GOVERNMENT AND LAW. 



79 



property of the wife, but cannot sell or convey it with- 

 out her 'joining in the deed. To save the separate prop- 

 erty of the wife from attachment for husband's debts, 

 there must be an inventory of it on record. 



\V iscoiisin. A married woman has all property rights 

 the same as if single. She may buy and sell, lend and 

 borrow, make conveyances, and have real estate con- 

 veyed to her, and all such business may be transacted 

 between her and her husband as between strangers. 

 She may sue alone, but in being sued she must be joined 

 to husband. Dower, life. interest in one third of all 

 husband's realty held during the marriage. Husband 

 has wife's realty for life. 



Wyoming. A married woman may carry on busi- 

 ness, make contracts, keep her own earnings, hold 

 property, real or personal, receive the rents in her own 

 name, sue and be sued, make a will, free from any con- 

 trol or interference of her husband, the same as if she 

 were single. Her property is not liable for the debts of 

 her husband. Women in this State have the right 

 to vote and hold office. 



Canada. In the provinces of the Dominion, gener- 

 ally, a married woman nolds all her property and 

 earnings, free from the control of her husband. It is 

 liable for her debts before marriage, and her husband 

 is not. She may manage it and bequeath it. She is en- 

 titled to dower,*but there is no tenancy by curtesy. In 

 the province of Quebec the law is modified by the 

 French law. There all the personal property and gains 

 of both parties are put together, and form the com- 

 munity property, which the husband administers. Each 

 can be'queath only his or her interest, and the heirs of 

 each inherit the interest of each. 



THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



The supreme legislative power of the British 

 Empire is by its Constitution given to Parlia- 

 ment. Parliament is summoned by the writ 

 of the sovereign issued out of Chancery, by ad- 

 vice of the Privy Council, at least thirty-five 

 days previous to its assembling. On a vacancy 

 occurring in the House of Commons whilst 

 Parliament is sitting, a writ for the election of 

 a new member is issued upon motion in the 

 House. If the vacancy occurs during the recess, 

 the writ is issued at the instance of the Speaker. 



Tt has become customary of late for Parlia- 

 ments to meet in annual session extending 

 from the middle of February to about the end 

 of August. Every session must end with a 

 prorogation, and by it all Bills which have not 

 been passed during the session fall to the 

 ground. The royal proclamation which sum- 

 mons Parliament in order to proceed to busi- 

 ness must be issued fourteen days before the 

 time of meeting. A dissolution is the civil 

 death of Parliament ; it may occur by the will 

 of the sovereign, or, as is most usual, during 

 the recess, by proclamation, or finally by lapse 

 of time, the statutory limit of the duration of 

 the existence of any Parliament being seven 

 years. Formerly, on the demise of the sover- 

 eign, Parliament stood dissolved by the fact 

 thereof ; but this was altered in the reign of 

 William TIT., to the effect of postponing the 

 dissolution till six months after the accession 

 of the new sovereign, while the Reform Act of 

 1867 settled that the Parliament " in being at 

 any future demise of the Crown shall not be 

 determined by such demise." 



The present form of Parliament, as divided 



into two Houses of Legislature, the Lords and 

 the Commons, dates from the middle of the 

 fourteenth century. 



The House of Lords consists of peers who 

 hold their seats (1) by hereditary right ; (2) 

 by creation of the sovereign ; (8) by virtue of 

 office English bishops ; (4) by election for 

 life Jrish peers ; (5) by election for duration 

 of Parliament Scottish peers. 



The number of names on the " Roll " was 

 401 in 1830; 457 in 1840 ; 448 in 1850; 458 

 in 1860; 503 in 1877; and 586 in 1808. 

 About two thirds of the hereditary peerages 

 were created in the present century. Exclud- 

 ing the royal and ecclesiastical peerages, the 

 4 oldest existing peerages in the House of 

 Lords date from the latter part of the 

 thirteenth century, while 5 go back to tli'; 

 fourteenth and 7 to the fifteenth century. 

 There are besides 8 peeresses -of the Unite' I 

 Kingdom in their own right, and 2 Scotc'i 

 peeresses, and 18 Scotch and 62 Irish peers 

 who are not peers of Parliament. 



The House of Commons has consisted, since 

 49 Hen. TTT., of knights of the shire, or repre- 

 sentatives of counties ; of citizens, or represoi,- 

 tatives of cities ; and of burgesses, or represen- 

 tatives of boroughs, all of whom vote 

 together. To the House of Commons, in the 

 reign of Edward I., 37 counties and 100 

 boroughs each returned two representatives ; 

 but at the accession of Henry VIII., the total 

 number of constituencies was only 147. Tin- 

 additions from Edward VI. to Charles II. were 

 almost entirely of borough members. In the 

 fourth Parliament of Char'es I., the number 

 of places in England and Wales for which re- 

 turns were made, exclusive of counties, 

 amounted to '210; and in the time of the 

 Stuarts, the total number of members of the 

 House of Commons was about 500. At the 

 union of the English and Scottish Parliaments 

 in 1707, 45 representatives of Scotland were 

 added ; and at the union 'of the British ai:>l 

 Irish Parliaments in 1801, 100 representative 

 of Ireland. The average number of members 

 was then about 650. 



By the R-eform Bill of 1832, the number of 

 English county constituencies was inci eased 

 from 52 to 82 ; 56 boroughs, containing a 

 population of less than 2,000 each, were 

 totally disfranchised, and 31 other borough;-, 

 of less than 4,000 each, were required to seini 

 one representative instead of two. On tli" 

 other hand, 22 new boroughs acquired th-- 

 right to return two members, and 24 to return 

 one member. In Scotland the town members 

 were increased from 15 to 23 making 53 in 

 all, while the Irish representatives were in~ 

 creased from 100 to 103. 



