payable to bearer or indorser in blank, which has been
stolen or lost, cannot be collected by the thief or finder, but a holder
who receives it in good faith before maturity, for value, can hold it
against the owner's claims at the time it was lost.

If a note or draft is to be paid in the State where it is made, the
contract will be governed by the laws of that State. When negotiable
paper is payable in a State other than that in which it is made, the
laws of that State will govern it. Marriage contracts, if valid where
they are made, are valid everywhere. Contracts relating to personal
property are governed by the laws of the place where made, except those
relating to real estate, which are governed by the laws of the place
where the land is situated.

THE RIGHT OF DOWER.

Dower is one-third of the husband's estate, and in general cannot be
destroyed by the mere act of the husband. Hence, in the sale of real
estate by the husband, his wife must, with the husband, sign the
conveyance to make the title complete to the purchaser. In the absence
of such signature, the widow can claim full dower rights after the
husband's death. Creditors, also, seize the property subject to such
dower rights.

The husband in his will sometimes gives his wife property in lieu of
dowry. In this case, she may, after his death, elect to take either such
property or her dower; but she cannot take both. While the husband lives
the wife's right of dower in only inchoate; it cannot be enforced.
Should he sell the land to a stranger, she has no right of action or
remedy until his death.

In all cases the law of the State in which the land is situated governs
it, and, as in the case of heirship, full information must be sought for
in statute which is applicable.

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.

Marriage may be entered into by any two persons, with the following
exceptions: Idiots, lunatics, persons of unsound mind, persons related
by blood or affinity within certain degrees prohibited by law, infants
under the age of consent, which varies in the different States, and all
persons already married and not legally divorced.

The causes for which a divorce may be obtained vary greatly in the
different States. In South Carolina only fraud and force are recognized
as invalidating the marriage tie, this State having no divorce law. In
the District of Columbia and all the other States with the exception of
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Vir