Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1904-02-18

The following address ON the sub
ject. The Property Rights of Women
was delivered before the Grants Pas
Woman's Club by Mrs. Geo. II. Dur
ham and by resolution Of the club or
dered published in the Rogue Rive
Courier.
The subject assigned to me is as OLE
as our civilization and most intimate
ly connected with it. 1t is also a vas
subject and complex one. Wher
Mr.. Joel Bishop wrote his work oil
the law of married, women, he re
marked that there was not extant {
satisfactory taxt book on the subject.
presumably because of the difficulties
of the undertaking. The time limit
allowed me would hardly suffice for {
reoapitulation Of the titles of tn,
chapters which would be required fol
an exhaustive treatment of the statu,
of woman and her property before the
law. know that you do not wish
to be exhausted, by so much learning
any more than l do by compiling it,
hence l shall only attempt to skin
lightly over the surface, leaving
deeper researches to the specialists
and the statute books.
A discussion of the property right,
of women, almost necessarily involves
at least an occasional glance at her
personal rights, to the liberty and the
control of her person. 1t is by nc
means uncommon to hear women re.
gretting the passing Of the age OF
chiyalry. Writers like Sir Walter
Scott and Lord Tennyson have invest
ed the ieudal age. In which chivalry
fiourished, with the glamour of 70.
nance and it was those medieval cen.
turies that Graded the nasceut law
of woman's property. We read the
rose colored stories of woman sitting
as Queen of Beauty and awarding
prizes to the iron clad knights who
jousted in tourney in her honor, the
while they wore some belonging of
their ladye loves in their helmets
as they couched their spears or cross
ed swords in battle but, after all,
the lot of even the favored few among
the women in those days was at best
a gilded slavery while their less for
tunate sisters were treated as beasts
of burden.
On the castle walls of many a lordly
keep along the Rhine and Danube are
suspended grim iron cages made for
the ladies of the manor, to insure
their fidelity, while their liege lords
were leading their Crusaders to
Palestine to rescue the Holy Sepul-
cher from the hand of the fnfidel
Saracen 1t is to be presumed that
the men were then, as nov, so virtu.
GUS and trustworthy that they did
not heed any such contrivance tc
keep them strictly to the path OF
duty or was it that they conld not
build cage which should be strong
enough? l wonder
Even in dear old England, we find
that, upon marriage, the woman be.
came practically, civilly dead, heI
identity having been merged in that
of her husband. Under their laws,
he was emphatically sit, " having the
legal right to infiict upon her corpor.
al punishment with a shillalah, pro.
vided only, that it was not larger
than his thumb. One would suppose
that men with small thumbs would
have been at premium in the matri
monial markets of those days. In those
glorioCs and romantic times, upon
marriage, a woman's property became
her husbands because, forsooth they
were one aud he was the one recog.
nized by the law. II wife attempt.
ed to leave husband for any cause,
no matter how good, he was entitled
to writ from the Court to compel
her to return to her allegiance and
live with him, much on the same
plan that our National Fugitive Slave
Law compelled the return of escaped
| slaves to their masters and practically
for the same reason. And, suppose,
from the great tenderness evidenced
by their laws, the dear. much wrong.
ed man, out Of his great 1--we for her,
Immediately proceeded to assert his
prerogative and use the shillalah.
Women, in the feudal days, were
property TO all intents and purposes.
A lord of the manor even had the
right, und r the law, to claim the
bride Of any Of his tenants, or vassals,
on her wedding night. There must
have been occasional revolts on the
part of individual women, however,
for, while the ancient law books dc
not mention this specifically, they are
full Of details concerning the punish.
ments which might be inflicted upon
refractory women, such as the ducking
stool, public reprimands, the wear.
ing Of brands, etc.
With the passing Of the feuda age,
consequent upon the wider education
Of the people, the condition Of women
was gradually ameliorated. 1t il
curious to note, however, that sucl
lmelioration occurred in spite Of, and
not because Of, the law and frequently
had existed, in fact. for long periods,
before the repeal Of obnoxious statutes
could be secured.
It was left for the people Of a new
country to elevate woman TO hel
proper position Of equality before tn,