Page:The case for women's suffrage.djvu/98

 possible for wives to pledge their husband's credit, because the power of doing so is abused by a few women. What is to become of the married woman in this country? thinking women ask themselves. Attempts are being made to drive her out of industry; her right to maintenance by her husband is very limited and can only be directly enforced in a way which is most humiliating to herself; she is to be restrained from acting as her husband's agent so as to obtain necessaries on credit. How does such a condition differ from slavery?

In some way or other, perhaps through some system of co-operative housekeeping, economic independence must sooner or later be made a possibility for all married women.

Let it be noticed that wives are liable for the maintenance of their husbands. They are liable also to maintain their children, if the father is unable to do so.

On the death of a married woman who leaves no will, her husband succeeds to the whole of her personal property and takes a life interest in the whole of her freehold lands. A widow's right to the property of her husband who dies intestate is much less extensive. If there are children of the marriage, the widow gets one-third of the personal property. If she is childless, she takes one-half of the personal property, the other half going to the husband's next-of-kin. The widow's rights have been somewhat increased by the Intestates Estates Act, 1890, which provides that if the property, real and personal, of her deceased husband is of no greater