Show THE LW LECTufiS The Rights and Disablim Married Women leg or r Judge Sutherland delivered hi is Saturday lecture on law at Ue Utat r versity yesterday ot which the 1Ii for ing is abrief synopsis Qlo A married woman is not isnotsuiiE 1 person fully qualified in her own but has certain disabilities ansi lit the fact of her being married R common law marriage is a ivilYQ tract which is valid if tha > comrP parties were willing and able to actlg tract No ceremony is iifce S > i can less a special statute so provides 7 t parties agree to take each other in t riage and consummate the mama nar marniag ge living together a ceremony i solemnizes their exchange of vow tinpi tI law b ings all marriages to U one r mon level the relation 1 iscol1 tl all oases the same no special tract of the parties can COn cn its essential conditions Change and ob 1i gations the relationship is lasf to last rt fic ring life it implies certain duties I fidelity that cannot be overcome o it conventional because the IS i parties to it and it is legal because the law s agree fit C fines its status and conditions its char and duration actr Marriage j 13 the execution of a contract to marry T laws l relating to marriage are founded Tie on public policy The parties to a legal marriage must be of a suitable Fourteen and twelve years fur tn age and females respectively were tae ifl lest l-est ages in tbe common law reco > recognz n valid marr ges The parties must not be nearly related must mutually cun sent to the marriage and if auch consent con-sent in the case of either party should be obtained by fraud or duress the marriage is void The promise of mar riage given by a minor that is a per son under twentyone years may be broken by the minor and no action can be brought against him But the promise of marriage given by an adult is not thus voidable and a suit can bej brought against an adult b r een a minor in this case H a marriage is contracted by parties and both or either of them are below the marriageable age the marriage will become valid if the parties live together up to the time of competent to marry but not otherwise It eithe party is under seven years of age the marriage contract is a mere nullity and cannot acquire legal recognition a any time thereafter The consant o parents is not necessary to the validity of the marriage even of minors bat t mirriage under the age of puberty with or without such consent is void At common law there was no process pro-cess provided for a dissolution of the marriage bond except by au act of Parliament there was lorded belittle be-little relief for the wife in case of injustice in-justice from her husband and gave Wle husband such supremacy over her that he had little need of legal aid to enforce his authority This fiction of the common law made the husband and jfe one person Nevertheless Never-theless the wife had always ale a-le al recognition from the courts she was the wife he the husband each m a legal constituent and the twain u One has no name in law The comma law makes a married woman whoLi r incapable of entering into mercantile I contracts on her own account Her husband becomes the lawful owner of all her property which revests in he only in case ot a divorce or a wilito that effect At the death of her hu band without a will the wife has the right to onethird of his estate during the remainder of her life This is he dower of which not even a will can deprive de-prive her without her consent nor can she be deprived at her husbands death of such immediate property as clothing beds jewelryetc except to pay his debts These objects constituting her paraphernalia are the property of the husband during ha life He thus owns her very clothes and a case is known in which the husband hus-band successfully prosecuted and eloper for larceny who in taking away the wife took also the husbands clothing which she wore A husband may not divest his wife of her proper clothing but she enjoys ornament in dress by his sufferance The common law thus takes from the wife many rights and responsibilities Anciently the wife in the presence of her husband was not evpn responsible for crimes of the lit btr grade he being held accountable account-able f IT them The policy of the common law is to make the wife fully dependent upon her husband and to make the husband the protector of the wife thus promoting the welfare gt both The man is under legal obligations to support his wife and this right of support sup-port the wife can forfeit only by misconduct mis-conduct His being bankrupt or poor does not relieve him of this obligation He must furnish her and her cbHdren with proper maintenance according W his rank atjd circumstances Though she is rich yet she is not required to support him She need not labor even and one high authority hs said the t wife is legally constrained in only one respect she must abstain from beating her husband with a club to the law relating The common r rights of married women as given above has been variously modified In the several States by special statutes These statutes are various and changeable not suited able and a study of them is tothe wants of the general student has more Under the civil law thewIfe In thisniar rcponsibilities rights and in property riifge creates a partnershiP m Prop ge I The husband has the rIght ot manage of I he whole estate he maydiP05e od lllfr tilC rt ilUH t J f lPYte sell se ns half of it by will and may the casests In some buy at pleasure all her separate wife retains prepay estate whether honor yet the whoe e his is liable for his debts lhe The next lecture will be ont Rights and Disabilities of Minors |