off"). 
 
ioo MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 And the party of the second part hereby 
 
 covenants and agrees to pay to the party of the first part 
 in consideration of the faithful performance of the work 
 
 specified above, the sum of , as follows (here 
 
 state if the pay is to be at the end of a specified time or 
 for specified work, at the end of a day, week, month or 
 year). 
 
 In witness whereof we have set our names this 
 
 day of , 19. . , in the presence of and 
 
 witnesses. 
 
 Witnesses : 
 
 A simple form of contract of partnership to trade 
 follows : 
 
 This Contract of Copartnership made and entered 
 
 into this day of 19. . between , 
 
 of , and , of The afore- 
 said and do hereby agree to become 
 
 copartners in the conduct of a business to be 
 
 conducted at , in the City of , State 
 
 of , under the firm name of , the 
 
 said copartnership to continue for a term of 
 
 years. 
 
 Wherefore the said hath this day paid into 
 
 the said firm the sum of $...., and the said 
 
 hath likewise paid into the said firm the sum of $ , 
 
 the money so paid in by both to be used and employed 
 as the capital of the said firm of 
 
 The aforesaid and comprising the 
 
 firm of do hereby covenant and agree to use 
 
 each for herself and the firm her best skill and en- 
 deavor for the joint interest, profit, benefit and advan- 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 101 
 
 tage of the firm, and to buy and sell merchandise with 
 the capital above set out and the increase thereof. They 
 mutually agree to bear all burdens between them such as 
 the rents, charges, taxes and expenditures. They mu- 
 tually agree that at the stated time of (mention whether 
 monthly, weekly, annually or semi-annually) there shall 
 be a division of the gains and profits of the said business 
 after all just debts have been charged against same. (Or, 
 where it is desirable that a stipulated sum shall be drawn 
 weekly or monthly by each partner it should be so 
 stated). They mutually agree that upon the reasonable 
 request of either there shall be a statement rendered of 
 the assets and liabilities and stock on hand of the partner- 
 ship. They mutually agree that in the event of the death 
 of either before the expiration of the contract the sur- 
 vivor will render a full statement of the business and 
 affairs of the partnership to the heirs or administrators 
 of the deceased partner, to consider the death as a dis- 
 solution of the partnership (unless otherwise stipulated), 
 and to make final settlement of the business, paying to 
 the heirs or administrators of the deceased partner the 
 share of the deceased. 
 
 The partners mutually agree that there shall be no 
 credit extended except upon joint agreement; that no 
 debt, or release of debt, shall be made without mutual 
 consent; that neither partner will endorse or go bail or 
 surety for another during the partnership without full 
 consent of the other partner; that neither partner will 
 sell or assign her interest without the consent in writing 
 of the other, that the bank shall be the de- 
 pository of all funds and same shall be paid out only by 
 check signed by (as agreed). 
 
io2 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Signed in duplicate this day of 19. . • . in 
 
 the presence of: 
 Witnesses : 
 
 While the contract of a minor is voidable by her, 
 or by her parents or guardian for her, the other person 
 or persons to the contract cannot claim immunity from 
 its terms because of the incapacity of the minor. When 
 the contract is that of marriage, if the girl leaves her 
 husband before she reaches her eighteenth year (in New 
 York) she may apply to the court for an annulment of 
 the marraige on the ground of being under age when 
 she entered into the marital agreement. The exception 
 to the voidance of a contract by a minor, or the parent 
 or guardian of the minor, on the ground of the inca- 
 pacity of the minor to contract, is where the contract 
 was for necessaries. The rule is for the protection of 
 minors, but shelter, food and raiment are necessary to 
 the minor and contracts made for such purchases will be 
 held valid. 
 
 If there is no provision in the contract of partnership 
 for the term which it shall endure it may be disssolved 
 at the pleasure of either partner. 
 
 Death of a partner operates as a dissolution unless, 
 in the articles of agreement of partnership there is spe- 
 cific provision made for continuance of the business in 
 the event of death of one of the partners. 
 
 When there are several partners constituting a firm 
 and one partner withdraws there should always be notice 
 given the public of the withdrawal. 
 
 A widow has her dower only in the interest owned 
 by her husband in partnership property after all debts 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 103 
 
 due have been paid, her dower consisting only of her 
 right in such remainder as exists free of all debts. 
 
 A very wise addition to the contract of partnership is 
 the addition of a clause agreeing to submit any difference 
 to arbitration. If such clause is inserted in the contract, 
 and there arises any difference between the partners, the 
 following is a form of agreement to be signed by both 
 to make the award of the arbitrators binding: 
 
 We, , of , and , of 
 
 , composing the firm of , of , 
 
 do hereby agree to submit, and do hereby submit all 
 questions arising out of or appertaining to (here state 
 the facts concerning which there is a difference of opin- 
 ion) to the arbitrament of (here name the persons, us- 
 ually one selected by each of the partners and a third 
 selected by the persons chosen) whose decision and 
 award shall be final and binding and we hereby bind our- 
 selves to abide by the decision of said arbitrators and to 
 carry out their decision. 
 Signed in duplicate before: 
 Witnesses : 
 
 The contract of lease of premises is perhaps the con- 
 tract used more generally by women than any other con- 
 tract and so common is the use of this agreement there 
 are blank forms of lease printed in every city and State 
 which conform to the laws and requirements of the 
 domicile. The most vexing question is the matter of the 
 right of the tenant to abrogate the lease. A very in- 
 teresting decision was secured by Amy Wren, a woman 
 lawyer of Brooklyn, New York, in 1916, when she had 
 the principle of an old law revived in the judgment for 
 
io4 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 her client, the owner of a house, that nothing short of 
 a condition amounting to actual eviction justified a ten- 
 ant in vacating premises and refusing payment of rent. 
 The plaintiff in the case had rented her house for a term 
 of three years. The main supply pipe for water which 
 led into the building was not large enough to supply a 
 sufficient quantity to flow on the upper floors of the 
 building if water flowed from a faucet on a lower floor. 
 The tenant repeatedly complained and insisted on a suffi- 
 cient supply of water to secure a free flow on each floor 
 of the house, and on the three floors at the same time if 
 there was need. As no relief was given the tenant 
 finally moved out of the building. The owner sued for 
 the rent to the end of the term of lease. The lower court 
 ruled against the owner, but the case was taken to the 
 higher court on appeal and there the decision of the 
 lower court was reversed and the old law was sustained 
 that only a condition amounting to actual eviction, as if 
 the roof were blown off, or the greater part of the build- 
 ing burned, justified the tenant in moving and consider- 
 ing the lease terminated. 
 
 It is a good rule to always require a receipt for money 
 paid, no matter how small the amount or to whom it is 
 paid. There is no truer axiom than "Keep good accounts 
 and you keep good friends." The simplest form of re- 
 ceipt is as binding as if couched in many words. For 
 instance, the following forms are sufficient to show pay- 
 ment: 
 
 Received from $ 
 
 this day of 19. . Signature. 
 
 Or, 
 
 Received from $ 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 105 
 
 on account of , . This day of 19. . 
 
 Signature. 
 
 A general release is more far reaching in its effect 
 and value. A general release to be valid must show a 
 consideration and it is then a defense to any action based 
 on a claim for any of the debts released. 
 
 I, , of , in consideration of the 
 
 sum of , paid me by , of , 
 
 do hereby release, remise and forever discharge the said 
 
 , his heirs, executors and administrators, from 
 
 all manner of action or causes of action on any and all 
 debts, suits, sums of money, accounts, bonds, bills, judg- 
 ments, executions, claims and demands whatsoever in 
 
 law or equity which against , I ever had by 
 
 reason of any matter, claim or cause of whatsoever kind. 
 
 This done and signed this. day of 
 
 19. . before 
 Witnesses : 
 
 A wife may release her dower right in certain property 
 owned by her husband by executing the following 
 release : 
 
 To All Whom It May Concern, Know ye that I, 
 
 , of , wife of , of , 
 
 party of the first part, do, by these presents, for and in 
 
 consideration of the sum of , lawful money 
 
 of the United States, to me cash in hand paid at the time 
 of the execution and delivery of these presents, which said 
 
 sum and consideration is paid me by , of 
 
 , party of the second part, receipt whereof is 
 
 hereby acknowledged, doth grant, remise, release, and 
 forever quit claim to the party of the second part.... 
 
106 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 heirs and assigns forever, all dower, thirds, right of title 
 of dower and thirds, and all other right, title and interest, 
 claim or demand of whatsoever kind in law or equity, in 
 the following described property, to wit: (describe the 
 property to be released from dower right), for my own 
 part, my heirs, administrators and assigns or any person 
 for any of them, in any right, title, demand, seizin or 
 possession in the above described property, forever. 
 
 Signed, sealed and delivered this day of 
 
 19. . in presence of 
 Witnesses : 
 
 Under no condition or circumstance should signature 
 be attached to any document or paper of any kind or 
 character without reading and understanding the text of 
 the contents. If signature is obtained by fraud it can 
 be voided, if the fraud is proven, but it is no defense to 
 plead signature was attached without understanding of 
 the contents. 
 
 A promissory note is evidence of debt. The simplest 
 form is: 
 
 (Write in City, State, day, month and year.) 
 
 days (or months or years after date I 
 
 promise to pay to or his order, the sum of 
 
 , with interest at the rate of . . . .per cent from 
 
 maturity, at Value received. 
 
 Signature. 
 
 If the rate of interest stipulated to be paid is usurious 
 it invalidates the note in many States. 
 
 If a note is given for a chattel and it is the intent that 
 ownership shall remain in the seller until the note has 
 been paid and cancelled, it should be drawn as follows : 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 107 
 
 (Insert City, State, day, month and year.) 
 
 On the day of , I, , whose 
 
 address is , do promise to pay to , 
 
 or his order, the sum of , with interest from 
 
 date at the rate of per cent, until paid. And I do 
 
 further agree that title to the (here describe the article 
 
 bought) shall remain in the said until this 
 
 note is fully paid and cancelled, and if payment is not 
 made when due I further agree to pay all costs and 
 expense incurred in collecting same. 
 Signed in presence of 
 Witnesses : 
 
 The following is a form of chattel mortgage: 
 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, 
 
 Know ye that of the City of 
 
 and State of is indebted unto me in the sum 
 
 of dollars, and cents, being for 
 
 Now for securing the payment of said debt, with in- 
 terest thereon from the date hereof, to the said 
 
 , the said doth hereby sell, transfer and 
 
 assign the property described below: (describe the prop- 
 erty) said property now being and remaining in the pos- 
 session of the said , at (give location). 
 
 Provided always, and this mortgage is on the express 
 
 condition, that if the said shall pay the said 
 
 , his assigns or representatives, the sum of 
 
 , and cents, with interest thereon, then 
 
 the said above described transfer of property is void and 
 of no effect ; but in case of non-payment of the said debt 
 
 and interest at the time mentioned, then the said 
 
 shall have full power to enter the premises of the said 
 
io8 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 party of the first part, or any other place where the goods 
 are and chattels aforesaid may be, to take possession of 
 said property, to sell the same at public or private sale, 
 and the proceeds (after deducting all expenses) to apply 
 
 in payment of the above debt ; and in case the said 
 
 shall deem the said property at any time unsafe it 
 
 shall be lawful for the said to take possession of 
 
 the property and to sell the same at public or private 
 sale, previous to the time above mentioned for the pay- 
 ment of said debt, applying the proceeds as aforesaid, 
 after deducting all expenses for the taking and the sale 
 and keeping of the property. And the said mortgagee, his 
 representatives or assigns may purchase at any such sale, 
 in the same manner and to the same effect as a person 
 not interested herein. 
 
 If for any cause said property shall fail to satisfy 
 
 said debt, interest, costs, and charges, covenants 
 
 and agrees to pay the deficiency. 
 
 This done and signed this day of 19. . 
 
 and delivered in the presence of 
 Witnesses : 
 
 There should be attached to the foregoing form of 
 chattel mortgage an affidavit, sworn to before a Notary 
 Public, which a preceding simple form will serve. 
 
 Chattel mortgages are a lien for debt upon movable 
 property retained by the owner, and are permissible in 
 every State but Louisiana, which has no provision for 
 such mortgage, providing only the right of pledge, as 
 used by pawnbrokers, which requires always that pos- 
 session of the property pledged pass to the holder of the 
 mortgage or pledge. 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 109 
 
 Alabama requires that chattel mortgages be recorded : 
 Arizona requires that chattel mortgages must always be 
 supported by the affidavit of the mortgagor and must 
 be recorded. When foreclosure is necessary it must be 
 by the same form and proceeding of court as foreclosure 
 of realty. Chattel mortgages in Arkansas must be ac- 
 knowledged before a competent official and recorded. 
 California permits chattel mortgages on certain property 
 when an affidavit is attached declaring the mortgage so 
 given is without intent to defraud other creditors, and 
 it must be recorded. Colorado requires the chattel mort- 
 gage to be acknowledged before a duly qualified official. 
 If the holder does not enforce his lien within a reason- 
 able time it is presumed voided. Connecticut permits 
 the mortgage of movable property, requiring acknowl- 
 edgment, recordation, and in the event of foreclosure, 
 the same proceeding as in foreclosure on real estate. 
 Dakota requires two witnesses and there may be fore- 
 closure after ten days or by court order. Delaware re- 
 quires that chattel mortgages be recorded within ten days 
 of their making and when so recorded are good for three 
 years. Florida does not favor chattel mortgages, but it 
 is possible to execute a mortgage on movables by execut- 
 ing a mortgage the same as for real estate, and if fore- 
 closure is necessary it must be the same as in foreclosure 
 on realty. Georgia requires full specification of the prop- 
 erty mortgaged, and the character of the debt; it must 
 be acknowledged and attested by a Notary and recorded 
 within thirty days. Idaho requires an affidavit that the 
 chattel mortgage is not executed to defraud creditors and 
 it must be recorded. Illinois specifically requires ac- 
 knowledgment before a proper official and recordation, 
 and unless the mortgage is supported by affidavit it will 
 
no MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 not be held valid. Indiana requires the same mortgage 
 as for real estate, recordation, and the same proceeding 
 in foreclosure as on real property. Iowa requires chattel 
 mortgages to be in writing, signed, acknowledged and 
 recorded. Kansas requires a copy of the mortgage to be 
 deposited with the Register of Deeds. Kentucky requires 
 recordation in the County Court and gives the mort- 
 gagor five years to redeem. Maine has the same pro- 
 vision as for recordation and foreclosure of real estate. 
 Maryland requires a full description of the property, 
 terms of the loan, etc., filed with the county or city 
 clerk. Massachusetts requires recordation but does not 
 require seal or acknowledgment. Michigan requires a 
 copy of the mortgage to be filed and recorded in the 
 clerks office and each mortgage must contain provision 
 for foreclosure as it is not generally provided for. In 
 Minnesota the mortgage ceases to operate against third 
 persons after two years unless an affidavit is annexed 
 to a copy recorded setting for the mortgages interest in 
 the property and such affidavit must, after two years be 
 filed annually. In Mississippi chattel mortgages must be 
 recorded in the court of Chancery and must provide for 
 foreclosure. Missouri requires acknowledgment or 
 proof and recordation. Montana requires an affidavit of 
 the parties it is made in good faith, acknowledged and 
 recorded. Nebraska requires the mortgage or a copy 
 shall be recorded in the office of the county clerk. 
 Nevada requires the surrender of the property mort- 
 gaged. New Hampshire and New Jersey require the 
 mortgage or a copy to be filed, together with an affidavit 
 of the holder stating consideration, etc. New Mexico 
 requires recordation and every year thereafter while the 
 mortgage continues, the filing of an affidavit showing the 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS in 
 
 interest of the mortgagee and amount due. New York 
 requires a copy filed with, the county clerk. North Car- 
 olina and Ohio deem the mortgage void unless it is filed 
 with a full statement of the claim. Oregon requires the 
 mortgage, or a copy, recorded with the county clerk. 
 The mortgagor is entitled to possession if the agreement 
 in the mortgage be broken. Pennsylvania regards liens 
 on personal property as merely a pledge and possession 
 must be surrendered. Rhode Island requires recordation. 
 The mortgagee may take possession if the pledge is 
 broken. South Carolina requires recordation. The mort- 
 gagee may take possession of the property if the pledge 
 is broken, after posting notice. Tennessee requires the 
 mortgage be proved and registered. In Texas a chattel 
 mortgage must be filed in the office of the clerk of the 
 county. Foreclosure can only be by suit and sale by 
 order of court. In Utah a chattel mortgage must be 
 supported by the affidavit of the parties thereto declaring 
 it to be in good faith, it must be witnessed, acknowledged 
 and recorded. Vermont requires that mortgages on per- 
 sonal property be recorded and the parties must make 
 affidavit that the mortgage is in good faith and not for 
 the purpose of defrauding creditors. After public notice 
 of the failure of the mortgagor to comply with the pledge 
 the property may be sold at public auction. In Virginia 
 chattel mortgages are required to be executed and ac- 
 knowledged and recorded the same as deeds of real estate. 
 Washington requires the affidavit of the parties as to 
 good faith and when acknowledged and recorded it is 
 good for six years. West Virginia requires the same 
 formalities for chattel mortgages as for real estate. 
 Wisconsin requires recordation of chattel mortgages, and 
 if conditions are broken the mortgagee is entitled to pos- 
 
ii2 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 session of the property. Wyoming requires that chattel 
 mortgages be executed and recorded the same as deeds 
 to real estate. 
 
 In the contract of sale transferring real estate the 
 form of each State must be followed, and in a majority 
 of the States there must be witnesses and the sale has 
 no effect on third persons unless recorded. Alabama 
 requires one witness and recordation, Arizona makes no 
 provision for seal, but all deeds must have a witness and 
 must be recorded. In California deeds are known as 
 "grants." Witnesses are not required, but the grant must 
 be recorded in the county where the land is situated. 
 Colorado requires that all deeds be acknowledged and 
 recorded but witnesses are not required. In Connecticut 
 the deed must be in writing, signed, sealed and acknowl- 
 edged, attested by two witnesses and recorded in the 
 county where the land is situated. Witnesses or seals are 
 not required by Dakota, but all deeds must be in writing, 
 signed and acknowledged and recorded. Delaware re- 
 quires that deeds must be recorded within a year of their 
 making and there must be one witness. The District of 
 Columbia requires recordation and witnesses to all deeds. 
 Florida requires that deeds be in writing and signed, 
 sealed and delivered in the presence of at least two wit- 
 nesses, and the deed must be recorded within six months 
 in the county where the land is located. Georgia requires 
 all deeds to be in writing, signed and sealed and acknowl- 
 edged before an officer authorized to take such ac- 
 knowledgment and within one year the deed must be 
 recorded in the Superior Court of the county where the 
 land lies. Mortgages must be recorded within thirty 
 days. Deeds conveying land are not invalidated if not 
 recorded within one year, but if not so recorded lose 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 113 
 
 priority over any other deed recorded within that time. 
 Idaho requires all deeds to be acknowledged by at least 
 one witness and recorded. Illinois requires the recorda- 
 tion of all deeds in the county where the land is situated, 
 but does not require the signature of a witness. Indiana 
 requires all deeds to be in writing, signed and acknowl- 
 edged or proved and recorded within forty-five days after 
 date. Seals and witnesses are dispensed with by Iowa 
 but deeds must be acknowledged before a judge or clerk 
 of court, notary, auditor or justice of the peace, and 
 recorded. Kansas does not require witnesses or seals 
 but all deeds must be in writing and acknowledged. 
 Kentucky requires deeds to be in writing, acknowledged 
 and recorded in the court for the county where the land 
 is situated and all deeds must be recorded, if between 
 residents, within sixty days and if made by non-residents, 
 within four months. Louisiana requires deeds to be 
 passed by Notaries Public and attested by two witnesses, 
 and all deeds must be recorded in the Parish Courts, 
 except in the Parish of Orleans, where the deed must be 
 recorded in the Mortgage and Conveyance Office. Maine 
 does not require witnesses to deeds but they must be 
 signed, sealed, acknowledged and recorded. In Mary- 
 land all deeds must be signed and sealed. There must 
 be at least one witness and within six months the deed 
 must be put on record. In Massachusetts conveyances 
 must be in writing, signed, sealed and recorded, but wit- 
 nesses are not required. Michigan requires all deeds to 
 be signed, sealed and witnessed by at least two persons, 
 and recorded in the county where the property is lo- 
 cated. Minnesota requires two witnesses to deeds, ac- 
 knowledgment and recordation. Mississippi requires all 
 deeds to be proven by acknowledgment of at least one 
 
ii 4 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 subscribing witness and recorded in the Chancery 
 Court. If the deed is not acknowledged two witnesses 
 are necessary. A seal is not required. Possession and 
 occupancy of the land is considered equivalent to re- 
 cordation of the deed. Missouri requires that all deeds 
 be signed, sealed and recorded but witnesses are not 
 required. In Montana deeds must be in writing, signed, 
 acknowledged and recorded. Nebraska requires that all 
 deeds be signed in the presence of at least one witness, 
 acknowledged and recorded. Witnesses are not required 
 by Nevada but deeds must be signed, sealed, acknowl- 
 edged and recorded. New Hampshire requires that deeds 
 be signed, sealed and attested by two witnesses and re- 
 corded. New Jersey requires deeds to be signed, sealed, 
 acknowledged and recorded. New Mexico requires that 
 all deeds be signed, acknowledged and recorded. New 
 York requires every deed to be signed and sealed and 
 attested by at least one witness, it must be acknowledged 
 before a proper officer and recorded. North Carolina re- 
 quires that deeds be acknowledged or proved by one or 
 more witnesses and recorded. Ohio requires that deeds 
 be in writing, signed, acknowledged in the presence of 
 attesting witnesses and recorded. Oregon requires two 
 witnesses, acknowledgment and recordation of all deeds. 
 Pennsylvania requires all deeds to be signed, sealed and 
 recorded, and there must be one or more witnesses. 
 Rhode Island requires all deeds to be in writing, signed, 
 sealed and delivered, acknowledged before a proper offi- 
 cer and recorded. In South Carolina deeds must be in 
 writing, signed, sealed and recorded in the office of the 
 Recorder of Conveyances for the county where the land 
 is situated. Two witnesses are necessary. Tennessee 
 requires deeds to be acknowledged by the vendor or 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 115 
 
 proved by two witnesses and recorded. Texas requires 
 that deeds be signed, acknowledged or proved by two 
 witnesses, and recorded in the County Court. In Utah 
 deeds must be signed by the grantor in the presence of 
 a witness, acknowledged and recorded. Vermont re- 
 quires that deeds be signed and sealed in the presence 
 of two witnesses and recorded. Virginia requires that 
 deeds be signed and sealed by the grantor, acknowledged 
 and recorded within sixty days. In Washington deeds 
 must be in writing, signed and sealed in the presence of 
 two witnesses and recorded. West Virginia requires two 
 witnesses to deeds and they must be acknowledged and 
 recorded. Wisconsin requires that deeds be signed and 
 sealed in the presence of two witnesses, acknowledged 
 and recorded. In Wyoming deeds must be signed and 
 sealed in the presence of two witnesses and recorded. 
 It is of more than passing importance that women 
 who engage in commercial pursuit should know that open 
 accounts cannot be sued upon after the time limit placed 
 upon the life of such claims by the law. Likewise a 
 judgment of court secured upon a claim on an open ac- 
 count, or upon a note or other obligation lapses after a 
 certain number of years, but, upon motion before the 
 expiration of that time, can be renewed. While a note 
 is always desirable as the evidence of money due, it is 
 valid in law only during the time specified in the Statute 
 of Limitations in each State, but a payment of any sum 
 on account on a note renews its life as if it were origi- 
 nally given on the date of such payment. For instance, 
 if Mary Smith gave to Jane Jones a note for one hundred 
 dollars, due six months after date, that note would be 
 worthless after six years from its maturity, unless, Mary 
 Smith made a payment on account of the amount due. 
 
n6 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 If the obliger paid even the smallest sum one day before 
 the expiration of the life of the note, the note would 
 thereupon be renewed for six years from date of the pay- 
 ment. Action is barred on notes in Alabama after six 
 years, on open accounts after three years; Delaware, 
 Mississippi and Washington have the same time limit of 
 six years on notes and three years on open accounts. 
 Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and 
 Virginia bar notes after five years and open accounts 
 after three years. The limit is four years on notes and 
 three years on open accounts in Arizona. In California 
 the limit is four years on notes, and four years on open 
 accounts, and Texas bars notes of four years and open 
 accounts of two to four years. Colorado, Connecticut, 
 Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, 
 New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon and 
 Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, South Caro- 
 lina, Tennessee and Wisconsin bar action on notes more 
 than six years old and on open accounts of more than 
 six years standing. The District of Columbia, Maryland, 
 and North Carolina bar action on notes after three years 
 and on open accounts after the same time. Georgia, 
 Nevada, New Mexico and Utah bar notes of more than 
 six years and open accounts after four years. Illinois, 
 Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia bar notes after ten 
 years and open accounts of more than five years. In- 
 diana places the limit at ten years for notes and six years 
 for open accounts. Montana at eight years for notes and 
 five years for open accounts. Kentucky makes the life 
 of a note fifteen years, and open accounts five years, 
 while Ohio bars action on notes after fifteen years and 
 on open accounts after six years, and Vermont grants 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 117 
 
 fourteen years to the life of a note and six years to 
 open accounts. 
 
 Many obligations may be, and are, evaded both within 
 and without the law, but eventually one's worldly posses- 
 sions pass to the custody, administration and ownership 
 of heirs or legatees. If there is anything to give and 
 bequeath it is better to leave written direction in the 
 form of a will. While keeping close to the law laid 
 down by each State in regard to last wills and testaments 
 it is better to strip the document of all unnecessary ver- 
 biage and to make it as simple as possible, and so plain 
 that all who are affected may easily read and even a 
 fool may understand. Cluttering the document with 
 wherefores, whereases and much detail, leaving one's 
 prejudices, and emphasizing hate toward kindred and 
 friends in a last will is not only a waste but may prove 
 an obstruction both to its legal enforcement and the pas- 
 sage to Kingdom Come. 
 
 Every will should state at the outset that it is the last 
 will of the testator and if other wills have been made it 
 should state that thereby all others are revoked, though 
 it is only the last document which would be valid in law. 
 Every will should close with the "In witness whereof 
 I have hereunto set my hand and seal, declared same to 
 be my last will, and executed same in the presence of 
 
 and , witnesses," except that in 
 
 some of the States there is provision made for the Olo- 
 graphic testament which requires no witnesses, but must 
 be wholly written, dated and signed by the testator. 
 
 The word bequeath properly belongs to personal 
 estate and the word devise to realty, hence, after setting 
 forth the location, as, I, Jane Brown, of the City and 
 State of New York, make this my last will and testament, 
 
n8 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 and hereby give, devise and bequeath, etc. The body 
 of the will should contain specific but plain direction 
 for the disposition of personal and real property, always 
 bearing in mind that the laws of each State provide cer- 
 tain regulations for the giving of one's possessions to 
 take effect after death. 
 
 A codicil is an addition to the main will and may be 
 added at any time. It is like the postcript to a letter. 
 But it must be witnessed the same as the will, and there 
 may be any number of codicils added to the one last will, 
 and each codicil should state "I hereby confirm my 
 
 former will, dated , excepting so far as the 
 
 disposition of my property is affected by the terms of 
 this codicil." 
 
 A simple form of will is as follows : 
 
 I, , of , State of , 
 
 make this my last will and testament, and hereby give, 
 bequeath and devise my estate, real and personal as 
 follows: (then state specifically each article or parcel of 
 property and to whom it is given). I appoint (here give 
 the full name and address of the person desired as ex- 
 ecutor, and if more than one is named give the full names 
 and addresses of each, stating they are to act as execu- 
 tors of the will). 
 
 In witness whereof I have signed and sealed, and 
 declared this to be my last will and testament at (name 
 place where will is made) in the presence of (name 
 the witnesses), who have hereunto set their names to- 
 gether with my signature this day of , 
 
 19.. 
 
 Signature. 
 
 The said (give name of testator) at said (name 
 place where will is made), signed and sealed this instru- 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 119 
 
 ment and declared the same to be her last will and testa- 
 ment, and we, at her request, and in her presence, and in 
 the presence of each other, hereunto write our names 
 as subscribing witnesses. 
 Witnesses : 
 
 Alabama permits persons of eighteen to dispose of 
 personal property, but the testator must be of full age 
 to dispose of real estate by will and there must be at least 
 two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Arizona permits any person of full age to make a will, 
 which must be witnessed by two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Arkansas permits the disposition of personal prop- 
 erty by persons eighteen years of age and any person of 
 full age may make a will disposing of real and personal 
 property. If the body and signature of the will are in 
 the handwriting of the testator the will may be proved 
 by three witnesses proving the handwriting. When the 
 will is made by another it must be in the presence of 
 two subscribing witnesses to whom the testator must 
 have declared the document to be his last will and testa- 
 ment. 
 
 California permits any person to dispose of his or her 
 property by will at eighteen, but the testament must be 
 witnessed by two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Colorado passed the following Act in relation to 
 Wills in 1915: 
 
 Sec. 1. Every person, aged twenty-one years, if a 
 male, or eighteen years, if a female, being of sound mind 
 and memory, shall have the power to give and devise, by 
 wil or testament, any or all of the estate, right, title and 
 interest in possession, reversion or remainder, which he 
 
i2o MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 or she hath, or at the time of his or her death shall have, 
 of, in, and to any lands, tenements, hereditaments, an- 
 nuities or rents, charged upon or issuing out of them; 
 and every person of the age of seventeen years, being of 
 sound mind and memory, shall have the power to give 
 and bequeath, by will or testament, any or all of his or 
 her goods, chattels, and personal estate of every descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 Sec. 2. If any testator or testatrix, leaving a wife 
 or husband, him or her surviving, shall by will give, be- 
 queath, or devise away from such surviving wife or hus- 
 band more than one-half of his or her property or estate, 
 such surviving wife or husband may, in her or his option, 
 and notwithstanding such will, take and receive one-half 
 of the property or estate, both real and personal, of such 
 testator or testatrix ; Provided, That such surviving wife 
 or husband exercise such option by filing in the county 
 court, in which such will is admitted to probate, within 
 six months thereafter, her or his election in writing to 
 take and receive one-half of said property or estate; and 
 upon the filing of such election within said time, any such 
 will shall be inoperative as to such one-half of said prop- 
 erty or estate. The failure to make and file such election 
 within said period of six months shall be conclusive evi- 
 dence of the consent of the surviving wife or husband to 
 the provisions of such will. 
 
 Connecticut and Dakota permit any person more 
 than eighteen years of age to make a will, the former 
 State requiring three witnesses and the latter two wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 Delaware permits any person twenty-one years of 
 3ge to dispose of real and personal property by will but 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 121 
 
 the document must be drawn in the presence of and sub- 
 scribed to by two witnesses. 
 
 Females of eighteen and males of twenty-one may 
 dispose of real and personal property in the District 
 of Columbia when the will is witnessed by three or more 
 credible witnesses. 
 
 Florida permits any person twenty-one years of age 
 to dispose of real and personal property by will. There 
 must be three or more witnesses. If the will is written 
 by other than the testator it must be proven by three 
 witnesses present. 
 
 Persons of fourteen years of age are permitted to dis- 
 pose of real and personal property in Georgia. Married 
 women may dispose of their separate property by will. 
 There must be three subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Idaho permits any person of sound mind of eighteen 
 years or over to dispose of his or her real or personal 
 property. 
 
 Illinois permits females of eighteen and males of 
 twenty-one to dispose of their real or personal property 
 by will. There must be two or more subscribing wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 Indiana permits any person except infants or those 
 of unsound mind to dispose by will of real and personal 
 property and there must be two or more witnesses to the 
 testament. 
 
 Iowa permits any person of full age to make a will 
 disposing of personal and real property and requires two 
 witnesses to the will. 
 
 Males of twenty-one and females of eighteen may 
 make disposition of their personal and real property by 
 will in Kansas and the testament must be signed in the 
 presence of two or more subscribing witnesses who saw. 
 
i22 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 the testator sign and who heard him or her acknowledge 
 the same to be his or her last will. 
 
 Kentucky permits any person of full age to make a 
 will of personal and real property which must be wit- 
 nessed by at least two persons. A married woman may 
 dispose by will of her separate property. 
 
 Louisiana provides that any person over sixteen years 
 may make a will and there are three kinds of wills, the 
 olographic, the nuncupative will by private act and the 
 nuncupative will by public act. The olographic will must 
 be wholly written, dated and signed by the testator. It 
 has been held that the using even of a printed date 
 line will invalidate an olographic will in Louisiana. The 
 nuncupative will by private act is one which may be 
 written by any person for the testator, but he must sign 
 it and in the presence of seven witnesses. The nuncu- 
 pative will by public act is a will drawn by a notary 
 but must be signed by the testator and in the presence of 
 five witnesses and the notary who must place upon it his 
 notarial seal. No woman, child under sixteen, insane, 
 deaf, dumb or blind person is permitted to witness a 
 will. Any person of age may make a will. By special 
 provision of an Article of the Civil Code: "A married 
 woman may make her last will and testament without 
 the consent of her husband." 
 
 Maine permits any person twenty-one years of age to 
 dispose of real and personal property by will and requires 
 not less than three subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Females of eighteen and males of twenty-one may 
 dispose of real and personal property by will in Maryland 
 and there must be two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Every person of full age and sound mind may dispose 
 of his or her real and personal property by will in Mass- 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 123 
 
 achusetts, and there must be at least three competent 
 subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Any person of full age may make a will in Michigan 
 and in Minnesota disposing of real and personal property, 
 and it must be witnessed by two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Mississippi permits any person of full age to dispose 
 of real and personal property by will. The olographic 
 will is admitted in Mississippi, but to other wills there 
 must be at least two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 At eighteen personal property may be disposed of 
 by will in Missouri and at twenty-one all real property. 
 There must be two or more subscribing witnesses in the 
 presence of the testator. 
 
 At eighteen Montana permits any person to dispose 
 of real and personal property by will. There must be 
 two or more subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Nebraska permits any person of full age to make a 
 will of movable and immovable property. There must 
 be two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Nevada permits any person of eighteen years of age 
 to dispose of real and personal property by will which 
 must be signed and attested in the presence of at least 
 two competent witnesses. 
 
 New Hampshire permits anyone of twenty-one years 
 or more, and sound mind, to dispose by will of real and 
 personal property. There must be three subscribing wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 New Jersey permits anyone of twenty-one years of 
 age to dispose of real and personal property by will. 
 There must be at least two witnesses and the law declares 
 that all wills subsequent to 1850 must be in writing. 
 
 New York permits males of eighteen and females of 
 sixteen years to dispose of personal property but the 
 
124 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 testator must be at least twenty-one years of age to dis- 
 pose of real property. There must be two witnesses who 
 sign with the testator to whom he or she must have 
 declared the testament to be his or her last will. 
 
 North Carolina permits olographic wills but the hand- 
 writing must be proven by at least three competent per- 
 sons. Other wills must be subscribed to by two wit- 
 nesses and at least one of them must have signed with the 
 testator. 
 
 Ohio requires the testator to have been twenty-one 
 years of age and there must have been two subscribing 
 witnesses to make a will valid. 
 
 Oregon permits persons of twenty-one to dispose of 
 real holdings and persons of eighteen may dispose of 
 "goods and chattels." There must be two witnesses. 
 
 Any person of full age and sound mind may make a 
 will in Pennsylvania disposing of real and personal prop- 
 erty. There must be two witnesses. 
 
 Rhode Island permits persons of eighteen to dispose 
 of personal property and persons of twenty-one to dis- 
 pose of real property. There must be two or more wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 Persons of twenty-one years may dispose of real and 
 personal property in South Carolina but there must be 
 three subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Any person of twenty-one years may dispose of real 
 property by will in Tennessee, and males of sixteen and 
 females of fourteen may dispose of personal property. 
 There must be at least two subscribing witnesses, except 
 to the olographic will which Tennessee permits but re- 
 quires that the handwriting must be proven by at least 
 three persons. 
 
 Texas permits persons of twenty-one years of age 
 
CONTRACTS AND FORMS 125 
 
 to dispose of real and personal property and there must 
 be at least two witnesses of more than fourteen years 
 of age. 
 
 Persons of eighteen years may dispose of their prop- 
 erty by will in Utah. There must be two witnesses. 
 
 Vermont permits any person twenty-one years of age 
 to dispose of real and personal property by will. There 
 must be three witnesses who sign with the testator. 
 
 Virginia permits persons of eighteen years to dispose 
 by will of personal property and at twenty-one to dispose 
 of real property. There must be two subscribing wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 Persons of eighteen may dispose by will of personal 
 property in West Virginia and of real property at twenty- 
 one. There must be two witnesses. 
 
 In Wisconsin females may dispose of personal prop- 
 erty by will at eighteen, and at twenty-five any person 
 may dispose by will of personal and real property. There 
 must be two or more subscribing witnesses. 
 
 In Washington females may dispose of personal prop- 
 erty by will at eighteen and at twenty-one any person may 
 dispose of real and personal property by will. There 
 must be two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Any person twenty-one years of age may dispose of 
 his or her real and personal property by will in Wyom- 
 ing. There must be at least two subscribing witnesses. 
 
 Many wills have been made without the assistance or 
 advice of lawyers or notaries whereby large estates have 
 been disposed of, and such wills have frequently been 
 probated and executed without any attack being made 
 on them for fault of terms or provisions. But there is 
 no hard and fast rule to guarantee a will from attack — 
 it depends more upon the relatives of the deceased than 
 
126 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 the construction of the last will and testament. It does 
 serve as a measure of insurance to the ultimate disposi- 
 tion of one's goods and chattels, according to the wish 
 expressed in the last testament, to have it drawn by a 
 competent lawyer. If every requirement of the law is 
 closely followed, all the forms and ceremonies declared 
 by the State to be requisite and necessary to the last will 
 have been observed, any attack which may be made by 
 disappointed relatives would more surely meet with de- 
 feat. But when a woman prefers, or, for any reason 
 it is necessary that she make her own will, the only gen- 
 eral advice possible is that she observe the requirement 
 that the will be in writing, that it be duly witnessed and 
 that the witnesses be told the document is the last will 
 and testament of the testator. 
 
 In State's where the olographic will is permitted, 
 that is, the will which is wholly written, dated and signed 
 by the testator, the handwriting must be proven, except 
 in Louisiana where the olographic will is accepted and 
 probated and the handwriting is admitted to be that of 
 the testator unless it is attacked as a forgery, when the 
 writing must be proven. When the olographic will is 
 depended on to pass one's worldly effects it is usually a 
 requirement of the law that the will must be found among 
 the private papers and documents of the deceased in 
 order to have it receive full faith and credence. 
 
DIGEST OF THE LAWS OF THE SEVERAL 
 STATES 
 
 Which Affect the Rights and Interests of Women and 
 
 Minors 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Married women in Alabama may contract with their 
 husbands and others and their separate property is liable 
 for their obligations, but when the contract is for the 
 mutual benefit of husband and wife then the common 
 property of both is liable. The husband is not liable 
 for the contracts of his wife unless he has participated 
 in them, or their benefits. A married woman may con- 
 duct business as a public merchant, if the consent of 
 her husband in writing has been obtained and this 
 written consent is put on record in the Probate Court. 
 With such recorded consent a married woman in Ala- 
 bama may conduct business, contract and be contracted 
 with, sue and be sued the same as a femme sole. A 
 married woman of eighteen is deemed of full age while 
 the unmarried woman remains a minor until she is 
 twenty-one. 
 
 With the consent of parents or guardians a girl may 
 marry at seventeen, but without such consent she can- 
 not contract marriage until she is twenty-one years of 
 age. 
 
 127 
 
128 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 There is no inheritance tax upon property. 
 
 If the wife survive her husband she takes all of the 
 property, if there are no descendants. If there are chil- 
 dren the widow and children share equally. If there are 
 no children the wife takes all of the real estate only if 
 there are neither sisters, brothers, or parents surviving. 
 She is entitled to homestead rights. 
 
 If the husband survive the wife he takes half of the 
 estate and the descendants, if any, divide the residue, 
 and if there are no descendants he takes all of the estate. 
 
 At eighteen a woman may dispose by will of her per- 
 sonal property but only after attaining the age of 
 twenty-one years can she dispose of her real estate by 
 will. 
 
 Divorce will be granted a woman for abandonment 
 by her husband of two years, for habitual drunkenness 
 and for excessive cruelty. 
 
 The maximum penalty for rape is death, the mini- 
 mum penalty ten years imprisonment. 
 
 Alabama has been a prohibition State since 191 5. 
 
 Preference is given the father in the custody of chil- 
 dren unless he is proven a person unfit for the trust. 
 
 The Child Labor Bill passed by the Alabama Legis- 
 lature in 191 5 provided for compulsory education after 
 October, 191 7, and it was obligatory for children be- 
 tween eight and fifteen years to attend school for eighty 
 days in each year, exception being made where the 
 srvices of the child are shown to be necessary for its 
 support, the support of a disabled father, or a widowed 
 mother. 
 
 No child under fourteen may work at any gainful 
 occupation, exception being made of boys over twelve 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 129 
 
 who are allowed to work in offices and mercantile estab- 
 lishments out of school hours. 
 
 No person under twenty-one may work in a saloon 
 or where liquor is manufactured, packed or sold. 
 
 There must be seats in shops for girl and women 
 employees. 
 
 Boys under twelve and girls under eighteen will not 
 be permitted to sell papers on the streets or in public 
 buildings, but boys over twelve may distribute papers 
 on regular routes. Between eight in the evening and 
 five in the morning boys of less than sixteen years will 
 not be permitted to engage in street trade of any kind 
 without permission from specified authorities indicated 
 by a badge. In cities of 25,000 or more persons less 
 than eighteen will not be permitted to distribute mes- 
 sages or goods between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. 
 
 Children under sixteen are prohibited from employ- 
 ment in places where there is dangerous machinery, or 
 on vessels or railroads, or among dangerous acids or 
 poisonous dyes or gases, or in any mine or tunnel or 
 coal brake, coke oven or quarry, in building, on scaffold- 
 ing, in manufacturing plants, or in concert halls, theatres 
 or other shows. 
 
 The hours when children under sixteen may be em- 
 ployed in mills, factories and manufacturing plants is 
 limited to six days or sixty hours in a week, not more 
 than eleven hours in a day and work in such places is 
 forbidden between six in the morning and six at night. 
 
 Between sixteen and eighteen years of age the re- 
 striction forbids work in any mill, factory, or manu- 
 facturing plant for more than eight hours in any one 
 night. 
 
130 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Women and boys less than sixteen years of age are 
 forbidden to work in any mine. 
 
 There is no Red Light Ordinance or law regulating 
 commercialized vice. The earnings of the wife, and 
 damages accorded her for personal injuries, belong to 
 her separate estate. The wife may sue and be sued 
 on all of her contracts and torts but she cannot transfer 
 her real property unless her husband joins in the deed, 
 unless he has abandoned her, is insane, a non-resident, 
 or is imprisoned for a term not less than two years, 
 then the court of her domicile may authorize her upon 
 being petitioned. 
 
 A wife may not become surety for her husband in 
 Alabama. 
 
 While the Child Labor Law quoted which makes 
 many restrictions upon the hours of labor and condi- 
 tions under which women and children may be employed, 
 is a move along those lines followed in some of the 
 other States which affords adequate protection, there is 
 left room for much legislation in Alabama. While chil- 
 dren between fourteen and sixteen may be worked 
 "not more than sixty hours in a week of six days or 
 more than eleven hours in one day, and while children 
 between sixteen and eighteen are permitted to work "not 
 more than eight hours in any one night," there is still 
 opportunity for women to seek more generous protec- 
 tion for minors in Alabama. There are many mines and 
 manufacturing plants in Alabama, especially in the 
 vicinity of Birmingham, and many women and minors 
 are employed in them. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 131 
 
 Arizona 
 
 There is little discrimination between the sexes by 
 the laws of Arizona. There is the community law be- 
 tween husband and wife which provides that all property 
 acquired during the marital relation is a common asset, 
 belonging equally to husband and wife. The rights of 
 husband and wife are the same with regard to the de- 
 scent of community property, or the separate estate. 
 The wife retains control of her separate estate after her 
 marriage. If she is living apart from her husband her 
 earnings and those of her minor children belong to her 
 separate estate. The husband cannot convey any real 
 estate belonging to the community without the consent 
 and signature of the wife. One advantage enjoyed by 
 the husband is in regard to control of the community 
 personal property, which, during the existence of the 
 marital relation, may be disposed of by the husband only ; 
 and another advantage of the husband is his sole right 
 to contract with regard to the community property as 
 well as his separate estate, while the wife can contract 
 only to affect her separate estate. Alice M. Birdsall, 
 a very competent and a very successful woman lawyer 
 of Phoenix says of the foregoing advantages of the 
 male citizen: "While the provision might be deemed 
 to work a certain hardship on married women, I pre- 
 sume that, since the support of the family devolves upon 
 the husband, it is fair to give him a little more control 
 than the wife in the community estate." 
 
 If a woman lists the property owned by her at the 
 time of her marriage and puts it on record, such act 
 maintains the exclusive use and benefit of such property 
 
i32 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 to her and holds it free from liability for debts of the 
 husband. The community property is liable for the sup- 
 port of the conjugal home and the children. 
 
 Divorce will be granted upon proof of desertion for 
 one year, if either party has been convicted of a felony 
 prior to marriage and the other party had no knowledge 
 of it, for cruelty, non-support and habitual drunkenness. 
 
 The female can contract a valid marriage in Arizona 
 at fourteen with the consent of parents or guardians, 
 and at eighteen without parental consent. 
 
 The inheritance tax on estates is as follows: Grand- 
 father, grandmother, parents, husband, wife, child, 
 brother, sister, son or daughter-in-law, one per cent, and 
 $5,000 is exempt to each beneficiary named. 
 
 To uncle, aunt, niece, or descendant thereof, two 
 per cent. Estates of less than $2,000 are exempt. 
 
 To other than the relatives named three per cent is 
 taxed up to $10,000, four per cent from $10,000 to 
 $20,000, and five per cent from $20,000 to $50,000, and 
 six per cent on amounts above $50,000, and $500 is 
 exempt. 
 
 The age of consent in Arizona is eighteen years. 
 The penalty for rape is imprisonment for not less than 
 five years. 
 
 Equal suffrage has been in effect since 1914, and 
 Arizona is a Prohibition State. 
 
 Boys under eighteen are prohibited from working in 
 underground mines and no child under fourteen may 
 be employed in gainful occupation during school hours. 
 
 No boy, and no female, under sixteen years of age 
 may be employed in underground mines, quarries or coal 
 breakers. 
 
 Boys less than sixteen and girls less than eighteen 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL ".STATES 133 
 
 are prohibited from working more than eight hours in 
 each day or between seven at night and seven in the 
 morning. 
 
 Boys between ten and fourteen may be specially per- 
 mitted by license to sell papers, or do other work not 
 harmful morally or physically, outside school hours. 
 
 Children under sixteen are prohibited from working 
 in any place of danger. 
 
 Minors and women are prohibited from working in 
 bar rooms. 
 
 Boys under ten and girls under sixteen are pro- 
 hibited from selling papers on the streets. Messenger 
 boys under twenty-one are prohibited from working 
 after 10 p.m. and before 5 a.m. 
 
 Women are prohibited from working more than 
 eight hours in a day, and one hour must be allowed for 
 meals. If the week comprises but six days then one day 
 in the week a woman may work ten hours. 
 
 It was Arizona which first established the "Honor 
 system" in prisons. Soon after corporal punishment was 
 abolished in 191 1, Miss Kate Barnard, known through- 
 out the country as "Oklahoma Kate," was invited by 
 Warden Simms to be the guest of the State at the 
 prisons at Florence and to help him evolve some humane 
 method of aiding the prisoners to leave the institution 
 bettered and not further degraded by their incarcera- 
 tion. Miss Barnard promptly responded and took up 
 her residence inside the Florence prison. She studied 
 the prisoners, talked with them, got their point of view 
 and established the "Mutual Improvement League." 
 Miss Barnard says of her experience: 
 
 "There were signs of mutinous dissatisfaction on the 
 part of some of the inmates and the proposition to put 
 
i 3 4 maids, Wives and widows 
 
 the ring leader in solitary confinement was under con- 
 sideration, which had been the proceeding with insub- 
 ordinate men in old days in Arizona. I saw at once 
 that the human factor involved was jealousy. The ring 
 leader complained of was 'a lifer.' He was a man of 
 brilliant attainments, and it was noticeable that he was 
 gaining a strong hold on the other prisoners. I solved 
 the problem by establishing the Mutual Improvement 
 League. Thus the honor system at last became a reality. 
 The ultimate triumph of it was achieved when near the 
 end of my six weeks stay I had that same 'lifer' drive 
 me to church, a distance of four miles, and back again, 
 without armed escort or guard or duress of any kind 
 whatever." 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 A married woman, if she obtain the consent of the 
 court of her domicile, may engage in business as a 
 public merchant and make valid contracts with regard 
 to such business. 
 
 Arkansas prohibits women from being executrix of 
 estates. 
 
 If a woman list her separate property and place it 
 of record it is exempt from liability for the debts of 
 her husband. 
 
 She may convey or bequeath her separate property. 
 
 Upon the death of either husband or wife the estate 
 goes to the survivor if there are no surviving ascendants 
 or descendants. In any event the widow is entitled to 
 one-third of the personal property and her dower in 
 one-third of all real estate. She is entitled to Home- 
 stead rights. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 135 
 
 Arkansas, in 1917, provided that women could vote 
 in primary elections on the same terms as men. 
 
 Arkansas has an Industrial Welfare Commission 
 which regulates the hours and wage rates of women. 
 
 Women and boys of less than fourteen years are 
 prohibited from entering or working in mines. Chil- 
 dren under fourteen are not permitted to work at gain- 
 ful occupations except for parents or guardians and out 
 of school hours. Children under sixteen are prohibited 
 from working in dangerous places and they are pro- 
 hibited from working where intoxicating liquor is sold. 
 
 Children under sixteen are prohibited from working 
 more than eight hours in any day, and children between 
 sixteen and eighteen are prohibited from working more 
 than ten hours a day. 
 
 Children between eight and sixteen must attend 
 school at least half of each public school session, unless 
 the child's labor is necessary for self-support or the 
 support of a disabled father or widowed mother. 
 
 Seats must be provided in all mercantile establish- 
 ments for women employees. 
 
 The law gives the preference of guardianship of 
 children to the father except in cases where the court, 
 in its discretion, decrees otherwise, as in divorce actions. 
 
 Divorce will be granted upon proof of habitual 
 drunkenness, cruelty, and desertion of one year. 
 
 A female of fourteen may contract a valid marriage 
 with the consent of parents, and without parental con- 
 sent at eighteen. 
 
136 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 California 
 
 Jack London, who could attune his pen to his poetic 
 soul and who could bring from the music of his de- 
 scriptive language keen and vivid pictures, liked to 
 present California as a very Eden. In its generous con- 
 sideration of its citizens, in protecting their rights, 
 California has been an inspiration to workers for fair 
 legislation in other States, for in the laws of California 
 there is shown great care for all classes and for the 
 woman as well as the man. 
 
 Married women in California are permitted to con- 
 tract freely with respect to separate property and any 
 business in which they may be engaged and a contract 
 even between husband and wife is allowed. A valid 
 agreement may be entered into between husband and 
 wife providing for separate domicile and the care and 
 custody of children. 
 
 At the time of its adoption in 1879 the Constitution 
 provided: Art. XX, Sec. 18, "No person shall, on ac- 
 count of sex, be disqualified from entering upon or pur- 
 suing any lawful business, vocation or profession." It 
 provided also that women should not be barred from 
 any department of the State University. Under the 
 foregoing provisions women in California enjoyed many 
 years of opportunity and in October, 191 1, the last pro- 
 vision discriminatory against women was removed from 
 the Constitution by the Suffrage Amendment. 
 
 In 1914 provision was made for a minimum wage 
 law for women, so that, on its face, the Constitution of 
 the State of California after 1914 showed only one in- 
 equality between men and women — that inequality being 
 in favor of women. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 137 
 
 The Welfare Commission, composed of five persons, 
 one of whom must be a woman, has power to investigate 
 the wages and conditions under which women work, to 
 regulate hours and wages, and its rulings have the force 
 and effect of law. 
 
 The Codes of California contain many laws from the 
 earliest days of California but they do not limit or bar 
 women from contracting freely. 
 
 In the whole body of the civil law there appears to 
 be but one discrimination against women, in that brothers 
 of a decedent are entitled to letters of administration 
 before sisters (C. C. P. 1365). And, in general, ex- 
 cept as to community property, which represents the 
 asset in which both husband and wife are owners, a 
 married woman has the same freedom of action which 
 the unmarried woman has. 
 
 Sec. 158 of the Civil Code provides, "Either husband 
 or wife may enter into any engagement or transaction 
 with the other, or with any other person, respecting 
 property, which either might if unmarried." This is 
 slightly modified by the chapter in the same code on 
 Homesteads, but the modification discriminates against 
 the husband rather than against the wife. 
 
 The Constitution provides that the separate property 
 of husband or wife shall consist of all property owned 
 by him or her before marriage, and that acquired after- 
 wards by gift, devise or descent, with the rents, issues 
 and profits thereof. The Civil Code (sec. 164) supple- 
 ments this by establishing certain presumptions in favor 
 of the wife. Where property is conveyed to a married 
 woman by an instrument in writing it is presumed, un- 
 less otherwise specified in the writing, that it is to be 
 held as her separate property, and in case of a similar 
 
*38 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 conveyance to husband and wife it is presumed, unless 
 otherwise specified, that the wife takes as tenant in 
 common. An additional advantage is given to the wife 
 by the fact that the earnings and accumulations of the 
 wife, and of her minor children, living with her while 
 she is living separate from her husband, are her sepa- 
 rate property. (C. C. 169.) 
 
 The wife may convey her separate property without 
 her husband's consent (C. C. 162). She may make a 
 grant of realty in the same manner as if she were unmar- 
 ried (C. C. 1093). Under the Banking Act she may 
 have a bank account in her own right free from the 
 control of her husband. 
 
 A married woman may dispose of all of her separate 
 property by will without the consent of her husband, 
 and may alter or revoke the will in like manner as if 
 she were single (C. C. 1273). However a will by a 
 woman is revoked by her subsequent marriage and is 
 not revived by the death of her husband (C. C. 1300), 
 while, in the case of a man the will is revoked only 
 if the wife survives him and is not provided for by 
 marriage contract nor mentioned in the will (C. C. 
 1299). A married woman may be executrix or admin- 
 istratix of a will. The authority of an executrix or 
 administratix is not affected by her subsequent marriage 
 (C. C. P. 1352). A married woman's right to her 
 separate property is protected by a provision that she 
 may make and file for record an inventory thereof, and 
 that the filing of such inventory is notice and prima facie 
 evidence of her title (C. C 165, 166). 
 
 The separate property of the wife is liable for her 
 own debts contracted before or after marriage, but it 
 is not liable for the debts of her husband, except that 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 139 
 
 property acquired by her by gift from him after mar- 
 riage is liable for debts contracted by either of them 
 for necessities furnished either or both while living 
 together (C. C. 171). Neither is the separate property 
 of the husband liable for the debts of the wife; and, 
 by an amendment of 1913, the husband is exempted from 
 liability for the wife's torts, except where, without the 
 marriage, he would be jointly liable. 
 
 As to a married woman's right to sue and defend. 
 When the action concerns her separate property, or 
 where it is between her and her husband, or when they 
 are separated by his desertion or by agreement, she may 
 sue and be sued alone (C. C. P. 370). And in any 
 case where both are sued she may defend and if her 
 husband fail to do so she may defend him also. In case 
 of the death of the father, or his desertion of his family, 
 the mother may sue for the seduction or for the injury 
 or death of a minor child (C. C. P. 375, 376). 
 
 The real discrimination against women in California, 
 and practically the only discrimination, concerns the 
 rights of parties to a marriage to the control of the 
 community property. Community property includes all 
 acquired by either husband or wife during the marriage, 
 except that acquired by gift, bequest, devise or descent, 
 its rents, issues and profits, and except also the earn- 
 ings and accumulations of the wife and her minor chil- 
 dren with her while she is living separate from her 
 husband. The property rights of husband and wife are 
 governed by the provisions of the Civil Code unless there 
 is a marriage settlement (C. C. 177). A marriage 
 settlement contract may be recorded (C. C. 179). The 
 recording or non-recording of such a contract has the 
 
140 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 same effect as the recording or non-recording of a grant 
 of real property (C. C. 180). 
 
 The husband has the management and control and 
 management of the community property, with the like 
 absolute power of disposition, other than testamentary, 
 as he has of his separate estate ; provided, however, that 
 he cannot make a gift of such community property, or 
 convey the same without a valuable consideration, un- 
 less the wife, in writing, consent thereto; and provided 
 also, that no sale, conveyance, or encumbrance of the 
 furniture, furnishing and fittings of the home, or of 
 the clothing and wearing apparel of the wife or minor 
 children, which is community property, shall be made 
 without the consent- of the wife in writing (C. C. 172). 
 
 This power does not extend to the homestead, which 
 may be selected from the community property, or from 
 the separate property of the husband, or, with her con- 
 sent, shown by her making or joining in the declaration 
 of homestead, from the separate property of the wife. 
 The husband, as head of the family, may select the 
 homestead, but if he does not do so, the wife may. It 
 may not be conveyed or encumbered except by an in- 
 strument executed by both husband and wife (C. C. 
 1242) ; and it may be abandoned only by declaration, 
 or deed, executed by both (C. C. 1243). 
 
 The property of the community is not liable for the 
 contracts of the wife made after marriage unless se- 
 cured by a pledge or mortgage thereof executed by the 
 husband (C. C. 167). On the other hand, the wife's 
 earnings, though community property, are not liable for 
 the debts of the husband (C. C. 168). 
 
 Certain rights to the control of community property 
 are saved to a married woman by Title XII of the Code 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 141 
 
 of Civil Procedure relating to Sole Traders. Under 
 its provisions when a husband fails to support her she 
 may petition the Superior Court of the County where 
 she resides for permission to become a sole trader. If 
 it is granted she may carry on in her own name the 
 business specified in the petition. She may invest in the 
 business a sum not to exceed $500 derived from the 
 community property, or from the separate property of 
 her husband. The profits from the sum invested be- 
 long exclusively to her and are not liable for the debts 
 of her husband, and on causes arising from the conduct 
 of the business she may sue and be sued alone. Her 
 husband is not liable for any debts contracted by her 
 in the course of her sole trader's business, unless con- 
 tracted upon his written consent. A married woman 
 who is adjudged a sole trader is liable for the mainte- 
 nance of her minor children. 
 
 Upon the death of the husband only one-half of the 
 common property goes to the surviving wife, the other 
 half being subject to his testamentary disposition and 
 in the absence thereof going to his descendants, or, if 
 there are none, to his heirs. But the entire community 
 property is subject to the debts of the deceased husband 
 and the expenses of administration (C. C. 1402). How- 
 ever, the widow, and minor children, until letters are 
 granted and the inventory returned, are entitled to re- 
 main in possession of the homestead, wearing apparel 
 and household furniture, and are entitled also to rea- 
 sonable provision for their support (C. C. P. 1464)- 
 
 Upon the death of the wife all of the community 
 property goes to the surviving husband without admin- 
 istration, excepting such part as has been set aside to 
 her by judicial decree, which part is subject to her 
 
142 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 testamentary disposition, and in the absence thereof goes 
 to her heirs, exclusive of her husband. 
 
 These rules, however, do not apply to the homestead. 
 If it has been selected from the community property or 
 from the separate property of the spouse making the 
 selection, on the death of either it vests in the survivor. 
 In other cases, upon the death of the person whose 
 property was selected it goes to the heirs or devisees, 
 subject to the power of the Superior Court to assign 
 it for a limited period to the family of the decedent 
 (C. C. 1265). 
 
 To offset the rights of the husband in regard to the 
 community property the wife is entitled to support from 
 him. If he does not give it any other person may pro- 
 vide her with necessaries and recover from him the 
 reasonable value thereof (C. C. 174) ; providing, that 
 when she has abandoned him (unless she was justified 
 by his misconduct) he is not liable until she offers to 
 return, and excepting also that he is not liable when 
 she is living separate by agreement, unless stipulated 
 in the agreement (C. C. 175). But the wife must sup- 
 port her husband out of her separate property if there 
 is no community property and if he is unable from in- 
 firmity to support himself (C. C. 176). 
 
 The husband, however, is the head of the family 
 and may choose any reasonable and fit place of abode 
 and mode of living and if the wife does not conform 
 thereto it is desertion. (But if the place or mode of 
 living he selects is unreasonable and grossly unfit, it is 
 desertion on his part from the time she objects.) On 
 the other hand, wilful neglect of the wife by the hus- 
 band i. e., his failure to provide necessaries for her, if 
 continued for one year is a cause for divorce. In any 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 143 
 
 action for divorce, even where the divorce is denied, 
 the court may provide for the maintenance of the wife 
 and children by the husband (C. C. 136). When such 
 an action is pending "the court may in its discretion 
 require the husband to pay as alimony any money nec- 
 essary to enable the wife to support herself and her 
 children, or to prosecute or defend the action" (C. C. 
 137)- 
 
 When the husband deserts the wife, or fails to pro- 
 vide for her, or when she has an accrued cause for 
 divorce she may, without applying for divorce, maintain 
 an action against him for permanent maintenance of 
 herself or of herself and children (C. C. 137). 
 
 The husband may be required to pay alimony during 
 the pendency of this action also. The judgment may 
 be enforced by order of the court, which may be altered 
 or revoked at any time within the discretion of the court. 
 
 When a divorce is granted for an offense of the 
 husband the court may compel him to provide for the 
 maintenance of the children and to make such suitable 
 allowance to the wife for her support during her life 
 or for a shorter period as the court may deem just. 
 And the court may from time to time modify its orders 
 in this respect. 
 
 As regards the personal relations of husband and 
 wife, they stand on fairly equal footing. And this is 
 true in more than the technical sense, for the law seems 
 in a measure to equalize the differences that must nec- 
 essarily arise from the nature of the relationship and 
 our social customs. Both husband and wife have five 
 causes for divorce: Adultery, extreme cruelty, deser- 
 tion, habitual intemperance and conviction of a felony. 
 The wife has one more than those mentioned — wilful 
 
144 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 neglect. She is protected from the man's superior 
 physical strength even when she cannot prove extreme 
 cruelty by a provision that if one party leaves the home 
 because of cruelty or threats of bodily harm it is not 
 desertion by the absent party but by the other (C. C. 
 98). And refusal of reasonable matrimonial intercourse 
 is desertion only "when health or physical condition does 
 not make such refusal reasonably necessary" (C. C. 96). 
 A hardship which may be suffered by the wife arises 
 from the right of the husband to control the community 
 property. This leaves her economically dependent upon 
 him, and it may be difficult for her to get a reputable 
 attorney to handle her case, or even, sometimes, to raise 
 the necessary court costs to start proceedings. "This 
 difficulty," declares Margaret Gardner, the woman 
 lawyer and Deputy Prosecutor of Los Angeles, "is not 
 entirely obviated by the provision that 'the court may 
 in its discretion' order the husband to pay her expenses 
 of suit, as, of course, she has to raise the money first 
 in order to take advantage of that provision. I know 
 of one woman whose cause for divorce, adultery, and 
 a flagrant case, was lost by the lapse of time before she 
 could, while supporting herself and children, earn enough 
 to sue." As it is unethical for a lawyer to advance 
 costs in a divorce suit, or to take such a case on a 
 contingency basis, the one person who best knows the 
 merit of the claim is barred from filling the financial 
 breach. While it is true that the wife's earnings are 
 her separate property while she is apart from her hus- 
 band, too often after "making a home" she is fitted for 
 nothing but housework, she is quite out of touch with 
 the trades and professions by which she mfight earn 
 a decent income, and, especially if she has the encum- 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 145 
 
 brance of children, she is at a serious disadvantage. 
 The difficulty is not easy to surmount for it may be 
 questioned whether giving the wife a share in the con- 
 trol of the community property is practicable, or, if 
 practicable, if it would be a remedy. The wife is the 
 victim of the age-old idea that a married woman should 
 not work and bring in an income, It is the economic 
 dependence which is the fundamental inequality. The 
 need is for a change of sentiment, a fairer and saner 
 view of the partnership of marriage, then the desired 
 change of law would follow as a natural sequence. 
 
 Regarding the right to the custody and the duty of 
 supporting children the discrimination in California 
 seems somewhat in favor of the mother as against the 
 father. At the first session of the Legislature after the 
 Suffrage Amendment, Sec. 197 of the Civil Code was 
 amended to give the mother an equal right with the 
 father to the custody services and earnings of legitimate 
 children, even when the parents are living separately. 
 In the same year Sec. 196a was added making the father 
 as well as the mother of an illegitimate child liable for 
 its support and education, though the mother is entitled 
 to its custody, services and earnings (Sec. 200). The 
 mother, on the other hand, is liable for the support and 
 education of a legitimate child only in case that which 
 the father is able to give is inadequate (Sec. 196). 
 
 A guardian of a legitimate child may be appointed 
 by will by the father with the written consent of the 
 mother, or by either if the other be dead, or incapable 
 of consent. The mother only of an illegitimate child 
 has power to make such an appointment. 
 
 In the penal law such discrimination as appears is 
 rather in favor of women than against them. Sec. 26 
 
146 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 of the Penal Code provides that "married women (ex- 
 cept for felonies) acting under the threats, command or 
 coercion of their husbands are not capable of commit- 
 ting crimes." 
 
 Sec. 270a, 270b, 27od, and 273b have recently been 
 added. The three first named provide for the punish- 
 ment (as a felony or misdemeanor in the discretion of 
 the court) of husbands who fail to provide for their 
 wives, for the suspension of proceedings in such a case 
 upon surety being given for provision for the wife, and 
 for the payment (in the discretion of the court) of any 
 fine imposed to the wife. Sec. 273b provides that de- 
 fendant in such a case may be sentenced to work on 
 public work, and that if he is so sentenced the county 
 supervisor may order a sum not to exceed $1.50 for 
 each day's work, to be paid to the wife. "In practise 
 this law does not work out as favorably to the wife," 
 says Margaret Gardner, "as might appear on its face, 
 for it is not often enforced except where she has small 
 children on her hands, as juries are ready to see the 
 power it might give a selfish or unscrupulous woman 
 over her husband." 
 
 Working women are given especial protection from 
 industrial wrongs in California by two penal statutes 
 (not embodied in the Code), one prohibiting the em- 
 ployment of women at less than an adequate living wage, 
 and the other prohibiting the employment of women in 
 certain occupations for more than eight hours a day 
 or forty-eight hours a week. 
 
 Discussing the penal laws of California, Miss 
 Margaret Gardner says: 
 
 "The penal laws protecting women in California are 
 fairly complete and satisfactory. There are several sec- 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 147 
 
 tions of the Penal Code forbidding as felonies the ab- 
 duction of women, seducing them for the purpose of 
 prostitution, or holding them under duress for that 
 purpose, and buying and selling them. The section 
 punishing seduction under promise of marriage, how- 
 ever, has been interpreted as not covering cases where 
 the man acts under the cloak of a former marriage, 
 promising an immediate divorce and marriage as soon 
 as he is 'free.' But young girls are protected from such 
 men by the fact that the age of consent in rape cases 
 is eighteen years. A provision that when the girl is 
 over sixteen and less than eighteen the offense may be 
 punished as a misdemeanor makes it enforceable in 
 practise. Panderers are punishable as felons. The 
 penal law regarding prostitution is one-sided, at least in 
 its enforcement, as the prostitute is punished as a 
 vagrant while the man who employs her is not. This 
 distinction is perhaps not intrinsic in the law, but arises 
 rather in its customary application. In Los Angeles or- 
 dinances have been passed whereby both are punished 
 in cases of resort to rooming houses, hotels and other 
 public places. 
 
 "A brief comment upon actual conditions in Cali- 
 fornia," continues Miss Gardner, "is necessary. It must 
 be borne in mind that just statutes do not necessarily 
 give justice and equality before the law, nor does it mean 
 equality before the law's administrators. For example, 
 there is nothing in the law of California to prevent the 
 selection of women for jury duty, but as a matter of 
 practise they are almost never selected. Instances might 
 be multiplied of cases where law and custom do not 
 coincide. This is due to a prejudice among men which 
 (I speak from personal experience) can be overcome 
 
148 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 if women who go into the professions or into public 
 office without demanding especial consideration, or espe- 
 cial privilege, and quietly, by real effort, succeed. The 
 method of forcing public opinion by means of legisla- 
 tion creating special office for women is deplorably 
 short-sighted. For instance, Los Angeles has five police 
 judges; there is nothing in the law to make women 
 ineligible for the office of judge; but it was attempted 
 to force the enactment of a law creating the office of 
 'woman police judge.' Fortunately the effort failed. 
 Such a law would, by implication, make women ineligible 
 for the five other offices and take from them their 
 equality with men before the law. To a certain extent 
 public opinion governs the administration of the law. 
 But without equal laws public opinion cannot give 
 equality." 
 
 Watchful waiting and quiet preparation for the op- 
 portunities that are coming to them seems all that Cali- 
 fornia women need to gain perfect equality. They 
 should adopt Charles Kingsley's rule as amended by 
 Eugene Manlove Rhodes, "Make good sweet maid and 
 let who will be clever." 
 
 Minors in California who are less than fifteen years 
 of age are not permitted to work in gainful occupations, 
 except that minors, between twelve and fifteen, are per- 
 mitted, with stipulated consent, to work in vacation and 
 out of school hours if they have certain prescribed school 
 certificates and are physically able. 
 
 Children under sixteen are not permitted to work 
 in places physically or morally dangerous. 
 
 Minors under eighteen are prohibited from working 
 more than eight hours in any day or between ten at 
 night and five in the morning, and minors under eigh- 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 149 
 
 teen are not permitted to distribute messages between 
 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. 
 
 School attendance is made obligatory except where 
 children have certificates which have been issued for 
 the reasons legally provided entitling them to work. 
 
 California has the Red Light and Abatement Law 
 which provides that where a building has been used for 
 immoral purposes it shall be closed for one year on 
 conviction of the proprietor. 
 
 In 191 5 Or fa Jean Shonts was appointed Referee in 
 Juvenile Court matters in Los Angeles with all of the 
 powers of a Referee in Chancery Courts or the judge 
 thereof, and Judge Shonts, in establishing her court ap- 
 pointed women bailiffs, clerks, etc. Between November 
 1st, 1915, and November 1st, 1916, there was disposed 
 of hy her 1575 cases. 
 
 With parent's consent a girl may marry at fifteen 
 years and without parental consent at eighteen. 
 The inheritance tax on property is as follows : 
 To husband or wife, ascendants or descendants one 
 per cent to twenty-five thousand dollars, two per cent from 
 twenty-five to fifty thousand dollars and four per cent 
 from fifty to one hundred thousand dollars. From one 
 hundred to two hundred thousand dollars the tax is 
 seven per cent and from two to three hundred thousand 
 dollars it is ten per cent. $24,000 is exempt to widow 
 or minor child and to the other beneficiaries herein 
 named $10,000 is exempt. 
 
 Under the California Constitution there is a provi- 
 sion for needy orphans which requires the State to pro- 
 vide one hundred dollars per annum for each orphan 
 and seventy-five dollars per annum for each half- 
 orphan under the age of fourteen years who is de- 
 
iSo MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 pendent and by amendment in 1913 it is further pro- 
 vided that "in addition to the amount paid by the State 
 for each orphan maintained at home by the mother, the 
 county, city and county, city or town, may pay for the 
 support of such orphan or half-orphan an amount equal 
 to the sum paid by the State." 
 
 San Francisco in 1916 established a Night Court, and 
 a Woman's Court where only women offenders are tried 
 and to this latter court San Francisco has blazed a new 
 road by appointing Mrs. Jean De Greayer prosecutor. 
 
 Margaret Gardner says of the laws of California: 
 "I may say that the inequalities of our laws are largely 
 in favor of women rather than against them. This is 
 especially true since the Suffrage Amendment and the 
 amendments immediately following. I think the status 
 of women in California is of especial interest from that 
 very fact." 
 
 Colorado 
 
 Colorado, like California, gives to her women citizens 
 fair consideration. In those States where legislation has 
 been backward in the matter of protection for the weak 
 and dependent and in equalizing the status of women 
 with men, the pattern already tried and found to so well 
 fit progressive western States would be well worth the 
 copying. 
 
 Sec. 4181 Colo. Stat. Ann. reads: 
 
 The property, real and personal, which any woman in this 
 state may own at the time of her marriage, and the rents, 
 issues, profits and proceeds thereof, and any real, personal or 
 mixed property which shall come to her by descent, devise or 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 151 
 
 bequest, or the gift of any person except her husband, including 
 presents or gifts from her husband, as jewelry, silver, table- 
 ware, watches, money and wearing apparel, shall remain her 
 sole and separate property, notwithstanding her marriage, and 
 not be subject to the disposal of her husband, or liable for 
 his debts. 
 
 This gives to a woman the same right to bind and 
 obligate herself which is man's, and the woman citizen 
 having that right should be, and desires to be held to 
 the same accounting. It is the sure way to teach women 
 to walk alone and to gain strength as they tread un- 
 supported. It is a condition of servitude when the law 
 of a State withholds from married women the right to 
 contract freely and to be held for their contractual 
 relations. 
 
 And, going farther in establishing the rights of mar- 
 ried women the following Statutes were enacted: 
 
 Sec. 4182. Any woman may, while married, sue and be 
 sued in all matters having relation to her property, person or 
 reputation, in the same manner as if she were sole. 
 
 Sec. 4183. Any married woman may carry on any trade or 
 business, and perform any labor or services, on her sole and 
 separate account, and the earnings of any married woman, from 
 her trade, business, labor or services, shall be her sole and 
 separate property, and may be used and invested by her in her 
 own name; and she may sue and be sued as if sole, in regard 
 to her trade, business, labor, services and earnings, and her 
 property acquired by trade, business and services, and the pro- 
 ceeds thereof may be taken on any execution against her. 
 
 Sec. 4188. The separate deed of the husband shall convey 
 no interest in the wife's lands. 
 
 Sec. 4189. Any woman may, while married, execute any 
 
152 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 bond, bill, promissory note, or other instrument in writing, for 
 the direct payment of money; and if the consideration thereof 
 went to the benefit of her estate, she shall be liable thereon in 
 an action at law, and a judgment obtained against her thereon 
 in a court of record shall be a lien on her real estate, and 
 execution may issue on such judgment as in other cases. 
 
 Sec. 4190. That hereafter any woman, while married, may 
 bargain, sell, and convey her real and personal property, and 
 enter into any contract in reference to the same, as if she 
 were sole. 
 
 Sec. 4191. Any woman, while married, may contract debts 
 in her own name and upon her own credit, and may execute 
 promissory notes, bonds, bills of exchange and other instru- 
 ments in writing, and may enter into any contract the same as 
 if she were sole; and in all cases where any suit or suits, or 
 other legal proceedings shall be instituted against her, and any 
 judgment, decree or order therein shall be rendered or pro- 
 nounced against her, the same may be enforced by execution 
 or other process against her the same as if she were sole. 
 
 In the case of Button vs. Higgens, 5th Ann. p. 167, 
 the court held: 
 
 "The business affairs with regard to which a married 
 woman may contract is unlimited." 
 
 And in the case of Allen vs. Eldridge it was held: 
 
 "A husband is deprived of all interest in the labor 
 of his wife rendered to third persons." 
 
 In providing for the interest of the wife in the house- 
 hold goods and in her husband's salary the following 
 statutes were enacted: 
 
 Sec. 514. That any chattel mortgage upon, and any sale of 
 the household goods, used by the family, when given or made 
 by husband or wife residing with the other, shall not be valid 
 unless executed or made by both husband and wife jointly. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 153 
 
 Sec. 7006. No assignment of his wages or salary by a mar- 
 ried man, who shall be the head of a family residing in this 
 state, shall be valid or enforceable without the consent of his 
 wife, evidenced by her signature to said assignment executed 
 and acknowledged before a notary public or other officer em- 
 powered to take acknowledges of conveyances, and no wage 
 broker or person connected with him directly or indirectly 
 shall be authorized to take any such acknowledgment. 
 
 Sec. 7014. No assignment of wages not already earned at 
 the time of such assignment and no assignment of any sum to 
 become due the assignor after the date of such assignment shall 
 and residing with a wife or husband, such wife or husband shall 
 be valid, unless, if the assignor be a married man or woman 
 join in and shall sign such assignment. 
 
 An Act Relating to the Estates of Deceased Persons, 
 Insane Persons, Mental Incompetents, Feeble-minded 
 Persons and Minors, reads: 
 
 Passed by General Assembly 1915 
 
 Sec. 134. If any decedent leaves a widow residing in this 
 state, in all cases she shall be allowed to have and retain as 
 her sole and separate property, one bed and bedding, wearing 
 apparel of herself and family, one cow and calf, one saddle and 
 bridle, one horse, household furniture for herself and family, 
 and also the same amount and species of property as is or may 
 be by law exempt from execution, not to exceed in any event 
 the sum of $2000.00 in value. If there be no widow, but an 
 orphan minor child, or children, such child or children shall be 
 entitled to the same rights of allowance as a widow, to be 
 allowed in the same manner and paid to a guardian for such 
 child or children. If the decedent be a woman and at the time 
 of her death left an orphan minor child or children whose 
 male parent was not living at the time of the death of such 
 decedent, such child or children shall be entitled to the same 
 
154 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 rights and allowance as a widow, to be allowed in the same 
 manner and paid to the guardian of such child or children. 
 
 In case of the death of a husband or wife intestate, one- 
 half of the property goes to the surviving husband or wife, 
 and one-half to the children. If there be no children surviving 
 then the entire property goes to the surviving husband or wife. 
 
 The law under which the women of Colorado vote 
 is as follows: 
 
 That every female person shall be entitled to vote at all 
 elections, in the same manner in all respects as male persons 
 are, or shall be entitled to vote by the constitution and laws 
 of this state, and the same qualifications as to age, citizenship, 
 and time of residence in the state, county, city, ward and 
 precinct; and all other qualifications required by law to entitle 
 male persons to vote shall be required to entitle female per- 
 sons to vote. 
 
 Colorado holds the estate of the wife and the estate 
 of the husband equally liable for household necessities. 
 
 The Homestead provisions are careful of the rights 
 of the woman as well as the man and read: 
 
 Every householder in the state of Colorado, being the head 
 of a family, shall be entitled to a homestead not exceeding in 
 value the sum of $2000, exempt from execution and attachment, 
 arising from any debt, contract or civil obligation, entered into 
 or incurred after the first day of February, in the year of our 
 Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight. 
 
 To entitle any person to the benefit of this act, he shall 
 cause the word "homestead" to be entered in the margin of his 
 record title to the same, which marginal entry shall be signed 
 by the owner making such entry and attested by the clerk and 
 recorder of the county in which the premises in question are 
 situated, together with the date and time of day on which the 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 155 
 
 said marginal entry is so made; Provided, That in case the 
 husband is the owner of said homestead, the wife may cause 
 such entry to be made, and recorded, and the signature of the 
 said entry by the wife shall have the same effect as if entered 
 by the husband, the owner of the property. 
 
 When any person dies seized of a homestead, leaving a 
 widow, or husband, or minor children, such widow, or husband, 
 or minor children, shall be entitled to the homestead; but in 
 case there is neither widow, husband, nor minor children, the 
 homestead shall be liable for the debts of the deceased. 
 
 Gladys Fox, who won high place at the Colorado 
 Bar and who ranks as one of the leading lawyers of the 
 West, declares that the laws which have been enacted 
 by Colorado for the protection and defense of the rights, 
 both property and personal, of her women citizens, and 
 the safeguards placed round minors and women who 
 must work to live, have been easy of enforcement, have 
 proved practical and for the good of the State as well 
 as the people. Men and women have worked in accord 
 in Colorado for the best interest of the State, that spirit 
 of antagonism to established conditions engendered by 
 discriminatory laws being absent. Where there has 
 arisen troubles between labor and capital violations of 
 the law have been brought about in the main by outside 
 interference and agitators. 
 
 The law which secures an eight-hour labor day to 
 women reads as follows: 
 
 No female shall be employed in any manufacturing, mechani- 
 cal or mercantile establishment, laundry, hotel or restaurant in 
 this state more than eight hours during any twenty-four hours 
 of any one calendar day. The hours of work may be so ar- 
 ranged as to permit the employment of females at any time, 
 
i56 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 provided, that any such female shall not work more than eight 
 hours during the twenty-four hours of any one calendar day. 
 
 The provisions of the statute also declare the em- 
 ployment of females in any and all manufacturing, 
 mechanical and mercantile establishments, laundries, 
 hotels, and restaurants, injurious to health and danger- 
 ous to life or limb, prohibited. Also employers in 
 manufacturing, mechanical and mercantile establish- 
 ments are required to provide seats for female em- 
 ployees. 
 
 The Mother's pension is provided for in Colorado 
 under the law described as "Mother's Compensation" 
 and Section 558 reads: 
 
 Any dependent child committed to the State Home for 
 Dependent and Neglected Children shall, as to its care and 
 disposition by said home, be subject to any special order of 
 the court, making such commitment, provided such order be 
 made at the time of such commitment. If the parent or parents 
 of such dependent or neglected child are poor and unable to 
 properly care for such child, but otherwise are proper guardians, 
 and it is for the welfare of such child to remain at home, 
 the court may enter an order finding such facts and fixing the 
 amount of money necessary to enable the parent or parents 
 to properly care for such child, and thereupon it shall be the 
 duty of the Board of County Commissioners, and in those 
 cities and counties operating under Article XX of the Constitu- 
 tion it shall be the duty of the department and authority 
 performing that part of the functions of a board of county 
 commissioners, or vested with power for the relief of the 
 poor, to pay such parent or parents, or, if it seems for the 
 best interests of the child, to some other person designated by 
 the court for that purpose, at such times as said order may 
 designate, the amount so specified, or when so ordered by the 
 court, its equivalent in supplies and assistance, for the care of 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 157 
 
 such dependent or neglected child until the further order of 
 the court. 
 
 Colorado has compulsory education for children 
 under fourteen years of age. 
 
 The age of consent is eighteen and the penalty for 
 rape is from three years to a life term of imprisonment. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, ascendants, lineal descendants, brother 
 or sister, of two per cent above $10,000, which is ex- 
 empt. To uncle, aunt, niece, or their descendants, three 
 per cent. To all others than those named the tax is 
 three per cent from $500 to $10,000, four per cent 
 from $10,000 to $20,000 and from $20,000 to $50,000 
 the tax is six per cent. 
 
 Broadly speaking the State of Colorado secures to 
 the wife all the property owned by her at the time of 
 her marriage, or acquired afterward. She can contract 
 as a sole, her earnings go to her separate estate and 
 remain entirely under her control, and her property is 
 not liable for the debts of her husband. Neither hus- 
 band nor wife can alieniate by will more than half of 
 his or her estate. 
 
 Colorado is a Prohibition State. 
 
 The provision of law regarding the pledge of a man's 
 wage, unless the pledge is concurred in by his wife, 
 and such concurrence is voluntary and so evidenced by 
 the affirmation of the notary that he knows the woman 
 and has questioned her apart from her husband and she 
 has declared herself willing that the wages of her hus- 
 band shall be pledged, is far reaching in its protection 
 of women and children. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for impotency, adultery, de- 
 
158 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 sertion for one year, cruelty, non-support, habitual 
 drunkenness and conviction of a felony. 
 
 A divorce does not in any way affect the legitimacy 
 of any child of a marriage, nor its right to inherit the 
 property of its father and mother. 
 
 There must be actual residence for at least one year 
 within Colorado to entitle a citizen to sue for divorce. 
 
 In any action for divorce the defendant may file a 
 cross complaint in which may be set forth any one or 
 more causes for divorce against the plaintiff; and if, 
 upon the trial of the suit both parties are found to be 
 guilty of any one or more causes for divorce, then a 
 divorce will not be granted to either party. 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 There is no age limitation in Connecticut for 
 contracting marriage, but the State holds the contract 
 one not easy of dissolution. Three years actual resi- 
 dence within the State must be shown to entitle the 
 citizen to sue for divorce and the decree will be granted 
 upon proof of adultery, desertion and total neglect for 
 three years, habitual drunkenness, cruelty and when one 
 of the spouses has left the marital abode and has not 
 been heard from in seven years. 
 
 There is a distinct line of demarkation in the 
 property rights of persons married subsequent to 1877. 
 Parties married before April 20th, 1877, may, by writ- 
 ten contract, duly recorded, substitute for their rights 
 as existing at that date those given to parties thereafter 
 married. The husband married before April 20, 1877, 
 has a right to the use of the wife's real estate during her 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 159 
 
 life and an estate by curtesy after her death. All the per- 
 sonal property of any woman married since the 22nd of 
 June, 1849, an d before April 20th, 1877, and all of the per- 
 sonal property acquired thereafter by a married woman, 
 and the avails of such property if sold, shall vest in the 
 husband in trust, to receive and enjoy the income thereof 
 during his life, subject to the duty of spending there- 
 from so much as may be necessary for the support of 
 his wife and children. Upon his death the remainder 
 of the trust property shall be transferred to the wife, 
 if living, otherwise as she may, by will, have directed, 
 or in default of such will to those entitled by law to 
 succeed to her estate. A marriage contract after April 
 20th, 1877, gives neither the husband nor the wife any 
 interest in the property of the other, except as a sur- 
 vivor. Her earnings are her own property. The 
 property of either is not liable for the debts of the other, 
 unless they be for the support of the family for which 
 the husband is liable. On the death of either the sur- 
 vivor has the use for life of one-third of the property, 
 real and personal, which right cannot be defeated by 
 the will of either. If there be no will the survivor 
 takes one-third absolutely, and if there is no issue, one- 
 half. They may contract either before or after mar- 
 riage for a provision in lieu of this statutory share. 
 
 The inheritance tax on property passing to husband, 
 wife, ascendant, or descendants, is one per cent from 
 $10,000 to $50,000, two per cent on $50,000 to $250,000 
 and three per cent on $250,000 to $1,000,000. 
 
 The father and mother are given equal rights in the 
 custody and guardianship of children. 
 
 Minors and women are prohibited from working 
 more than ten hours in any day, or more than fifty- 
 
160 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 eight hours in a week. This regulation to ten hours 
 must be considered as beneficent — even as there are 
 persons who can see an advantage in the method of 
 capital punishment, as in electrocution instead of hang- 
 ing by the neck until dead. There are a great number 
 of cotton and other manufacturing plants in Connecticut 
 and in them many women and children are employed 
 hence serious attention should be directed toward the 
 care and protection of these women and minors. 
 
 Delaware 
 
 The State of Delaware declares the personal property 
 owned by the wife at the time of her marriage, or ac- 
 quired by her after marriage, is her separate property 
 not subject to the disposition of her husband and not 
 liable for his debts. But the wife cannot dispose of 
 this property, written into the law as her own separate 
 belonging, without the consent of her husband. Nor 
 can a woman mortgage her separate real estate without 
 the consent of her husband. 
 
 The earnings of a wife are her separate property 
 and not subject in any way to the husband's control. 
 
 A widow is entitled to dower as at common law, 
 but if the husband dies without leaving issue she is en- 
 titled to one-half instead of one-third of his real estate. 
 
 Minors under twelve years are prohibited from 
 working in factories, but canneries where perishable 
 vegetables are canned are excepted. 
 
 Minors under fourteen are not permitted to work 
 at any gainful occupation during school hours. 
 
 Persons under twenty-one are prohibited from work- 
 ing in bar rooms. 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 161 
 
 Children between seven and fourteen must attend 
 school at least five months in each year, and there is 
 prohibition of employment of children in places danger- 
 ous to morals or life and limb. 
 
 Seats must be provided in mercantile establishments 
 for women. 
 
 One day in a week a woman may be employed for 
 twelve hours, and in manufacturing plants, laundries, 
 printing offices, bakeries, telephone and telegraph offices, 
 they are limited to ten hours work a day. 
 
 There is no minimum age for a minor to contract 
 marriage in Delaware. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, desertion for 
 two years, or neglect to provide for three years, habitual 
 drunkenness and cruelty. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, ascendants or descendants. To all others 
 there is an exemption of five hundred dollars. Above 
 that a tax of one per cent it levied on estates passing 
 to brothers, sisters, or their descendants, two per cent 
 to great-uncles, great-aunts or their descendants. To all 
 others five per cent. 
 
 Delaware has not only capital punishment and 
 graduated fines and imprisonment but prescribes, whip- 
 ping for certain offenses. 
 
 The control and guardianship of children is given 
 preferably to the father and he may by will name a 
 guardian even though the mother survive. 
 
 There is local option in several counties. 
 
 The age of consent is eighteen years and the penalty 
 for rape is a fine of not more than one thousand dollars 
 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years. 
 
162 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 District of Columbia 
 
 Section 940 of the Code of the District of Columbia 
 provides that if a person die intestate his real estate 
 shall descend to his lawful heirs in the direct line of 
 lineal descent equally. Section 955 provides that both 
 in the descending and collateral lines the inheritance 
 shall be distributed per stirpes. "They shall by repre- 
 sentation, be considered in the same degree as father 
 and mother would have been if living, and take the 
 share that would have gone to the deceased parent." 
 If there are no lineal descendants the estate, if acquired 
 from the father goes to the brothers and sisters of the 
 blood of the father, or their representatives, then to the 
 grandfather and his descendants, until heirs fail, then 
 to the mother and her descendants and to maternal an- 
 cestors and their descendants. When the estate comes 
 by inheritance from the mother it goes to the brothers 
 and sisters of the blood, then ascends to the mother's 
 ancestors. Emily A. Spillman, a woman lawyer of the 
 Bar of the District of Columbia explains the laws of 
 intestacy and descent further: "The inheritance," she 
 says, "in the husband or wife of the intestate is de- 
 ferred until all of these designated lines fail. If the 
 husband or wife should be dead, then the inheritance 
 passes to the kindred of such wife and husband, and 
 where the intestate has been more than once married, 
 and the several husbands or wives have died before the 
 intestate, the estate is divided among the kindred of 
 all of them equally." 
 
 Ante-nuptial children are made legitimate upon the 
 marriage of their parents and are capable of inheriting 
 and transmitting property as though born in wedlock. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 163' 
 
 Illegitimate children can inherit from their mother, I 
 or from each other, or the descendants of each other, 
 the only exception being that the child cannot take by 
 inheritance from the mother if she was mentally in- 
 capable of making a will and remained so until her 
 death. The mother can inherit from the child when 
 descendants or brothers or sisters and their descendants 
 fail, and if the mother is dead her heirs can take as 
 though the child had been legitimate. 
 
 The labor laws in effect in the District of Columbia 
 are the work of Congress and provide that children 
 under fourteen years of age shall not be employed in 
 any occupation dangerous to life, limb or morals, nor 
 in any factory, mill, workshop, or mercantile establish- 
 ment, nor after seven in the evening or before six in 
 the morning. Only in the event that labor is necessary 
 for the child's support, or an invalid father, mother, 
 younger brother or sister, may children between twelve 
 and fourteen be employed in any gainful occupation. 
 Children between fourteen and sixteen must have school 
 certificates before being permitted to work. Boys under 
 ten and girls less than thirteen years of age are pro- 
 hibited from selling papers or merchandise on the public 
 streets or in public places without a badge, or permit, 
 issued by the Superintendent of schools. 
 
 Seats must be provided for females who work in 
 stores, offices, shops or manufactories. 
 
 The District of Columbia has a Red Light and 
 Abatement law. 
 
 The age of consent is sixteen, and the punishment 
 for rape of a woman is imprisonment from five to thirty 
 years. 
 
 Marriages may be annulled for lunacy, fraud, coer- 
 
i6 4 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 cion, impotency and lack of having attained the proper 
 age at time of marriage. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property. 
 
 Florida 
 
 Florida retains much of the sentiment in her laws 
 which obtained throughout all that section known as 
 "The Louisiana Purchase," of which Florida was part. 
 Having been at one time French and later Spanish ter- 
 ritory before it became part of the United States, it is 
 the laws of those countries which color personal and 
 property rights in Florida. 
 
 The property of a woman at the time of her mar- 
 riage remains her separate property and is free from 
 liability for the debts of her husband, but she cannot 
 sell, mortgage or otherwise hypothecate it without the 
 consent of her husband. She can make contracts with 
 regard to this separate property — always, however, such 
 contracts require the consent of her husband. In con- 
 veying her separate estate she must have a separate 
 acknowledgment, apart from her husband, as well as 
 the joint agreement of conveyance. From the time of 
 marriage the property of the wife passes under the 
 management and control of her husband and there is 
 no relief provided her in the law against her husband's 
 mismanagement, nor is there any recourse against him 
 for rents and revenues, etc., accruing while her separate 
 property is under the management of her husband. 
 
 The wife's earnings go to her separate estate and 
 are entirely outside the husband's control. 
 
 There are laws in Florida regulating the hours of 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 165 
 
 labor for minors but not for the women engaged jn 
 labor. 
 
 A child less than fifteen years of age may not be 
 employed for more than sixty days without the consent 
 of the parents. Under sixteen years of age minors are 
 prohibited from working more than nine hours each day. 
 
 No person less than twenty-one years of age will 
 be permitted to work in a saloon. 
 
 Seats must be provided for women in all mercantile 
 establishments. 
 
 Minors under sixteen years of age are prohibited 
 from working in any place dangerous to morals or life 
 and limb. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, desertion of 
 one year, cruelty, habitual drunkenness, violent temper 
 and relationship within the prohibited degree. 
 
 Georgia 
 
 All property of the wife at the time of her marriage, 
 and all property acquired by her during coverture, is 
 her separate property and is not liable for the debts of 
 the husband. The consent of the husband is required, 
 however, to permit the wife to sell, mortgage or other- 
 wise hypothecate her property. 
 
 The husband, as the head of the family, has the 
 right to select the domicile and his legally established 
 domicile is regarded as the domicile of the wife no mat- 
 ter where she reside. The husband is liable for the 
 support of the home and the education of the children. 
 
 A female of fourteen may contract marriage with 
 
166 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 the consent of her parents or at eighteen without their 
 consent. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, desertion of 
 three years, cruelty, fraud in obtaining marriage, and 
 relationship within the prohibited degree. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, lineal descendant, brother, sister or 
 daughter-in-law of one per cent above $5,000 which is 
 exempt. To all other persons than those named the tax 
 is five per cent. 
 
 The labor day is restricted to ten hours, or sixty 
 hours in a week, and by specific wording of a statute 
 bosses and managers in factories, and overseers, are 
 prohibited from inflicting corporal punishment on 
 minors, and "no child under twelve years shall be sold, 
 apprenticed, given away, or hired out for rope or wire 
 walking, or as gymnast, or acrobat, or for any indecent 
 exhibition or practise." 
 
 Minors under twelve are forbidden to work in any 
 factory or mill or other place dangerous to morals, life 
 and limbs. 
 
 Children under fourteen are forbidden to work at 
 gainful occupations unless it be necessary for their own 
 support or that of a widowed mother, aged or disabled 
 father. 
 
 Night work is forbidden minors under fourteen. 
 
 Seats are required to be furnished women employees 
 of mercantile establishments. 
 
 The guardianship of children is left entirely to the 
 discretion of the courts. 
 
 There is no age of consent in Georgia, but the rule 
 which obtains in the United States, in the absence of 
 special statute, that a child of less than ten years would 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 167 
 
 not be held to consent to her own defilement, has been 
 followed. The penalty for rape is death. 
 
 Illinois 
 
 A married woman in Illinois may own in her own 
 right real and personal property, and she may manage, 
 sell and convey the same, her earnings, and when in- 
 vested, the rents, revenues and issues of such earnings 
 belong to her free from any control of her husband, and 
 she may sue and be sued in all matters relating to 
 her own property or interests. 
 
 A married woman is not allowed to engage in busi- 
 ness as a public merchant without the consent of her 
 husband, unless her husband is insane, imprisoned, or 
 has deserted her, in which event she can be authorized 
 to pursue her business without his consent. 
 
 The husband is chargeable with the maintenance of 
 the conjugal home and the children, but if he has no 
 means wherewith to meet the obligation, and his wife 
 has property, she must meet the expense necessary for 
 such maintenance as they are jointly and individually 
 liable for the maintenance of the home and the educa- 
 tion of their children. 
 
 A married woman may not enter a partnership with- 
 out the consent of her husband and all of her con- 
 tractual obligations must be based on the knowledge 
 and permission of her husband unless he is insane, im- 
 prisoned, or he has deserted her. 
 
 Illinois passed the first Mother's Pension Law in 
 191 1 and under it jurisdiction is given the Juvenile 
 Courts of destitute mothers; when they are found best 
 
168 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 fitted to care for their children the State will grant 
 fifteen dollars a month for one child, and if there are 
 more than one child, then ten dollars a month for each 
 additional child, the whole not to exceed sixty dollars 
 a month to any one family. This relief applies only 
 to children under fourteen years of age, except in cases 
 where the child is ill or incapacitated from work, in 
 which event the relief may be extended until the child 
 has reached sixteen years. 
 
 The surviving wife or husband has the same rights 
 in the estate, being one-third of all lands owned. If 
 there are no surviving children or near kindred the sur- 
 viving wife or husband is the heir of the entire estate. 
 If there are no children and husband or wife die inte- 
 state, one-third of the estate in real property goes to 
 the survivor and one-third of the personal property. 
 
 Women are prohibited from working in any me- 
 chanical or mercantile establishment, factory, laundry, 
 hotel, restaurant, telegraph office, express or transporta- 
 tion company, or in any public institution for more than 
 ten hours a day. 
 
 Minors between fourteen and sixteen must have 
 school certificates if they work. 
 
 Minors and females are prohibited from working in 
 saloons or in places dangerous morally or physically, 
 and minors are prohibited from distributing literature 
 in which there occur stories of lust and crime or 
 criminal news. 
 
 Illinois has many laws for the protection of women 
 who work in factories, mercantile establishments or 
 other places and many legal rules and restrictions as to 
 fire prevention, seats, time for meals, etc. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 169 
 
 husband, wife, descendants, brother, sister, son-in-law, 
 daughter-in-law of one per cent on amounts from 
 $20,000 to $100,000, and above $100,000, two per cent. 
 
 A female of sixteen may contract a valid marriage 
 with the consent of her parents, and at eighteen without 
 parental consent. 
 
 Divorce will be granted on proof of adultery, deser- 
 tion of two years, habitual drunkenness of two years 
 and cruelty. The law provides that divorced must not 
 re-marry within one year from the decree of divorce. 
 
 The age of consent is sixteen years and the penalty 
 for rape is from one year to life imprisonment. 
 
 The Woman's Protective Association, of Chicago, 
 which was organized by Nellie Carlin, a leading woman 
 lawyer, and the first woman appointed Public Guardian 
 of Cook County, resulted from the work of the Public 
 Defender's League for Girls, an organization of women 
 lawyers which gave their service to the Municipal courts 
 in cases of women offenders who had not the means 
 to employ counsel. Prominent club women who saw the 
 need of giving "first aid" to women offenders rallied to 
 the support of the Association and it quickly became an 
 institution of Chicago. These organizations affiliated as 
 organized bodies: The Law and Order League, Chi- 
 cago Woman's Club, Chicago Woman's Aid, Chicago 
 Political Equality League, Golden Rod Club, Illinois 
 Woman's Democratic League, Women's Fellowship 
 Club, Virginia Colony Club, Welfare League, Englewood 
 Woman's Club and the Every Wednesday Club. This 
 meant the enlisting of practically every clubwoman in 
 Chicago. 
 
 The Association found much work ready for its hand 
 in giving friendly counsel, protection and aid to women 
 
i7o MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 who appeared daily in the Courts under various charges. 
 One of the reforms secured by the Association was the 
 summoning into court, instead of the arrest, of women 
 who were to be tried by the Morals Court. A further 
 reform was suggested by Judge Fisher, of the Morals 
 Court by keeping the names of first offenders from the 
 records and hearing their cases in chambers in the 
 presence of interested parties only, thereby sparing them 
 the humiliation of publicity and preventing their ex- 
 ploitation by professional bondsmen. 
 
 Judge Joseph Uhlink, who presided in the Morals 
 Court for two years, was much averse to the fining of 
 women offenders, believing that a woman who came 
 into his court, and whose earning capacity was five or 
 six dollars was not a subject for punishment. He de- 
 clared that to fine a woman for immorality, and to 
 send her out without any means of obtaining employ- 
 ment, to again become the prey of evil associations, was 
 not the kind of money the community wanted, and while 
 on the bench he refused to do this. 
 
 Chief Justice Olsen, speaking from his long experi- 
 ence, said: "If fifty per cent of the women engaged 
 in prostitution are feeble-minded and are obeying the 
 impulses which they cannot control, and for which they 
 are in no way responsible, then logically they have com- 
 mitted no crime and should not receive the punishment 
 meted out to criminals. Fines do not cure enfeebled 
 minds, nor do jail sentences improve the mental capa- 
 city of the hereditarily mental defective." 
 
 "The Woman's Protective Association," declared 
 Miss Carlin, "decided that provision should be made by 
 the city for a Shelter Home, or Farm Colony, where 
 women, mentally defective, could be sent for treatment 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 171 
 
 and reformation. It is an absolute necessity," said Miss 
 Carlin, "for the protection of society and for the pro- 
 tection of the fifty per cent whose fifty per cent men- 
 tality is not strong enough to resist evil influence." 
 
 Miss Carlin launched a campaign for the establish- 
 ment of a Farm Colony within the city limits where 
 women offenders could be sent for an indeterminate 
 period and there taught such useful occupations as sew- 
 ing, gardening, domestic science, etc. An auxiliary of 
 a dairy and a municipal laundry to serve all municipal 
 institutions. Where the girls and women were paid an 
 amount which would be reasonable compensation above 
 their keep when released they would not be penniless 
 and the healthy effort would be beneficial mentally and 
 physically. They would re-enter the community without 
 showing the stamp of recent incarceration and with some 
 chance at self-respect there would be less chance of a 
 return as an offender. 
 
 In the Presidential election of 1916 the Democratic 
 party elected as one of its electors Catherine Waugh 
 McCulloch, a woman lawyer. 
 
 Speaking of the women voters of Illinois Mrs. 
 McCulloch said: "They said women would not care to 
 vote, but in the first election in Chicago in which women 
 had the right to vote, 250,000 exercised that right. In 
 the Presidential election of 1916, 875,000 women voted. 
 The charge had been made that ignorant women would 
 control the elections, but I noted that the more ignorant 
 the woman the less she wanted to vote. In the Chicago 
 election of 1916 there was no crime, no disorder, no 
 blood spilling and none of the things which had char- 
 acterized other Chicago elections and made them in- 
 famous. The election commissioners said the election 
 
i72 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 was the quietest in the history of the city. In fact, it 
 was safer for the women to go to the polls than to stay 
 at home. Then, about the charge of divorce cases grow- 
 ing out of elections: Not a single case of the kind is 
 on record. As to the husband controlling the vote of 
 the wife, let me say it cannot be done." 
 
 Idaho 
 
 Idaho regards marriage as a partnership and from 
 the time of the contract all property acquired is com- 
 mon property, except that the earnings of the wife for 
 her personal services accrue to her separate estate and 
 the husband has no control of such earnings. The hus- 
 band, as the head of the community has the entire 
 control and management of the community property, but 
 he has no control of the rents and revenues emanating 
 from the separate estate of the wife. The husband can- 
 not sell, mortgage or otherwise hypothecate the com- 
 munity property without the written consent of his 
 wife. Upon the death of either the survivor is entitled 
 to a settlement of the community with the right to his 
 or her one-half — the other half descending according to 
 testamentary disposition, or, if the husband or wife die 
 intestate, to the children. If there are no children then 
 the whole estate passes to the husband or wife sur- 
 viving. 
 
 Residence of six months entitles the citizen of 
 Idaho to sue for divorce and a decree will be granted 
 for adultery, cruelty, desertion of one year, failure to 
 provide, habitual drunkenness and insanity. 
 
 Idaho requires females to have attained eighteen 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 173 
 
 years of age before permitting them to enter the con- 
 tract of marriage with or without parental consent. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, lineal descendant or ancestors on amounts 
 in excess of $10,000 of one per cent, and the same taxa- 
 tion is fixed on estates passing to brother or sister, their 
 descendants, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, with an al- 
 lowance of exemption of $2,000. 
 
 Children under fourteen are prohibited from work- 
 ing in certain places and during school hours, or in 
 places dangerous morally or physically. 
 
 Seats must be provided for women in mercantile 
 establishments. 
 
 Idaho has a Mother's Pension law which vests juris- 
 diction of destitute children in the Probate Judge. It 
 provides for the payment of ten dollars a month to the 
 mother of each orphan whose father is dead, confined 
 in an insane asylum or penitentiary and the child is 
 destitute and the mother is found to be a person best 
 fitted to care for the child or children. The mother 
 must be a resident for not less than two years of the 
 county to which she applies. 
 
 The guardianship of children is due father and 
 mother equally and the earning of minors is also due 
 both parents. 
 
 The penalty for rape is imprisonment from five years 
 to life. 
 
 Idaho gives women equal suffrage and it is a Pro- 
 hibition State. 
 
Z74 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Indiana 
 
 In the State of Indiana a married woman holds her 
 real and personal property and all of the income there- 
 from derived, as her separate property, free from lia- 
 bility for the debts of her husband, but she cannot sell, 
 mortgage, or otherwise hypothecate her real estate un- 
 less her husband joins in the conveyance. A married 
 woman in Indiana may dispose of her personal property 
 as she desires and without the consent of her husband. 
 A married woman may conduct business in Indiana as 
 a public merchant, and her husband cannot be held for 
 her debts, contracts or liabilities arising therefrom. 
 Curtesy and dower are abolished. As against creditors 
 a widow takes five hundred dollars in goods or money 
 and one-third of the real estate in fee if it does not 
 exceed ten thousand dollars, one-fourth if it does not 
 exceed twenty thousand dollars, and one-fifth if it ex- 
 ceeds that amount. As against relatives she takes five 
 hundred dollars in goods or money, one-third of the 
 real estate if two or more children survive, and one- 
 half if one child survives. If there are no children, 
 but a parent survive, she takes the whole estate if under 
 one thousand dollars, and if more than that, three- 
 fourths. If neither children nor parents survive the 
 widow takes the whole property after all debts are paid. 
 
 Married women are eligible for certain public offices. 
 
 Divorce will be granted upon proof of adultery, 
 cruelty, abandonment for two years, habitual drunken- 
 ness and non-support for two years. 
 
 A female may contract marriage with the consent of 
 parents at sixteen years and without the consent of 
 parents at eighteen years. 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 175 
 
 Estates of less than ten thousand dollars are exempt 
 from inheritance tax when passing to husband, wife, 
 ascendants or descendants and there is a tax of one per 
 cent from ten to twenty-five thousand dollars and a 
 graduated scale of taxation above that amount. 
 
 Minors under fourteen are prohibited from working 
 at gainful occupations except domestic service and farm 
 work, except that minors between fourteen and sixteen 
 may work at canning perishable fruits and vegetables 
 between June and October. The eight-hour law applies 
 to minors under sixteen years of age and night work is 
 forbidden. Children between seven and sixteen must 
 attend school a stipulated time. 
 
 Minors are prohibited from working in places danger- 
 ous to morals, life and limbs. 
 
 Seats must be provided in mercantile establishments 
 for female employees. 
 
 In February, 1917, Indiana granted to women the 
 suffrage in Presidential and local elections but the State 
 Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional the 
 November following. Practically the same law was 
 passed in Illinois to enfranchise the women in that 
 State and it was twice taken before the Supreme Court 
 and by judgment of that body sustained. The gist of the 
 Illinois decision was "that the legislature had the right 
 to create offices, and that therefore the legislature had 
 the right to say who should vote for those offices, pro- 
 viding the designation did not conflict with the Con- 
 stitution." The Constitution of Illinois and the Constitu- 
 tion of Indiana are much alike. However, the highest 
 court of the State of Indiana refused to follow the 
 precedent of the Illinois Supreme Court and the women 
 
176 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 of Indiana were left by its decision to continue the fight 
 for suffrage along different lines. 
 
 Iowa 
 
 A married woman is the absolute owner and mis- 
 tress of all property, real . and personal, acquired by 
 descent, gift, or purchase, in the State of Iowa. She 
 may manage, dispose of and devise her property with- 
 out the consent of her husband. Neither the husband 
 nor the wife is liable for the contracts of each other 
 made before or after marriage, and the wife is entitled 
 to sue for and hold as her separate property damages 
 for personal injuries. If the husband abandons the wife 
 and he has property, by presentation of the facts to the 
 court, an order may be secured to encumber the property 
 for the support and maintenance of the home and the 
 education of the children. Each may constitute the 
 other an attorney in fact. The earnings of the wife go 
 to her separate estate and the married woman may make 
 contracts the same as the male or single woman, but 
 the husband is not liable for the contracts made by his 
 wife for her business or separate benefit. The legitimate 
 expense of the conjugal home is chargeable to the wife 
 and the husband alike, and they may be sued jointly 
 and separately. Dower and curtesy are abolished. The 
 surviving husband or wife is entitled to one-third in 
 value of all real estate owned by the other during the 
 time of the marriage. The homestead is deemed the 
 property of husband and wife equally and neither can 
 be made to leave it by the other. 
 
 Minors under fourteen are forbidden to work in 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 177 
 
 mines, factories and mercantile establishments, in places 
 of danger, or in distributing messages. 
 
 Minors under sixteen are forbidden to work in places 
 dangerous to morals, life and limbs and provision must 
 be made for females under twenty-one to have seats 
 when working in factories, mills and mercantile estab- 
 lishments. 
 
 Children between seven and sixteen must attend 
 school a prescribed time. 
 
 Women are prohibited from working where intoxi- 
 cating liquor is sold or in positions requiring them to 
 stand continuously. 
 
 Iowa passed a Mother's Pension law in 1913 under 
 which the district and Superior Courts have jurisdic- 
 tion of delinquent and neglected children. If, upon 
 investigation it is found that children cannot be properly 
 cared for at home, and the mother is found to be a 
 proper guardian, an amount not to exceed two dollars 
 a week will be paid to the mother for the maintenance 
 of the child, but this payment ceases when the child 
 reaches the age of fourteen. 
 
 The age of consent is fifteen years and the penalty 
 for rape is imprisonment for not more than twenty-five 
 years. 
 
 Iowa is a Prohibition State. 
 
 Divorce will be granted upon proof of adultery, de- 
 sertion of two years, drunkenness, cruelty, consanguinity 
 and insanity. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, ascendants, or lineal descendants. To 
 others than those specified there is an exemption of one 
 thousand dollars and the tax on estates above that 
 valuation is five per cent. If the property passes to a 
 
178 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 non-resident of the State the tax is twenty per cent, an 
 exception being made in favor of brothers and sisters, 
 on whose inheritance a ten per cent tax is levied. 
 
 Kansas 
 
 In 1861 when Kansas was admitted to the Union 
 there was written in her Constitution the following: 
 
 "The legislature shall provide for the rights of 
 "women in acquiring and possessing property, real, per- 
 sonal and mixed, separate and apart from her husband, 
 and shall provide for their equal rights in the posses- 
 sion of their children." 
 
 The article of the Constitution quoted would indi- 
 cate an intent on the part of the Kansas law-makers 
 to secure to women unusual protection, but the promise 
 was not fulfilled to an extent satisfactory to the women 
 of the State. There occurred discrimination in personal 
 and property rights which called for much agitation for 
 redress. For instance: All property acquired during 
 marriage is community property, owned equally by hus- 
 band and wife. But, if the wife die first, and she leaves 
 children, there is no provision made by the law for a 
 settlement of the community to enable the children to 
 inherit the mother's share. So that if the husband re- 
 marries the second wife comes into the property ac- 
 quired during the life of the marriage of her predecessor. 
 Lila Day Munroe, a woman lawyer of Topeka, Kansas, 
 discussing this phase of the Kansas law, says: 
 
 "The second wife is the absolute heir at law of the 
 first wife, for the marriage contract under our Statutes 
 passes the inchoate right in one-half of the husband's 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 179 
 
 property to his wife. Because of the fact that there is 
 no provision under our Statutes to divide the property 
 on the death of the wife all of the common property, 
 no matter whence its source, if it is diverted from the 
 wife's name and stands in the name of the husband, it 
 still remains his to all intents and purposes, and it re- 
 mains for him to say whether the children of the first 
 marriage shall inherit or not. I have not yet found a 
 case where he decided in favor of the children." 
 
 The property owned by the wife at the time of her 
 marriage remains her own and is not liable for the debts 
 of her husband, and she may contract at will in relation 
 to such property and may sue and be sued the same as 
 a sole. The married woman may carry on a trade or 
 business and the earnings of a married woman are her 
 separate property. 
 
 The Industrial Welfare Commission has made the 
 following regulation: 
 
 "The State of Kansas declares that inadequate 
 wages, long continued hours and unsanitary conditions 
 of labor exercise a pernicious effect upon the health of 
 women, learners and apprentices, and minors. That it 
 shall be unlawful to employ women, apprentices and 
 learners, and minors, in any industry at wages which are 
 not adequate for their maintenance, and in more hours 
 in any one day than is consonant with their health and 
 welfare." 
 
 The above quoted ruling of the Commission went 
 into effect as law in 191 5 and it is considered by many 
 as the culmination of the years of agitation, effort and 
 argument of Mary Elizabeth Lease who launched a 
 campaign to secure these reforms in the early '8o's. 
 She wakened the women of Kansas by her extraordinary 
 
180 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 appeals, and her oratory rang and echoed throughout 
 Kansas until minimum wage, an eight-hour labor day, 
 and proper conditions for working women were secured. 
 
 The Industrial Welfare Commission declared seats 
 must be provided for women in mercantile establish- 
 ments and extended protection from fire and unsanitary 
 conditions in mills, factories and all places where women 
 were employed. 
 
 Kansas prohibits children under fourteen from work- 
 ing in mines or in connection with any factory, or 
 workshop (not operated by the parents of said chil- 
 dren), or in theatres or elevators. No woman or minor 
 is allowed to work in any place dangerous to life, limbs 
 or morals. Minors under fourteen are prohibited from 
 working as acrobats, in gymnasiums, as circus riders, or 
 in other exhibitions of a dangerous character, or as 
 beggars or street musicians. 
 
 Minors between eight and fifteen are required to at- 
 tend school. 
 
 The law provides that at least one member of the 
 Industrial Commission shall be a woman. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, abandonment of 
 one year, habitual drunkenness, fraud, cruelty, non-sup- 
 port and neglect of duty. 
 
 A female of fifteen can contract a valid marriage 
 with the consent of parents and at eighteen without 
 parental consent. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property which passes 
 to husband, wife, ascendants or descendants, son-in-law 
 or daughter-in-law. To brothers and sisters $5,000 is 
 exempt, and above that there is a graded rate commenc- 
 ing at three per cent from $5,000 to $25,000. 
 
 The widow is entitled to a homestead of 160 acres 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 181 
 
 of farm land, or one acre in town or city, free from 
 the debts of the husband. 
 
 The father and mother are equally entitled to the 
 guardianship of children. 
 
 Kansas has been an Equal Suffrage State since 1880 
 and is a Prohibition State. 
 
 Kansas has a Red Light and Abatement law and 
 all immoral practise is punishable with fine and im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 The penalty for rape of a girl under eighteen is im- 
 prisonment for a term of from five to twenty-one years. 
 
 The penalty of death is not inflicted. 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 A married woman may acquire and own immovable 
 property in her own right but she cannot mortgage or 
 sell same without the consent of her husband. The rents, 
 issues, and revenues of her real estate are under her 
 control and she may sue for their collection. She may 
 sell or otherwise dispose of her personal property as 
 if sole. She may make contracts relative to her sepa- 
 rate property or her business. 
 
 The surviving spouse is entitled to a life interest 
 in one-third of the real estate and to one-half of all 
 personal property. 
 
 Under the provision of the Labor Law passed in 
 1914 minors under fourteen are not permitted to work 
 in any gainful employment and between fourteen and 
 sixteen minors who are employed must show school 
 certificates certifying to their attendance at school for 
 at least one hundred days in the preceding year and that 
 
i82 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 such minor could read and write the English language. 
 Minors under sixteen are prohibited from working in 
 places dangerous to health, life, limbs or morals. 
 Minors under eighteen are prohibited from cleaning 
 machinery while in motion. Females under twenty-one 
 are prohibited from working where they are required to 
 stand continuously. Nor shall any female under twenty- 
 one be employed for more than sixty hours in a week 
 or more than ten hours in a day. Seats must be pro- 
 vided for women in mercantile establishments. 
 
 The father and mother have equal rights in the 
 custody and guardianship of children. 
 
 The age of consent is sixteen and the penalty for 
 the rape of a female under twelve years of age is death. 
 The "Unwritten Law," enforced by Judge Lynch, is 
 very generally upheld in the State of Kentucky for the 
 crime of rape in order to save the woman from further 
 humiliation as a witness against her assailant. 
 
 Divorce will be granted after separation of five 
 years, desertion of one year, ungovernable temper, fraud 
 or duress in obtaining marriage, and conviction of a 
 felony. 
 
 There is exemption from inheritance tax on estates 
 not exceeding $10,000 which pass to husband, wife, or 
 minor child, and $5,000 is exempt to ancestors and lineal 
 descendants. From $10,000 to $25,000 the tax is one 
 per cent. 
 
 If the husband abandon his wife without making 
 sufficient provision for her support, or become insane, 
 or be imprisoned, she may be empowered to convey her 
 real estate without her husband's authority. 
 
 The property of a wife is not responsible for a con- 
 tract after marriage, to answer for the debts or de- 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 183 
 
 fault of her husband or another unless such contract 
 carry with it a mortgage, but her property is liable for her 
 own debts. She may dispose of her personal property in 
 her own name as if sole. 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 The State of Louisiana has laws which are especially 
 interesting as they relate to married women because such 
 laws are based on the Code Napoleon, and differ from 
 every other State. The Civil Code of Louisiana declares : 
 "Marriage is a contract of partnership," and it estab- 
 lishes a community of acquets and gains. Because there 
 is established the absolute right, as the co-partner of the 
 surviving husband or wife to one-half of the community 
 property, which half cannot be devised or bequeathed 
 away from such survivor, and because the children of the 
 marriage are the "forced heirs," and as such cannot be 
 disinherited, there are good laws in Louisiana. From 
 the moment the contract of marriage is entered into by 
 a woman everything acquired by the partnership so estab- 
 lished goes into the community, and if the wife survive 
 her husband she takes by right the one-half of the part- 
 nership assets acquired during the existence of the 
 marriage and of the remaining half the husband could 
 dispose by will of but one-third, his children, the "forced 
 heirs" inheriting from him all but the disposable portion. 
 The law provides, in lieu of the widow's, one-half, an 
 exception. If the estate left on the death of her husband 
 is encumbered with debt, she may claim as a prior 
 lien, one thousand dollars, free of all liens and debts, 
 from the estate, and if she makes such claim she forfeits 
 
i8 4 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 her widow's right to the half of whatever remains when 
 the debts are paid. This thousand-dollar provision for 
 the widow proved in some instances a hardship to small 
 farmers, and others of small means, when mortgage loans 
 were sought, as always, before any other claim the 
 widow's thousand dollars, free of all encumbrance, liens 
 or debts, took precedence. 
 
 While the protection of property rights under the 
 community law seemed far reaching, during the existence 
 of the marital relation further provisions of the Code 
 divested married women of almost all civil right. The 
 sentiment pervading the Code is "protection" for women 
 and minors, hence from the moment of marriage the 
 husband is responsible for his wife and directs and man- 
 ages her affairs and only when death dissolves the con- 
 tract does the woman, under the Louisiana law, derive 
 any special benefit from her estate or that of the com- 
 munity. Article 2404 of the Code says: 
 
 "The husband is the head and master of the partner- 
 ship of the community of gains; he administers its 
 effects, disposes of the revenues, and may alienate them 
 by onerous title without the permission of the wife." 
 
 Article 24 says: 
 
 "Laws, on account of the difference of sexes have 
 established between men and women essential differences 
 with respect to their civil, social and political rights." 
 
 Article 1782 says : 
 
 "All persons have the capacity to contract except those 
 whose incapacity is especially declared by law: these are 
 persons of insane mind, those who are interdicted, minors 
 and married women." 
 
 Prior to 191 2 if a married woman was deserted by 
 her husband, and for reasons best known to herself, re- 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 185 
 
 frained from seeking a separation from bed and board 
 or divorce, all property acquired by her during the 
 abandonment belonged to the community (unless there 
 was a separation of property evidenced by an ante-nup- 
 tial agreement). Should the husband conclude to return 
 to the abandoned spouse he could lay claim to all of the 
 property acquired during the abandonment. If it was 
 movable property he could sell it and give a good and 
 valid title without consulting the wife, even though she 
 was ignorant of the fact that he had reappeared. If it 
 was real estate she was unable to sell it without obtaining 
 his consent, and one-half of the proceeds of the sale 
 would have belonged to him. During the regular session 
 of the General Assembly in 191 2 Martin H. Manion, a 
 lawyer member from the Parish of Orleans, introduced 
 Bill No. 321, which became Act 170, and it amended 
 Article 2334 of the Civil Code relating to this matter and 
 reading into that Article the following : 
 
 "The property of married persons is divided into 
 separate and common property. 
 
 "Separate property is that which either party brings 
 into the marriage, or acquired during the marriage with 
 separate funds, or by inheritance or donation made to 
 him or her particularly. 
 
 "The earnings of the wife when living apart from 
 her husband, although not separated by judgment of 
 court, her earnings when carrying on a business, trade, 
 occupation, or industry separate from her husband, ac- 
 tions for damages resulting from offenses or quasi-of- 
 fenses, and the property purchased with all funds derived, 
 are her separate property. 
 
 "Common property is that which is acquired by the 
 husband and wife during marriage in any manner dif- 
 
186 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 ferent from that above declared. But when the title to 
 community property stands in the name of the wife it 
 cannot be mortgaged or sold by the husband without her 
 written authority and consent." 
 
 But a married woman cannot mortgage her property 
 without the consent not only of her husband but of the 
 court of her domicile. The court places her under oath 
 and enquires the use she intends devoting the money, if 
 it develops she purposes to lend it to her husband to pay 
 his separate debts, or to assist him in his business, the 
 court refuses authority. It must appear that the married 
 woman intends to use the money for her own use and 
 the benefit of her separate paraphernal estate. This law, 
 it has been frequently contended by lawyers, provokes 
 perjury. Mr. Manion introduced a Bill in the Assembly 
 which would have done away with this law but it was 
 voted down. On the subject Mr. Manion said : 
 
 "I wanted to amend the law to dispense with the 
 authority of the court. It appears to me a disgrace to 
 the womanhood of this State, that, no matter how in- 
 telligent and notwithstanding she may have acquired the 
 property owned by her, if married, prior to her marriage 
 through her individual effort, it is necessary she should 
 petition the court and state under oath that the money 
 is for her individual use and administration, and then, 
 with hand raised to God, tell the court that the money 
 is for her use and not for that of her husband. The 
 thought is repulsive to me. It is difficult for me to be- 
 lieve that such a law could have remained upon the 
 Statute Books, making a woman of my race, no matter 
 how intelligent, because of her marriage, unable to do with 
 her own property, acquired by her through use of her 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 187 
 
 talents, what the most ignorant negro man is freely ad- 
 mitted to do." 
 
 The amendment secured by Mr. Manion whereby the 
 earnings of the wife and the funds from any business 
 she might conduct, or from damages, went to the sepa- 
 rate estate and not to the community was a long stride 
 toward fair consideration, and in July, 1916, the follow- 
 ing Act made the separate property of the married woman 
 free from the obligation to secure the consent of the 
 husband to its sale and administration. It reads : 
 
 "That a married woman of the State of Louisiana 
 shall be competent to contract and bind and obligate 
 herself personally and with reference to her separate 
 paraphernal property, and to appear in court and sue and 
 be sued in the same extent and in the same manner as 
 if she were femme sole; provided that nothing herein 
 contained shall be construed to affect in any way the 
 Statute of this State establishing and regulating the 
 matrimonial community of acquets and gains and pre- 
 scribing what shall be the separate property of the 
 spouses." 
 
 The surviving wife or husband has the use or usufruct 
 of the community property for life, and if either dies 
 intestate, and there are no children, nor father, nor 
 mother, he, or she, takes all of the community property. 
 The parents are "forced heirs" the same as children and 
 cannot be disinherited. Likewise the parents are en- 
 titled to support from their children, and the law has 
 been invoked on many occasions in the Louisiana courts 
 to force children to provide maintenance for needy 
 parents. 
 
 Louisiana permits women taxpayers to vote on cer- 
 
188 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 tain matters relative to civic improvements which affect 
 their property interest. 
 
 The City of New Orleans, which is the entire Parish 
 of Orleans, had for more than twenty-five years what 
 was known as "The Red Light District," the boundaries 
 of which were established by a city ordinance known as 
 The Storey Ordinance. There vice stalked unrebuked. 
 Not only unrebuked, but licensed and under the super- 
 vision of the Board of Health. Having set apart a 
 certain section of the city with well established boundary 
 lines, wherein disreputable houses were permitted, New 
 Orleans was most jealous of the remainder of her 
 domicile. It was clean from one Parish line to the other, 
 save for that one dark spot from which the community 
 turned its face, in daylight, and knew but surreptitiously. 
 Within the Red Light District, or Storeyville, were man- 
 sions, and hovels of one room, the first conducted in 
 princely fashion, the latter being the other extreme 
 housed for a night only if able to pay the rent in the 
 morning. Perhaps the most remarkable circumstance of 
 Storeyville was the fact that one boundary line was the 
 street but one block away from Canal Street, the princi- 
 pal thoroughfare of New Orleans. The line of de- 
 marcation was clean cut, however. While there reached 
 the decent passers-by on the beautiful boulevard of the 
 city's great highway stray sounds of drunken laughter, 
 discordant music now and then and the flash of lights 
 from the little city of Pariahs, not one inch outside the 
 dividing line were the denizens of Storeyville permitted 
 to stray. Shady rooming houses, hotels with lax rules, 
 immoral dens masquerading under the names of "mas- 
 seur parlors" and "clubs," were not tolerated. The re- 
 spectable householder was not suspicious of his neighbor, 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 189 
 
 nor was he fearful for his wife and daughter for he 
 knew the never faltering police surveillance which con- 
 tinuously removed and sequestered vice within the limits 
 of Storeyville. Still it was an open question, whether 
 the garnering of a city's vice within certain boundaries, 
 there to regulate, and curb and health certificate, was a 
 thing for the good of a city or whether the flaunting of 
 conscienceless vice, the public toleration of the dregs of 
 immorality, the shielding of one class at the expense of 
 another, was quite right or respectable or civilized. The 
 question was taken up by the leading women's clubs and 
 the most progressive women of New Orleans and by 
 every effort and influence they endeavored to have that 
 dark spot wiped from New Orleans. The effort was met 
 by the argument that vice corralled within certain limita- 
 tions curtailed and repressed the activities of the worst 
 element and thus served as a protection to the rest of 
 the city. Thus year after year the fight went on by the 
 good women of New Orleans who sought to have the 
 city relieved of her widely advertised "Storeyville." Then 
 there was established along the Parish line a great en- 
 campment of Uncle Sam's soldiers. The United States 
 takes no chances. There is the distinct, clean-cut Federal 
 law which says there shall not be maintained a disorderly 
 house within five miles of a soldier's encampment. The 
 vile excresence of Storeyville was within the lines drawn 
 by the government round its soldiers, and there wasn't 
 any argument from the good women of New Orleans 
 any longer necessary. The City Council, knowing the 
 Federal knife would raze the disreputable section of the 
 city, hurriedly repealed the Storey Ordinance and the 
 denizens of Storeyville were made to fold their tents, 
 and if they did not "silently" steal away, at least they 
 
iqo MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 vanished from the view of their old haunts. A later 
 investigation of the moral conditions surrounding the en- 
 campment near New Orleans showed the same high 
 standard of moral cleanliness which had been established 
 in and about every army camp. Incidentally the moral 
 clean-up forced the quick repeal of the most questionable 
 and disputed City Ordinance which was ever written in 
 the New Orleans laws. 
 
 There is not a tramp who ever passed within the city 
 limits of New Orleans who has not heard and does not 
 remember another of the City Ordinances of New Or- 
 leans, it is her famous 5046, under which is gathered the 
 general "police power." That blanket ordinance covers 
 everything not for the good and safety of the city. 
 From Get-rich-quick-Wallingfords to the frowsiest, 
 hungriest visitor from nowhere, with "no visible means 
 of support" 5046 gathers in. If there is an individual 
 or a condition needing police attention but without a 
 specific law covering the case, the policeman stalks right 
 in with the certainty always of his warrant in 5046, it 
 covers all the sins and crimes and offenses, clears the 
 highways of loiterers and the by-ways of dangerous and 
 suspicious characters, and, under the provisions of this 
 ordinance, once the Storey Ordinance was repealed, the 
 denizens of Storeyville had to find a place outside the 
 reach of 5046 or find employment in the Workhouse. 
 
 The age of consent is eighteen years and the penalty 
 for rape of a female of less than twelve years is death. 
 Within twenty-five years two white men paid that penalty 
 in New Orleans. 
 
 The preference in guardianship is given the father 
 and where both parents are deceased, to the paternal 
 grandfather. Under this law there have been some 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 191 
 
 tragic cases in New Orleans. An instance was that of 
 a maternal grandmother who assumed the care of her 
 daughter's child when the mother died at its birth. The 
 father soon after also died. The maternal grandmother 
 cared for the boy until he was ten years old and was 
 deeply devoted to him, the child's mother having been 
 her only child. Then the paternal grandfather, who 
 lived in Chicago, and who had never seen the child, in- 
 stituted suit in the courts of New Orleans for the custody 
 of his grandchild. The court had no option and could 
 take cognizance only of the fact that the paternal grand- 
 father was legally entitled to the child and so ordered. 
 The child had to be forcibly taken from his grandmother 
 and he was removed to the distant city where the old 
 lady was never able to see him again. 
 
 Cases of individual hardship must continuously arise 
 from the laws in their enforcement. 
 
 In 1914 Louisiana passed a compulsory education law. 
 The record of the State as having the largest percentage 
 of illiteracy was due to the negro population, notoriously 
 ignorant. With a population in New Orleans alone of 
 89,262 negroes out of a total population of 339,075 the 
 impression gained from the mere recordation of the rate 
 of illiteracy in Louisiana is erroneous. It is a fact that 
 Louisiana's negro population, or so much of it as comes 
 under the head of minors, needs the heavy hand of the 
 law to enforce education. 
 
 Louisiana has long had a factory inspector, Miss Jean 
 Gordon, of New Orleans, to whose effort was due the 
 passage of the Bill giving factory inspection and much 
 relief incidental. Miss Gordon was named inspector when 
 the law went into effect and was one of the first women 
 in the country to hold such a position. 
 
192 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Minors under fourteen are forbidden to work at gain- 
 ful occupations. Exception however is made to agricul- 
 tural employment. Minors under eighteen, and women, 
 are prohibited from working more than ten hours in each 
 day, exception being made to employees in stores on 
 Saturday nights and for a period of twenty days before 
 Christmas. Girls less than eighteen and boys less than 
 sixteen are prohibited from working at night except in 
 stores on Saturdays nights and for a period of twenty 
 days before Christmas. 
 
 Seats must be provided for women in mercantile 
 establishments. 
 
 Men are prohibited from living upon the earnings of 
 their wives or children, and if convicted of this offense 
 they are sentenced as vagrants. 
 
 In cities outside New Orleans, with a population of 
 more than 25,000, children between eight and fourteen 
 must attend school continuously for at least four months 
 of each year, provided there are separate schools for the 
 races open for so long a period, otherwise it will be 
 sufficient to send such minors to school during the public 
 school term. 
 
 In the Parish of Orleans minors between eight and 
 fourteen, and between fourteen and sixteen, unless em- 
 ployed, must attend school through the school term. 
 
 Not only is the consent of the husband necessary to 
 the contracts of the wife, but a married woman cannot 
 sue in the courts of Louisiana unless her husband joins 
 or authorizes the action, he regime de communaute. 
 The husband, as head of the community, exercises 
 supreme authority. Once the nuptial partnership is 
 formed the husband controls generally the movable and 
 the immovable property, the fruits, revenues and income 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 193 
 
 thereof, whether it is in possession or in action. The 
 property acquired during the nuptial partnership, which 
 is the common property, is liable for the debts of the 
 parties existing at the time of the marriage, the debts 
 contracted by the husband during the community, or by 
 the wife with the consent of her husband. Testamentary 
 disposition of husband or wife cannot exceed the dispos- 
 able portion permitted by law. The property belongs 
 equally to the surviving spouse, and to the forced heirs 
 of the deceased, in equal parts, if he or she die intestate. 
 The division in equal moieties is due after the payment 
 of all debts chargeable to the estate. 
 
 When married persons in States which do not have 
 the law of community remove to Louisiana, their property 
 acquired while they are in the State is subject to the 
 rule of Louisiana nuptial partnership. Marriage being a 
 contract sui generis, the obligations which arise out of 
 it must be regulated by the public laws of the State where 
 the parties are domiciled. 
 
 Divorce will be granted in Louisiana for adultery, 
 attempt upon the life of one spouse by the other, and 
 for conviction of a felony. A separation from bed and 
 board will be granted for desertion, non-support, cruelty, 
 and other causes. If, within twelve months from the 
 decree of separation there has been no reconciliation be- 
 tween the parties, upon a motion setting forth the fact, 
 the court will make the decree one of final divorce. In 
 all actions for divorce or separation if personal service 
 is not had on the defendant the court appoints a lawyer 
 to represent the rights of the absentee. 
 
194 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Maine 
 
 A married woman has the sole control of her separate 
 property in Maine, such separate property consisting of 
 whatever she possessed before marriage or she became 
 possessed of after marriage, unless purchased with her 
 husband's money or coming from him so as to defend 
 him from his creditors. She cannot convey property 
 which she acquired through her husband, or his relations, 
 unless he joins in the conveyance. She may engage in 
 trade as a public merchant and her property is liable 
 for her contracts, but the property of her husband is 
 not liable for such contracts unless he profited thereby 
 or joined in the obligation. The survivor is entitled to 
 one-third of the real estate, except wild lands, if there 
 are children, and if there is no issue, then to one-half. 
 
 Minors under fourteen are prohibited from working 
 in mills, factories and mercantile establishments, or at 
 any gainful occupation during school hours. Minors 
 under sixteen being so employed must produce a school 
 certificate showing they can read and write simple Eng- 
 lish sentences. Minors under sixteen are prohibited from 
 working in places dangerous to life, limbs and morals. 
 
 Seats must be provided for women working in mer- 
 cantile establishments, hotels, restaurants, etc. 
 
 The guardianship of children is due equally to the 
 mother and father. 
 
 The age of consent is sixteen and the penalty for rape 
 of a girl of less than fourteen is imprisonment within 
 the discretion of the court, over fourteen and less than 
 sixteen imprisonment for not less than two years and 
 a fine of not less than $500. 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 195 
 
 Maine provides that upon the presentation of a peti- 
 tion signed by twenty legal voters any building used for 
 immoral purposes shall be closed by order of court. Such 
 use of a building is described as a nuisance and the only 
 regulation prescribed is its abatement. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, cruelty, deser- 
 tion of three years, habitual drunkenness and non-support. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, ancestor, descendant, son-in-law, daughter- 
 in-law, of one per cent on amounts up to $50,000, and 
 $10,000 is exempt to husband, wife and minor child. 
 
 Maryland 
 
 The real and personal property of a married woman 
 in Maryland, whether acquired before or after marriage, 
 is her separate property and is not liable for the debts 
 of her husband. Conveyances from husband to wife, 
 however, in an effort to defraud creditors, will not be 
 held valid. The personal earnings of the wife, and the 
 income therefrom, are and remain her separate property, 
 under her sole control. She may engage in business as a 
 public merchant, make contracts, sue and be sued like 
 a single woman. If she is more than eighteen she may 
 sell, mortgage or otherwise hypothecate her property 
 without the consent of her husband; if less than eighteen, 
 however, the husband must join to authorize her. She 
 may insure her husband's life for her benefit free from 
 any claim by legal representatives or creditors. 
 
 If husband or wife die intestate and there are neither 
 ascendants or descendants, the surviving spouse takes all 
 of the estate, and if there are such surviving relatives 
 
196 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 the wife or husband is entitled to one-third of the per- 
 sonal property and estate for life in one-third of all 
 lands. 
 
 Minors less than fourteen are prohibited from ser- 
 vice as telegraph messengers and between fourteen and 
 sixteen minors are prohibited from service as messengers 
 between 8 p. m. and 8. a. m., and they are forbidden to 
 call for or deliver messages to houses of questionable 
 character. In cities of more than 20,000 persons minors 
 under eighteen are prohibited from service as messengers 
 or distributing goods after 10 p. m. and before 6 a. m. 
 Children under fourteen are prohibited from working in 
 mills, factories, workshops, mechanical establishments, 
 tenement house factories, offices, restaurants, bakeries, 
 barber shops, hotels, apartment houses, bootblack stands, 
 stables, garages, laundries, brick and lumber yards, in 
 the construction or repair of buildings, and children 
 under twelve years of age are prohibited from work- 
 ing in canneries, packing establishments, offices, board- 
 ing houses, places of amusement, or in the sale or dis- 
 tribution of merchandise. Minors under fourteen who 
 work must have school certificates and they cannot work 
 during school sessions. Under sixteen there are laws 
 prohibiting work in dangerous places. Minors are pro- 
 hibited from working in saloons. Between the age of 
 eight and fourteen years minors must attend school not 
 less than four months in each year. 
 
 Females are prohibited from working more than ten 
 hours a day or sixty hours in a week in manufacturing, 
 mechanical, mercantile, printing establishments, or bak- 
 eries, and laundering establishments. They are pro- 
 hibited from working more than eight hours a night but 
 exception is made to this regulation where females are 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 197 
 
 engaged in factories where perishable fruit and vegeta- 
 bles are canned. 
 
 Minors less than sixteen are prohibited from working 
 more than ten hours a day in any factory, or in any 
 mercantile establishment in Baltimore. Nor can minors 
 less than sixteen be employed where intoxicating liquors 
 are sold, bottled or in any way handled. 
 
 Seats must be provided for women in mercantile es- 
 tablishments. 
 
 By the Mother's Pension Act passed in 1916 relief is 
 granted in the discretion, and after investigation of the 
 County Commissioners, except in Baltimore, where there 
 is a Mothers' Relief Board, on which women have repre- 
 sentation. Where the mother of indigent children is 
 found to be a proper person relief will be allowed to the 
 extent of twelve dollars a month for one child, or, if 
 there are more than one, then ten dollars a month for 
 each additional child, the entire allowance not to exceed 
 forty dollars a month. The mother must have resided in 
 the county for at least three years to claim the relief. 
 
 The custody and guardianship of children is given 
 preferably to the father, but the mother has the same 
 right as the father to appoint a guardian by will or tes- 
 tament. 
 
 The age of consent is fourteen and the penalty for 
 rape is imprisonment for life. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, abandonment 
 for three years, and the proven unchastity of the wife 
 before marriage. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, or lineal descendants. 
 
198 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 Married women retain control of all real and personal 
 property owned at the time of marriage in Massachu- 
 setts ; it is separate property and may be sold, mortgaged, 
 or otherwise hypothecated, except, the statutory rights of 
 the husband cannot be disregarded unless he signs the 
 deed with his wife when the property is sold. The earn- 
 ings of the married woman go to her separate estate. 
 Husband and wife are not allowed to convey property to 
 each other, except that the wife may acquire by gift from 
 her husband as her separate property articles of personal 
 use and adornment to a value of not more than two thou- 
 sand dollars, provided such gift is not in fraud of credi- 
 tors. The married woman may sue and be sued as a sole. 
 If a married woman carries on a business as a public 
 merchant she must file in the clerk's office of the town 
 or city in which the business is to be carried on, a cer- 
 tificate setting forth her name and that of her husband, 
 and the place and nature of the business. Without such 
 recorded certificate the property of the married woman 
 involved in her business may be attached for the debts 
 of her husband, and the husband will be liable with the 
 wife for contracts made in the conduct of the business, 
 hence, if the wife does not record the required certificate 
 of declaration of her separate business, the husband may 
 do so for her in his own protection. 
 
 The rights of the surviving wife and husband are 
 practically the same. The widow is entitled to dower as 
 at common law and the husband is entitled to curtesy of 
 the income of one-third of the wife's real estate for life 
 whether there is issue or not. Dower or curtesy must 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 199 
 
 be claimed within one year, and if so claimed is given 
 preference over all other creditors. 
 
 Because Massachusetts has more than eighteen thou- 
 sand females of more than sixteen years, and more than 
 twenty thousand children of less than sixteen years of 
 age at work in mills, factories, and other manufacturing 
 plants, there has been a multitude of laws passed for their 
 protection. 
 
 Minors of less than eighteen are not allowed to work 
 where liquor is sold or handled in any way. 
 
 There is a nine hour day law for women and minors 
 of less than eighteen and they are prohibited from work- 
 ing between 10 p. m. and 6 a. m. in any manufacturing 
 plant. Minors of less than fourteen are prohibited from 
 wage-earning labor and between fourteen and sixteen 
 they must produce school certificates if they are permit- 
 ted to work. 
 
 Seats and hours for meals for women are compulsory 
 and no woman is permitted to work for two weeks before 
 and four weeks after child birth. 
 
 Women and minors under eighteen are prohibited 
 from working in places dangerous to life, limbs and 
 morals. 
 
 Children between seven and sixteen must attend 
 school during the regular school session. 
 
 By an Act passed in 1912 there was created a Mini- 
 mum Wage Commission which provides that one member 
 shall be a woman, and this commission regulates the 
 wages of women and minors. 
 
 Since 1913 Massachusetts has had a Mother's Pen- 
 sion Law which gives jurisdiction of applicants for its 
 benefits to the Overseer of the Poor of each county. 
 After investigation if the mother is found to be a person 
 
200 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 best fitted to care for her children the State will allow 
 a sufficient amount of money monthly to enable the wo- 
 man to rear and educate her children. The woman must 
 have resided in the State not less than three years to 
 claim the benefit of the pension and the relief is not 
 granted until every effort has been exhausted to force 
 relatives to make the necessary prevision. 
 
 The separate estate of a married woman is liable for 
 the necessities supplied herself and her family to the 
 amount of two thousand dollars. 
 
 The guardianship of children is deemed equally to the 
 father and mother, or to the surviving parent. 
 
 The age of consent is sixteen and the maximum pen- 
 alty for rape is imprisonment for life. 
 
 Massachusetts has a Red Light and Abatement Law. 
 
 Michigan 
 
 The married woman in the State of Michigan holds 
 as her separate estate all real and personal property of 
 which she was possessed at the time of her marriage, and 
 she can sell or mortgage it as if a femme sole. She may 
 bequeath her separate property by will. She may make 
 contracts with regard to her separate property, or her 
 separate business, but she cannot bind her separate estate 
 by becoming surety for her husband or a third person. 
 Her personal earnings go to her separate estate, and re- 
 main in her entire control. 
 
 Michigan requires that a woman shall have attained 
 the age of twenty-one years before she can make a valid 
 business contract, but she is permitted to make the con- 
 tract of marriage at sixteen years. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 201 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, desertion for 
 two years, habitual drunkenness, cruelty and non-support. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax of one per cent on prop- 
 erty passing to husband, wife, ascendants or lineal de- 
 scendants on amounts above two thousand dollars, except 
 to the widow who is allowed an exemption of five thou- 
 sand dollars. To others the tax is five per cent and the 
 exemption one hundred dollars. 
 
 If the husband die intestate the widow is allowed per- 
 sonal property not to exceed two hundred dollars, and 
 the remainder of the personal estate is divided between 
 the widow in the proportion of one-third, and two-thirds 
 to children, if there are more than one, or one-half to 
 the widow and one-half to the child where there is but 
 one. The widow is entitled to one-third of the real estate 
 if there are children, one-half if there are no children, 
 and all if there are neither children or close kin. The 
 husband cannot divest the wife by will of her right to 
 use the homestead and one-third of all lands for life, and 
 the husband has a life estate in all lands owned by the 
 wife at the time of her death provided there are no 
 children by a previous marriage. 
 
 There is a nine hour labor day law for women and 
 minors of less than eighteen years, except that the law 
 does not apply to canneries for the preserving of per- 
 ishable fruit and vegetables. 
 
 Work is prohibited minors between 10 p. m. and 6 
 a. m., and minors of less than twenty-one are prohibited 
 from working in places dangerous to life, limbs and 
 morals. 
 
 There must be seats furnished for female employees 
 in all mercantile establishments and factories. 
 
202 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Women are prohibited from selling liquor or to work 
 in places where intoxicating liquors are sold. 
 
 Michigan has the provision of a Truant Officer whose 
 duty it is to investigate the reason for the non-attendance 
 of children at school during the school session. If it is 
 found the child does not attend school because the family 
 is unable to provide the child with necessary support, 
 upon the report of the Truant Officer the School Board 
 will pay to the family of the child not less than three 
 dollars nor more than six dollars per week for the chil- 
 dren of any one family. Investigation of the schools of 
 every large city discloses the fact that there are many 
 children so poorly nourished as to be unfit for study — 
 in some cases the home poverty being such as to preclude 
 the possibility of the child attending school, as, for in- 
 stance, where shoes and the most necessary clothing can- 
 not be provided. The Truant Officer provided by Mich- 
 igan law furnishes the means of finding where children 
 are in greatest need, and the remedy is provided by the 
 fund payable to the family. 
 
 Michigan is unique in its Mother's Pension Law, in 
 that it provides a pension not only for the children of 
 wedded parents, but also for illegimate children, furnish- 
 ing aid to the indigent mother until the child reaches the 
 age of seventeen years. Since 1913 widows, women de- 
 serted by their husbands, or divorced, or who are too 
 poor to properly provide for their children but who are 
 fit guardians, are pensioned to the extent of not more 
 than three dollars a week for each child. Judges of 
 Probate and the Circuit Courts have jurisdiction of such 
 cases. 
 
 The guardianship of children is given preferably to 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 203 
 
 the father, and if the mother survive the father the guar- 
 dianship passes to her. 
 
 There is a graduated punishment for rape dependent 
 on the age of the girl. Under ten years the punishment 
 is life imprisonment, between ten and fourteen the penalty 
 is from seven to thirty years, and between thirteen and 
 eighteen years the maximum penalty is seven years in 
 the penitentiary, or, a minimum penalty of one year in 
 the County jail. 
 
 Michigan has been a Prohibition State since 1916. 
 
 In 1 9 1 7 Michigan gave to women suffrage in Presi- 
 dential elections. 
 
 The Legislature appoints a special commission to in- 
 vestigate the wages of women and a living wage must 
 be paid. 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 The property owned by a woman at her marriage, or 
 subsequently acquired by her, remains her separate 
 property in Minnesota, is not liable for the debts of her 
 husband, and is entirely under her own control. Both 
 the separate property of the wife and the property of the 
 husband, as well as the common property is liable for 
 necessaries furnished the family whether contracted for 
 by the husband or the wife. She may contract and be 
 contracted with as if a sole but she is not permitted to 
 alienate her homestead unless the deed shows the joining 
 and consent of the husband. 
 
 The surviving husband or wife is entitled to the use 
 of the homestead for life, and in fee if there are no 
 iphildren. 
 
2o 4 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 The married woman must be authorized by her hus- 
 band to sue and stand in judgment. 
 
 The whole of the real and personal property goes to 
 the surviving spouse if there is no will, and one-third 
 goes by right to the survivor, and cannot be diverted by 
 will. 
 
 Minnesota does not permit children under fourteen 
 to be employed in dangerous occupations nor during 
 school sessions, and between fourteen and sixteen minors 
 may work at gainful occupations if provided with school 
 certificates, but for not more than forty-eight hours in 
 a week, or more than eight hours a day, or between 7 
 p.m. and 7 a.m. 
 
 Minors, male and female, are prohibited from work- 
 ing or going in places where intoxicating liquors are sold. 
 
 There is an Industrial Commission which fixes a 
 minimum wage for women and minors. 
 
 .There must be seats provided for women who work 
 in mercantile establishments, factories, hotels, restaurants, 
 and other places of business. They are not permitted to 
 work more than ten hours a day in such places nor more 
 than nine hours a day in telephone or telegraph offices, 
 and women are prohibited from working as oilers or 
 cleaners of moving machinery. 
 
 Minors under eighteen are prohibited from working 
 in places dangerous to limbs and morals, or between 
 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. 
 
 There is special provision in the laws of Minnesota 
 for the punishment of any person who shall cruelly or 
 unlawfully punish a child under sixteen years of age, 
 and on conviction the offender is punished for a mis- 
 demeanor. 
 
 The father and mother are deemed equally entitled 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 205 
 
 and responsible for the guardianship, care and custody 
 of their children, and upon the death of either the sur- 
 vivor suceeds to the duty. 
 
 With parental consent a girl of fifteen may contract 
 marriage, and without parental consent at eighteen years 
 of age. 
 
 Among other grounds for which divorce will be 
 granted are desertion of one year, habitual drunkenness 
 for one year, cruelty and conviction of a felony. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 wife or lineal descendants on amounts of less than $15,000 
 of one per cent, to husband, parents, ancestors, adopted 
 children, or issue thereof, one and one-half per cent; to 
 brother, sister, or their descendants, son-in-law or 
 daughter-in-law, three per cent, to uncles, aunts, or their 
 descendants, four per cent, and to others more remote, 
 five per cent. 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Section 2517, of the Code of 1906, totally abrogates 
 the Common Law disabilities of coverture, and reads : 
 
 "Every woman now married or hereafter to be mar- 
 ried, shall have the same capacity to acquire, hold, man- 
 age, control, use, enjoy and dispose of all property real 
 and personal, in possession, or expectancy, and to make 
 any contract in reference to it, and to bind herself 
 personally, and to sue and be sued with all the right and 
 liabilities incident thereto, as if she were not married." 
 
 And the principles above enunciated have been sus- 
 tained in the case of Vemer vs. Verner, 62 Miss. p. 260, 
 which held further that "This section does not deprive 
 a woman of her right to alimony." 
 
206 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Dower and curtesy are abolished by Section 2519, 
 of the Code of 1906, and the wife takes a part of the 
 husband's real estate and personal property where the 
 husband dies intestate; if there are no children the sur- 
 vivor takes the whole estate. 
 
 The Homestead exemptions under the Code of 1906 
 are: 
 
 "Every citizen of the State, male or female, being a 
 householder, and having a family, shall be entitled to 
 hold exempt from seizure and sale under execution or 
 attachment the land and buildings owned and occupied 
 as a residence by him or her, but the quantity of land 
 shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres, nor the 
 value thereof, inclusive of improvements, save as here- 
 inafter provided, the sum of three thousand dollars." 
 
 The foregoing is the exemption of country home- 
 steads and the following is the exemption in cities, towns 
 and villages: "There shall be exempt from seizure and 
 sale under execution or attachment the land and build- 
 ings owned and occupied as a residence by such person 
 not to exceed in value $3,000 and personal property to 
 be selected by him not to exceed in value $250.00, or 
 articles specified as exempt by the head of the family." 
 
 It has been held that the term "householder" is in- 
 tended to mean "one residing on the property, or if re- 
 moved therefrom by necessity intent must be shown to 
 return within a reasonable time." Miss Sarah Buchanan, 
 a young woman lawyer of Booneville, Mississippi, de- 
 clared the accepted definition of the term "head of the 
 family" to be "A husband or widow supporting a minor 
 child or children." 
 
 The Acts of 1916, Chapter 225, provide that if the 
 widow or widower of over sixty years have been ex- 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 207 
 
 emptionists under the above Statute they shall not be de- 
 prived of such exemption because of not having a family 
 or occupying the homestead. This amends Sec. 2146 
 and 2147 of the Code of 1906 quoted. 
 
 The wife must join in the conveyance of the home- 
 stead if the husband sells, and if the wife is the grantor 
 then the husband must join. However, the requirement 
 that the husband join in the conveyance of property re- 
 lates only to the homestead. 
 
 Section 2520 of the Code of 1906 declares the lia- 
 bility of the husband to his wife for all property taken 
 over and used by him, together with the income and 
 profits therefrom for one year after receipt of same. 
 
 Chapter 61 of the Code of 1906 deals fully and ade- 
 quately with the matter of Guardians and Wards, therein 
 testamentary guardians are defined and their qualifications 
 provided for. Sec. 2403 provides for the appointment 
 of guardians by the Chancery Court where parents have 
 not made appointment. Preference is given to the natural 
 guardians in all cases, or the next of kin, unless the 
 applicant be manifestly unsuitable for the discharge of 
 the duties. A minor over the age of fourteen years may 
 select his or her own guardian by application to the 
 court. If a guardian, other than the natural guardian, is 
 selected by the minor, and the court deems the natural 
 guardian more suitable in that particular case, he has the 
 power to appoint the natural guardian. 
 
 Mississippi intends to be especially solicitous with re- 
 gard to the interest of minors and the statutes are very 
 rigid regarding guardianship and the performance of the 
 duties attached thereto as shown by the 1906 Code from 
 Sec. 2404 to 2444, inclusive. 
 
 A valid marriage may be contracted by a girl of eigh- 
 
2o8 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 teen years, but under that age a female must have the 
 parent or guardian's consent given personally before the 
 clerk of the court of the county who issues the license. 
 
 Section 1673 of the Code annuls the paramount right 
 of the father to the custody of the children in divorce 
 proceedings. The award of the custody of the children 
 is now left to the discretion of the court, which is gov- 
 erned by existing circumstances. 
 
 Acts of 1916, Chap. 227, amends Sections 3582 to 3586, 
 inclusive of the Annotated Code of 1906, providing for 
 the apprenticeship of pauper children. The new law 
 authorizes the Board of Supervisors to place pauper 
 children in the care of an orphan asylum or organization 
 for the care of homeless and dependent children, whereas 
 they were formerly consigned to the county poor house. 
 Under the later law children of seven years and over 
 are not allowed to be retained in the poor house, if the 
 child is in good health. They may be apprenticed, under 
 discretion of the Board, upon hearing. 
 
 Section 5055 (k), and the same section (in), provide 
 respectively for classing as vagrants "Every person who 
 shall abandon his family without cause, leaving her or 
 them without support, or in danger of becoming a public 
 charge, and, all persons who are able to work and who 
 do not work, but hire out their minor children or allow 
 them to be hired out, and live upon their wages, are 
 vagrants." Punishment for vagrancy is, upon conviction, 
 "not less than ten nor more than thirty days imprison- < 
 ment," unless bond be given with sufficient security, in 
 the sum of not less than $201.00, for the future industry 
 and good conduct of such person for one year from date 
 of such bond. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 209 
 
 Common prostitutes and keepers of houses of prostitu- 
 tion are also classed under this head. 
 
 There is no tax on inheritance. 
 
 The Acts of the legislature of 1914 fix the "age of 
 consent" at eighteen years. This amends the former law. 
 Sec. 1358, Code of 1906, applies also to the amended 
 Acts of 1908, Chapter 171. The fine for rape under this 
 Act is $500, maximum, or imprisonment for not less than 
 six months, or both, or by imprisonment in the peniten- 
 tiary not exceeding five years. The age of consent, prior 
 to 1906 was fourteen years. Under the age of twelve the 
 punishment is death. 
 
 No girl under twelve years nor boy under fourteen 
 may be employed in any cotton mill or knitting mill in 
 the State. 
 
 No boy under twelve nor girl under sixteen may be 
 employed in any cotton or knitting mill over eight hours 
 a day or forty-eight hours in a week. 
 
 No person, firm, corporation, etc., is permitted to 
 work any female in laundry, millinery, dressmaking, 
 store, office, mercantile establishment, theatre, telegraph or 
 telephone office, or any other occupation not here enumer- 
 ated more than ten hours a day or sixty hours a week, 
 except in case of emergency or public necessity. 
 
 There was no wage limit for women up to the year 
 1917. 
 
 Chapter 100 of the legislature of 1916, provides for 
 the creation of a commission for the removal of adult 
 illiteracy in Mississippi, known as the Mississippi Il- 
 literacy Commission, to be composed of five persons, 
 men and women, and the State Superintendent of Edu- 
 cation. 
 
 There is provision for the establishment and mainte- 
 
210 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 nance of a State School for delinquent children, which 
 term includes "any child less than eighteen years of age, 
 residing or being at the time in the State of Mississippi, 
 (a) Who violates any municipal ordinance or State law, 
 etc., (&) Who is destitute or abandoned, or is in such an 
 evil and immoral environment that such child is likely to 
 develop criminal practises." Government of this institu- 
 tion is vested in five trustees appointed by the Governor, 
 with advice of the Senate, on which women are eligible 
 to appointment as trustees and to any other positions 
 connected with the institution. 
 
 The State Librarian is provided for by the State Con- 
 stitution of 1890, Sec. 106: "There shall be a State 
 Librarian to be chosen by the Legislature on joint vote 
 of the two houses, to serve four years, whose duties and 
 compensation shall be fixed by law. Any woman, a 
 resident of the State for four years, and who has at- 
 tained the age of twenty years, shall be eligible." 
 
 This was the only elective office open to women in 
 1917 in the State of Mississippi. They could be notaries 
 public and the professions were open to them. 
 
 Mississippi grants divorce for adultery, desertion of 
 two years, consanguinity, cruelty, and insanity at the time 
 of the marriage. 
 
 Mississippi is a Prohibition State. 
 
 Missouri 
 
 All real and personal property possessed by a mar- 
 ried woman at the time of her marriage, or acquired by 
 her by purchase, devise or bequest, together with the rents, 
 revenues and issues of same remains the separate property 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 211 
 
 of the wife, and her earnings, and the proceeds from any 
 business conducted by herself goes to her separate estate 
 ■ which is entirely free from the control of her husband. 
 She may contract and be contracted with, sue and stand 
 in judgment. This extensive recognition of the rights of 
 married women is an evolution from the Married 
 Woman's Act of 1875, which gave to the woman as her 
 separate property, under her sole control, the personal 
 property, including rights in action, belonging to her 
 at the time of her marriage, or which might have come 
 to her by gift during coverture, or by inheritance, or by 
 purchase with her separate means, or from her separate 
 labor or growing out of any violation of her personal 
 rights, together with all income, increase and profit 
 thereof. The amendment to the foregoing in 1883 gave 
 her the right to sue in her own name for her personal 
 property and rights in action. Sec. 6869 of the Revised 
 Statutes of 1880 extended her separate control and 
 ownership to her real estate and made her property sub- 
 ject to debts contracted by her before and during mar- 
 riage. Section 6864 of the Revised Statutes of 1889 pro- 
 vides that a married woman shall be a femme sole so far 
 as to enable her to carry on and transact business for 
 her own account, to contract and be contracted with, to 
 sue and be sued in law and equity with or without her 
 husband being joined as a party. Miss Ethel Kynaston, 
 a well-known woman lawyer of the Missouri Bar says: 
 "The provisions of Section 6864 of the Revised Statutes 
 of 1889 has brought about an interesting situation with 
 regard to real estate held by married women in their 
 own right. If a woman was married before 1889 and 
 the property was acquired by her before that date, the 
 husband alone has the right to sue for an injury to it, 
 
212 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 or for the rents and profits, because the right of pos- 
 session of such property, and the right to the rents and 
 profits thereof, is vested in him. Vanta vs. Johnson, 170 
 Mo. p. 269, 250 Mo. p. 286. 
 
 Though the Married Woman's Act enabled a married 
 woman to sue, the courts held that so far as the Statute 
 of Limitations concern her right to sue, she is still under 
 disability. That is, that these Statutes do not begin to 
 run against her rights of action until after the death of 
 her husband, or the severance of the marriage relation. 
 Lindell Real Estate Co. 142 Mo. p. 61. The same 
 peculiar situation prevails with regard to the right of a 
 married woman to act as administratrix. A statute ex- 
 pressly prohibits her from so doing. Since the passage 
 of the Married Woman's Act there seems to be no reason 
 for the existence of such a law. 
 
 There has been legislation regarding the parent's 
 custody of children, which changes the Common Law 
 right of the husband to the custody and earnings of the 
 child. Laws of 1913, p. 91, entitled "An Act to give 
 married women equal rights with their husbands as to 
 the custody and control of the persons of their minor 
 children, their wages and earnings and the management 
 of their estates, making the wife liable for the support 
 of her children to the extent of their earnings, qualifying 
 a married woman to act as guardian or curator of a 
 minor child, etc." One phase of this statute was passed 
 on in the case of Meredith vs. Krauthoff, 177 South- 
 western Reporter, p. 1 1 12. There the question of a minor 
 child arose and the court said that "Aside from giving 
 the mother as a married woman the right to act as 
 guardian of her child, and removing the Common Law 
 preference for the father in the matter of its custody, 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 213 
 
 thereby putting the parents on an equality in that re- 
 spect, it is not seen that the statute makes any change 
 in the existing law." It would seem that the court was 
 speaking only from the standpoint of custody — meaning 
 that the child's welfare remains the important question, 
 just as it was at Common Law and that that question is 
 still left to the court to decide. As the statute gives the 
 father and mother a joint right to the custody and earn- 
 ings, it follows that the father and mother both be 
 required to join in suing for the loss of the services of 
 a minor child, and in all similar actions. 
 
 The frequent legislation enlarging women's rights in 
 Missouri, the tendency of the courts to construe the com- 
 mon law, constitution and statute law, as not disqualify- 
 ing women unless they expressly do so in terms, sig- 
 nifies the steady progress of sentiment toward the entire 
 equality of women in that State. 
 
 The age of consent in Missouri is eighteen years. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, habitual drunk- 
 enness of one year, abandonment for one year, vagrancy 
 and indignities. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax of five per cent on property 
 passing to others than husband, wife, adopted child, 
 parents, and lineal descendants. 
 
 The surviving husband and wife has equal rights as 
 to inheritance. The widow is entitled to life interest in 
 one-third of all lands owned by her husband. If there 
 are no children she is entitled to dower and one-half of 
 the personal property after all debts are paid. 
 
 Minors of less than fourteen are forbidden to work 
 at gainful occupations except in domestic or agricultural 
 service. 
 
 Minors between fourteen and sixteen may work by 
 
2i 4 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 securing a school certificate, but for not more than forty- 
 eight hours in a week, or eight hours a day. 
 
 Minors of less than sixteen are prohibited from 
 working in places dangerous to life, limb and morals, 
 and women are prohibited from working where intoxi- 
 cating liquors are sold. 
 
 It is expressly forbidden women to work for more 
 than nine hours a day in manufacturing, mechanical or 
 mercantile establishments, factories, workshops, laun- 
 dries, bakeries, restaurants, places of amusement, clerks, 
 stenographers, in express companies and public institu- 
 tions. The labor unions of Missouri fix the labor day 
 at eight hours for its members (who are men). The 
 laws enacted for the protection of women in that State 
 would seem not to regard women as the weaker sex. 
 
 Missouri has a Mother's Pension Law which gives 
 jurisdiction to the Juvenile Court of applicants for its 
 benefits. St. Paul has a specific law in a city ordinance 
 under which mothers are pensioned at the rate of three 
 dollars and a half per week for each child. The State 
 law provides for the partial maintenance of destitute 
 widows, wives of prisoners, and those confined in the 
 insane asylums who are mothers of children of less than 
 fourteen and who are in indigent circumstances. 
 
 Montana 
 
 All property which belonged to the wife at the time 
 of her marriage or which she acquired by inheritance, 
 purchase, bequest or devise, remains her separate 
 property and is not under the control of her husband nor 
 is it liable for his debts. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 215 
 
 The husband is deemed the head of the community 
 and he is recognized as having the right to establish 
 domicile, and to make all necessary contracts for the 
 maintenance of the family for whose support he is liable ; 
 however, if the husband has not sufficient funds for the 
 proper care of the family and the wife has a separate 
 estate she is liable for as much of the maintenance as 
 the husband is unable to provide. Beyond contracts for 
 maintenance of the family the husband and wife are not 
 liable for the debts of each other. 
 
 The husband is entitled to an inheritance of two- 
 thirds of his wife's estate which interest cannot be 
 diverted by will, and she is entitled to one-third of all 
 lands owned by her husband. 
 
 The surviving husband or wife of an intestate spouse 
 is entitled to one-half of the estate if there is one child, 
 and one-third if there is more than one child. If there 
 be no issue then the estate goes one-half to the surviving 
 spouse and one-half to father, mother, and their de- 
 scendants. If there are neither surviving parents or 
 descendants of parents, the whole estate goes to the 
 surviving spouse. 
 
 The custody of children is deemed due equally to 
 father and mother, or the surviving parent. 
 
 In 1916, by referendum, Montana adopted constitu- 
 tional prohibition. 
 
 The age of consent is eighteen years and the penalty 
 for the crime of rape is from two to ninety-nine years 
 imprisonment. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, habitual drunk- 
 enness, abandonment for one year and non-support, and 
 Montana forbids the person adjudged guilty in a divorce 
 
216 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 proceeding from re-marrying within three years, and the 
 innocent party within two years. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, father, mother, child, brother, sister, son- 
 in-law and daughter-in-law of one per cent, with an ex- 
 emption to the persons named of $7500. 
 
 A girl of sixteen can contract marriage but she can- 
 not make any other valid contract until she has attained 
 her eighteenth year. 
 
 Montana has a Mother's Pension law which is wide 
 in its scope and generous in its provisions. An allow- 
 ance of ten dollars a month will be made for one child, 
 seven dollars and a half for a second child, and two 
 dollars and a half for each additional child. 
 
 Montana sent the first woman to Congress, having 
 given a substantial majority in favor of Miss Jeanette 
 Rankin, who became the first congresswoman to sit in 
 the House of Representatives of the United States. 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 All property, real and personal, of a married woman 
 owned by her at the time of her marriage, or acquired 
 subesquently, except by donation from her husband, and 
 all the rents and profits thereof, are her separate 
 property and not under the control of her husband. She 
 may contract with reference to her separate estate and 
 convey it in sale. She may sue and stand in judgment 
 and may carry on her separate business and her earnings 
 go to her separate estate. She is not liable for her hus- 
 band's debts. The husband cannot divest title to the 
 homestead unless he is joined in the conveyance by his 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 217 
 
 wife, nor can he mortgage or otherwise hypothecate the 
 homestead unless his wife gives her consent in writing. 
 
 Dower and curtesy are abolished. 
 
 In April, 1917, Nebraska gave to women the right of 
 suffrage in Presidential and local elections. 
 
 The surviving husband or wife in Nebraska is en- 
 titled to the personal property to a value of two thousand 
 dollars, but if there are no children or close kin the 
 survivor is entitled to the whole estate. If there is one 
 child the surviving spouse is entitled to one-half of all 
 real estate, and if more than one child survives, to one- 
 third. 
 
 Marriage emancipates a female minor at sixteen for 
 the administration of her property, but the unmarried 
 woman does not attain her majority or the right to con- 
 trol her property until she has attained her eighteenth 
 year. 
 
 The father and mother are deemed equally entitled 
 to the custody of children. 
 
 Nebraska has a Red Light and Abatement law. 
 
 The penalty for the rape of a girl of less than fifteen 
 years is imprisonment from three to twenty years. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, habitual drunk- 
 enness of two years, abandonment for two years, im- 
 prisonment for three years, and cruelty. 
 
 Nevada 
 
 All property of the wife, real and personal owned by 
 her at marriage or acquired by gift, devise, bequest or 
 descent remains her separate property, and the husband's 
 property receives the same consideration of separate 
 
2i8 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 ownership. All property acquired by either husband or 
 wife after marriage, other than above, is common 
 property. The wife may manage and control her sepa- 
 rate property without the consent of her husband. The 
 husband is deemed the head of the community, however, 
 and so all the property which is common property is 
 under his control and he may dispose of it the same as 
 of his separate property, except that he may not dispose 
 of the homestead by mortgage or sale unless the wife 
 joins in the conveyance. At the death of either spouse 
 the survivor takes all of the common property. Dower and 
 curtesy are abolished. If the husband is unable to sup- 
 port himself, and it is shown that his wife has a separate 
 estate, she is required to give him support. Married 
 women may transact business as public merchants. The 
 earnings of the wife belong to her exclusively. The 
 husband is liable for the maintenance of the home and 
 children unless it is shown that the wife is a public 
 merchant and then she is equally liable for the support. 
 
 If a husband or wife die intestate then the separate 
 property goes one-third to the surviving spouse and the 
 remainder to the children : if there is but one child then 
 one-half goes to the survivor, and if there are no chil- 
 dren or parents or descendants, then the whole of the 
 separate property goes to the surviving wife or husband. 
 The common property is considered as belonging one- 
 half to each, hence the survivor takes the half of the 
 deceased unless there are children when they share with 
 the surviving parent. If the estate is less than $500 the 
 whole goes to the surviving spouse without administra- 
 tion. 
 
 Women are of age at eighteen in Nevada. With the 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 219 
 
 consent of parents a girl may contract marriage at six- 
 teen. 
 
 The age of consent is sixteen and the penalty for rape 
 is imprisonment from five years to life. 
 
 There are few women engaged in manufacturing 
 plants in Nevada but laws have been enacted for their 
 protection. 
 
 Boys less than eighteen and girls less than sixteen are 
 prohibited from working at any gainful occupation ex- 
 cept farm work and domestic service for not more than 
 forty-eight hours in a week or eight hours a day. Minors 
 of less than eighteen are prohibited from working as 
 messengers or in the delivery of goods and merchandise 
 after ten at night and before five in the morning. 
 
 Children between eight and sixteen must attend school 
 during the school sessions. Minors are prohibited from 
 working in saloons or where intoxicating liquors are 
 handled, and they are prohibited from working as beg- 
 gars, in immoral places or in places dangerous to life 
 and limbs. 
 
 Nevada has always made certain provision for in- 
 digent children, but by an amendment passed in 1915 the 
 State provides a Mother's Pension and the distribution 
 of funds and the investigation of cases is placed in the 
 hands of the County Commissioners. The law provides 
 for the support of women whose husbands are dead, or 
 who are inmates of a penal institution or insane asylum, 
 who are abandoned where such abandonment has con- 
 tinued for one year, where husbands are totally disabled, 
 and when such women are unable to support their chil- 
 dren. The allowance is fifteen dollars a month for one 
 child of less than fifteen years of age, and a further 
 allowance of five dollars for each additional child. 
 
220 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 A residence of six months enables a man or woman 
 to bring suit in Nevada for divorce and because the 
 State is very liberal in its provision for the relief of 
 unhappily married it has become the Mecca for those 
 who would be unwed and who do not find in the State 
 of their domicile an equally easy road to dissolution of 
 the marriage contract. The residence of six months must 
 be bona fide. The constructive residence secured as a 
 renting of a house or office, the brief residence as a 
 quasi-agent of something or other, then absence until the 
 time of filing of suit, will not be allowed. The person 
 who sues for divorce in Nevada must have actually lived 
 within the State for six months, and if for any good 
 reason absence for a brief period occurred during the 
 time the reason therefor must be fully set up and it must 
 be shown that the residence for six months was an actual 
 making of home in the State of Nevada. The grounds 
 for which divorce will be granted are cruelty, non-sup- 
 port, habitual drunkenness, abandonment for one year and 
 conviction of a felony. The decree of divorce is im- 
 mediately effective. 
 
 When the death penalty is given a criminal in Nevada 
 he may choose hanging or shooting as the form of execu- 
 tion. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, ascendants or descendants of one per cent, 
 with an exemption of twenty thousand dollars to the 
 widow or minor child, and an exemption of half that 
 amount to others named.- To brother, sister, nephew, 
 niece or their descendants the tax is two per cent, with an 
 exemption of ten thousand dollars. To uncles, aunts or 
 their descendants the tax is three per cent and the exemp- 
 tion is five thousand dollars. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 221 
 
 Nevada has equal suffrage, but neither prohibition nor 
 local option nor any form of Red Light and Abatement 
 law. 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 The married woman in New Hampshire may hold, 
 acquire and convey her real estate. Property owned by 
 her at the time of her marriage remains her own and is 
 in no way subject to the control of her husband. 
 Property acquired by the wife after marriage and the 
 proceeds from her earnings go to her separate estate. 
 She may make contracts in her own name, make notes, 
 buy goods and transact any business whatever as if she 
 were sole, but she cannot contract directly with her hus- 
 band nor become surety for him nor is she liable on any 
 undertaking in his behalf. In case of desertion or when 
 the husband is a spendthrift or insane or under guardian- 
 ship the wife has all of the rights of a femme sole. 
 
 The surviving husband or wife and minor children 
 are entitled to use of the homestead for life, such home- 
 stead not to exceed the value of $500. 
 
 There is dower and curtesy as at Common Law. If 
 the widow elects to release her dower she may take in 
 lieu thereof one-third of all of her husband's estate if 
 he leaves children, and if there are no children, then 
 $5,000 and one-half of the remainder. The husband may 
 release his curtesy and take the same provision as that 
 allowed the widow in lieu of dower. 
 
 Children under fourteen are prohibited from working 
 in mills and factories, mercantile establishments and 
 gainful occupations generally, and children under sixteen 
 who work must have school certificates. Minors less than 
 
222 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 sixteen are prohibited from working in places dangerous 
 to life, limbs and morals. 
 
 Women are prohibited from working more than nine 
 hours a day or fifty-'four hours a week, and seats must 
 be provided for female employees. Children between 
 seven and fifteen must attend school. 
 
 New Hampshire's Mother's Pension law vests juris- 
 diction of indigent widows and orphans in the Depart- 
 ment of Education. After investigation if a woman is 
 found to be of good moral character and best fitted to 
 care for her children, but unable to give them proper 
 maintenance because of indigent circumstances, she will 
 be allowed ten dollars a month for one child and five 
 dollars a month for each additional child, the pension 
 ceasing for each child as it attains sixteen years of age. 
 
 The guardianship and custody of children is due 
 equally to the father and mother, and on the death of 
 either to the survivor. 
 
 With the consent of parents a girl may marry at 
 twelve years of age but she must be twenty-one years 
 of age before she is permitted to make any other contract. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, cruelty, non- 
 support for three years if the husband absents himself 
 from the United States for three years with intent to 
 become a citizen or subject of another country, if the 
 wife remains without the State for ten years without 
 communicating with the husband, and for marriage with 
 p person who belongs to a sect which deems marriage 
 unlawful. 
 
 The penalty for rape is imprisonment for not more 
 than thirty years. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, parents, lineal descendants, daughter-in- 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 223 
 
 law or son-in-law, and to all others there is a tax of five 
 per cent. 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 Property owned by a woman at the time of her mar- 
 riage or acquired by her afterward by gift, devise, grant, 
 descent or bequest, and the income derived therefrom, 
 is her separate property, in no way subject to the control 
 of her husband or liable for his debts. The earnings of 
 a married woman belong to her separate estate, but the 
 savings from the community belong equally to the hus- 
 band and the wife. A married woman may bind herself 
 on contract, sue and be sued, but she cannot be an ac- 
 commodation endorser or surety, nor is she liable on 
 any promise for the debt or default of another. She 
 cannot encumber or convey real estate without her hus- 
 band, but a married woman having power to convey as 
 executrix, administratrix, trustee or guardian, may make 
 a valid deed as such without her husband's signature. 
 
 The husband may make a will and dispose of his 
 entire property without provision for his wife. The sur- 
 viving husband or wife, if there is no will, has a life 
 interest in one-third of the property, and if there are 
 no relatives to the entire estate. 
 
 When a man refuses to support his wife, or fails to 
 do so, and she lives separate from him, she may, on 
 order of court, sell, mortgage or lease her lands and she 
 may sue her husband in all matters relating to her sepa- 
 rate property. 
 
 Minors less than fifteen are generally prohibited from 
 working in any place dangerous to life, limbs and morals. 
 
 Minors less than eighteen are prohibited from work- 
 
224 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 ing as beggars or to sing or play on musical instruments 
 on the public streets. 
 
 Females are prohibited from working in manufactur- 
 ing, or mercantile establishments, laundries, bakeries or 
 restaurants for more than ten hours a day or sixty hours 
 a week, provided that this shall not apply to any mer- 
 cantile establishment for the six working days before 
 December 25th. 
 
 Minors under sixteen are prohibited from working 
 more than eight hours a day and are forbidden to clean 
 machinery in motion. Children less than sixteen must 
 have school certificates if they work at gainful occu- 
 pations. 
 
 There must be seats provided for all female employees. 
 
 Children between seven and fourteen must attend 
 school during the school sessions and between fourteen 
 and sixteen they must attend school during the school 
 sessions unless they are at work and have school certi- 
 ficates. 
 
 New Jersey under "a law to promote home life for 
 dependent children" will pension mothers so that they 
 may keep their children with them and give them the 
 necessary care and education. Applicants for this relief 
 must state in a petition to the Court of Common Pleas 
 the full history of the mother, of her deceased husband, 
 and of the children, and give the name and address of 
 all relatives, together with a statement of her effort to 
 maintain her children, and the detail of her life for the 
 preceding five years. After investigation if it is found 
 that the mother is a proper person, and that she cannot 
 keep her children and they will become a public charge 
 unless she has assistance, the State will allow a pension 
 of nine dollars a month for one child, fourteen dollars 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 225 
 
 for two, and five dollars a month for each additional 
 child. The State Board of Children's Guardians then 
 takes charge of the case and at least six times a year 
 the home is visited and a report is made of the conditions 
 found. 
 
 The father is given preference in the guardianship 
 of children and if the mother consent, he can, by will, 
 appoint a guardian for the custody and care of the chil- 
 dren after his death and until they will have reached 
 the age of twenty-one years. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property in value of 
 between five and fifty thousand dollars passing to hus- 
 band, wife, child, or lineal descendants, of one per cent, 
 and one and a half per cent on from fifty thousand to 
 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars two per cent to 
 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and three per 
 cent above that figure. 
 
 New Jersey has a Red Light and Abatement Law. 
 
 The penalty for the rape of a girl of less than twelve 
 is a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment at hard labor for 
 not more than thirty years, or both; and for rape of 
 a girl less than sixteen the penalty is a fine of two thou- 
 sand dollars or imprisonment at hard labor for not more 
 than fifteen years, or both. 
 
 The complainant in a divorce action in New Jersey 
 who sets up reasons which occurred outside the State, 
 must show that such grounds would have constituted a 
 right to divorce in the State where such act occurred. 
 Divorce will be granted for adultery, desertion for two 
 years, and cruelty, and marriage may be annulled on 
 proof of lack of legal age at the time the marriage was 
 entered into or if one of the parties was idiotic or related 
 within the degree of consanguinity. 
 
226 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 New York 
 
 Both the real and personal property of a married 
 woman owned by her at the time of her marriage, or 
 subsequently acquired, remains her separate estate and 
 is not liable for her husband's debts. She may engage 
 in any trade or business and her husband has no control 
 of her contracts with relation thereto and he cannot be 
 held for her bargains. By Act of 1906 she may bring 
 suit on torts without joining her husband. If a wife 
 sustains injury she has a right to recover damages ; but 
 her husband also has the right to recover damages for 
 any injury sustained by his wife. When a husband 
 sustains injury he alone is entitled to recover damages. 
 Sums recovered by the wife for injury to her person, 
 property or character go to her separate estate. 
 
 A husband is responsible for the ante-nuptial debts 
 of his wife to the extent only of the assets he received 
 with her at the time of marriage. 
 
 A woman may make a will disposing of her personal 
 property when she is sixteen years of age, but she can- 
 not dispose of her real property by will until she has 
 attained twenty-one years of age. A married woman 
 may hold patents for her inventions and may vote on 
 stock in her own name, and, with the consent of the in- 
 sured, she may assign policies of insurance which are 
 in her favor. 
 
 A widow is entitled to dower of one-third in all lands 
 owned by her husband. The surviving husband is en- 
 titled to life interest in all lands owned by his wife. 
 When there is no will the real property goes to father, 
 mother and collateral relatives. 
 
LAWS OF THE_SEVERAL STATES 227 
 
 The Mother's Pension has proven probably the most 
 beneficent law in the State of New York. In congested 
 and over-populated Manhattan it has been shown that 
 charity is the sixth largest business, that it keeps em- 
 ployed an army of experts and high salaried institutional 
 employees. The actual cost of maintaining a child in an 
 institution was three hundred dollars per annum, while 
 one hundred dollars a year, when paid to a mother will 
 enable her to keep the child at home. 
 
 There is a provision of the Mother's Pension Law 
 of New York which limits relief to the children of 
 American citizens. It follows that the huge foreign 
 population shows many children driven by necessity to 
 become wards of the State in charitable institutions. 
 
 By Act of 191 5 there was established local Child 
 Welfare Commissions to investigate applicants for the 
 pension and to see that beneficiaries remain worthy of 
 the trust and aid. Any widow of an American citizen 
 who is unable to care for her children, or any American 
 woman who, having married an alien, is restored to her 
 American citizenship after the death of her husband and 
 who is shown to be mentally, physically and morally 
 the best custodian for her children, and who has resided 
 in the State, County and City for not less than two years 
 preceding her application, will be allowed an amount 
 necessary to support her child or children less than six- 
 teen years of age. 
 
 There is compulsory education for children between 
 seven and fourteen years of age and children between 
 fourteen and sixteen who are not employed must attend 
 school during the school sessions. Children between 
 fourteen and sixteen who work must file school certificates 
 showing attendance of not less than 130 days in the pre- 
 
228 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 ceding year, physical fitness, and an ability to read and 
 write simple English. Children of less than fourteen are 
 prohibited from working in any factory, and between 
 fourteen and sixteen if employed it must be during the 
 day as night work is prohibited. 
 
 Women are prohibited from working in factories 
 more than nine hours a day regularly, and female minors 
 are prohibited from working after nine o'clock at night. 
 
 Women of more than eighteen may be employed in 
 canneries between June and October as much as ten 
 hours a day or sixty hours a week, and this time 
 may be extended by the Industrial Board to twelve hours 
 a day or sixty hours a week, if the industry requires and 
 the health of the employee permits. 
 
 Children of less than sixteen are prohibited from 
 working in places dangerous to life, limbs and morals, 
 among dangerous chemicals, in distilleries, breweries, or 
 where alcoholic liquors are manufactured or packed. 
 
 Children less than sixteen are prohibited from run- 
 ning elevators and girls less than sixteen are prohibited 
 from work which requires continuous standing. 
 
 Women are prohibited from working in any manu- 
 factory, workshop or mercantile establishment within 
 four weeks after the birth of a child. 
 
 Children less than sixteen are prohibited from work- 
 ing in mines and quarries. 
 
 Seats must be provided for female employees. 
 
 No woman or girl, or minor less than eighteen, will 
 be allowed to sell or serve liquors for consumption on 
 the premises. 
 
 Children less than sixteen are prohibited from work- 
 ing in any indecent or immoral occupation, or where 
 there is danger to life and limbs. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 229 
 
 The age of consent is eighteen years and the punish- 
 ment for rape is imprisonment for not more than ten 
 years. 
 
 New York has a Red Light, Injunction and Abate- 
 ment Law which provides for the closing as a nuisance 
 any building used for immoral purposes, lewdness, as- 
 signation or prostitution, and any domestic corporation 
 for the suppression of vice may bring suit for an in- 
 junction. 
 
 Section 16 of the New York Domestic Relations Law 
 requires that if a man is less than twenty-one and a 
 woman less than eighteen the written consent of parents 
 must be shown the officer whose duty it is to issue 
 licenses to marry. Section 7 of the same law provides 
 that marriage is voidable by either party when the con- 
 tract was made when either was less than eighteen years 
 of age. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for but one reason — adultery. 
 But a separation may be had on application to the courts 
 which will provide for separate domicile, alimony and the 
 custody of children, such judgment of separation will be 
 granted for cruelty, desertion and non-support. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property valued at 
 from $5,000 to $25,000 passing to husband, wife or child, 
 of one per cent. 
 
 In April, 1917, there was passed a law regulating the 
 hours when women would be permitted to work in res- 
 taurants, a nine-hour day being the time established. 
 
 In 1907 there was organized the Women's Night 
 Court in New York City where women were tried at 
 night for offenses against morality. The court became 
 one of the "sights" of New York, and for that reason 
 there was a definite effort made to abolish it in 1914 
 
230 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 which was unsuccessful. Justice McAdoo said of the 
 matter : 
 
 "This court continues to attract great numbers of 
 people, not only here but throughout the country and 
 (foreign lands. It is the only court in the world held 
 exclusively for women and for certain offenses." 
 
 November 6th, 191 7, New York State, by an over- 
 whelming majority, endorsed the proposed amendment to 
 the Constitution to grant to women equal suffrage. 
 
 The guardianship of the children of divorced parents 
 is left to the discretion of the court, and may be given 
 either parent by the tribunal granting the decree. 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 All property, real and personal, owned by a woman 
 at the time of her marriage, or subsequently acquired in 
 North Carolina, remains her separate estate, and is not 
 liable for the debts of her husband. The revenues from 
 her separate property and her earnings go to her separate 
 estate, but a married woman cannot make a contract with- 
 out the consent of her husband except for actual neces- 
 saries of life, for which he is liable. If the wife is 
 abandoned by her husband she may contract and bind 
 her separate estate without his consent and she may insure 
 the life of her husband for her benefit if the premium 
 does not exceed three hundred dollars. 
 
 The husband living with his wife is liable with his 
 wife, jointly, for her torts. 
 
 The husband, if there has been issue born alive, is 
 entitled to an estate as tenant by curtesy for life in all 
 real estate owned by her, unless it is shown that he mali- 
 ciously turned her out of doors or abandoned her. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 231 
 
 The widow is entitled to dower of one-third of the 
 husband's real estate, including the home, and an allow- 
 ance for the support of herself and children for one year 
 out of his estate. 
 
 If the husband die intestate the real estate goes to 
 his lineal descendants or to the next collateral relatives 
 and only if there is no heir does the widow take the 
 estate. 
 
 Children less than twelve years of age are prohibited 
 from working in mines, mills or factories and children 
 between twelve and thirteen can only be so employed if 
 they have certificates showing school attendance of four 
 months in the preceding year and are apprenticed. 
 Minors less than sixteen are prohibited from working 
 after 9 p.m. 
 
 Women and minors are prohibited from working more 
 than ten hours a day. Children between eight and twelve 
 must attend school. 
 
 Seats must be provided for women employees. 
 
 North Carolina has no Mother's Pension Law and no 
 Minimum Wage Law. There are no adequate protective 
 laws for the army of nearly forty thousand women and 
 children who labor within her boundaries in mills, fac- 
 tories and mercantile establishments, and the State passed 
 an Act for the restriction of vice to apply to but one 
 county, the County of Guilford, reading: "An act to 
 prevent the degrading of public morals in the County of 
 Guilford." 
 
 A girl may marry, with consent of her parents, at 
 fourteen years of age. Residence of two years is re- 
 quired for the institution of divorce proceedings and 
 divorce will be granted for husband and wife living apart 
 for ten years and having no issue, for physical incapacity 
 
232 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 and when the wife was pregnant by other than the hus- 
 band at time of marriage, and for adultery. 
 
 The penalty for rape of a girl of less than ten years 
 is death and between ten and fourteen (if previously 
 chaste) fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the 
 court. 
 
 North Carolina is a prohibition State. 
 
 North Dakota 
 
 A married woman may own in her own right real 
 and personal property and she may manage, sell, convey 
 and devise her estate as freely as though unmarried. 
 She may make contracts, sue and be sued on her obliga- 
 tions. Husband and wife have no interest in the property 
 of each other and they are not answerable for each 
 other's acts. The earnings of the wife belong to her and 
 are not liable for the debts of her husband and are in 
 no way subject to his control. But the husband is deemed 
 the head of the family in the selection and maintenance 
 of the conjugal dwelling; he is responsible for the sup- 
 port of his wife and children, and they must abide by 
 his provision. However, if the husband becomes infirm 
 and unable to support the family or himself then the 
 wife becomes liable for the support of the conjugal abode 
 and she must maintain her husband out of her separate 
 estate. 
 
 The homestead goes to the surviving husband or wife. 
 The same law of inheritance applies to husband or wife. 
 If either die intestate the survivor is entitled to one-half 
 of the estate if there is but one child, and to one-third 
 if there are more children; if there are no children all 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 233 
 
 of the estate to the value of $15,000 goes to the survivor 
 and any excess is divided between the survivor and the 
 parents, and if there are no parents the survivor takes all. 
 
 Children under fourteen years of age are prohibited 
 from working during the school session and if children 
 between fourteen and sixteen are employed they must file 
 with their employers an employment certificate. Minors 
 less than sixteen are prohibited from working more than 
 eight hours a day or after seven o'clock at night, to work 
 with dangerous machinery, or where acids are employed, 
 in elevators or in any other place dangerous to life, limbs 
 or morals. Female minors less than sixteen may not be 
 employed where they will be required to stand continu- 
 ously. Any employer who compels women or minors less 
 than fourteen to work more than ten hours a day is guilty 
 of a misdemeanor and can be prosecuted for same. 
 
 North Dakota has a Mother's Pension Law which 
 provides aid to mothers for children less than fourteen. 
 Jurisdiction is given the County Courts and when a 
 destitute mother is found to be a person fitted to care 
 for her children, if she has lived in the county a year she 
 will be allowed fifteen dollars a month for each child. 
 
 The father is deemed the legal guardian and is en- 
 titled to the care, custody and earnings of all his minor 
 children. The mother succeeds the father in the duties, 
 rights and obligations of guardianship if she survives 
 her husband. 
 
 The penalty for rape of a girl of less than sixteen 
 years is imprisonment for not less than five years, and 
 between sixteen and eighteen the penalty is imprisonment 
 from one to fifteen years. 
 
 Among other grounds for which North Dakota grants 
 divorce are abandonment for one year, habitual drunk- 
 
234 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 enness for one year, cruelty, neglect for one year and 
 conviction of a felony. 
 
 North Dakota is a Prohibition State. 
 There is a Red Light Injunction and Abatement Law. 
 There is an inheritance tax on property above $20,000 
 passing to husband, wife, father, mother or descendants, 
 of one per cent to $100,000. 
 
 To brother, sister, son-in-law and daughter-in-law, 
 the exemption is $500 and the tax of one per cent to 
 $100,000. 
 
 North Dakota does not inflict capital punishment and 
 the extreme punishment of the law is imprisonment for 
 life. 
 
 North Dakota granted suffrage to women in Presiden- 
 tial and local elections in 1917. 
 
 Ohio 
 
 All property, real and personal, belonging to a woman 
 at her marriage, or acquired subsequently by conveyance, 
 gift, devise or inheritance, or by purchase with her sepa- 
 rate money, or from her personal labor, together with 
 the income therefrom, is her separate property. The 
 separate property of a married woman in Ohio is free 
 from liability for the debts of her husband and is under 
 her sole control. She may sue and be sued in her own 
 name. A married woman whose husband deserts her or 
 neglects to provide for her and his family, may, by ap- 
 plication to the Court of Common Pleas, secure the care 
 and control of the minor children and the right to convey 
 real property, and when so deserted or neglected she may 
 contract for the labor of herself and her minor children 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 235 
 
 and collect the earnings. But while the husband lives 
 with his family he is deemed the head of the domicile 
 and has full authority and he is liable for the support 
 of himself, his wife and his minor children. A married 
 woman in Ohio may manage her own property, may con- 
 tract and be contracted with the same as if sole. The 
 husband and wife may be partners in business or the 
 wife may transact business on her own account as a 
 public merchant. 
 
 If husband or wife dies intestate the survivor takes 
 all the personal property, and if there are children the 
 surviving husband or wife takes half of the first four 
 hundred dollars and one-third of the remainder. If 
 there are no children or lineal descendants the real estate 
 passes to the surviving spouse in fee, unless the property 
 was inherited from an ancestor in which event the sur- 
 viving spouse has only an interest for life in the realty 
 and it passes to the natural heirs. The widow is entitled 
 to dower but curtesy is abolished. 
 
 The preference in guardianship is given to the father, 
 then to the mother, if she survive him. 
 
 The penalty for rape of a girl less than twelve years 
 of age is imprisonment for life, and between twelve and 
 sixteen years the penalty is imprisonment from one to 
 twenty years. 
 
 A girl may contract marriage at sixteen with her 
 parents' consent and at eighteen without parental consent. 
 
 There are ten grounds for divorce, among others be- 
 ing, desertion for three years, cruelty, habitual drunken- 
 ness for three years, and conviction of a felony. 
 
 Ohio has a Mother's Pension Law providing for pay- 
 ment on a sliding scale, according to the number of chil- 
 dren, to the worthy mother according to the facts and 
 
236 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 conditions prevailing. The allowance is limited to fifteen 
 dollars a month if there is but one child and not more 
 than seven dollars a month each if there are other chil- 
 dren. Ohio has, in addition, to the Mother's Pension 
 Law, a provision for the aid of school children where 
 they cannot receive the proper maintenance from their 
 parents or relatives. 
 
 The Labor Law restricts the work of women over 
 eighteen to not more than fifty-four hours in a week or 
 ten hours a day. There are many Statutes providing for 
 proper sanitary regulations and for the physical comfort 
 of employees. 
 
 Minors between eight and fifteen must attend school 
 during the school sessions. Between sixteen and eighteen 
 minors may be employed only if they have school certi- 
 ficates. If the children are unable to supply themselves 
 with necessary books and paraphernalia it will be pro- 
 vided by the Truant Officer and a further weekly allow- 
 ance will be made, if necessary for support. 
 
 Minors of less than fourteen are prohibited from 
 employment in gainful occupations of any kind, and boys 
 between fourteen and sixteen will not be permitted to 
 work more than eight hours a day and female minors 
 are not permitted to work before seven in the morning 
 or after six in the evening. Women are prohibited from 
 working after ten in the evening and before six in the 
 morning. 
 
 Women and minors are prohibited from working in 
 places dangerous to life, limbs or morals. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property descending 
 to others than husband, wife, child, lineal descendants and 
 parents of five per cent above $500, which is exempt. 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 237 
 
 Oklahoma 
 
 A married woman in Oklahoma may own, manage, 
 sell or hypothecate, or devise both real and personal 
 property acquired by gift, descent, or by purchase and 
 make contracts, incur liabilities and do any and all of 
 the things necessary and requisite to own or alienate 
 property of any kind the same as if she were unmarried. 
 Neither husband or wife has any interest in the property 
 of the other but neither can be excluded from the 
 other's dwelling. Husband and wife may contract with 
 each other, respecting property, subject to the rules of 
 law as to persons in confidential relations. Neither is 
 answerable for the acts of the other. When the mar- 
 ried woman lives separate and apart from her husband 
 her earnings and those of her minor children go to her 
 separate estate and her separate property is not liable 
 for the debts of her husband, but when they are living 
 together the husband is deemed the head of the con- 
 jugal home and has full authority as to its regulation, 
 location, etc. If he is able to do so he must support his 
 wife and family, but if he is not able then the separate 
 property of the wife is liable for the obligation. If 
 either husband or wife be absent from the marital 
 domicile for more than one year the court may authorize 
 the other to sell or mortgage the property of the ab- 
 sentee for the support of the family. 
 
 The surviving husband or wife has the right to the 
 use of the homestead. Personal property, household 
 furnishings and paraphernalia, books, etc., go to the sur- 
 viving spouse. 
 
 If the husband dies intestate personal property to 
 
238 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 the value of $1,500 goes to the widow and minor children 
 exclusive of any claims ; if there be more than that value 
 the excess goes one-half to the mother and the other 
 half to one child, if there be more than one child then 
 the widow takes one-third of the excess above $1,500, 
 and if there are no children the widow takes all. 
 
 In any event one-third of the property goes to the 
 surviving wife or husband and cannot be diverted by will. 
 
 Boys less than sixteen, women and girls, are pro- 
 hibited from working in mines and quarries. 
 
 Minors less than fourteen are prohibited from work- 
 ing in mills, factories and places injurious or dangerous 
 to life, limbs and morals. Minors less than sixteen who 
 work must file a school certificate. 
 
 Seats must be furnished to female employees. 
 
 The guardianship of children is deemed due equally 
 to the father and mother and is left to the discretion 
 of the court. 
 
 The penalty for rape of a girl less than fourteen 
 years is death or life imprisonment, between fourteen and 
 sixteen the penalty is imprisonment from one to three 
 years. 
 
 A girl of fifteen may be married with the consent of 
 parents. Oklahoma will grant divorce, among other rea- 
 sons, for the following: Abandonment for one year, 
 cruelty, habitual drunkenness and gross neglect. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to a 
 widow of one per cent above twenty-five thousand dol- 
 lars, of one per cent above ten thousand dollars to each 
 child and one per cent above five thousand dollars to 
 brother, sister, son-in-law and daughter-in-law. 
 
 Oklahoma has had woman's suffrage since 1907. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 239 
 
 Oregon 
 
 Married women in Oregon have the right to sell, 
 manage, convey and devise their separate property which 
 consists of all the estate owned at the time of marriage 
 or acquired subsequently in any manner whatsoever. 
 The separate property of the wife is not liable for the 
 debts of the husband, but the property of both husband 
 and wife is equally liable for the support and education 
 of the children, and legitimate family expenses; neither 
 being liable for the contracts of the other beyond this 
 provision. Husband and wife are free to convey property 
 to each other and to contract with each other. 
 
 By special Statute all civil disabilities have been re- 
 moved from the married woman and she may be sued 
 and appeal to the courts in her own name and right. 
 
 There is curtesy and dower of the right to the use 
 for life of half of all lands owned by the deceased. 
 
 The surviving wife or husband is entitled to one-half 
 of the personal property if there is a child and to all 
 if there are no children. 
 
 The State of Oregon when it established the In- 
 dustrial Welfare Commission in 1913 took a step in ad- 
 vance of Massachusetts and Nebraska in their Welfare 
 Commission provisions. The intent is summarized in the 
 preamble which reads: "Whereas the welfare of the 
 State of Oregon requires that women and minors should 
 be protected from conditions of labor which have a per- 
 nicious effect on their health and morals, and inadequate 
 wages and unduly long hours and unsanitary conditions." 
 There follows many regulations to control the sanitary 
 conditions where women and minors are employed and 
 
2 4 o MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 it is made unlawful to employ minors for unreasonably 
 low wages. The commission is composed of three per- 
 sons, one to represent the employers, one the employees 
 and one the disinterested public, without salary, but their 
 expenses are defrayed. The first commission had as one 
 member a woman who acted as secretary. The duty of 
 the commission is to investigate and declare proper 
 standards and conditions of labor for women and minors, 
 length of time of labor days, minimum wages (which 
 means the wage on which these laborers can be main- 
 tained in health). 
 
 Under the Labor Law children of less than fourteen 
 are prohibited from working during school sessions and 
 minors less than sixteen must have school certificates if 
 permitted to work at gainful occupations and they are 
 not allowed to work at night. 
 
 Maximum hours for girls under eighteen : eight hours, 
 twenty minutes a day ; fifty hours a week in manufactur- 
 ing or mercantile establishments, millinery, dressmaking, 
 or hairdressing, shop, laundry, hotel, restaurant, telephone 
 or telegraph establishment. Such girls not to be em- 
 ployed after 6 p.m. 
 
 Females in mercantile establishments (Portland) 
 eight hours, twenty minutes per day, fifty hours a week; 
 no work after 6 p.m. of any day. 
 
 Females in manufacturing establishments (Portland) 
 nine hours a day, 56 hours a week. Office work (Port- 
 land) fifty-one hours a week. 
 
 No women to be employed in any industry in the 
 State more than fifty-four hours a week. 
 
 Women may not be employed after 8.30 p.m. in any 
 mercantile, manufacturing or laundry establishments. 
 
 The Mother's Pension Law, in effect since 191 5, pro-' 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 241 
 
 vides that every woman who has one or more children 
 whose husband is dead, an inmate of a State institution 
 or is incapacitated by reason of disease, physical or 
 mental, and whose children are dependent upon her for 
 support, is entitled to receive ten dollars a month if there 
 is but one child, and seven dollars and a half for each 
 additional child, if more than one, the whole not to ex- 
 ceed forty dollars a month. The woman must have been 
 a resident of the State for three years and must be a 
 woman morally and physically fit for the care and custody 
 of her children. 
 
 Oregon has equal suffrage and has been a prohibition 
 State since 1916. 
 
 Capital punishment is not inflicted and the extreme 
 penalty is imprisonment for life. 
 
 There is a Red Light, Injunction and Abatement Law. 
 
 A girl of sixteen may contract legal marriage with 
 the consent of her parents. 
 
 The custody and guardianship of children devolves 
 equally upon the father and the mother and the earnings 
 of minors are due and controlled by both. In the event 
 of the death of either, then the survivor takes all rights 
 of custody and control. 
 
 Marriage may be dissolved at the suit of the injured 
 party for any of the following causes: Impotency, 
 adultery, conviction of felony, habitual drunkenness, de- 
 sertion of one year, and cruel and inhuman treatment. 
 
 The plaintiff must be a resident of the State at the 
 time of commencing suit, and for one year prior thereto. 
 
 If defendant resides out of the State, and personal 
 service of the summons cannot be made, service may be 
 made by publication of the summons in a newspaper once 
 a week for six weeks. 
 
242 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 The court may order the husband to pay a sufficient 
 sum of money to enable the wife to prosecute the suit, 
 or defend it, as the case may be. The court may also 
 provide for the care, custody and maintenance of minor 
 children during the pendency of the suit, and for the 
 freedom of the wife from the control of the husband 
 pending suit. 
 
 The prevailing party in the suit is entitled to the 
 undivided one-third of the whole of the real property 
 owned by the other at the time of the decree. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, parents, child, brother, sister, son-in-law, 
 daughter-in-law and lineal descendants, of one per cent 
 above five thousand dollars which is exempt. 
 
 Eleven States in which minimum labor wages had 
 been established awaited a decision of the United States 
 Supreme Court on a case taken there for decision from 
 the State of Oregon, and in mid-April, 1917, the highest 
 Tribunal affirmed the right of a State to regulate the wage 
 of women laborers. 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Married women in Pennsylvania have the right to 
 contract, hold, acquire and dispose of property, for all 
 the disabilities of married women as to the acquisition and 
 disposition of property, and the right to make contracts, 
 hold, acquire and dispose of property, have been sub- 
 stantially removed, except that she cannot mortgage, lease 
 or convey real estate unless her husband joins in the con- 
 veyance. Her deed or lease must be separately acknowl- 
 edged. Property owned, or acquired after marriage, or 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 243 
 
 earned at any time by a married woman, is her separate 
 property and it is not liable for the debts of her husband. 
 She may carry on a business and make contracts with 
 relation to same and sue and be sued in the conduct of 
 such business or trade; she cannot, however, be an ac- 
 commodation endorser or surety for another. She may 
 sell and convey or dispose of at will her personal property 
 without regard to her husband. The widow takes for 
 life one- third, or, if there are no children surviving, 
 one-half, of all real estate owned by her husband at his 
 decease and she is entitled to dower in any estate owned 
 by him during marriage, unless she released it or it was 
 sold under execution. The husband is entitled to use of 
 the wife's lands for life whether there are children or 
 not. Husband and wife may sue each other for the re- 
 covery of or to protect the separate property of either. 
 
 If a husband fails to support his wife, or his children, 
 if there are children, and the wife maintains herself and 
 her children, she may petition the court to be permitted 
 to carry on business for her support and upon securing 
 such an order she is free in her right to acquire or dis- 
 pose of property as if unmarried and at her death her 
 husband has no rights in her property. 
 
 Children under fourteen are prohibited from engag- 
 ing in gainful occupation and between fourteen and six- 
 teen children must have a school certificate if employed 
 and may not be hired in any place dangerous to life, limbs 
 or morals. 
 
 When a married woman contributes to the support of 
 her child or children she is entitled to equal custody, 
 guardianship and the services of her child or children, 
 and a mother who leaves an estate may appoint a guardian 
 for her child or children who inherit such estate. 
 
244 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Pennsylvania reserves to each County the right to have 
 a Mother's Pension provision, and if the county avails 
 itself of it, then the State appoints a Board of Trustees 
 to be composed of not less than five or more than seven 
 women to carry out the regulations. This Board ex- 
 amines each applicant and if the destitute mother is 
 worthy, and the best custodian of her children, she will 
 be granted relief not to exceed twelve dollars a month 
 for one child, twenty dollars for two children, twenty- 
 six for three children and five dollars for each additional 
 child, and payment ceases when the child reaches sixteen 
 or secures employment. 
 
 Pennsylvania has a Red Light and Abatement Law. 
 The penalty for violation of a girl less than sixteen 
 (if chaste) is a fine of not more than $1,000 and im- 
 prisonment not exceeding fifteen years. 
 
 In Pennsylvania persons of either sex who have not 
 attained twenty-one years may obtain a marriage license 
 on the written consent of parents or guardians. If a 
 promise of marriage is made by any minor the promise 
 can be repudiated on the minor reaching twenty-one years 
 of age. 
 
 Among the other grounds for divorce are desertion of 
 two years, abuse, lunacy, relationship within the pro- 
 hibited degree, felony and fraud. 
 
 Estates less than $250 are exempt from inheritance 
 tax and there is no tax on property passing to parents, 
 husband, wife, children, lineal descendants, stepchildren, 
 adopted children, wife or widow of son, and to all others 
 five per cent. 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 245 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 A married woman in Rhode Island retains as her 
 separate property whatever estate she was possessed of 
 at the time of her marriage or subsequently acquired, and 
 the product of her earnings. She may acquire and dis- 
 pose of her property and control the rents, revenues and 
 issues without regard to her husband, except as to his 
 right of curtesy in her real estate. She may make valid 
 contracts and dispose of her estate by will, subject only 
 to her husband's right of curtesy. Her separate prop- 
 erty is not liable for the expense of the family, or for 
 the support of herself and children, except by her written 
 order. A married woman coming from another State, 
 whose husband has never lived with her in Rhode Island, 
 after a year of continuous residence may transact busi- 
 ness, make contracts, have the custody of. her children, 
 dispose of property and act in every way as a femme sole. 
 
 A widow is entitled to one-third interest in all lands 
 owned by her husband during the marriage. If he dies 
 intestate she is entitled to one-third of the personal 
 property if there is issue and one-half if there are no 
 children, and the Probate Court is empowered to award 
 her, in addition to her dower of one-third, additional in- 
 terest in the real estate if conditions warrant. 
 
 There is a compulsory education law for children be- 
 tween seven and fifteen years of age. Children of less 
 than fourteen are not permitted to work and children 
 between fourteen and sixteen must have a school certi- 
 ficate if they are employed and they are prohibited from 
 working at night. 
 
 Minors are not allowed to work in places dangerous 
 
246 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 to life, limbs or morals and women are prohibited from 
 selling alcoholic beverages except in licensed taverns or 
 victualling houses. The hours of labor are restricted to 
 nine hours in a day or fifty-four hours in a week. 
 
 Rhode Island will grant divorce for desertion of five 
 years, habitual drunkenness, non-support of one year or 
 gross misbehavior. 
 
 Estates of less than five thousand dollars are exempt 
 from inheritance tax. 
 
 Rhode Island does not inflict the death penalty, the 
 extreme penalty for crime being life imprisonment. 
 
 Rhode Island granted women suffrage in 191 7. 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 By the Constitution of the State of South Carolina, 
 adopted in 1895, "the real and personal property of a 
 woman held at the time of her marriage, or that she may 
 thereafter acquire by gift, grant, inheritance, devise or 
 otherwise, shall be her separate property, and she shall 
 have all the right incident to the same to which an un- 
 married woman or man is entitled. She shall have the 
 power to contract and be contracted with in the same 
 manner as if she were unmarried." A husband is liable 
 for the support of his wife and family, but he is not 
 liable for other debts of his wife. A widow is entitled 
 to one-third of her husband's real estate and children 
 the remainder; if there are no children she is entitled 
 to one-half and the remainder goes to parents or the 
 descendants of his parents. If there survives no kindred 
 she takes the whole estate. 
 
 Children less than twelve years of age are prohibited 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 247 
 
 from working in mines and factories. Children under 
 fourteen are prohibited from working in too close 
 proximity to dangerous machinery and when they are 
 employed they must file with their employer a certificate 
 setting forth name, birthplace, age and residence. Chil- 
 dren less than sixteen are prohibited from working at 
 night and their hours of labor are limited to sixty hours 
 in a week or ten hours a day. The hours of work for 
 women are limited to sixty hours in a week, not to 
 exceed twelve hours in any day, and they are not allowed 
 to work after ten o'clock at night. 
 
 South Carolina is a Prohibition State since 1916. 
 
 The labor laws for the protection of women and chil- 
 dren compared unfavorably in 1917 with the protective 
 measures of many other States. 
 
 The penalty for violation of a girl of less than ten 
 years of age is death or imprisonment from five to forty 
 years, and less than fourteen years the penalty is im- 
 prisonment for not more than fourteen years. 
 
 A girl of fourteen may contract a valid marriage with 
 parents' consent. 
 
 South Carolina makes no provision for the divorcing 
 of those who contract marriage. It is the only State 
 where the laws make no mention of divorce. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on estates. 
 
 Nowhere in the land is there more chivalry, finer old- 
 fashioned standards of honor, probity and good demeanor, 
 than in South Carolina, but there is a huge population 
 of uneducated negroes to be considered and hence the 
 problems of this State are many. Poor women who must 
 labor to live, and destitute widows and orphans need 
 protection, but they can get it only along with civilizing 
 
248 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 education and a certain reorganization of a race which 
 Time alone can produce. 
 
 South Dakota 
 
 A married woman may own in her own right in South 
 Dakota real and personal property, and she may manage, 
 sell, and convey and devise the same as freely as though 
 she were unmarried, and she may contract and sue and 
 be sued as if a femme sole. The property of the husband 
 is not liable for the debts or torts of the wife nor is the 
 property of the wife liable for the acts of her husband. 
 But the securing of a wife in her property rights gives 
 her no additional personal rights. The husband is deemed 
 the head of the family and he alone selects the domicile 
 and orders the mode of life, and the wife must conform 
 to his dictum. The husband is liable for the support of 
 his wife and family and if he does not make proper 
 provision the wife may secure it, and the property of 
 the husband will be held for the obligation. 
 
 The surviving husband or wife remains in possession 
 of the homestead and all the furnishings of the home 
 pass to him or her. If there is no will the survivor takes 
 one-half of the estate, up to $5,ooo, if there are no chil- 
 dren; and one-third if there are children. 
 
 South Dakota is a Prohibition State since 1916 and 
 has a Red Light and Abatement Law fashioned after 
 the Iowa law on the subject. 
 
 South Dakota does not inflict the death penalty but 
 makes life imprisonment the maximum sentence for 
 crime. 
 
 There is a Mother's Pension Law which provides that 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 249 
 
 County Courts shall examine into the application of 
 destitute widows who need support for their children 
 and, by an amendment passed in 191 5, the relief will 
 also be granted to women whose husbands are divorced. 
 
 Children under fourteen are protected from mine 
 working and under sixteen from labor in any place 
 dangerous to life, limbs or morals. Ten hours is the 
 limit allowed for a labor day and children under four- 
 teen must have a school certificate if employed. 1 
 
 A girl of fifteen may contract marriage with the con- 
 sent of her parents. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for desertion, neglect or 
 habitual drunkenness for one year. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property not exceeding 
 $15,000 passing to wife or lineal descendant, of one per 
 cent; to husband, ancestor, adopted child or its issue, 
 one and a half per cent; to brother, sister or their de- 
 scendants, and to son-in-law and daughter-in-law, three 
 per cent ; to uncles, aunts or their descendants, four per 
 cent, and to all others five per cent. 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 In February, 1913, there was passed by the legislature 
 of Tennessee an Act which removed the disabilities of 
 married women. Prior to that a married woman could 
 not control, acquire or alienate property after marriage 
 without the consent of her husband, and the personal 
 property of the wife, owned by her at marriage, after 
 being reduced to possession by the husband, became his 
 property and was subject to his debts, contracts and dis- 
 position as if his own. But in February, 1913, there 
 was passed the following: 
 
2So MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State 
 of Tennessee, That married women be and are hereby 
 fully emancipated from all disability on account of 
 coverture, and the common law as to disabilities of mar- 
 ried women and its effect on the rights of property of 
 the wife, is totally abrogated, and marriage shall not 
 impose any disability or incapacity on a woman as to the 
 ownership, acquisition or disposition of property of any 
 sort, or as to her capacity to make contracts and do all 
 acts in reference to property which she could lawfully 
 do if she were not married ; but every woman now mar- 
 ried, or hereafter to be married, shall have the same 
 capacity to hold, acquire, manage, control, use, enjoy and 
 dispose of all property, real and personal, in possession, 
 and to make any contract in reference to it, and to bind 
 herself personally, and to sue and be sued with all the 
 rights and incidents thereof, as if she were not married." 
 
 A mother has not the right to appoint a testamentary 
 guardian for her minor children but a father has the 
 right to appoint a guardian for his children until they 
 attain twenty-one years of age. The mother becomes the 
 guardian only if the father is dead and has not provided 
 by will or deed for the guardianship. 
 
 Tennessee has a Red Light law but a building used 
 for immoral purposes can only be closed on the applica- 
 tion of ten citizens and the county or district attorney 
 concurring. 
 
 Tennessee is a Prohibition State since 1909. 
 
 A girl of twelve and a boy of fourteen may contract 
 a legal marriage in Tennessee. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for desertion of two years, 
 cruelty, habitual drunkenness and non-support. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property passing to 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 251 
 
 parents, husband, wife, child, or descendants, on amounts 
 of less than five thousand dollars, and between five and 
 twenty thousand the tax is one per cent; above that 
 amount one and a half per cent. 
 
 A Mother's Pension law been in effect since 191 5 
 which gives jurisdiction of dependent or neglected chil- 
 dren to the Juvenile Courts. An allowance of ten dollars 
 a month will be made for one child of sixteen or less, 
 and five dollars a month for each additional child. 
 
 The general provisions of the labor law in effect pro- 
 hibit children less than sixteen from working in places 
 dangerous to life, limbs, or morals and women and chil- 
 dren less than sixteen are prohibited from working more 
 than ten and a half hours a day. 
 
 Texas 
 
 All property, real or personal, owned by a woman at 
 her marriage, or subsequently acquired, remains her 
 separate property, but she cannot dispose of or encumber 
 her property unless her husband joins her or she is 
 authorized by the court. The homestead is the joint 
 property of husband and wife and can be disposed of 
 only when both join in the deed. There is established 
 by the marriage contract a community of interest and 
 all property acquired during its existence is the property 
 of both, except that a wife's earnings and compensation 
 for injuries go to her separate estate. 
 
 The personal property located in Texas of a deceased 
 husband or wife goes as follows : If there are children 
 all personal community property descends to them, and 
 the separate property goes one-third to the surviving 
 
252 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 husband or wife and the remainder to the children, and 
 if there are no children then all the community personal 
 property goes to the surviving spouse. Children of half 
 blood inherit half as much as children of whole blood 
 and adopted children, if there are no other children, 
 inherit the same as children of full blood, otherwise they 
 inherit in the proportion of one-fourth. The foregoing 
 is subject to the first lien of a widow to a thousand dol- 
 lars a year for support and five hundred dollars in lieu 
 of exempt personal property. The surviving husband 
 or wife has control of the community property, and has 
 one-third interest for life in all the real estate of the 
 deceased spouse, and, if there are no children, all of 
 the personal property. The father is deemed the natural 
 guardian of his children and if the mother survive him 
 she succeeds to the trust. 
 
 A girl of fourteen, with parents' consent, can contract 
 marriage. Divorce will be granted among other reasons, 
 for desertion of three years and for cruelty or excesses 
 which render life together insupportable. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, parents or descendants. 
 
 Women, not relatives of the owner, are prohibited 
 from working in saloons. Children under fifteen are 
 prohibited from working in factories or other places 
 dangerous to life and limbs. 
 
 There is a law in Texas which punishes as vagrants 
 parents who will not work, but who depend on their 
 minor children to work and support them. 
 
 Children between eight and fourteen must attend 
 school. 
 
 The hours of work for females employed in laundries 
 are limited to eleven hours a day, in textile factories to 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 253 
 
 ten hours a day, and when employed more than nine 
 hours extra pay must be given. 
 
 The marriage of a female minor gives her all the 
 rights she would have if of age. Marriage agreements 
 may be made before a notary and may be acknowledged 
 by a minor, with parent or guardian's consent, and are 
 unalterable after marriage. 
 
 Utah 
 
 All property owned by husband or wife, acquired 
 before or after marriage, is separate property and may 
 be managed or disposed of without any marital restric- 
 tion whatever. The expenses of the family and education 
 of children is chargeable to the estate of both and neither 
 husband nor wife are liable for the debts of the other. 
 The wife alone can recover for personal injuries she 
 may suffer and the husband is not liable for the torts of 
 his wife. 
 
 If husband or wife die intestate all the estate goes 
 one-half to the surviving spouse and the other half to 
 the child; if more than one child then the spouse takes 
 one-third and the children the remainder. If there are 
 no children all the estate up to five thousand dollars in 
 value goes to the surviving spouse, and one-half of the 
 amount in excess of five thousand dollars goes to the 
 survivor, and the other half to parents or descendants. 
 In the event there are no parents or descendants the sur- 
 viving spouse takes all. 
 
 The laws of Utah regulate wages of women and 
 minors providing the minimum wage to unskilled minor 
 workers shall not be less than seventy-five cents a day,, 
 
254 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 and experienced adults not less than one dollar and 
 twenty-five cents a day. 
 
 Minors under fourteen are prohibited from working 
 in any mine or smelter or other place dangerous to life 
 or limbs or morals. 
 
 The earnings of a minor cannot be held for any debt 
 except for his own actual necessaries of life. 
 
 Utah has a Red Light Injunction and Abatement law, 
 and is an equal suffrage State. Utah has a Mothers' Pen- 
 sion law which gives to County Commissioners the power 
 to apply for the relief of destitute mothers an appro- 
 priation of ten thousand dollars a year in counties of 
 less than one hundred thousand population, and not to 
 exceed twenty thousand dollars in counties where the 
 population exceeds one hundred thousand. Ten dollars 
 a month will be allowed for one child under fifteen 
 years of age, and five dollars a month for each addi- 
 tional child; the requirement is that the mother shall be 
 Competent and best fitted for the custody of her children. 
 
 Utah has an individual Welfare Commission and the 
 minimum wage of women and minors is fixed. The 
 fegM&fcion surrounding working conditions, hours of 
 fe&br afid the age limit for employing minors is under 
 eoatfoi'otf the commission. 
 
 ni pAtilongb other grounds for which divorce will be 
 gtiaritedi tare M habitual drunkenness, permanent insanity, 
 d^sefjtfiowt^f one year and conviction of a felony. A girl 
 o^rfoiurtee&LinJayfxiontract a valid marriage with the con- 
 sent ©ifh^tuparentst 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on estates of less than 
 Ifeaithcaisand dollarSjCthreeper cent on amounts from ten 
 tontiwentyf-Evetlhousand, ami. five per cent on amounts 
 ii|£excess o£ twentyhfro© thousand. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 25s 
 
 Utah gives a condemned criminal the choice of execu- 
 tion by hanging or shooting. 
 
 Virginia 
 
 All real or personal property owned by a woman at 
 her marriage, or which she may subsequently acquire, 
 is her separate estate, not subject to the use, control or 
 disposal of her husband or to liability for his debts. She 
 may engage in trade and her husband is not liable for 
 her torts, or her debts, or bargains, and the proceeds 
 of her labor or earnings go to her separate estate. She 
 may make contracts and sue and be sued thereon. If 
 married after March 31, 1875, the husband is not liable 
 for the ante-nuptial debts of his wife. If a husband 
 wilfully deserts his wife and remains away from her 
 until her death he loses all rights in her estate. 
 
 A widow is entitled to dower and a husband to cur- 
 tesy. After the right of dower and curtesy the real 
 estate passes to children and if there are no children to 
 kindred of common great grandparents, and if there are 
 none, then to the surviving spouse. 
 
 The father and mother are equally entitled to the 
 guardianship of their children and to their services and 
 earnings. The parents succeed to the estate of their chil- 
 dren at their death. 
 
 Virginia is a prohibition State and has a Red Light 
 Injunction and Abatement law. 
 
 The age of consent is fourteen years and the pun- 
 ishment for rape is imprisonment ;rom five to twenty 
 years. 
 
 Among other grounds for which divorce will be 
 
256 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 granted are desertion of three years, insanity at marriage, 
 fugitive from justice for two years, and conviction of a 
 felony. 
 
 There is an inheritance tax on property in excess of 
 fifteen thousand dollars up to .fifty thousand dollars 
 passing to husband, wife, child, descendant, brother or 
 sister of one per cent, to others five per cent. 
 
 There is protection under labor laws for minors of 
 less than sixteen from working in places dangerous to 
 life, limbs and morals. Children less than sixteen are 
 prohibited from working in mills, factories, workshops, 
 mercantile establishments, etc., more than six days in 
 the week, or for more than ten hours a day, but it is 
 expressly stipulated that the children of parents who 
 own factories, mills, etc., are exempt from this restric- 
 tion, and likewise it does not apply to canneries between 
 July and November. Women are prohibited from em- 
 ployment for more than ten hours a day. 
 
 Vermont 
 
 The real estate of a married woman, the rents, issues 
 and products thereof, and during coverture, her hus- 
 band's interest in same, may be taken for debts created 
 for the necessaries for the family but cannot be levied 
 upon for the sole debts of the husband; the real estate 
 owned at marriage or subsequently acquired, being and 
 remaining the separate estate of the wife. All personal 
 property acquired by a married woman during coverture, 
 or by inheritance, is held to her sole and separate use. 
 She cannot, however, dispose of her real estate unless 
 her husband joins in the deed. When husband and wife 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 257 
 
 are separated, however, she may be authorized by the 
 court to dispose of her property without joining her 
 husband. 
 
 The surviving wife or husband is entitled to one-third 
 of the estate, and if there are no children the whole of 
 the estate up to $2500, and half of the excess ; if there is 
 no kindred, the whole estate goes to the surviving spouse. 
 The preference is given the father in the guardianship 
 of children, and if the mother survive, then the guardian- 
 ship passes to her. 
 
 Minors less than sixteen may not be employed more 
 than nine hours a day, or at night, and children less than 
 fourteen are prohibited from working in mills, factories, 
 etc. Females less than eighteen are not permitted to be 
 employed where continuous standing is required. Chil- 
 dren between eight and sixteen must attend school. 
 
 Vermont will grant divorce among other grounds for 
 desertion or continued cruelty for a period of three years, 
 non-support and when not heard from in seven years. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on property passing to 
 husband, wife, child or lineal descendants. 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 West Virginia, like Louisiana, puts under the dis- 
 ability clause married women, minors, and persons of 
 insane mind, but goes further than the Civil Code by 
 adding also "persons in the penitentiary." There is also 
 a specific discrimination against married women not 
 "parents," in that the 48th Sec. of Art. 6, of the Con- 
 stitution of West Virginia provides that : "Any husband, 
 or parent, may hold a homestead of One Thousand 
 
258 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Dollars," and it also exempts from forced sale for judg- 
 ment liens personal property to the amount of Two Hun- 
 dred Dollars. If the husband does not claim this ex- 
 emption the wife may do so, but she must be a "parent," 
 as well as a wife, or she cannot claim the exemption. 
 After the death of the husband the widow "parent," or 
 minor children, may select personal property to the value 
 of $200 and hold the same exempt from the debts and 
 liabilities chargeable to the estate. 
 
 The separate property of the married woman is not 
 subject to the control of her husband but remains "in 
 all respects as if she were a single woman, and is in no 
 way subject to the control of her husband nor liable for 
 his debts." But the married woman cannot sell and 
 convey her real estate, unless she is living separate and 
 apart from her husband, "unless her husband join with 
 her in the conveyance." And if a married woman, living 
 separate and apart from her husband, convey real estate, 
 the deed must recite the fact of her separation and there 
 must be an acknowledgment of such separation before an 
 official authorized to receive it, and he must recite that 
 he knows the property to be separate, and that he knows 
 the wife is living apart from her husband. 
 
 The married woman living with her husband cannot 
 mortgage or otherwise hypothecate her separate property 
 unless her husband join and authorize her. Nor can 
 she carry on a business as a public merchant or form 
 a partnership without the specific consent of her husband. 
 
 Mrs. G. Mclntyre Weaver, a woman lawyer of 
 Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, says in relation to the 
 disabilities of the married woman : "Whilfei she can carry 
 on any business as a femme sole can, and her earnings 
 are her sole and separate property free from the con- 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 259 
 
 trol of her husband, yet if she keeps boarders, does wash- 
 ing and kindred tasks in her home or does sewing to 
 help out the family income, such earnings are the prop- 
 erty of her husband and can be garnisheed for his debts." 
 
 In the case of Humphrey vs. Spencer, 36 West Vir- 
 ginia, p. 11, it was held: "A deed from a husband con- 
 veying property direct to his wife, though void at law 
 and passing no title, is valid in equity to pass a substantial 
 estate." 
 
 In Cosner vs. McCune, 40th West Virginia, 339, it 
 was held: "Where a wife acquires real property direct 
 from her husband she acquires only an equable estate, 
 the legal title remaining in the husband as trustee of the 
 estate. Where she acquires the property through a third 
 person the Statute gives her the title to the estate." 
 
 Marriage of a female under the age of twenty-one 
 does not make her sui juris and she cannot sue in proper 
 person as can a married woman of over twenty-one. 
 
 Under twenty-one, a married woman desiring to sue 
 for divorce must sue in her name by her prochein ami. 
 Should she be sued a guardian ad litem must be ap- 
 pointed. If a minor of less than fourteen marries with- 
 out the consent of parents or guardians her estate is 
 placed in the hands of a receiver who administers it 
 for her until she arrives at the age of twenty-one years. 
 If the minor has a guardian appointed by a deceased 
 father, such guardian has the full authority to give or 
 withhold consent to the marriage of the minor, regard- 
 less of the mother. The father can appoint a guardian 
 for his minor child or children though the mother be 
 living. And the father, by the mere virtue of being 
 the father, while he lives, is deemed by the law of West 
 Virginia the proper guardian and custodian of the child 
 
26o MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 or children o£ his marriage, while the mother, if, tinder 
 certain circumstances, given the guardianship and cus- 
 tody of the child, must be "a person fit for the trust." 
 Hence it would appear that while West Virginia favors 
 the married woman who is a "parent" in homestead 
 rights and exemption of personal property, it stops at 
 that. The Court declares in Cunningham vs. Barnes, 
 37 West Virginia, p. 346: "The welfare of the child is 
 the polar star by which the discretion of the court must 
 be guided." 
 
 Mrs. Weaver, in discussing the rights of parents, 
 says : "While under the law the father is the sole arbiter 
 of the destiny of his minor children and entitled to their 
 care, custody and control, yet in cases where, as in the 
 Roman Catholic Church there is a pre-nuptial contract 
 agreeing the children shall be reared in that faith, the 
 mother being Catholic, and the father later attempts to 
 control the church which his children shall attend, other 
 than the church mentioned in the contract, the court will 
 enforce the pre-nuptial contract." 
 
 Should a widow be appointed a guardian of her chil- 
 dren, upon her marriage again the guardianship ceases 
 by operation of law for "No married woman can be 
 appointed a guardian for minor children and the mar- 
 riage of a female guardian terminates the trust." Chap. 
 66 West Virginia Code. 
 
 A very good clause in the laws of West Virginia 
 is that which enables a woman to maintain an action for 
 injury to her means of support from the unlawful sale 
 of liquor to her husband. In the case of McMaster vs. 
 Dyer, 44th West Virginia, p. 644, the Court held: "A 
 married woman injured in her property, person or means 
 of support by reason of the unlawful sale of intoxicating 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 261 
 
 liquors to a son may maintain a suit for damages, not- 
 withstanding that her husband, the father of the son, 
 is living." 
 
 In the case of Duckworth vs. Stahlmaker, 63 West 
 Virginia, p. 197, the court held: 
 
 "If a husband whose labor contributes to his wife's 
 support, becomes intoxicated in a saloon owned by or 
 controlled by a licensed saloon keeper, by drinking in- 
 toxicating liquors sold him by such saloon keeper, and 
 he is forcibly ejected from the saloon by such saloon 
 keeper and so physically injured as to become incapable 
 and disabled from performing his usual labors the wife 
 has a right of action against the saloon keeper for injury 
 to her means of support." 
 
 The husband is liable for the torts of his wife and 
 in all such actions against her the husband must be 
 joined. A judgment rendered may be enforced against 
 the separate property of the wife. 
 
 A widow is entitled to dower of one-third of all real 
 estate, and if the husband survive the wife he is entitled 
 by curtesy to tenancy of any real estate owned by his 
 wife, whether there survived children or not. The wife 
 may insure the life of her husband for her own benefit 
 provided the premium does not exceed one hundred and 
 fifty dollars; she may hold in her right patents of her 
 inventions and her separate bank account and stock in 
 corporations. 
 
 The real and personal property of the wife at the time 
 of her marriage, or which she may become possessed of 
 by inheritance, remains her separate property. 
 
 Minors under 14 are prohibited from working in 
 mills, factories and workshops or in any other business 
 without the permission of the Superintendent of Public 
 
262 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Schools or the Commissioner of Labor, and children be- 
 tween 14 and 16 who work in the first-named places 
 must have a certificate from the school authorities. 
 Minors under fifteen are prohibited from being employed 
 in places dangerous to their morals or to life, limb or 
 health. 
 
 West Virginia has a Mother's Pension Law which 
 provides that the Overseer of the district may be appealed 
 to by any woman with legitimate children who is unable 
 to provide for such children. After investigation if it 
 is found the woman's husband is dead, or incapacitated, 
 or is confined in any State institution, or has abandoned 
 his wife, such assistance will be granted the woman as 
 may seem to insure her in the maintenance of her chil- 
 dren; such assistance not to exceed ten dollars a month 
 for each child. The allowance will not be made for 
 children o. c more than fourteen. 
 
 The age of consent is fourteen and the penalty for 
 rape is death or imprisonment from five to twenty years. 
 
 West Virginia is a Prohibition State. 
 
 Among other reasons for which divorce will be 
 granted is desertion of three years, licentiousness of 
 either before marriage and unknown at time of marriage, 
 or conviction of felony; and marriages may be annulled 
 because of insanity, consanguinity, miscegenation or want 
 of age. 
 
 Marriage may be contracted by a female of sixteen 
 with the consent of parent or guardian. 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 263 
 
 Washington 
 
 All property, real and personal, owned by the husband 
 or wife before marriage or acquired afterward by gift, 
 devise or descent, is separate property, and all property 
 acquired during marriage, except by gift, devise or de- 
 scent, is common property. They may dispose of their 
 respective interests in the common property to each 
 other. All laws which imposed civil disabilities upon the 
 wife, and not upon the husband, have been abolished in 
 the State of Washington. A wife receives and holds to 
 her separate estate her earnings but the husband has 
 control of other property acquired by either or both after 
 marriage. He cannot, however, encumber or sell the 
 real estate unless the wife joins. 
 
 The surviving wife or husband is entitled to half of 
 the community property and the other half is subject 
 to the will of the deceased. If there is no will then 
 the half of the community property owned by a deceased 
 husband or wife goes to the children and if there are 
 no children to the surviving spouse. One-half of the 
 personal property goes to the survivor if there are chil- 
 dren and if there are no children all personal property 
 goes to the survivor. The parents of children are equally 
 entitled to their guardianship and custody. 
 
 Washington has a Red Light and Abatement law, is 
 an equal suffrage and a Prohibition State. There is a 
 Mother's Pension law which provides for the support of 
 women who are widowed or whose husbands are inmates 
 of penal institutions, insane asylums or if totally dis- 
 abled. Fifteen dollars a month will be allowed for each 
 child less than fifteen years and five dollars a month for 
 
264 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 each additional child. The juvenile courts have jurisdic- 
 tion of all applicants. 
 
 Washington has an Industrial Welfare Commission 
 and while there is no stipulation that the Board must 
 have women members there were three women appointed, 
 to it in 1913. It is the duty of the Commission to ascer- 
 tain wage, sanitary and other conditions surrounding 
 laboring women and minors. A minimum wage is estab- 
 lished which must be sufficient to maintain the workers 
 in health and surrounding conditions must be such as 
 will be conducive to good morals. 
 
 There is no inheritance tax on estates of less than ten 
 thousand dollars passing to husband, wife, child, lineal 
 descendants or parents, and above ten thousand dollars 
 the tax is one per cent. 
 
 Divorce will be granted for abandonment for one year 
 non-support, incurable insanity, and cruelty. 
 
 Washington does not inflict the death penalty, im- 
 prisonment for life being the maximum sentence. 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 The property, real and personal, of a wife in Wis- 
 consin, which she owns at the time of her marriage or 
 acquires subsequently by inheritance, gift, grant, devise 
 or bequest from any person other than her husband, is 
 her separate property and not subject to his disposal, nor 
 is it liable for his debts. A married woman may convey 
 her real and personal property as if unmarried and her 
 husband need not join in the deed. A husband cannot 
 dispose of the homestead unless his wife joins in the deed. 
 
LAWS OP THE SEVERAL STATES 265 
 
 The surviving wife or husband is entitled to one-half 
 of the real and one-half of the personal property, with 
 the homestead; and if there are no children the surviv- 
 ing spouse takes the entire estate to the value of $20,000 
 and three-quarters of the remainder, the other one-quarter 
 going to parents, and if there are no surviving parents, 
 or their descendants, then all goes to the surviving spouse. 
 
 Wisconsin will grant divorce, among other grounds, 
 for desertion of one year, conviction of a felony and 
 incarceration for three years, habitual drunkenness, sepa- 
 ration for five years, and non-support. 
 
 The custody of children, and their guardianship, goes 
 by preference to the father and at his death to the mother, 
 while she remains unmarried. 
 
 Wisconsin has a Red Light and Abatement Law. 
 
 Aid will be granted to a woman for the support of 
 herself and children when brought to the attention of the 
 juvenile or county court. The sum of fifteen dollars a 
 month will be allowed for >one child and ten dollars a 
 month for each additional child, the total not to exceed 
 forty dollars a month. 
 
 Children between seven and fourteen must attend 
 school, and between fourteen and sixteen they must at- 
 tend school if .not employed. Minors less than eighteen 
 are prohibited from working in cigar factories for more 
 than eight hours a day. Women are prohibited from 
 working in places, or for a number of hours, or under 
 conditions which would be prejudicial to health or morals. 
 An Industrial Commission regulates the wages and con- 
 ditions for work of women and minors with the result 
 that Wisconsin has unusually good rules and laws for 
 the protection of women and children. 
 
266 MAIDS, WIVES AND WIDOWS 
 
 Wisconsin does not inflict the death penalty and the 
 maxium sentence is imprisonment for life. 
 
 Wyoming 
 
 The property rights of a married woman in Wyoming 
 do not differ essentially from those of men. She may 
 sue and be sued, make contracts, carry on business, retain 
 and control her earnings and hold and convey property 
 free from interference by her husband and free from 
 liability for his debts. She may hold office and vote at 
 elections but she is prohibited from acting as an ad- 
 ministratrix. 
 
 The surviving spouse is entitled to the homestead, 
 and if the total estate does not exceed $1,500 it goes to 
 the survivor and children in indivision. If it does exceed 
 that sum the surviving spouse is entitled to one-half, and 
 the children to one-half, and if there are no children three- 
 quarters goes to the surviving spouse and one-quarter 
 to parents. If there are neither children or parents the 
 surviving spouse takes all. 
 
 The guardianship of children vests equally in the 
 father and mother. 
 
 There is a Mother's Pension law which provides aid 
 for worthy mothers, who are unable to care for their 
 children, of twenty dollars a month for one child of less 
 than fourteen, and ten dollars a month for each addi- 
 tional child. There are few women and children engaged 
 in gainful occupation in Wyoming but they have pro- 
 tecting laws from too long hours, too small remuneration 
 and against labor in places dangerous to life, limbs and 
 morals. 
 
LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES 267 
 
 Among other grounds for divorce in Wyoming are 
 desertion of one year, cruelty, habitual drunkenness and 
 non-support. 
 
 There is an exemption of ten thousand dollars to 
 property passing to husband, wife, child, lineal de- 
 scendants, and a tax of two per cent on amounts in 
 excess of ten thousand dollars to these relatives.