He may not legally sell it away from her, it is true; but by
law he is her master, and may manage it according to his supreme
pleasure while he lives. Even a will made by her does not take effect,
except her husband pleases, till his death. If the property be in ready
money or in funds--except it be guarded in the contract--the husband
becomes possessed of it at once, and may appropriate and apply it to
any purpose he pleases, without consulting the wishes of his wife. She
has no redress. He may, despite her remonstrances, take this her
substance and her money, and spend it in foolish speculation; or, worse
still, in gambling, drunkenness, and debauchery. He may maltreat her and
insult her by the presence in her own house of his mistress. If, no
longer able to endure his brutality, she is obliged to leave him, he
may, unless the law grant a divorce and alimony, keep possession of her
houses and lands, while she must leave home and children behind, and go
out upon the world penniless. She can not force him to return one dollar
of the wealth that was her own; and after the separation, unless legal
papers warranting it have been executed, he can follow her and collect
her scanty earnings. Thousands upon the back of thousands of times has
all this occurred. Does not civilized law give a woman a lien upon her
husband's property? and does not this counterbalance his lien upon hers?
About as equally as are all other privileges balanced between the
sexes; no more.
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