Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 4.djvu/969

 By registering as a sole trader a married woman can carry on business in her own name.

In 1880 the Legislature enacted that "henceforth the rights and responsibilities of the parents, in the absence of misconduct, shall be equal, and the mother shall be as fully entitled to the custody and control of the children and their earnings as the father, and in case of the father's death the mother shall come into as full and complete control of the children and their estate as the father does in case of the mother's death."

If the husband does not support the family, the wife may apply to the Circuit Court and the Judge may issue such decree as he thinks equitable, generally conforming to that in divorce cases, and may have power to enforce its orders as in other equity cases.

The "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 14 in 1864 and from 14 to 16 years in 1895. The penalty is imprisonment not less than three nor more than twenty years. The fact that the victim was a common prostitute or the defendant's mistress is no excuse.


 * In 1878 an Act was passed entitling women to vote for school trustees and for bonds and appropriations for school purposes, if they have property of their own in the school district -upon which they or their husbands pay taxes.


 * Women are not eligible to any elective office, except that of school trustee.

An old law permitted women to fill the offices of State and county superintendents of schools, but it was contested in 1896 by a defeated male candidate and declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Women can not sit on any State boards.

They are employed as court stenographers, and in various subordinate appointive offices. They may serve as notaries.


 * No profession or occupation is legally forbidden to women.


 * All the large educational institutions are open to women. In the public schools there are 1,250 men and 2,443 women teachers. The average monthly salary of the men is $43; of the women, $34.81.