El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-04-08

I and Of people believe that The overa=I
3 woman has as much sense as the aver,
age man and does not need to be unde
& perpetual iutelaEe- For my part. a!
Q one of the proponents Of the Marie,
/ womens property rights law. I did moi
see that woman ought TO be compelled
10 20 10 the district court i'm order I,
Z get PERMISSION TO dispose of ner urOu-
7 erty without the signature Of her hus-
/ band ] do not believe that womer
l should be handicapped in an effort &c
protect themselves I did not sec thai
! women IN seeking this right. were seek.
ing any peculiar right or privilege they
were only seeking an absolute and un-
! Irammeled right TO do what they would
I with their own The senate and house
both passed the law without the pro-
! Viso. but the governor threatened Ia
veto the bill unless the prOvis0 was
added The bill as finally passed was
( better than anything before and more
lar IN its provisions for married WON
! en- rights than the laws in other
! states
Woman Could Be Governor.
! In connection with women's status.
I II IS singular and interesting fact that
/ and laws of both the republic and later
1 the state OF Texas. have not been given
( suffrage, they have not been denied the
/ right to hold office, and there is moth
! ing IN either the constitution or laws.
Z either OF the past or present which
} denies the general right 70 women to
I hold any office in the state Of Texas.
! excepting in. the legislature. She may
be a governor of the state should she
I so desire.
The derivation OF our laws is an
Z interesting study. to find out how and
where we obtained our ideas of the
status Of women. The general law in
this country Is taken from the common
law Of England. In Texas, louisiana
Arizona and California. however. the
, greater part Of the law is Of Spanish
origin or else from the NapOleonic code
Of France.
In the state Of Texas the husband
has the legal right to select the domi-
Gle, being charged with the support OF
his wife and family from his own prop
erIy- The WOmau'S legal duty is TO ac-
cept his choice of a domicile and a re-
fusal Of a wife TO do so constitutes de
Seruon- One stipulation Of the law that
can furnish no little study is the speci-
IlcauOn that II Is a mans duty 10 SUD
port his wife in accordance with her
station and his estate The wife has
the right 10 bind her husband for the
necessities Of food. raiment and shelter
for herself and children. but no right
beyond that
1t is the husbands legal and moral
duty 10 provide food raiment and shell
ter for his wife, yet she could not bring
suit against her husband 10 compel this
support, should he decline TO furnish it.
until this law was modified by The SD
legislature making nOnsupport liable
10 prosecution. fine and Imprisonment
The law provides that the seDarare
property Of the husband shall not be
subject TO the debts OF the wife and
that he shall have exclusive right 10
the disposal control and management
Of his property. The Wife's prouertv is
not now subject TO her husbands debts
while all Of his is charged with the
support of his family. All property ac-
CURED during the time the man and
woman are married is held as common
rau ha III % 80
any time by the husband alone
Injustice TO Women Remedied.
" omen now have the same right as
men IN Texas TO dispose Of their per
sonai property by will or otherwise and
also To be guardians Of anothers per
son and property Up 10 1913. when the
SD legislature regulated the married
Womens property rights. there were
many very gross inequalities in the law
concerning the rights Of women One
o. the most fragrant illustrations Of alb
solute injustice was the law which
EsVe the husband exclusive and abso-
Lutte right to collect and spend all
money his wife might earn. the rents
for property that she owned prior TO
her marriage, or had inherited. also all
interest on notes or bonds and all divi-
dends on stocks which she might have
inherited or had given to her. The law
even was so unjust that if the wife col
lecIed this money the husband had the
right 10 sue the persons paying her
from them, on the grounds that the
money was paid TO an unauthorized
agent The theory was that the husband
was 70 spend the money wisely for her
benefit but II did not work out in prac-
tice-
May Have Own Bank Account.
Another law Of more immediate daily
Importance that concerns women is that
now the wife can maintain a separate
bank account in her own name. 10
which the husband has no legal access. !
any funds on deposit in any bank shall
De presumed TO be the property OF the
person IN whose name the money was
deposited and shall be payable only 20
that person. Before this law was passed I
i was possible for husband TO with
draw any or all funds deposited in any
bank in his wife's name without his 4
Tife's knowledge This has been done 1
many times, but is no longer possible [
n Texas.
An Early Texas Law.
The Texas republic in the third wear
n its existence passed the first home
'tead exemption law that the world has I
'Ner known said Mr. Burgess. This
aW constitutes the greatest protecting
ihIeld ever placed between women and I
'hlldren and the neglect. imprOvidence
u crime Of their should be protector. /
The benefits of this law are too well
known TO more than mention IL has Z
been copied by all countries Of the
lobe and BY many OF the other states I
n the union
You have all read narrowing stories
4 the heiplessness Of the mother con-
erning the custody or her children,
sainst the father In Texas. in case !
husband and wife separate. their rights I
o the custody Of the children become Z
quail and the courts award the CUSTODY I
+ the child with the sole view OF the /
Welfare Of the child.
Not All Unjust.
1t must not be assumed that the legal
liabilities Of the women Of the state
nd republic Of Texas have all been un-
ust 10 her. said Mr.. Burgess, .'in Grim
lal cases. married woman who com
ats crime at the instigatfOn Of her
usoapd may not be given capital pun
nment- II II IS capital punishment
fIence. and may receive only half OF z
he term Of punishment provided by law I
" such offence as she may have com
lifted. while the husband shall be nun :
he'd double for the offence and re- /
eve the death sentence il the crime I
E a capital punishment offence
The status OF the wife as a legal I /
itness has now been changed. Former
neither wife nor husband could ap-
Ear as witness. in any civil suit in !
hlch the other was involved Another |
lng- the confidential communication !
tween husband and wife can not be
reed 10 be given as testimony in court / i
the same way that a lawyer is not / L
.rmltted 10 disclose any Information /
al client may impzrt to him in con- I /
lence- This is the only confidence le-