SOCIETY. 369 



women makes a demand for the sex, and so when a woman is 

 oppressed by her husband, she can generally find somebody 

 else who will not oppress her, and she will apply for a divorce; 

 whereas, in another state she would submit to much harsher 

 treatment and not demand a separation. The abundance of 

 money is here felt also. To prosecute a divorce suit costs 

 money, and many cannot pay the expense in poorer countries. 

 During 1860 eighty-five divorce suits were commenced in San 

 Francisco, and in sixty-one of these, or three-fourths of the 

 cases, the wives were the plaintiff's. During the six years from 

 1855 to 1860, inclusive, the number of divorce suits commenced 

 in San Francisco was four hundred and forty-seven, and in 

 more than three-fourths of the suits divorces were granted, 

 and divorces were denied in very few. Some of the suits were 

 discontinued or abandoned. The proportion is probably about 

 the same in other parts of the state. 



§ 260. Education. — The state has made a liberal provision 

 for education. Common schools, free to all white children, are 

 maintained by the public treasury, and the large fund provided 

 for their support is declared in the constitution to be inviolable. 

 The common schools in San Francisco are as good as any com- 

 mon schools in the world. Those in the country districts are 

 not so good, and yet will compare favorably with most counti y 

 schools. Boys and girls are taught together in these scliools — 

 an arrangement which is thought, by many parents, to be bad 

 for girls over twelve ; and therefore private schools for girls 

 have many pupils. The Catholics in San Francisco have their 

 own schools, and support them with their own money. They 

 dislike the common schools, because pupils are not required 

 to study the Catholic catechism there. The state constitution 

 provides that there shall be a state university, but it has not 

 yet been organized, nor is it likely to be for some years to come. 

 There are a number of liigh schools called "colleges" and " uni- 

 versities," mostly maintained by religious sects, but they have 

 not yet become so.large or strong as to deserve special mention. 



§ 261. Vigilance Committees. — In the last chapter I spoke of 

 16- 



