it Court of the county shall
assign such part of his real or personal estate as it deems necessary
for her support, and may enforce the decree by sale of such real
estate, which provision holds during their joint lives.

In 1887 the "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 14
years. In 1895 a bill to raise the age from 14 to 18 was introduced in
the Senate by Joseph R. McLaughlin. More than 10,000 persons
petitioned for its passage, two similar bills having been introduced
in the House. A hearing was granted by the Judiciary Committees, at
which speeches were made by Senator and Mrs. McLaughlin, Clara A.
Avery, Mrs. Andrew Howell, Dr. E. L. Shirley, the aged Lucinda
Hinsdale Stone, Melvin A. and Martha Snyder Root. Mrs. Root also
addressed the Legislature in Representative Hall. The bill was amended
to 17 years and passed in the Senate. The next day, after its friends
had dispersed, the vote was reconsidered and the bill amended to 16
years, passing both Houses in this form. The penalty is imprisonment
for life, or for any such period as the court shall direct, no minimum
penalty being named.

SUFFRAGE: When at the close of the Civil War the States eliminated the
word "white" from their constitutions, Michigan in 1867 amended her
School Law to conform and also struck out the word "male" as a
qualification for the suffrage, and gave tax-paying women a vote for
school trustees. In 1881 this law was further amended to include
parents or guardians of children of school age. No woman can vote for
county or State Superintendents, as these officers are provided for
under the constitution. Tax-paying women may also vote on bonds and
appropriations for school purposes.

The year of 1888 was marked by a test of the constitutionality of this
School Law, which involved the right of the Legislature to confer any
form of suffrage whatever upon women. The test was made through the
prosecution of the inspectors of election of the city of Flint by Mrs.
Eva R. Belles, whose vote was refused at a school election, she being
a qualified voter under the State law. Mrs. Belles won her case which
was then appealed to the Supreme Court. This affirmed the decision of
the lower court and sustained the law.

In May, 1893, the Legislature conferred Municipal Suffrage on women,
but in October the Supreme Court decided it unconstitutional on the
ground that "the Legislature had no authority to create a new class of
voters." (See Legis