The New York herald., 1921-05-23
ConDri0ht. 1921, by THE New YORK HERALD
New York Herald Bureau.
Washington. ID. C., May FL.

IT HE Woman's party is digging in 1t
is laying the foundations for
- watch tower on Congress, for it has
programme which will require all forces
of the erstwhile militants to carry out
An historic mansion adjoining the Capitol
has just been purchased for headquarters.
From this vantage point the feminine voter
may keep Congress under perpetual observa-
ton. The new party with the old name is
devoted to the same object, the freedom of
women, to which Alice Paul and her fol-
lowers rallied so valiantly.
What do the women want now? Haven't
they been given the voter" you may ask.
Miss Elsie Hill has the answer. She is
the new chairman who succeeded Miss Paul
when the latter decided at the February
convention Just to rest for WHILE In
fact Miss Hill has dozen answers and
all Of them are Incorporated into a bill
shortly to be introduced into Congress by
Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas and Rep
resentative Simeon ID. Fess of Ohio.
ITO remove the remaining forms of the
subsection of women" is the general tenor of
the measure now in the process of being
formulated.
I'VE believe that while the great barricade
of Northumberland has been levelled
women are still held as a subject group by
a host of legal, economic. professional and
traditional determinations At our conven-
ton last February when the old organiza-
ton disbanded and the new party was i'm
mediately formed, we voted to begin with
the legal disabilities and proceed as rapidly
as possible to the others
Even i'm adherng strictly to the legal
phases of this question we find we have an
immense task before MS. The old common
law Is responsible for many injustices to
women. Our whole sytem Of Jurisprudence
with respect to women's interests needs to
be patched up. Many of it's tenets are OBJ
viously antiquated. Attorneys sometimes
speak OF them as fiction OF the law
For instance, a married woman. under
the common law. was absolutely under the
control of her husband. Although this law
has been gradually modified through the
slow development of centuries. the theory
has not changed. Jurists recognize 1t to-
day when called upon to decide cases in
volving the rights OF women where the
theory has not been specifically abrogated
by statute.
The husband has a right to flx the place
OF abode, implied from his duty to provide
a home. If his wife refuses to live in the
home he selects because of difference of
choice between them she may be designated
as deserter in the meaning Of the divorce
laws. This is the common law rule now in
force in all States.
"A California statute provides that for the
purposes Of voting the residence Of the hus
band is the residence Of the wife. Some
other States have similarly ruled. 1t is this
common law Of domcile which is at the
bottom of the Federal statute casting upon
American women who marry foreigners the
nationality of their husbands
Miss Hill said that guardianship of chill
dren was another moot point.
Most of the States have equal guardian
ship. but underneath the statutes the courts
recognize the common law rule that the
father Is the natural guardian OF the child,"
she continued
by statute In Alabama the father may
appoint a guardian by will. but the mother
is entitled to custody until the ward is four
teen. In Florida fathers may appoint guar
dans by decd or will. but mothers may not.
The states OF Maryland, South Carolina,
Tennessee and Virginia also give tho father
the right to appoint a guardian by will even
though the mother survives. Georgia. New
Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma South