Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/729

 ILLINOIS

659

ILLINOIS

cript of the evidence must be signed by the judge and preserved as a certificate of evidence in order to sus- tain the decree. Most default decrees are obtained on the ground of desertion or cruelty. If the charge be cruelty there must be proof of more than one act, and the complainant must be sujjported by at least one witness. In Illinois, as in other states, divorces have become a menace to society.

The court may on application of either party make such order concerning the custody and care of the minor children of the parties during the pendency of the suit, as may be deemed expedient and for the benefit of the children. The court may award ali- mony pendente lite, solicitor's fees, and suit money, and when a divorce is decreed the court may make such order touching the alimony and maintenance of the wife, the care, custody, and support of the children, as from the circumstances of the parties and the nature of the case, shall be fit, reasonable, and just; and in case the wife be the complainant, to order the defendant to give reasonable security for such alimony and maintenance, or may enforce the payment of such alimony and maintenance in any other manner consistent with the rules and practices of the court. And the court may on application, from time to time, make such alterations in the allow- ance of alimony and maintenance, and the care, custody, and support of the children, as shall appear reasonable and proper. Anyone advertising for di- vorces is subject to a fine of from .?100 to -$1000 for each offence, or imprisonment in the county jail not less than three months nor more than one year, or both in the discretion of the court. Neither party to the divorce must marry within one year. There is a " separate maintenance " statute in Illinois, which is in the nature of a divorce a mensa et thoro.

Public Institutions. — In Illinois there are schools for the deaf and blind at Jacksonville; industrial home for the blind at Chicago; charitable eye and ear infirmary at Chicago; hospitals for the insane at Jacksonville, Kankakee, Elgin, Anna, Watertowm, and Bartonville; as.ylum for insane criminals at Chester; colony for epileptics in process of organiza- tion, location not yet decided upon; asylum for feeble-minded children at Lincoln; soldiers' orphans' home at Normal; soldiers' and sailors' home at Quincy; soldiers' widows' home at Wilmington. There are in addition penitentiaries at Joliet and Chester; a reformatory at Pontiac; a training school for girls and home for juvenile female offenders at Geneva; and a school for boys at St. Charles.

Sale of Liquor. — The sale of liquor is considered a legitimate business in Illinois if the keeper of the dramshop have a licence, but the keeping open of a tippling house on Sunday is forbidden by statute under penalty of .$200; however, in Chicago there is an " open Sunday " under an ordinance in contra- vention of the statute. The Dramshop Act of Illi- nois provides heavy penalties for the sale of liquor at retail without a licence, and cities and villages may pass ordinances governing the sale of liquor within their territorial limits. A violation of either the Dram- shop .\ct or a city or village ordinance is quasi crim- inal in its nature, and the punishment may be either a fine or imprisonment or both. It may be said generally with reference to the sale of liquor, that the people of Illinois have adopted the theory of regula- tion rather than prohibition.

Wills and Testaments. — In Illinois the privi- lege of disposing by will is not recognized by the civil law as a natural right, but depends on positive law, and is wholly within legislative control. In Illinois one who has testamentary capacity may make a will; and the tests of testamentary ca- pacity are: ability to transact ordinary business, and to understand the business in hand at the time of making the will. To entitle a will to probate

it must be in writing and signed by the testator or testatrix, or in his or her presence by some one under his or her direction; attested by two or more credible witnesses; two witnesses must prove that they saw the testator or the testatrix sign the will in their presence or that he or she acknowledged the same to be his or her act or deed; they must swear that they believed (or believe) the testator or testatrix to be of sound mind or memory at the time of signing or acknowledging the same. A will made according to the laws of a foreign country, which was the tes- tator's domicile, may be proved in Illinois as to per- sonalty only; anfi if made and proved in another state, an exemplified copy may be admitted to pro- bate in Illinois, and affect realty as well as personalty. A citizen of Illinois, temporarily absent, may make a will according to the law of the place where he is situated. The courts do not favour defeating a will for mere informality; and if the intention can be ascertained from the instrument, that intention will be carried out if possible. No time is prescribed within which a will must be presented for probate; but there is a penalty for secreting a will. A husband cannot disinherit a wife by his will; she may re- nounce and take under the statute. Appeal lies from the order of the probate or county court to the circuit court. A bill in chancery under the statute may be filed to set aside a will or the probate thereof. This statute is an enabling act and a statute of repose, and is not a limitation upon any general jurisdiction. Only a party in interest can contest the validity of a will.

Charitable Bequests. — The statute of charitable uses (43 Eliz. 7) is a part of the common law of the State of Illinois, and such statute has not been re- pealed by statutes for the regulation and maintenance of state charitable institutions. Charitable be- quests are viewed favourably in equity; and while equitable jurisdiction over them is not derived from the statute of charitable uses, such statute is re- garded as showing the general intent of the term "charitable". The Supreme Court of Illinois in the leading case of " Hoeffer et al. vs. Clogan et al., 171 111. 462" has defined "charity" as a gift to be ap- plied consistently with existing laws, for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons, either by bringing their hearts under the influence of education or re- ligion, by relieving their bodies from disease, suffering, or constraint, by assisting them to establish them- selves for life, or by erecting or maintaining public buildings, or works, or otherwise lessening the burdens of government. In this case the supreme court of Illinois held that the doctrine of superstitious uses, arising from the statute of I Edward \T, chap. 14, under which devises for procuring the sajnng of Masses were held void, is not in force in Illinois and has never obtained in the United States; and that a devise of real estate to a religious society in trust, the property to be sold and the proceeds expended for saj-ing Masses for the repose of the testator's soul and the souls of his relatives, is a valid charitable bequest. And the court also held in this case, that a devise in trust to an unincorporated religious society will not be allowed to fail for want of a trustee, as the court will appoint a trustee to take the gift and apply it to the purposes of the trust. In this case the court laid stress on the fact that the Masses said in the church were public. Charitable trusts will be upheld in Illinois though vague and general in terms; and they do not fail because the beneficiaries are subject to change.

Cemeteries. — Cemetery associations or companies incorporated for cemetery purposes, by any general or special law in Illinois, may acquire by purchase, gift, or devise, and may hold, own, and convey, for burial purposes, only so much land as may be neces- sary for use as a cemetery or burial-place for the dead.