| Show WOMAN AAD THE IiA1V Ogden March 8 The progress of woman reviewed from an intellectual perspective is not more apparent than that of the legal phase of the question a review of the law with a woman In the case would be very ludicrous were It not so painfully true but as the facts stand out in relief our picture must present them though happily the touch Is more artistic now and the delicate tints more fragrant than of yore The old common law which for years held unquestioned sway in all courts utterly ignored the wife she had no legal existence ex-istence no consenting capacity but was the property of and subject to her husband whose wish was her law She lad no separate disposing power the presumption being that she possessed pos-sessed nothingnot even her children of her husband If she should pull his nose in England she was guilty of treason to the crown but he could pull her nose with Impunity and be guilty of no breach other than that of etiquette eti-Quette This common law rule to whose careening our grandparents were moored still exists and is only modified modi-fied or annulled by special local enactments enact-ments Here in Utah for instance the legal status of woman is very commendable com-mendable The special statutes of California Cal-ifornia District of Columbia Florida Maryland Michigan Mississippi Indiana In-diana Wisconsin and others have not removed the common law disability of j woman to any appreciable extent New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Ohio Missouri and others have modIfied It I Other states particularly the western j are gradually annulling its most objectionable j objec-tionable features while some of the I states and territories Kansas Washington t Wash-ington Colorado the Dakotas and Idaho have given the wife almost I equal rights before the law and hold her as capable and responsible as her husband This much at least is conceded con-ceded generally that the signature of the wife must beattached to all legal transfers The unmarried woman the femme solenwho is of age is much more highly regarded by ye lords of creation She can sue and be sued make contracts buy and sell assume obligations object to any attempt to elongate her nose ana enjoy all the privileges of the homo sul juris Perhaps after all this is the solution of the problem Is marriage a failure I fail-ure From a condition of no recognised status legally we find that woman is gradually assuming a position of respectability re-spectability and responsibility before the law To what does she owe this advancement Her pitiful condition in pagan countries and her manifest I emancipation as the truths of Christianity 1 Chris-tianity have been aissemmlnated Indl 1 cate the first onward step and to the I Increasing susceptibility of the human I heart to refining and elevating influences Influ-ences must we look for further promotion pro-motion and final equal status as to property rights protection ana r presentation pre-sentation toward which enlightened womankind is now aiming The right I of suffrage is yet a vexed question but i 1 whatever the arguments be for or against its desirability some states have already recognized her claim and granted the franchise to woman j Others ure following and the test of j its benefits will be mad But in this as in other legislation for women we find the moral and Christian influence and agitation bringing the desired results re-sults When we recognize the intrinsic worth of woman the part she must take in the nations triumph or peril I ihe copartnership which she shares in all trials and reverses It seems a blind I arbiter of fate who could have ever classed her and her intellect culture I and moral rectItude with the Indian i the idiot and the infant Such has been the case and evolution in this direction as In many others is but a natural and inevitable step in the orderly or-derly sequence of things that from being a latent and passive influence woman should become an active and J positive factor In human affairs I affairsMAE I |
