The Merry Past 



apparently well pleased to see the last of this district 

 of " gallant little Wales.'' 



At the present time the position of woman in 

 England is probably more favourable than at any 

 other period in the world's history, and, as a writer in 

 the *' Daily Express " recently pointed out, she is 

 more than secured against injustice. 



Woman possesses many legal advantages over men, 

 who are compelled to perform a number of public 

 duties, such as serving upon juries, from which she is 

 exempt. A married woman cannot like a man be 

 imprisoned for debt, the law having decreed that 

 she is not personally liable, and that her creditors' 

 only remedy is to proceed against her separate estate, 

 if she has any. 



Since the year 1882 a woman's property on her 

 marriage remains as completely her own as if she were 

 single, and she can enter into any legal contract with 

 her husband, or sue him for money lent ; she can- 

 not, however, herself be convicted for stealing from 

 her husband. 



A wife can pledge her husband's credit for neces- 

 saries, while he can pledge her credit for nothing. 

 If a woman lives with her husband, the law presumes 

 that she has his authority to pledge his credit. If a 

 woman is living apart from her husband, through 

 no fault of her own, and he does not make her a 

 proper allowance, she can pledge his credit for all 

 necessaries, in which are included such things as are 

 reasonably consistent with her husband's position in 

 life. Servants in livery and a visit to a watering- 



297 



