re it is
based upon the foundation of truth and justice."

May these statements lead you to reflect upon this subject, that
you may know what woman's condition is in society, what her
restrictions are, and seek to remove them. In how many cases in
our country the husband and wife begin life together, and by
equal industry and united effort accumulate to themselves a
comfortable home. In the event of the death of the wife the
household remains undisturbed, his farm or his workshop is not
broken up or in any way molested. But when the husband dies he
either gives his wife a portion of their joint accumulation, or
the law apportions to her a share; the homestead is broken up,
and she is dispossessed of that which she earned equally with
him; for what she lacked in physical strength she made up in
constancy of labor and toil, day and evening. The sons then
coming into possession of the property, as has been the custom
until of later time, speak of having to keep their mother, when
she in reality is aiding to keep them. Where is the justice of
this state of things? The change in the law of this State and of
New York in relation to the property of the wife, goes to a
limited extent toward the redress of these wrongs which are far
more extensive and involve much more than I have time this
evening to point out.

On no good ground can the legal existence of the wife be
suspended during marriage, and her property surrendered to her
husband. In the intelligent ranks of society the wife may not in
point of fact be so degraded as the law would degrade her;
because public sentiment is above the law. Still, while the law
stands, she is liable to the disabilities which it imposes. Among
the ignorant classes of society, woman is made to bear heavy
burdens, and is degraded almost to the level of the slave. There
are many instances now in our city, where the wife suffers much
from the power of the husband to claim all that she can earn with
her own hands. In my intercourse with the poorer class of people,
I have known cases of extreme cruelty from the hard earnings of
the wife being thus robbed by the husband, and no redress at law.

An article in one of the daily papers lately presented the
condition of needle-women in England. There might be a
pr