St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-27
FRENCH woMEN,s WANTS.
The Rights They Demand in the
Chamber of Deputies.

Chamber of Deputies.
French women have apparently a
very clear and definite idea of what
they want when they demand their
rights. THE ballot is not their only
cry. They have under the leadership
of Nine. Potonie-Pierre. formulated a.
programme which they have presented
to the ''W0man's Right group in par
lament to be acted upon as occasion
presents itself
In the line of civil rights they de-
mand a favorable vote in the chamber
OF deputies on the proposition Of a law
giving all women of age, and not de-
prived of their civil rights. the right
to act as a witness on all certificates
and civil documents; they also claim
the nomination of a committee of forty
four members to reconsider and re-
form the entire civil code, and es-
pecially to modify article (Which
says that every Frenchman shall be
possessed of civil rights, making it
read: Every person without dis
tlnct1on of sex shall be possessed of
civil rights
When F'renchwonan maries a for
eigneT, or when a foreign woman mar
ries a Frenchman, the woman shall
always preserve her own nationality.
The women claim the simplification of
the fOrmalities of marriage the sup
preston Of the first section of article
1O8, which enacts that a married wom-
an may have no other domicile than
that of her husband: that the power
OF. the mother be equal to that of the
father; and that in cases of dissent
a council formed of male and female
members of the family be allowed to
2 a 11t Ia n-to mt
clauses of the programme are by far
the following, in which not only hus-
bands will refuse to concur, but of
which the members of the weaker sex
themselves will not approve. These
are, the suppression of all penalties in
! cases of adultery, the possibility of
obtaining a divorce by mutual con-
sent; the abolition of regulated pros
titution; and. when a woman finds her
| self in the necessity to bring up one or
more children, she shall receive a sub
sidy from the state
The economic rights of the women
are to be, according to their pro-
| gramme, not q particle less sweeping.
They demand that the chamber of dep
uties vote favorably on project of
law giving all electoral rights to
women for election on all the tribu-
| equal salary is to be recognized by
the state and applied to all posts in the
admins ration of the country. And
that all deposits made in savings banks
by a woman may not be Withdrawn
without her authorization. the hus-
band being denied the right to place an
opposition against the Wifes I-i+h-
drawaI. This last clause will strike
every one as being most just and more
so in France than anywhere else, for
! the French woman has the dual quail
tiles of being a hard worker and
I good money saver.
| Their mixed rights call for special
classes to prepare young women for
the different examinations, so that
they may be in a condition to compete
for the different government posts; the
right to sit on a jury; to be a mem
Der of COUNSEL de famiIie: to be judge
on the tribunals OF commerce, or
! member of the coancilof prudhommes.
Finally, they demand the abrogation
! of article AZ of the penal code. by
/ which all women were assimilated to
! cuIprits.
! The municipal rights are to confer
! all electoral powers possessed by men,
! and eligibility in case of election.
AS far as political rights are con-
/ cerned, the women leave themselves in
| the hands of the parliamentary COM
mittee. in the hope that the committee
! will confer upon them the right OF
J being appointed to all public functions,
J and place them on level footing with
| men in all that concerns legislative
! elections, and eligibility in case OF cleo
/ ton.
| Apparently the new woman is RAM
pant in France as well as elsewhere.
! Surely, nowhere else does she demand
| the right of a separate domicile from
! her husband.