Thomas County cat., 1889-10-31
LEGAL LIMITATIONS.

Needed.
By the English common law, still in
force in England and those OF our
American States which adopted the
common law, comprising a great ma
jority of the States, wife has implied
authority. as her husbands agent, to
purchase articles necessary to the COM
fort of herself and her family. This
means. writes Mary A. Greene. in
Woman's Journal, that the wife, even
without her husbands consent has a
right to make purchases OF clothing.
food and other articles for herself and
the family. and to have the amount
charged to her husband.
But this right of the wife is not un-
limited. If it were. an extravagant
woman might with legal impunity rem
der her husband penniless. and keep
him thus. Moreover the shop-keeper
who sells goods to a married woman
has right to know to whom he is to
look for his pay. Consequently we
find the following limitations to the
! law:
l. If the husband has requested his
wife to trade only at certain stores, she
has no right to buy goods and have the
amount charged to him at any other
stores. And if he keeps her supplied
with sufficient amount of ready
money to pay cash for her purchases.
and has requested her not to buy on
credit, he is not bound to pay for any
thing she buys in violation OF his ex-
pressed request. In case of any dis
pute over this, it is for the jury to de-
eide whether the amount OF money
given to her was sufficient for the fam
lily expenses. and in deciding this the
jury Is to consider the pecuniary Cir
. cumstances OF the husband and the
family's manner of living. If he has
not, in the opinion of the jury. provid-
ed sufficient amount he is liable for
necessary articles which the wife has
had charged to his account, and it is no
defense for him to say that he gave her
some money for her expenses. if the
jnry think he did not give her enough.
9. II the wife abandons her husband
without just cause. she has no longer
any right to charge him for her pur-
chases. But so strongly does the law
protect this authority of the wife to
pledge her husbands credit. that if she
leaves him for just cause, she still has
the right The notices we often see in
the papers, where a husband 'posts'
his wife, stating that he will pay no
bills of her contracting, have absolutely |
no effect to release him from his obliga-
tion, if the wife is without fault in ieav-
ing him. They may serve to warn
shop-keepers OF "trouble ahead" and |
to put them on their guard, but they do
not absolve a husband from still pro-
vidihg for his abused and. it may be,
long-suffering wife. So in case of a
judicial superintendent amounting to
divorce-unless some definite agree
ment is made between the parties. the
husband is still bound to pay bills of
his wife's contracting.
g. II the shOp-keeper. at the time
woman buys goods, knows she is
married woman, and yet prefers to
charge the amount to her. Se can not
afterwards turn around and sue the
husband for his pay.
4. Not all the bills contracted by the
wife ara required to be paid by the
husband. They must be bills for ..nec-
essaries" FOR kersolf and her family
Now this term ''necessaries" has 4
technical meaning in the law. much
broader than its ordinary colo, ,uial
Specification. In law it does not SIM
ply include the bare necessities of life
Among persons not thoroughly CONVEX
SAINT with law, there is belief that it
does mean only this and nothing more,
and so they not unroasonably conclude
that this particular law is very harsh
to women.
Now, in deciding in given case
the article purchased be "nec-
essary," many things are to be consid-
cred. Diamond earrings might be !
considered necessary for the wife of a
President of the United States, while
they would not be necessary for the ]
wife of a day-laborer. Theoretically, I
it is for the judge to say whether the
particular article in question could pos ,
sibly be necessary for any one. If he /:
thinks that it may be. it is then for the ,
jury to say whether the article is nec-
essary for this particular wife. and in I
deciding this. they must take into con- ;
sideration the pecuniary condition of ]
the husband, the style In which he ,
lives. and the station in society of him. I
self and his family. 6
Practically. at the present day. our s
courts take such liberal view of the =,
needs of wives, that judge viii sell (
dom take upon himself the responsible c
lty OF asserting that the article pur- I
chased could not by any possibility be !
necessary for any woman. He will
leave it to the jury to decide upon the
evidence. q