The History of Woman Suffrage Volume III Part 120

The State Pharmaceutical a.s.sociation, formed in 1882 with 110 members, unanimously elected Miss Eliza Rudolph a member. Miss Rudolph was then the only woman in the drug business. Having been refused admission to the medical college of the State University, she perfected herself in pharmacy by a course of private lectures. In 1884 she was elected corresponding secretary of the a.s.sociation.

The _Daily Picayune_, in closing its half-century, gives the following of Mrs. E. J. Nicholson, its chief owner and manager since January, 1876:

"Pearl Rivers," the lady's _nom de plume_, was already well known in the republic of letters before she became, as she now is, the most eminent female journalist in the world, largely owning and successfully directing for years a great daily political journal. The fact is unique. The fame of Mrs. Nicholson belongs to the world of letters and her biography may be found in any dictionary of Southern authors, nevertheless a history of the _Picayune_ would not be complete without some notice of one who has had so much to do with its destiny. Miss Eliza J. Poltevent is a native of Hanc.o.c.k county, Mississippi. She was born on the banks of one of the most beautiful streams in the South, Pearl river.

She wrote over the name of "Pearl Rivers," and her poems made her a conspicuous niche in the temple of Southern letters. She wrote much for the _Picayune_ and wrote herself into love as well as fame. She was married to Col. Holbrook, the proprietor of the paper, and after his death in 1876, she succeeded to the owners.h.i.+p. This was a trying position for a woman. The South had not recovered from the devastation of the war, and the _Picayune_ was involved in embarra.s.sments. Friends even advised her to dispose of the property and not to undertake so formidable a task as the conduct of a daily paper under existing complications. Brave and true-hearted, with a profound and abiding conviction of her duty in the matter, she a.s.sumed the control of the paper. She wisely surrounded herself with able and devoted a.s.sistants, and with their help has gallantly and successfully surmounted many formidable obstacles, until she has seen the _Picayune_ reestablished on a sound and prosperous basis. Mr. George Nicholson had acquired a proprietors.h.i.+p in it, and when Mrs. Holbrook a.s.sumed control the firm name was E. J. Holbrook & Co. On June 28, 1878, the interests of the two copartners were further consolidated by marriage. Since then the _Picayune_ has been published under the firm name of Nicholson & Co., and the columns daily attest the energy, enterprise and ability with which it is conducted, while its advertising patronage speaks for itself.

Mrs. Martha R. Field is a member of the editorial staff of the _Picayune_. She has charge of the Sunday woman's column, besides her regular column over the _nom de plume_ of Catherine Cole.

The _Times-Democrat_ is owned by Mrs. Burke, who however leaves its management to her husband, Col. Burke. Miss Bessie Bisland, under the name of B. L. R. Dane, contributes to the Sunday paper, and edits the "_Bric-a-Brac_ column" which consists of criticisms and reviews of the leading magazines. This paper boasts the most clever "Society column" in the country; it is edited by Mrs.

Jennie Coldwell Nixon who is now, 1886, superintendent of the Woman's Department of the Exposition.

Mrs. J. Pinkney Smith edits the "Social Melange" of the _States_.

Among the regular Sunday contributors are Miss Corrinne Castillanos, who buzzes as the Society Bee, and Mrs. Mollie Moore Davis, known as the "Texas Song Bird." Mrs. Ada Hilderbrand, editor of the _Courier_ at Gretna, did the printing for the Woman's Exposition.

New Orleans has a Woman's National Press a.s.sociation of which Mrs. E. J. Nicholson is president; a Christian Woman's Exchange, Mrs. R. M. Wamsley, president, doing a business of $45,000 a year,[520] a Southern Art Union and Woman's Industrial a.s.sociation, with Mrs. J. H. Stauffer and others on the auxiliary executive committee, and a Woman's Club,[521] originated by Miss Bessie Bisland who was the president of the club for the first year, 1885.

The laws of Louisiana relating to women have been given by Judge E. T. Merrick, a well-known legal authority and for ten years the chief-justice of the Supreme Court of the State:

The rights of married women to their estates are probably better secured in Louisiana than in any other of these United States. The laws on this subject are derived from Spain. Certain provinces of that kingdom were conquered and for centuries held by the Visigoths, among whom, as among the Franks at Paris, the inst.i.tution called the community of aquets and gains between husband and wife, prevailed. In Spain, as in France, there were certain provinces in which the ancient Roman law continued in force, and they were called the provinces of the written law. In these (called also the countries of the _dotal regime_) there was no community between the spouses of their acquisitions. Both of these systems are recognized by the Louisiana civil code, but if the parties marry without any marriage settlement the law implies that they have married under the _regime_ of the community. To prevent error it is proper to observe that there have been three civil codes adopted in Louisiana, viz., in 1808, 1825 and 1870. The marriage laws are substantially the same in all, but bear different numbers in each code. The following references are to the code of 1870.

Except in a very limited number of cases the husband and wife are incapable of making binding contracts with each other during the marriage. Hence all settlements of property, to be binding, must be executed before marriage and in solemn form, that is, before a notary and two male witnesses having the proper qualifications. The betrothed are granted considerable liberty over the provisions of their marriage contract, as the following quotations show:

ART. 2,325. In relation to property, the law only regulates the conjugal a.s.sociation in default of particular agreements, which the parties are at liberty to stipulate as they please, provided they be not contrary to good morals and under the modifications hereafter prescribed.

ART. 2,326. Husband and wife can in no case enter into any agreement or make any renunciation the object of which would be to alter the legal order of descents, either with respect to themselves, in what concerns the inheritance of their children, posterity, or with respect to their children between themselves, without prejudice to the donations _inter vivas_ or _mortis causa_, which may take place according to the formalities and in the cases determined by this code.

The parties are also "prohibited from derogating from the power of the husband over the person of his wife and children which belongs to the husband as the head of the family, or from the rights guaranteed to the surviving husband or wife" (C. C., Art. 2,327).

If the parties adopt the _dotal regime_ in their marriage contract the dotal effects are (except under some circ.u.mstances) inalienable during marriage; and at the dissolution of the marriage, they are to be replaced or returned to the wife, or her heirs, and to secure this, the wife has a mortgage on her husband's lands, and a privilege on his movables, including those of the community (C. C., Art. 2376; Art. 2347). "The dower is given to the husband, for him to enjoy the same as long as the marriage shall last." Strong as is this language, the dowry is given by the wife or her father or mother or other relations or friends, simply to support the marriage.

Under the _regime_ of the community, the individual property of the husband or wife, and all property either may acquire afterwards by inheritance or donations re-remain separate property. The conjugal partners.h.i.+p is defined by C. C., Art.

2402. "This partners.h.i.+p, or community, consists of the profits of all the effects of which the husband has the administration and enjoyment, either of right or in fact, of the produce of the reciprocal industry and labor of both husband and wife, and the estates which they may acquire during marriage, either by donations made jointly to them both, or by purchase, or in any other similar way, even should the purchase be in the name of one of the two, and not of both, because in that case the period of time when the purchase is made is alone attended to, and not the person who made the purchase."

During the marriage the husband has the management of the community, and he can sell or exchange the same, but he cannot give away the real estate without binding his estate to recompense the wife or her heirs, for the one-half so given away. All the income of his estate must enter into the community. On the other hand the wife may at her pleasure take her own estate from the management of the husband into her own control and discretion (C. C. 2384). But in this contingency she must contribute to the family expenses (C.

C. 2389 and 2435).

If the affairs of the husband become embarra.s.sed, the wife can sue the husband for a separation of property, and get a judgment against him for all indebtedness, on account of money or property used or disposed of by him, and sell him out under execution, and buy in the property herself if she sees fit. Thus she stands in a more favorable position toward the community than the husband, who is bound for all its debts, for she can stand by and choose. If the community becomes prosperous, she has the absolute right, as owner, to one-half of it after payment of debts, and a right to the income of the other half until she dies, or marries a second time.

By causing her claims on account of her separate or paraphernal estate to be recorded, she secures a mortgage against her husband's lands and the lands of the community.

If a husband or wife dies affluent, leaving the survivor in necessitous circ.u.mstances, the latter can claim one-fourth of the estate of the deceased. This is called "the marital fourth." The wife, also, if she or the children do not possess one thousand dollars in their own right, can claim as a privilege and against the creditors, one thousand dollars, or a sum which, with her own estate, shall equal that amount.

The wife cannot appear in court, or dispose of, or mortgage, or acquire real estate, without the consent of the husband, but the judge of the court of the domicil may authorize the wife to sue, or be sued. If the husband refuses to empower the wife to contract, she may cite him into court and have the property of the proposed contract settled by an order of the judge. The wife has full power to make a will without any authorization from her husband or the court.

ART. 2,398. The wife, whether separated in property, by contract, or by judgment, or not separated, cannot bind herself for her husband, nor conjointly with him, for debts contracted by him before or during the marriage.

ART. 119. The husband and wife owe to each other mutual fidelity, support and a.s.sistance.

ART. 120. The wife is bound to live with her husband, and follow him wherever he chooses to reside; the husband is obliged to receive her, and furnish her with whatever is required for the convenience of life in proportion to his means and condition.

It is provided that the domicil for granting divorces of such marriages as have been solemnized in Louisiana, shall be in that State so that the courts of Louisiana may grant divorces for causes and faults committed in foreign countries. For abandonment and other causes, a final divorce cannot be granted until one year after a decree of separation from bed and board has elapsed without a reconciliation. In other particulars the law is similar to that of the other States.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Caroline E. Merrick]

One day in 1842, the New Orleans _Delta_ had this item: "Myra Clark Gaines argued her own case in court in this city; the only instance of a lady appearing as counsel in the courts." Mrs. Gaines was a remarkable woman. She carried on a suit for many years against the city of New Orleans to recover property that belonged to her, and, through untold difficulties and delays, triumphed at last. She preserved her youth, beauty and vivacity until late in life. All who knew her can readily recall her bright, sparkling face, and wonderful powers of conversation. In her long experience in litigation, she became well versed in the laws regarding real estate and the right of descent. Mrs. Gaines was a generous woman and did not desire to rob the poor; to many such she gave a quit-claim t.i.tle to the property which she had secured under her suits.

In 1869, the New Orleans _Republican_ had an excellent editorial fully endorsing the demand for woman's enfranchis.e.m.e.nt. In 1870 the _Livingston Herald_, published in Ponchatoula parish, by J. O. and J. E. Spencer, advocated suffrage for women.

In 1874, the secretary of the treasury rendered a decision that when a woman owns a steamboat she may be named in the papers as the master of the same. This decision, despite the opposition of Solicitor Raynor, received confirmation in case of Mrs. Miller, in 1883, from Secretary Charles J. Folger.

II.--TEXAS.

In the adoption of the first const.i.tution of Texas, woman had some representatives in the convention to remind the legislators of that State of her existence, and to demand that the const.i.tution be so framed as to secure the right of suffrage alike to both s.e.xes. On the resolution of Mr. Mundine, to extend suffrage to women, in the const.i.tutional convention of Texas, January, 1869, Hon. L. D. Evans said:

I do not favor the adoption of this measure at the present time, because the country is not yet prepared, yet it is ent.i.tled to our respectful consideration--therefore I thank the convention for allowing me the opportunity to state the ground on which the friends of woman suffrage place their advocacy, so far as I may be able under the five-minute rule. It does not comport with the dignity of a representative body engaged in forming a const.i.tution of government to thrust aside the claim of woman to the right of suffrage,--a claim that is advocated by some of the ablest statesmen and political philosophers of Europe and America, and is destined to a sure and speedy triumph.

Aristotle, the profoundest thinker of antiquity, in his treatise on politics, defines a citizen to be "one who enjoys a due share in the government of that country of which he is a member." If he does not enjoy this right, then he is no citizen, but a subject.

Every citizen, therefore, is ent.i.tled to a voice--a vote--a due share in the government of his country. I am aware that the courts and politicians in democratic America have not so defined citizens.h.i.+p. The reason is that politics is not yet a positive science, and they have failed to a.n.a.lyze this question. Had they a clear conception of the const.i.tuent elements--the anatomy, so to speak, of the body politic, they would perceive that suffrage--a voice in the government--is an essential condition of citizens.h.i.+p. Aristotle, in his treatise, which is perhaps the ablest yet given to the world, pointed out that families, not individuals, are the const.i.tuent units of a State.

A family--a household--exists and is held together by natural laws, independent of the State, and an aggregation of these const.i.tute the State. The head of the family, whoever that may be, according to its structure, is the representative in the State. All the const.i.tuent members of the family, consisting, in its most perfect form, of husband, wife, children and domestics, are subject to the authority of the head, and have no voice, no vote, no share in the government, except through their head or representative. In societies where the common law obtains, which in this respect is a transcript of the Bible, the wife, like the child, is subordinated to the authority of the husband, and on principle, has no voice, no vote. On the decease of the husband, the widow becomes the head of the family, and on principle is ent.i.tled to a voice, a vote. But in countries where the civil law governs, the wife is the partner, and not the subject of her husband, and on principle ought to have her due share in the government.

When the children in a family, whether male or female, attain the age fixed by law for the control of their own affairs, and do control them, they are free, independent, and on every principle are ent.i.tled to a due share in the government--to a vote. Every member of society who is free and independent--capable of managing his own affairs, or making his own living, and does make it, should have the same right of choice in the selection of his political agents that he has to select his legal or business agents. But all persons, no matter from what cause, who are unable to maintain themselves, and are dependent for their support upon others, are incapable of any share in the government, and should have no voice--no vote. As soon as the principle of citizens.h.i.+p comes to be thoroughly understood, woman suffrage must be adopted throughout the United States, in England, and in every country where representative government exists.

_The Revolution_ of August 20, 1868, said:

We have received from Loring P. Haskins, esq., a delegate to the convention, the following excellent report and declaration made and signed by a majority of the committee to whom the subject of woman suffrage was referred. We need scarcely bespeak attentive reading:

_Report of the Committee on State Affairs upon Female Suffrage, with accompanying Declaration:_

July 30, 1868--Introduced and ordered to be printed.

COMMITTEE ROOM, AUSTIN, Texas, July 10, 1868.

_To the Hon. E. J. Davis, President of the Convention:_

A majority of your Committee on State Affairs, to whom was referred the declaration introduced by the Hon. T. H.

Mundine of the county of Burleson, to extend the right of suffrage to all citizens of the State over the age of twenty-one years, possessing the requisite qualifications for electors, have examined with much care said declaration and considered the object sought to be accomplished, and have arrived at the conclusion that said declaration ought to be a part of the organic law.

It was said by George Was.h.i.+ngton that the safety of republican government depends upon the virtue and intelligence of the people. This declaration is not a new theory of government for the first time proposed to be made a part of our republican inst.i.tutions. The idea of extending the elective franchise to females has been discussed both in Great Britain and in the United States. Your committee are of the opinion that the true base of republican government must ever be the wisdom and virtue of the people.

In this State our system of jurisprudence is a combination of civil and Spanish law, intermixed with the common law of England; and this peculiar system, just in all its parts for the preservation of the rights of married and unmarried women, is likely to be continued. The time was when woman was regarded as the mere slave of man. It was believed, in order to perpetuate the pretended divine right of kings to rule, that the ma.s.s of the people should be kept in profound ignorance and that woman was not ent.i.tled to the benefits of learning at all. It is not remarkable that as the benign principles of Christianity have been promulgated, free government has steadily progressed and the divine rights of woman have been recognized.

The old const.i.tution of the republic of Texas, the const.i.tution of the State of Texas of 1845, the laws enacted for the protection of married women, the many learned decisions of the Supreme Courts of Texas and Louisiana, and other courts, clearly indicate that the march of intelligence is onward and that our advanced civilization has approximated to the period when other and more sacred rights are to be conceded. Is it just that woman, who bears her reasonable portion of the burdens of government, should be denied the right of aiding in the enactment of its laws?

The question of extending the freedom of the ballot to woman may well claim the attention of the law-maker, and in view of the importance of the subject a majority of your committee earnestly recommend the pa.s.sage of the declaration.

H. C. HUNT, _Chairman_,