A marriage contracted before the parties, or either of them, have attained the age required can no longer be contested if six months have elapsed since the party or parties have attained the proper age; or if the wife under that age has conceived before the termination of six months.

The laws in this Province concerning the rights of married women to own property separate from their husbands are almost mediaeval.

A married woman cannot take judicial proceedings without being authorized so to do by her husband or the court.

A husband and wife cannot contract with each other even with the a.s.sistance of a third person. They cannot even make donations to each other during the marriage.

Husband and wife are not competent witnesses against each other in a court of law.

Neither the courts nor the Provincial legislature grant divorces which dissolve the marriage bond. Applications for such relief must be addressed to the Dominion Parliament.

A separation from bed and board is granted by the courts to either party to a marriage upon proof of adultery, cruelty, desertion or confirmed drunkenness; and to a wife for the failure of her husband to provide her proper support.

Where a husband keeps a concubine in the same house with his wife the latter is justified in leaving him to live elsewhere, and in so doing the wife does not lose any of her marital rights.

Quebec is the only Province in the Dominion of Canada where a child born out of wedlock is legitimatized by the subsequent marriage of the parents.

BRITISH COLUMBIA.--The Divorce and Matrimonial Act of 1857, pa.s.sed by the Imperial Parliament, is in full effect in this Province.

The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to entertain a pet.i.tion for divorce between persons domiciled in the Province and in respect of matrimonial offences alleged to have been committed therein.

Absolute divorces are granted on the application of the husband on the ground of adultery; on the application of the wife on the ground of incestuous adultery, bigamy with adultery, rape, sodomy or b.e.s.t.i.a.lity, adultery coupled with such cruelty as without adultery would have ent.i.tled her to a judicial separation, or adultery coupled with desertion, without reasonable excuse, for two years or upwards. Alimony may be ordered to be paid to the wife, by the decree dissolving the marriage or granting a separation, or it may be sued for separately if the wife has either obtained or is ent.i.tled to such a decree. After absolute divorce either party may marry again. The procedure in divorce matters is almost identical with that of England.

A judicial separation may be obtained by either spouse because of:

1. Adultery.

2. Cruelty.

3. Desertion without cause for two years or more.

NEW BRUNSWICK.--It is interesting to note that in this Province a married woman may acquire, hold and dispose of, by will or otherwise (except that husband's curtsey will not therefore be affected), any real or personal property as her separate property, in the same manner as if she were a _femme sole_, without the intervention of any trustee, and may enter into and render herself liable in respect of and to the extent of her separate property on any contract, and of suing and being sued in all respects as if she were a _femme sole_.

The grounds for absolute divorce are:

1. Impotency.

2. Adultery.

3. Consanguinity.

NOVA SCOTIA.--This old Province, originally called Acadia, has a judiciary which consists of a chief justice, an equity judge and five puisne judges, a supreme court having law and equity jurisdiction throughout the Province, a vice-admiralty court and a court of marriage and divorce.

The rules as to consanguinity and affinity, the causes for divorce and judicial separation and the civil effects of marriage and divorce are the same as in England.

ALBERTA.--The Supreme Court Act (February 11, 1907) established the Supreme Court of the Province and provided that the court "shall have jurisdiction to grant alimony to any wife who would be ent.i.tled to alimony by the law of England, or to any wife who would be ent.i.tled by the law of England to a divorce and to alimony as incident thereto, or to any wife whose husband was separate from her without any sufficient cause and under circ.u.mstances which would ent.i.tle her by the laws of England to a decree for rest.i.tution of conjugal rights; and alimony, when granted, continue until further order of the court."

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES.--The term "Northwest Territories" originally referred to the region over which the Northwest Company exercised authority, the territorial limits of which were not clearly defined. The term is now used to designate the Canadian territories and districts of Yukon, Keewatin, Mackenzie, Ungava and Franklin.

As we have before observed, the law of marriage and divorce in the Northwest Territories is substantially the same as that of England.

NEWFOUNDLAND.--This, the oldest British colony in North America, is the most modern in its law of domestic relations.

Marriage is considered a civil contract, which may be solemnized before a qualified clergyman of any sect, or a judge, justice of the peace or other magistrate.

A married woman has the same right of buying, selling, owning and controlling any kind of real or personal property as a single woman. She has also the fullest right to make any lawful contract without adding her husband as a party. She may sue and be sued as if she were a single woman or a man.

There being no divorce courts, the Provincial legislature having no power to grant divorces, and the Colony of Newfoundland being outside of the jurisdiction of the Dominion Parliament of Canada, an absolute divorce cannot be obtained in the colony.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO.

Mexico is a federative Republic composed of twenty-seven States, three Territories and a Federal District.

Under the present Const.i.tution, which is dated February 5, 1857, each State has the power to control its own local domestic concerns and to have its own separate executive, legislature and judiciary.

The Civil Code of the Federal District (_El Codigo Civil de Distrito Federal_) was enacted simply for the Federal District and the Territories of Lower California, Tepic and Quintana Roo, but each of the twenty-seven States have in their respective Civil Codes adopted the provisions of the Federal Civil Code, especially with reference to the law of marriage and divorce. Therefore, we find it unnecessary to deal with each State separately.

MARRIAGE.--The courts of Mexico, following the Federal Code, define marriage as the lawful co-partnership of one man and one woman united for life in an indissoluble bond to perpetuate their species and to render each other mutual a.s.sistance, fidelity and sympathy in bearing together the burdens of life.

The law does not recognize in any manner future espousals, nor any conditions contrary to the legitimate purposes of marriage.

Marriage must be preceded by the statutory preliminaries and be celebrated before authorized officials with all such formalities as are by law required.

A male must be at least 14 years of age and a female at least 12 years of age to contract marriage, unless a dispensation from the superior political authority is obtained permitting marriage at an earlier age.

Such a dispensation can only be obtained in exceptional cases and for good cause.

Parental consent is required for the marriage of both males and females under the age of 21 years. If the father is dead the consent of the mother is sufficient. If both the father and mother are dead then the consent of the paternal grandfather will suffice. If he is also dead the paternal grandmother must give consent. In the event of both paternal grandparents being dead the maternal grandparents take their place and exercise the _patria potestad_.

IMPEDIMENTS.--The impediments to marriage are:

1. Incapacity of the parties, as when one or both are under age.

2. Absence of the consent of parents or of the person exercising the rights of a parent.

3. Mistake as to the ident.i.ty of either party.

4. Relationship within the prohibited degrees.

CONSANGUINITY AND AFFINITY.--Marriages are prohibited between ascendants and descendants; between brothers and sisters of the whole or half blood; between uncles and nieces; aunts and nephews, and all other persons related by blood or marriage within the third degree.

The laws of Mexico recognize no relationship other than one by consanguinity and affinity.

Each generation const.i.tutes a degree, and the series of degrees const.i.tute the line of relationship.