Maryland
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 589,275; female 598,769.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. No assignment of wages to be made without consent of both husband and wife. Wife controls separate property absolutely. Inheritance of property is the same for widow and widower. Husband is legal guardian of children and must support family.
DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, any cause which by the laws of the State renders a marriage null and void ab initio, adultery, desertion for three years, illicit sexual intercourse of the woman before marriage unknown to husband (but the wife cannot obtain a divorce from her husband if he has been guilty of such an offence). Limited divorce for cruelty, excessively vicious conduct, or desertion. In all cases where an absolute divorce is granted for adultery or abandonment, the court may decree that the guilty party shall not contract marriage with any other person during the lifetime of the other party. Annulment is given for bigamy or marriage within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity and affinity.
LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. No Sunday labour. No child under 14 may be employed in any mendicant or acrobatic occupation. No child under 8 may be employed in peddling. Women may not be waitresses in any place where liquor is sold. Children under 12 may not be employed in any business except in the counties, from June 1 to Oct. 15, Ten hours a legal day's work.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. Women serve as notaries public. 35 women in ministry, 6 dentists, 23 journalists, 6 lawyers, 87 doctors, 4 professors, 2 bankers, 13 commercial travellers, 10 carpenters, etc.
Massachusetts
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 1,367,474; female 1,437,872.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and has control of her separate property subject only to the husband's interests. She can be executor, make contracts, etc., as if unmarried. The husband is legal guardian of minor children; he may dispose of them and may appoint a guardian at his death. Husband must support family. In distributing the estate, no distinction is made between real and personal property. The surviving husband or wife takes one third, if deceased leaves children or their descendants; 5000 dollars and one half of the remaining estate if the deceased leaves no issue; and the whole, if deceased leaves no kin. This is taken absolutely and not for life. Curtesy and dower exist; but the old-time curtesy is cut down to a life-interest in one third, the same as dower; and in order to be entitled to dower or curtesy, the surviving husband or wife must elect to take it in preference to the above provisions.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotency, utter desertion for three years, gross and confirmed habits of intoxication, cruel and abusive treatment, wilful neglect to provide, sentence to imprisonment for five years.
No limited divorce.
LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. Ten hours a legal day's work. No woman to labour between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M. in any manufacturing establishment, nor between 6 P.M. and 6 A.M. in any textile works. No child under 14 and no illiterate under 16 and over 14 may be employed in any factory or mercantile establishment. No child under 14 may be employed between 7 P.M. and 6 A.M., or during the time when the public schools are in session. Seats must be provided for females. No woman or young person shall be required to work more than six hours without thirty minutes for lunch. No child under 15 may engage in any gymnastic or theatrical exhibition.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women have school suffrage. They may be justices of the peace. 188 women in ministry, 38 dentists, 180 journalists, 47 lawyers, 729 doctors, 38 professors, 8 saloon keepers, 3 bankers, 73 commercial travellers, 31 carpenters, etc.
Michigan
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 1,248,905; female 1,172,077.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. Dower prevails, but not curtesy. When the wife has separate real estate, she controls it as if single. The husband cannot give full title to his real estate unless the wife joins so as to cut off her dower. Father is guardian of the children. Husband must support.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, imprisonment for three years, desertion for two years, habitual drunkenness, if husband or wife has obtained a divorce in another State.
Limited or absolute divorce at the discretion of the court for extreme cruelty, desertion for two years, neglect to provide.
LABOUR LAWS: No female may be employed in any place where liquor is sold. Seats must be provided for female employees. Ten hours a legal day's work. No Sunday labour. No child under 16 may take part in any acrobatic or mendicant or dangerous or immoral occupation, nor shall any minor be given obscene literature to sell. No female under 21 may be employed in any occupation endangering life, health, or morals. At least forty-five minutes must be allowed for lunch.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: All women who pay taxes may vote upon questions of local taxation and the granting of franchises. Parents and guardians have also school suffrage. Women serve as notaries public. 105 women in ministry, 17 dentists, 81 journalists, 27 lawyers, 270 doctors, 26 professors, 23 saloon keepers, 13 bankers, 53 commercial travellers, 32 carpenters, etc.
Minnesota
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 932,490; female 818,904.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings, but cannot convey or encumber her separate real estate without husband's consent. No dower or curtesy. If either husband or wife die intestate, the survivor, if there is issue living, is entitled to the homestead for life and one third of the rest of the estate in fee simple. If there are no descendants, the entire estate goes absolutely to the survivor. Husband is guardian of children and must support family.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotency, cruel and inhuman treatment, sentence to imprisonment after marriage, wilful desertion for one year, habitual drunkenness for one year.
Limited divorce—to wife only—for cruel and inhuman treatment, on part of husband, or such conduct as may make it unsafe and improper for her to cohabit with him, desertion and neglect to provide.
LABOUR LAWS: Children between 8 and 18 must be sent to school during whole period schools are in session, except in cases of unusual poverty. Ten hours a legal day's work. Seats must be provided for female employees. No Sunday labour. No child under 18 may engage in any occupation between 6 P.M. and 7 A.M.; nor in any mendicant, acrobatic, immoral, or dangerous business. No child under 14 may work in factory or mine. A female factory inspector must be appointed.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women have school suffrage and may vote for library trustees. 80 women in ministry, 18 dentists, 75 journalists, 21 lawyers, 199 doctors, 16 professors, 17 saloon keepers, 10 bankers, 46 commercial travellers, 8 carpenters, etc.
Mississippi
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 10.
POPULATION: Male 781,451; female 769,819.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings. He manages her separate property, but must give an account of it annually. No dower or curtesy. If husband or wife dies intestate, the entire estate goes to the survivor; if there is issue, surviving husband or wife has a child's share of the estate. Each has equal rights in making a will. Father is legal guardian of children, but cannot deprive mother of custody of their persons. Husband must support.
DIVORCE: Absolute for marriage within prohibited degrees, natural impotence, adultery, sentence to the penitentiary, wilful desertion for two years, habitual drunkenness or excessive use of drugs, habitually cruel treatment, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage unknown to husband, bigamy, insanity, or idiocy when party applying did not know of it.
No limited divorce. The court may decree that the guilty party must not marry again.
LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. There are no other laws.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: A woman as a free-holder or lease-holder may vote at a county election to decide as to the adoption or non-adoption of a law permitting stock to run at large. If a widow and the head of a family, she may vote on leasing certain portions of land in the township which are set apart for school purposes. Widows in country districts may also vote for school trustees. Women cannot be notaries public. 13 women in ministry, 2 dentists, 19 journalists, 4 lawyers, 16 doctors, 3 professors, 1 saloon keeper, 3 bankers, 9 commercial travellers, 13 carpenters, etc.
Missouri
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18.
POPULATION: Male 1,595,710; female 1,510,955.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Her separate property is liable for debts contracted by the husband for necessaries for the family. Wife can sue and be sued, make contracts, etc., in her own name. She may hold real property under three different tenures: an equitable separate estate created by certain technical words in the conveyance, and this she can dispose of without husband's consent; a legal separate estate, which she cannot convey without his joinder; and a common law estate in fee, of which the husband is entitled to the rents and profits. Dower and curtesy prevail. Husband is guardian of children and must support.
DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, bigamy, adultery, desertion for one year, conviction for felony or infamous crime, habitual drunkenness for one year, cruel treatment endangering life or intolerable indignities, vagrancy of husband, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage unknown to husband.
No limited divorce.
LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. No woman may be employed in any place where liquor is served except wife, daughter, mother, or sister of owner. No child under 14 to engage in any acrobatic, mendicant, dangerous, or immoral occupation. No Sunday labour. No female may work underground in a mine. Children between 8 and 14 must go to school. No child under 14 may work in any theatre, concert hall, factory; but this applies only to cities with 10,000 or more inhabitants, No female may labour more than 54 hours a week.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. Women may be notaries public. 138 women in ministry, 32 dentists, 87 journalists, 61 lawyers, 303 doctors, 17 professors, 44 saloon keepers, 30 bankers, 37 commercial travellers, 15 carpenters, etc.
Montana
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 149,842; female 93,487.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. There is dower, but not curtesy. Wife controls separate property. Husband is guardian of children and must furnish support; but wife must help, if necessary. Her personal property is subject to debts incurred for family expenses.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful desertion, wilful neglect, habitual intemperance, conviction of felony.
No limited divorce; but wife may have an action for permanent maintenance, at discretion of court, even though absolute divorce is denied.
LABOUR LAWS: Children under 16 may not be employed in mines. Children between 8 and 14 must go to school. No child under 16 may take part in any acrobatic, mendicant, or wandering occupation. No Sunday labour. No child under 16 may work in mill, factory, railroad, in any place where machinery is operated, or in any messenger company.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women may vote for school trustees. Those owning property may vote on all questions submitted to tax-payers. They cannot be notaries public. 22 women in ministry, 3 dentists, 6 journalists, 3 lawyers, 16 doctors, 7 saloon keepers, 2 commercial travellers, 2 carpenters, etc.
Nebraska
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18.
POPULATION: Male 564,592; female 501,708.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate property. Both dower and curtesy prevail; but wife can mortgage or sell her real estate without husband's consent and without regard for his right of curtesy. He can do the same with his separate property, but subject to her dower. Husband and wife are equal guardians of the children. Husband must provide; but wife's separate property can be levied on for necessaries furnished the family, if husband has no property. Wife is not "next of kin" and cannot sue, for example, for damages to a minor child, even though she is divorced and has custody of children.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, imprisonment for three years, desertion for two years, habitual drunkenness, imprisonment for life, extreme cruelty, neglect to provide.
Limited divorce also for last three causes. Annulment for bigamy, when one party is white and other has one fourth or more negro blood, insanity or idiocy at time of marriage, consanguinity, obtaining marriage by fraud or force, when there has been no subsequent cohabitation.
LABOUR LAWS: Children must go to school between 7 and 15. Ten hours a legal day's labour. Sunday labour forbidden. Females to be employed between 6 A.M. and 10 P.M. Seats must be provided. No child under 14 may be employed in any place where liquor is sold, factory, hotel, laundry, messenger work. No child under 14 may be employed at all during school term.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women who are mothers of children of school age or who are assessed on real or personal property have school suffrage; but they cannot vote for State or county superintendents or county supervisors. Women act as notaries public. 95 women in ministry, 16 dentists, 35 journalists, 23 lawyers, 134 doctors, 11 professors, 10 saloon keepers, 15 commercial travellers, 12 carpenters, etc.
Nevada
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14.
POPULATION: Male 25,603; female 16,732.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. She may control her separate property, if a list of it is filed with the county recorder, but unless it is kept constantly inventoried and recorded, it becomes community property. The community property, both real and personal, is under absolute control of husband and at wife's death it all belongs to him. On death of the husband, wife is entitled to half of it. A wife's earnings are hers if her husband has allowed her to appropriate them to her own use, when they are regarded as a gift from him to her. Husband is legal guardian of children. Husband must provide; but there is no penalty if he does not.
DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, adultery since marriage remaining unforgiven, wilful desertion for one year, conviction for felony or infamous crime, habitual drunkenness which incapacitates party from contributing his or her share to support of family, extreme cruelty, wilful neglect to provide for one year.
No limited divorce.
LABOUR LAWS: There are none dealing with women and children.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. Women cannot serve as notaries public. 2 women in ministry, 4 dentists, 1 journalist, 1 lawyer, 6 doctors, 5 saloon keepers.
New Hampshire
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 205,379; female 206,209.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. Wife can sue and be sued and make contracts without husband's consent. Husband is legal guardian of children, and must provide.
DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, adultery, extreme cruelty, imprisonment for one year, treatment seriously injuring health or endangering reason, absence for three years without being heard from, habitual drunkenness for three years, joining any religious sect which believes relation of husband and wife unlawful, desertion for three years with neglect to provide.
No limited divorce.
LABOUR LAWS: No child under 12 may be employed in any factory, nor any child under 14 while schools are in session. Nine hours and forty minutes the legal limit for female labour per day. No child under 14 shall engage in any acrobatic exhibition or in the selling of obscene literature. No Sunday labour. Seats must be provided for female employees. No female may sell or serve liquor.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS. Women have school suffrage. They may be notaries public. 25 women in ministry, 3 dentists, 12 journalists, 2 lawyers, 61 doctors, 3 professors, 9 saloon keepers 6 commercial travellers, 5 carpenters, etc.
New Jersey
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 941,760; female 941,909.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. She has full disposal of her personal property by will; but must get husband's consent to convey or encumber her separate estate. Husband is guardian of children. Husband must furnish support; but wife must contribute, if he is unable.
DIVORCE: Absolute for bigamy, marriage within prohibited degrees, adultery, wilful desertion for two years, impotence.
Limited divorce for extreme cruelty.
In case of desertion and neglect to provide, wife has an action for support.
LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. Hours for labour must be from 7 A.M. to 12 M. and from 1 P.M. to 6 P.M., except in fruit canning and glass factories. Sunday labour forbidden. No child under 18 may engage in any acrobatic, immoral, or mendicant occupation. No child under 15 may engage in any vocation unless he or she shall have attended school within twelve months immediately preceding. No child under 14 may work in a factory. No female employee shall be sent to any place of bad repute.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women in villages and country districts have school suffrage. They may be notaries public. 87 women in ministry, 19 dentists, 45 journalists, 23 lawyers, 176 doctors, 4 professors, 208 saloon keepers, 4 bankers, 11 commercial travellers, 12 carpenters, etc.
New Mexico
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14.
POPULATION: Male 104,228; female 91,082.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Curtesy prevails. Neither husband nor wife can convey real property without consent of other. Husband is legal guardian of children, but is not required by law to support the family.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, cruel treatment, desertion, impotency, neglect to provide, habitual drunkenness, conviction for felony and imprisonment subsequent to marriage, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage unknown to husband.
No limited divorce. But when husband and wife have permanently separated, wife has an action for support.
LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. There are no other laws relating to women and children.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. Women may be notaries public. 10 women in ministry, 2 dentists, 5 doctors, 3 professors, 2 saloon keepers, 1 commercial traveller, 3 carpenters, etc.
New York
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18. (Trials may be held privately, and it is almost impossible to secure a conviction.)
POPULATION: Male 3,614,780; female 3,654,114.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. Wife holds separate property free from control of husband. Both husband and wife can make wills without knowledge or consent of other. Wife can mortgage or convey her whole estate without husband's consent; he can do this with his personal property; but not with his real estate. Husband and wife are equal guardians of the children. Husband must provide.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery only.
Limited for cruelty, conduct rendering cohabitation unsafe or improper, desertion, neglect to provide.
Court refuses to allow party guilty of adultery to marry again, but may modify this after five years if conduct of defendant has been uniformly good. Adultery is now a crime in New York.
LABOUR LAWS: No child under 16 may take part in any acrobatic, mendicant, theatrical, wandering, dangerous, or immoral occupation. Children must attend school between 8 and 16. No child under 14 may be employed in any occupation during school term. Eight hours a day's work. Seats must be provided for female employees. No child under 14 may work in a factory. Female labour is confined between 6 A.M. and 9 P.M., and must not exceed 10 hours. No girl under 16 shall sell papers or periodicals in any public place. Female employment agencies may not send applicant to any place of bad repute.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Tax-paying women in towns and villages may vote on questions of local taxation. Parents and widows with children have school suffrage in towns and villages. Women may be notaries public. 511 women in ministry, 108 dentists, 365 journalists, 124 lawyers, 103 commercial travellers, 925 doctors, 49 professors, 348 saloon keepers, 81 bankers, 84 carpenters, etc.
North Carolina
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14.
POPULATION: Male 938,677; female 955,133.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. Wife controls separate property. Wife is not bound by a contract unless husband joins in writing. In actions against her he must be served with the suit. Wife cannot be sole trader without husband's written consent. Husband is legal guardian of children, and must provide.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, impotence, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage unknown to husband.
Limited for desertion, turning partner maliciously out of doors, cruel treatment endangering life, intolerable indignities, habitual drunkenness.
Wife has an action for separate maintenance if husband neglects to provide or is a drunkard or spendthrift.
LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 12 may be employed in factory, except oyster canning concerns which pay for opening oysters by the bushel. No person under 18 shall be required to labour more than 66 hours per week. No child under 12 shall work in a mine. No boy or girl under 14 shall work in a factory between 8 P.M. and 5 A.M.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. Women cannot be notaries public. 25 women in ministry, 6 journalists, 22 doctors, 2 professors, 2 saloon keepers, 3 bankers, 4 commercial travellers, 6 carpenters, etc.
North Dakota
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18.
POPULATION: Male 177,493; female 141,653.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate property absolutely. Dower and curtesy do not prevail; if husband or wife dies intestate, survivor takes one half of the estate, if there is only one child living or the lawful issue of one child; if there are more, survivor gets one third. If husband is unable to support family, wife must maintain him and the children. Husband is guardian of children.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful desertion for one year, wilful neglect for one year, habitual intemperance for one year, conviction of felony.
No limited divorce.
LABOUR LAWS: Children under 12 may not work in mines, factories, or workshops. Children must go to school between 8 and 14, unless they have already been taught adequately and poverty compels them to work. No Sunday labour. No woman under 18 shall labour more then ten hours per day.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women have school suffrage and are eligible to all school offices. They may be notaries public. 15 women in ministry, 5 dentists, 2 journalists, 6 lawyers, 15 doctors, 1 professor, 1 commercial traveller, 4 carpenters, etc.
Ohio
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 2,102,655; female 2,054,890.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings, but wife controls separate property. Either husband or wife on the death of the other is entitled to one third of the real estate for life. Husband is legal guardian of children, and must provide; but if he is unable, wife must assist.
DIVORCE: Absolute for bigamy, desertion for three years, adultery, impotence, extreme cruelty, fraudulent contract, any gross neglect of duty, habitual drunkenness for three years, imprisonment in penitentiary, procurement of divorce in another State. No limited divorce; but wife has an action for alimony without divorce for adultery, any gross neglect of duty, desertion, separation on account of ill treatment by husband, habitual drunkenness, sentence and imprisonment in penitentiary.
LABOUR LAWS: No child under 14 may work in a mine. Children must go to school between 8 and 14. Seats and suitable toilet rooms must be provided for female employees. No child under 14 may be employed in any establishment or take part in any acrobatic, mendicant, dangerous, or immoral vocation. Hours for girls under 18 confined between 6 A.M. and 7 P.M., nor may they work more than ten hours per day. No Sunday labour. No labour agency shall send any female to an immoral resort.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women may vote for members of boards of education, but not for State commissioner nor on bonds and appropriations. They cannot be notaries. 206 women in ministry, 40 dentists, 151 journalists, 66 lawyers, 451 doctors, 26 professors, 337 saloon keepers, 15 bankers, 62 commercial travellers, 31 carpenters, etc.
Oklahoma
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 214,359; female 182,972.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate property absolutely. If husband or wife dies intestate, leaving one child or lawful issue of child, survivor receives one third of the estate; otherwise one half. If there are no kin, survivor takes all. Husband is guardian of children, and is expected to provide; but law assigns no penalty if he does not.
DIVORCE: Absolute for bigamy, desertion for one year, impotence, pregnancy of wife at time of marriage by other than husband, extreme cruelty, fraudulent contract, habitual drunkenness, gross neglect of duty, conviction and imprisonment for felony after marriage.
Wife may have an action for separate maintenance for any of these causes without applying for divorce.
LABOUR LAWS: No children under 15 may be employed in any occupation injurious to body or morals. No Sunday labour. Ten hours per day legal labour for children under 14.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women may vote for school trustees. They may be notaries public. 29 women in ministry, 1 dentist, 5 journalists, 5 lawyers, 26 doctors, 1 professor, 4 commercial travellers, 3 carpenters, etc.
Oregon
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 232,985; female 183,972.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. By registering as a sole trader, she can carry on business in her own name. Civil disabilities are same for husband and wife except as to voting and holding office. If husband or wife dies intestate, and there are no descendants living, survivor takes whole estate. If there is issue living, the widow receives one half of husband's real estate and one half of his personal property. The widower takes a life interest in all the wife's real estate, whether there are children or not and all her personal property absolutely if there are no descendants living; otherwise one half. Husband and wife are equal guardians of children. Husband must provide.
DIVORCE: Absolute for impotency, adultery, conviction for felony, habitual drunkenness for one year, wilful desertion for one year, cruel treatment or indignities making life burdensome.
No limited divorce. Annulment if either party is one fourth negro or Mongolian blood.
LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 14 shall work in factory, mill, mine, telegraph, telephone, or public messenger service; and no child under 14 shall be employed at all during school session. Attendance at school compulsory between 8 and 14. Hours of work for children under 16 to be confined between 7 A.M. and 6 P.M. Seats must be provided for female employees. Ten hours a day the legal limit for female labour.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women having property in school districts have school suffrage and may be elected school trustees. They may be notaries. 40 women in ministry, 15 dentists, 17 journalists, 8 lawyers, 82 doctors, 7 professors, 5 saloon keepers, 10 bankers, 18 commercial travellers, 7 carpenters, etc.
Pennsylvania
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 3,204,541; female 3,097,574.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. Dower and curtesy prevail. Wife cannot mortgage separate estate without husband's consent; cannot sue or be sued or contract without his consent; and in order to carry on business in her own name must secure special permission from the court. Husband is legal guardian of children, and must provide.
DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, bigamy, adultery, desertion for two years, cruelty or intolerable indignities, marriage within prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity, fraud, conviction for felony for more than two years, lunacy for ten years.
Limited divorce for desertion, turning wife out of doors, cruelty, adultery.
LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. Employment of females in mines forbidden. Children under 18 may not engage in any mendicant occupations; those under 15 may not exhibit in any place where liquor is sold nor take part in any acrobatic or immoral vocation. Sunday labour forbidden. No female may work in bakery or macaroni or other establishment more than twelve hours per day. Children must go to school between 8 and 16. No child under 16 may work in any anthracite coal mine. No child under 14 shall be employed in any establishment. One hour must be allowed for lunch. No employment bureau shall send any female to an immoral resort.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. 290 women in ministry, 73 dentists, 125 journalists, 73 lawyers, 601 doctors, 38 professors, 183 saloon keepers, 17 bankers, 44 commercial travellers, 40 carpenters, etc.
Rhode Island
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 210,516; female 218,040.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate estate, subject to husband's right to curtesy. Curtesy and dower both prevail. Husband is legal guardian of children and must provide.
DIVORCE: Absolute or limited for marriages originally void by law, conviction for crime involving loss of civil status, when either party may be presumed to be naturally dead from absence, etc., impotence, adultery, desertion for any time at discretion of court, continued drunkenness, neglect to provide, any gross misbehaviour.
LABOUR LAWS: No child under 13 may be employed except during vacation. No child under 15 may be employed unless he or she has school certificate. No child under 14 to work in factory. Hours of labour for children under 16 confined between 6 A.M. and 8 P.M. Seats must be provided for all female employees. No child under 16 shall be employed in any acrobatic, mendicant, dangerous, or immoral occupation. Hours for female labour confined to ten. Sunday labour forbidden.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. 24 women in ministry, 5 dentists, 7 journalists, 3 lawyers, 56 doctors, 2 saloon keepers, 5 commercial travellers, 6 carpenters, etc.
South Carolina
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 14.
POPULATION: Male 664,895; female 675,421.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and separate estate absolutely. Dower prevails, but not curtesy. Husband is legal guardian of children, and is required to provide, but law as it stands offers many loopholes.
DIVORCE: There are no divorce laws in South Carolina.
LABOUR LAWS: Seats must be provided for female employees. Sunday labour forbidden. No child under 12 to work in factory, mill, or textile establishment, except in cases of extreme poverty duly attested; all such labour to be confined between 6 A.M. and 8 P.M.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. Women cannot be notaries. 17 women in ministry, 1 dentist, 6 journalists, 3 lawyers, 17 doctors, 13 professors, 3 saloon keepers, 2 commercial travellers, 13 carpenters, etc.
South Dakota
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Male 216,164; female 185,406.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and controls separate estate. Joint real estate can be conveyed only by signature of both husband and wife, but husband can dispose of joint personal property without wife's consent. In order to control her separate property, wife must keep it recorded in the office of the county register. No dower and no curtesy. Survivor gets one half of estate, if there is one child or issue of child; otherwise one third; unless there are neither children nor kin, when survivor takes all. On the death of an unmarried child, father inherits all its property. If he is dead and there are no other children, mother succeeds; but if there are brothers and sisters, she inherits a child's share. Husband is guardian and must support; but if he is infirm, wife must do so.
DIVORCE: Absolute for adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful desertion or neglect or habitual intemperance for one year, conviction of felony.
No limited divorce.
Party guilty of adultery cannot marry any other, except the innocent party, until death of latter.
LABOUR LAWS: Sunday labour forbidden. No woman under 18 may labour more than ten hours a day. No child under 15 may work in mine, hotel, laundry, factory, elevator, bowling alley, or any place where liquor is sold. No child under 15 shall be employed at all while schools are in session.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women can vote for school trustees. They may be notaries. 29 women in ministry, 3 dentists, 4 journalists, 12 lawyers, 24 doctors, 7 professors, 3 saloon keepers, 3 commercial travellers, etc.
Tennessee
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18.
POPULATION: Male 1,021,224; female 999,392.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings, and wife can do nothing with her separate estate without his consent. Dower and curtesy prevail. Husband has right to all rents and profits of wife's estate. No law requires husband to provide. Husband is guardian of children.
DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, bigamy, adultery, desertion for two years, conviction for felony, attempted murder, pregnancy of woman at time of marriage without knowledge of husband, habitual drunkenness.
Limited for wife only for cruel treatment by husband or intolerable indignities, and desertion or refusal to provide.
Party guilty of adultery cannot marry person with whom adultery has been committed during life of former partner.
LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 14 may be employed in factory, workshop, or mine. Seats must be provided for female employees. Hours for labour of women confined to 60 per week.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. 30 women in ministry, 1 dentist, 19 journalists, 14 lawyers, 48 doctors, 9 professors, 6 saloon keepers, 4 bankers, 16 commercial travellers, 6 carpenters, etc.
Texas
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 15.
POPULATION: Male 1,578,900; female 1,469,810.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Husband controls wife's earnings and wife can do nothing with her separate property without his consent. No dower or curtesy. Husband and wife succeed equally to each other's estate. Husband is guardian of children and may be required to provide out of his wife's estate.
DIVORCE: Absolute for excesses or outrages; in favour of husband when wife is taken in adultery or has deserted him for three years; in favour of wife, if husband has deserted her for three years or has abandoned her and lives in adultery with another woman. In favour of either husband or wife on conviction for felony.
No limited divorce.
LABOUR LAWS: No Sunday labour. No child under 12 may be employed in any establishment using machinery. No females shall be employed in any place where liquor is sold except immediate members of owner's family.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: No suffrage. Women can be notaries. 50 women in ministry, 12 dentists, 51 journalists, 17 lawyers, 100 doctors, 3 professors, 26 saloon keepers, 18 bankers, 29 commercial travellers, 12 carpenters, etc.
Utah
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 18.
POPULATION: Male 141,687; female 135,062.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings. No dower or curtesy. Husband and wife succeed equally to each other's estate at death. Woman controls separate estate absolutely. Husband is legal guardian of children. There is no penalty for non-support.
DIVORCE: Absolute for impotence, adultery, desertion for one year, neglect to provide, habitual drunkenness, conviction of felony, cruel treatment causing bodily injury or mental distress, permanent insanity.
No limited divorce; but wife has an action for separate maintenance in case of desertion or neglect to provide on part of husband.
LABOUR LAWS: No females may work in mines. No Sunday labour.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Full suffrage; therefore all offices are open to women. 20 women in ministry, 5 dentists, 7 journalists, 1 lawyer, 34 doctors, 2 saloon keepers, 1 banker, 3 commercial travellers, 1 carpenter, etc.
Vermont
AGE OF LEGAL CONSENT: 16.
POPULATION: Males 175,138; females 168,503.
HUSBAND AND WIFE: Wife controls own earnings and controls separate property. No dower or curtesy. Husband and wife have same powers of mutual inheritance, except that widower does not take his wife's personal property. Husband is guardian of children and must support.
DIVORCE: Absolute or limited for adultery, sentence to hard labour, intolerable severity, desertion for three years, neglect to provide, absence for seven years without being heard from.
LABOUR LAWS: No child under 16 to be employed after 8 P.M. No child under 12 may work in mill, factory, railroad, quarry, or messenger service. No female shall be employed in barrooms. No Sunday labour.
SUFFRAGE, POLITICAL CONDITION, INDUSTRIAL AND PROFESSIONAL STATUS: Women have school suffrage. They may be notaries. 17 women in ministry, 3 dentists, 15 journalists, 21 doctors, 1 professor, 2 saloon keepers, 11 commercial travellers, 3 carpenters, etc.