ured by the penalty incurred by
infidelity, which is thus stated:

Whoever without cause deserts his wife or children, and
leaves wife and child or children as a charge upon any
county of this State, shall be fined not more than $100 nor
less than $10.

As has been indicated in another connection, it was the
legislature of 1881 which distinguished itself by passing a bill
for amending section 2 of article II. of the State constitution
so as to give women the right to vote in all elections. The
legislature of 1883 did nothing to further ameliorate the legal
condition of women; and the highest legal rights enjoyed by women
of Indiana are indicated in the foregoing recital of legislative
action upon the subject from 1860 to 1884 inclusive.

For some years after public schools were established in Indiana,
women had no recognition. I am told by a reliable gentleman, Dr.
R. T. Brown, who served from 1833 to 1840 as examiner in one of
the most advanced counties of the commonwealth, that during that
period no woman ever applied to him for a license to teach, and
that up to 1850 very few were employed in the public schools. At
that time it was permitted women to teach "subscription" schools
during the vacations, for which purpose the use of the district
school-house was frequently granted. It was by demonstrating
their capacity in this unobtrusive use of holidays, that women
obtained employment in the regular schools. The tables show that
in 1861 there were 6,421 men and 1,905 women employed in the
primary schools, and 128 men and 72 women in the high schools.
From that time up to 1866, owing to the war, the number of men
decreased while that of women rapidly increased. The tables for
that year show 5,330 men and 4,163 women in the schools. The
number of men employed in 1880 was 7,802, of women, 5,776. While
the very best places are held by men, the majority of the
second-rate places are filled by women, and men fill a majority
of the lowest places. The average daily wages received by men
engaged in the public schools in 1880 was $1.86, while the
average daily wages of women was $1.76.

Of the twenty-six academies, colleges and universities, all are,
with two notable exceptions--Hanover and Wabash--open to women.
Of t