The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1912-04-13
LAWS OF LOUISIANA RELATIVE
TO MARRIED WOMEN.

! Florence Loeber in The New Citize
In considering the laws of Oh
Z State relative to women and to ma,
RED women in particular, we mus
not forget that many Of the conse1
VatlVe doctrines concerning womer
rendering them incapable of perform
ing numerous legal acts, were adopt
ed verbatim from the Napoleon Code
II is somewhat surprising, howeye,
that these laws, which fitted we'll n,
! doubt conditions of over a centur
ago, should still be retained in THU
twentieth century, in a country whicl
stands essentially for progress ant
the broadening of institutions as wei
a ideals; and where women arr
standing side by side with men il
the various walks of life 1t is con
soling to note, however, that eacl
legislative year brings a gradua
broadening of these doctrines, very
very gradual it is true, but neverthe
less a broadening of the same.
1t is only since the years 1896 and
1894 respectively that married wo
man has been able to open a bank
account and to draw checks on same,
and to hold stock in homestead ass0-
Citations without the authorization of
her husband.
1t lis only Within the last three or
four years that any woman, married
or unmarried, could be a witness to
wills or to any authentic acts; for
merly such witnesses might be
males Of Is and IA years respect
fully.
One OF the fundamental principles
of our law, is that women can hold
no public office and perform no civ
il function, except those which the
law specially declares them capable
Of exercising; with the exception of
women taxpayers may vote on ques-
tors. f51Ji.3synitted to the taxpayers as
such In other lc:spects, women, that
is, unmarried ones and widows, may
contract with the same validity rs
! men. Not so, however, with married
~omen-~as soon as they have enter
ed the matrimonial stale tho lay,
seems to surround them with mum
erOus disabilities.
A wife has no other domicile than
that of her husband; she must follow
him wherever he choose to reside.
A married woman cannot, unless
she be separated from bed and
board, contract in any, manner with
out the authorization of her husband,
and upon his refusal, with the au-
thOrlzatiOn Of the court She cannot
buy, sell or mortgage property, al
though it may belong to her sepa-
rately; cannot accept q succession,
receive or make a donation, appear
IN court to sue, or do any other act
unless her husband concurs or yields
his consent in writing The only ex-
ception to this rule is, that she may
make her last will and testament
without his consent or authority Or
even his knowledge.
If the wife is a public merchant,
that is, goes into business for her
self, she may without being author
lied b. her ,iasbsond obligate herself
in anythin" lClat,1g to her trade or
business. The authorization of the
husband to the contracts of the
wife in such a case is presumed by
law, the reason being that she can
not become a public merchant with.
out bong authorized by him. If she
is married under the community law
all the profits of her business as d
public merchant fall into the comm
nifty Of which the husband is the
| head and master and of which he can
dispose without her knowledge or
consent
The authority of the husband is
also presumed in the contracts OF
the wife for necessaries for nerSe.f
and family, where he does not him
self provide them.
While the wife cannot contract in
any manner without the authorize
ton of the husband, even in regard
to her separate property, she has
the light to administer it herself
without lis assistance She may give
him the administration of it, but in
that case all the fruits of such prop
erty would belong to the communi-
ty. She may in all cases withdraw
p,o,o l;y,, ~ onSy