The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-03-30
WOMEN'S RIGHTS.

We are not about to advocate or discuss the
propriety Of allowing women the privilege of
voting at elections or of holding Office in the
State; we do not believe that women-true
women-desire these privileges, or would, to
any large extent, care to exercise them it
granted. At all events, we may express the
hope that the time is far distant when women,
forgetting the graces of mOdesty and delicacy
which are now their great attractions, shall enter
upon 4 political career and become . b~rawliDg
politicians, greedy Office seekers, and bold,
hard, ~unwomanly aspirants for place or power"
But we apprehend that in Hawaii nei there
are a class of legal rights of which married
women are deprived, and which it would be
better for society at large if they were accorded.
During the past few years, a considerable pro-
gress has been made in some countries in legis-
Iation as regards the legal rights of women, and
this indicates an enlightened Christian sentiment.
In Christian England, however, the common law
on this subject is yet unchanged. 1t has been
forcibly stated by John Stuart Mill, in his Sub
lection of Women,'' published in 1869, which
statement includes all the recent statutory
euactments
- The wife is the actual bond-servant of her husbandi no
less 50. as far as legal obligation goes, than slaves, commonly
SO called. She vows a lifelong obedience to him at the altar,
and is held TO it all through her life by law. Casuists may
say that the obligation of obedience stops short Of partcipa-
IiOn in crime but it certainly extends TO every thing else.
She can do no act whatever but by his permission, at least
tacit- She can acquire no property but Tor MIN; the instant
it becomes hers, even if by inheritance, il becomes ipSO tGcto
law of England. is worse than that of slaves in the laws of
many countries. By the Roman law, for example, a slave
might have his PecULium, which, to a certain extent, the law
guaranteed to him for his exclusive use. The higher classes
WOmpn- through sDeCial contracts SEttnU aside the law. by
conditions Of pin-money, &c: since, parental feeling being
stronger with fathers than the class feeling of their own SEX a
father generally prefers his own daughter to a son-in-law who
is a stranger to him By means Of settlements, the rich
usually contrive to withdraw the whole or part of the inher-
tied property of the wife from the absolute control of the
husband: but they do not succeed in keeping it under her
own control; the utmost they can do only prevents the hus-
band from sq%uandering it, at the same time debarring the
rightful owner from its use"
gOur Hawaiian Statute (Section 1887, Civil
Cpde) lays down the old principle of the common
law of England, for it declares that
"The wife, whether married in pursuance of this article or
heretofore, or whether validity married in this Kingdom or in
all civil purposes, to be merged in her husband, and civilly
dead"
In Hawaii, as in England, there is no legal
provision for the protection of a married woman
who may choose to go into business in her own
name. If her husband, her legal master, is ever
SO p~rOfigate or worthless, he has the legal right
to seize all her earnings and her goods, convert
them to his own use, and send her into the
street with nothing. Turning to the United
States, we find that up to within about thirty
years ago, the English common law generally
governed the legal condition Of women but as
new states were admitted into the Union, changes
were introduced into the statutes, both of the
new and the old states, in this regard, until now
the greater part of the disabilities under which
married women formerly suffered are abolished.
In the majority, if not all of the States, the
wife is allowed to hold property separate from
her husband. In several of the Eastern and in
most of the Western States, she can conduct
business In her own name, or have a partner
other than her husband, and her separate property
is not subject to seizure by him, nor is it liable for
his debts. In regard to her receiving and hold
ing property after her marriage, the New York
statute says:
ANY married female may take by inheritance, or by gift,
grant, devise or bequest, from any person other than her hus-
band, and hold to her sole and separate use, and convey and
therein, and the rents, issues and profits thereof, in the same
manner and with the like effect, as if she were unmarried,
and the same shall not be subject to the disposal of her hus-
band, nor be liable for his debts"
By the laws of California, married women are
authorized to transact business in their own
AAOtNAJ '"hON ~ AK
wife before marriage, and that acquired after
wards by gift, bequest, devise or descent, is
declared to be her separate property and neither
the husband nor his creditors can claim the pro-
ceeds or fruits Of the separate estate of the wife.
The only enactment on the Hawaiian Statute
Books regarding the rights of married women -
apart from the common law provisions of the
Civil Code-is an Act passed in 1868, entitled
A Act to secure married women the benefits
of life insurance" This is very good and pro-
per SO far as it goes but we beg to suggest to
members elect of the Legislature shortly to meet,
the adVisability of the introduction of an act in
regard to the legal status Unmarried women. SINH
lar IN its provisions to that of California. eF of
other States of the United States where the
right of a married woman to hold a separate
estate is fully recognized.