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 plaintiffs. 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. Hducation.—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 country 
schools. Boys and girls are taught together in these schools— 
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 high 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 Comsittees.—In the last chapter I spoke of 
17 
