d not follow him to _unwirtlichen_
countries against her will. He can insist on her doing the housework
and helping him in his business when he has no means to pay
substitutes; but she can insist on being maintained in a style proper
to their station in life. He is responsible for her business debts if
he has consented to her undertakings; but he can forbid her to carry
on a business if he prefers that she should be supported by him and
give her time and strength to the administration of their home. When
they are legally separated he must make her an allowance, but it need
only be enough for the bare necessaries of life if the separation is
due to her misconduct. The father and mother have joint control of the
children, but during the father's lifetime his rule is paramount. When
he is dead or incapacitated parental authority remains in the mother's
hands. It is her right and duty to care for the child's person, to
decide where it shall live, and to superintend its education. She can
claim it legally from people who desire to keep it from her. A child
born in wedlock is legitimate unless the husband can prove otherwise,
and he must establish proof within a year of the birth coming to his
knowledge. But a woman is not allowed to prove that a child born in
wedlock is illegitimate.

If a man dies intestate and leaves children or grandchildren, his
widow inherits a fourth of his property; if he only has more distant
relatives, half; if he has none, the whole. A man cannot cut his wife
off with a shilling. He must leave her at least half of what would
come to her if he died intestate. All the laws relating to husband and
wife are to be found in the _Buergerliches Gesetzbuch_, which can be
bought for a mark. As far as the non-legal intelligence can grasp
them, they seem according to our times to be just to women, except
when they give the use of her income to the husband. This is a big
exception, however. I remember hearing a German say that his sister's
quarterly allowance, which happened to be a large one, was always sent
to her husband, as it was right and proper that important sums of
money should be in the man's hands and under his control. This
undoubtedly is the general German view. After the moonshine, the
nightingales, the feasting, the toasts, and the family poetry come the
realities of life: and the realities in German make the man the
predominant partner.

CHAPTER XI

THE HOUSEHOLDER

Rents are high