hed by a fine of not less than $100 or
more than $500, or imprisonment in the county jail, house of
correction or workhouse not less than one month nor more than twelve
months, or both such fine and imprisonment. The wife may sue for
separate maintenance without divorce.

The "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 14 years in
1887, but it never has been possible to have this age extended. The
penalty is imprisonment in the penitentiary for from one year to life.

In 1893 Mrs. Florence Kelley and Miss Mary Kenney, aided by the
women's and men's labor organizations of Chicago and by many women's
clubs, secured a Factory Inspection Law. It contained a prohibition
against the employment of a woman over eight hours daily in any
factory or workshop, but this section was declared unconstitutional
because it was a restriction upon the right to contract.

SUFFRAGE: The Legislature which adjourned in 1891 left the School
Suffrage Law obscure, incomplete and with no provisions to carry out
its intentions. In many cases the women had to provide their own
ballots and ballot-boxes. To the credit of the large majority of the
judges of election it can be said that they accepted the votes of the
women with no certainty that they were acting legally or would be
sustained by future decisions. In a number of instances, however, in
the more ignorant parts of the State, the votes were insolently
refused.

In the country and unincorporated towns, in villages and small cities,
where the school boards are elected by the people, there are a number
of officers for whom women may vote;[242] but in places like Chicago,
where the board is appointed by the mayor, the only vote they have is
for three trustees of the State University every two years.

In the summer and fall of 1893 the officers of the State association
agitated the question of asking for the nomination of a woman as one
of these trustees, and in March, 1894, the convention in Danville
approved this suggestion. The auxiliary societies were urged to use
all their influence to have delegates from their counties to the State
political conventions instructed to vote for a woman candidate. Later
in the spring several of the suffrage officers and prominent women of
Chicago appeared before the Republican State Central Committee, and
the same day visited the Republican State Editorial Association,
asking their influence to secure the nomination of a woman for
trustee. Letters