answerable personally for her
crimes as though she were unmarried, unless they were committed in her
husband's presence. When together the law presumes she acted from his
coercion, he therefore must be the sufferer, while she escapes. This
rule though does not apply to the gravest crimes; for these both are
liable. Like so many other legal rules the difficulty is in applying
it. How near to the husband must she be when committing a wrong to
render him liable and escape herself. In one of the cases a married
woman was properly indicted for unlawfully selling intoxicating
liquors. At the time of selling them she was alone in the room, though
she had sold them by her husband's order.

As the law regards husband and wife as one person, many peculiar
things flow from this relation. Thus one cannot steal from the other;
but either is criminally liable for an assault committed on the other.
By statute in some states the right of either party to sue the other
for wrongs has been greatly extended; nor is the husband liable for
wrongs committed by his wife unless he participated in them. For
example, in some states he is not liable for slanderous words spoken
by her in his absence; in other states his liability continues. On the
other hand, a wife who can manage and control her separate estate may
in turn be liable for the wrongs of her husband while he is acting
with authority as her agent.

A husband has a right of action for damages against any person who
alienates his wife's affections. Nor can he be defeated by showing
that he and his wife did not live happily together. Such facts though
may be used to prove that her society was worth less than it would
have been had they lived happily, in fact, by money valuation was not
worth three cents. A husband forfeits his right to sue others for
entertainment when his own misconduct justified and actually caused
the separation, otherwise his remedy is complete against all persons
whatsoever who have lent their countenance to any agreement for
breaking up his household. On the other hand, this is a one-sided rule
in some states; in others a wife has the same right to sue for the
alienation of her husband's affections as he has for the alienation of
hers.

By statute great changes have been made in the way of permitting
married women to retain their property and manage it, and to do
business. Formerly, all the personal property of a married woman went
immediately by law to her hus