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 woman, not married to each other, who habitually live in and occupy in the night-time the same room, no other person over fifteen years of age being present, shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars. Nevada provides that, if any white person shall live and cohabit with any black person, mulatto, Indian, or Chinese, in a state of fornication, such person so offending shall be fined not over five hundred and not less than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail between one and six months, or both. Louisiana[46] has the most recent and the most thorough-going statute against miscegenation; it was adopted July 1, 1908. It provides that concubinage between a white person and a Negro is a felony, punishable by imprisonment for not less than one month nor more than one year. Concubinage is defined as unlawful cohabitation of white persons and Negroes whether open or secret. It was made the duty of the judges to specially charge the grand juries upon this statute.

The most interesting feature about these statutes is that they impose a heavier penalty for cohabitation between a white and a colored person than between two members of the same race. Yet they have been held to comply with the Constitution of the United States. The reasons why such statutes are held to be constitutional will be considered later.

STATES REPEALING LAWS AGAINST INTERMARRIAGE

Only five States that once had laws against miscegenation have repealed them since 1865. New Mexico,[47] in