may be used and disposed of by her, during the absence of her husband, as her own property, in the same manner as if she were unmarried: provided, however, that the liability of the same, while in her hands, for the debts of her husband contracted prior to the order or judgment authorizing such sale or delivery, shall in nowise be affected.

SEC. 4. The court may further authorize such wife to make any contract, under seal or otherwise, in her own name, and also to commence, prosecute, and defend any action to final judgment and execution, in like manner as if she were unmarried.

SEC. 5. Every woman authorized as aforesaid may make and execute any deeds or other instruments in her own name, and do all other lawful acts that may be necessary and proper to carry into effect the powers so granted to her.

SEC. 6. In every such proceeding, the complaint shall be filed against the husband, and the same process, by publication or otherwise, shall be had, to procure his appearance, as is had on petitions for divorce.

SEC. 7. The powers so granted to a wife shall continue, and may be exercised, until her husband shall return into the District, and claim his marital rights.

SEC. 8. All contracts lawfully made by any wife, by virtue of such powers, shall be binding on her and her husband, in the same manner as if he were a party thereto; and she shall, during the absence of her husband from the District, be liable to be sued thereon, as if she were unmarried.

SEC. 9. She shall also be liable to be sued, in like manner, for all other acts and things done by her during the continuance of the power so granted to her.

SEC. 10. No action wherein a wife shall be a party under the provisions of this chapter shall abate by the return of the husband into the District, but he may, on his application, be admitted to prosecute or defend the action jointly with her, in like manner as if they had intermarried after the commencement of the same.

SEC. 11. If the husband shall not be admitted as a party to the action, it shall proceed to judgment and execution, as if he had not returned to the District; and any judgment recovered against the wife may be afterwards enforced against the husband, in like manner as one on a debt of his own may.

SEC. 12. When any husband shall be sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary of this District, his wife may, on her petition to the circuit court, be authorized to sell and convey her estate, and to do any and all the other acts which may, according to the provisions of this chapter, be done by a wife, when authorized as before provided, in the absence of her husband; and the authority so granted to the wife of a convict may continue and be exercised until the discharge of her husband from such confinement.

SEC. 13. The petition of the wife of such convict shall be presented, and the proceedings thereon shall be conducted, in the manner before prescribed in the case of a husband who has abandoned his wife; and she and her husband shall be bound, respectively, by all her lawful contracts, in the same manner as is herein before provided with respect to the contracts of a wife who is authorized to act on the abandonment of her husband; and all actions relative to such contracts, and other acts of the wife of such convict, whether brought by or against them, or either of them, shall be conducted and disposed of in the

same manner.

SEC. 14. Upon all marriages hereafter contracted, the husband shall not be responsible for the debts and liabilities of the wife contracted before marriage, further than is herein provided.

First. When he receives personal property with or through her, or derives the same from the rent, or profits, or sale of her real property, he shall be responsible to that extent; and such responsibility of the husband shall not be extinguished by the death of the wife.

Secondly. When the wife has at the time of marriage, or acquires thereafter during coverture, real property, judgment in respect to her previous liabilities may be rendered against her and her husband jointly, to be levied of such real property.

SEC. 15. When the real estate of any married woman shall be taken for a railroad, turnpike, way, or other public use, or shall be damaged by the laying out of a railroad, turnpike, way, or any other public work, the compensation awarded therefor may be so invested and disposed of as to secure to her the same right, use, and benefit of and in the sum so awarded, and the income thereof, that she would have had in the real estate, and the income thereof, had it not been so taken or damaged; and the circuit court shall, on the application of any such woman, hear and determine the case, and shall make such orders thereon as may be necessary to secure her rights and interests.

SEC. 16. When the real estate of the wife is sold at any time during coverture, under an order of the circuit court, the proceeds thereof shall be so invested, under the directions of the court, as to secure to her, free from any liabilities or claim of her husband, the same interest in the principal sum and interest thereon, that she would have had in the real estate had it not been sold.

SEC. 17. When any real estate in which the wife has her dower right is sold in the lifetime of her husband, under a deed of trust or mortgage executed by the husband before marriage, or in which the wife has joined with privy acknowledgment, certified as provided in chapter forty-eight, the trustee making such sale shall, under the direction of the circuit court, invest one-third of the proceeds of sale remaining after paying off the encumbrances that are valid against the wife, so that she may have secured to her, in the event of her surviving her husband, the interest thereon for the remainder of her life, from the date of his death, free of any liabilities of his.

SEC. 18. In either case provided for in the three sections immediately preceding, the wife may, by an instrument in writing signed and sealed by her, and acknowledged privily, as in case of a deed of real estate, before a commissioner to be appointed by the circuit court, and by him certified, authorize the payment of such fund held in trust for her to her husband; or, with his consent, to be indicated by his uniting in and acknowledging such instrument, to any other person.

SEC. 19. In the event of the wife dying before her husband, without having disposed, as aforesaid, of her interest therein, the investments made in accordance with preceding sections fifteen or sixteen shall descend as real estate of the wife, and subject to the same charges.

SEC. 20. When the committee of any insane person shall be authorized to sell the real estate of the latter, or shall be authorized to sell his interest in the real estate of his wife, the wife may, if she thinks fit, join with the committee in the conveyance, and thereby convey all her interest in the granted premises, as fully as she might have done by a conveyance executed jointly with her husband had he been under no legal disability.

SEC. 21. In case of any such release by the wife of her right of dower, or of any such conveyance of her own estate, the proceeds of sale may be so disposed of and invested as to secure to her the same right and benefit in the principal sum and the interest thereof, that

she would have had in the real estate had it not been sold. In the event of the husband's recovery, the wife may dispose of her interest in such investment as before provided in section eighteen, and the same, when received from the sale of her estate, shall descend as real property, and subject to the same charges, should she die before her husband.

SEC. 22. When a wife is insane, and her husband shall wish to sell his real estate, and have her right of dower therein released to the purchaser, he may apply by petition to the circuit court, and such court, should it deem it proper, may order a release thereof to be executed by a commissioner to be appointed for that purpose, and the same shall be as effectual to pass her right of dower as if duly executed and acknowledged by her while of sound mind, and properly certified. The wife's interest in the proceeds of sale shall be secured as provided in the preceding section, and, in the event of her recovery, may be transferred by her as provided in section eighteen.

SEC. 23. If any female of the age of twelve and under fourteen years shall marry without the consent of her father or guardian, or, if she have none, of her mother, the circuit court shall, upon the petition of her next friend, commit her estate to a receiver, who shall hold the same, and pay out, under the direction of the court, the rents and profits thereof, to her separate use during her coverture; and after the determination thereof, all such estate shall be delivered into the possession of the female, her heirs, and distributees, other than her husband.

SEC. 24. The circuit court, or the judge of the orphans' court, on application being made, shall require tenants by the curtesy, when the deceased wife shall have left infant children by a former marriage, to enter into bond, with sufficient surety, for the maintenance and education of such children in a manner consistent with the value of the estate and the number of her other children. Such bond, when required, shall be filed and recorded in the office of the register of wills.

SECTION 1. Parents, when of sufficient ability, shall be bound to maintain their children while poor and unable to work to maintain themselves; and children shall be bound to maintain their parents under like circumstances. This obligation shall extend to grandparents and grandchildren.

SEC. 2. If any minor who has a father living has property, the income of which is sufficient for his maintenance and education in a manner more expensive than the father can reasonably afford, regard being had to the situation of the father's family, and to all the circumstances of the case, the expenses of the maintenance and education of such child may be defrayed out of the income of his own property, in whole or in part, as shall be deemed reasonable by the judge of the orphans' court, and the charges therefor may be allowed accordingly in the settlement of the accounts of his guardian.

SEC. 3. Every father or mother may, by will, appoint a guardian for his or her minor children, as provided in the second section of chapter seventy-two.

SEC. 4. Minor children may be bound as apprentices by their father, and, in case of his decease, by their mother, in the manner provided in the fourth section of chapter seventy-three.

SEC. 5. When any husband and wife shall live in a state of separation, without being divorced, and shall have minor children of the marriage, the wife may apply to the circuit court for a habeas corpus, to have such minor child brought before it.