UNLAWFUL CARRIAGE OF EXPLOSIVES.

To take any explosive exceeding 100 lbs. in net weightto any railway station without first obtaining a transit certificate from the traffic manager showing that he is prepared to receive it, may be visited with a penalty not exceeding £50.

In the above case the owner may exonerate himself by showing that the omission did not arise from negligence or default on his part, and that he used all available means to prosecute the actual offender to conviction. The actual offender is liable to the same penalty.

TWO JUSTICES TO ADJUDICATE.

Two justices are required to adjudicate in all the above cases; larger quantities of explosives than those above-mentioned may be kept in public magazines. A term of imprisonment proportionate to the penalty may be imposed in default.

Habeas Corpus.

OBJECTS OF WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS.

The writ of Habeas Corpus, which is the most celebrated writ known in the English law, provides a remedy for any violar tion of the right of personal liberty.

By its means the great principle enunciated in Magna Charta is effected-viz., that no man "shall be taken or imprisoned unless by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.”

But, besides the vindication of liberty, there are other purposes which are effected by the writ of habeas corpus, of which there are various kinds, e.g., those ad prosequendum and ad testificandum, used when it is necessary to remove a prisoner in order that he may prosecute or give testimony in any court.

The most important of these writs, however, is that of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum, which commands the person detaining the prisoner to produce his body, with a true statement of the time he was taken and of the cause of his detention; and to this alone the following remarks chiefly refer.

HABEAS CORPUS ACT.

The common law right being evaded and abused in the reign of Charles I., the celebrated Habeas Corpus Act (31 Car. II., C. 2) was passed in order to remedy the evil. Its provisions are briefly as follows :—

1. On complaint and request in writing by or for any person committed and charged with any crime (see exceptions), any judge in vacation, on viewing a copy of the warrant, or on

affidavit that a copy is denied, shall award a habeas corpus for such prisoner, returnable immediately before himself or any other judge; and, upon return being made, the party is to be discharged (if bailable) upon giving security to appear and answer the accusation in the proper court.

The exceptions referred to are chiefly where the party has been committed for treason or felony expressed in the warrant; or as accessory before the fact to any felony; or where he has been convicted or charged in execution by legal process; or lastly, where the party has neglectd for two terms to apply to any court for his release.

2. The prisoner is to be brought up before the judge within a limited time, not exceeding 20 days in any case.

3. Officers and keepers not duly bringing up the body, or not delivering to the prisoner of his agent, within six hours after demand, a copy of the warrant of commitment, or shifting the custody of the prisoner, without sufficient reason or authority, shall, for the first offence, forfeit £100, and for the second offence £200, to the party aggrieved, and be disabled from holding office.

4. No person, once delivered by habeas corpus, shall be recommitted for the same offence, under penalty of £500.

5. Every person committed for treason or felony shall, if he require it, the first week of the next term or the first day of the next session of oyer and terminer, be indicted in that term or session, or else admitted to bail, unless it appears upon oath that the Crown witnesses cannot be produced at that time. If acquitted or not indicted and tried in such second term or session, he shall be discharged from imprisonment for such imputed offence.

HABEAS CORPUS IN CIVIL CASES.

The Statute of Charles II., however, only applies to detention of the party in respect of criminal or supposed criminal matters; it is therefore provided (in effect) by 56 Geo. III., C. 100, that where any person is confined or deprived of his or her liberty, in cases not criminal, any judge shall in vacation award a writ of habeas corpus upon an affidavit showing a probable and reasonable ground for complaint; the return is to be made immediately before the judge who awards the writ or any other judge of the same court, and disobedience is punishable by attachment for contempt of court. The writ may also be awarded in term, returnable in next vacation; and the judge may, if in doubt as to the truth of the facts alleged, grant bail to the party upon his entering into a recognisance to appear at the proper court-instead of ordering his absolute discharge.

The release of an alleged lunatic, or the restoration of a ward to his or her guardian, are instances of the purposes to which this writ is applied.

Husband and Wife-Law of

THE WIFE'S FORMER POSITION.

In New South Wales until the year 1879 the wife was, in regard to the holding and disposition of property practically at the husband's mercy-except in cases where she was protected by the provision of a will or settlement. By an Act of that year and a short amending Act she became entitled to hold certain personal property as her separate estate, and to dispose of such property independently of her husband; and she also became liable for her debts and other contracts to the extent of such property.

But the provisions of these statutes have been supplanted by those of a later enactment, and are now only of importance in that the rights of a married woman in regard to property will still be governed by them provided that such woman married, and acquired the property in question, before the 17th April, 1893, when the present Act became law.

The rights, then, acquired by the wife under the Act of 1879 and the amending Act, are as follows, viz.: she acquired absolute dominion over the classes of personal propertv mentioned below

1. Any personal property given her by deed or will or acquired by her under an intestacy.

2. The earnings of any trade or business carried on by her apart from her husband, or derived by her from the exercise of any literary or artistic skill.

3. The rents and profits, or proceeds of the sale, of any real estate given her by deed or will or acquired by her under an intestacy.

THE WIFE'S PRESENT POSITION.

In April, 1893, by a sweeping enactment, known as the "Married Women's Property Act of 1893," the husband became stripped of the rights which he formerly possessed in respect of his wife's property, and she now stands upon the following footing :

AS TO PROPERTY.

A married woman may now acquire, hold, and dispose of (by deed, will, or otherwise) all property as if she were a feme sole, or single woman. All property she may possess at time of marriage or may acquire afterwards is her separate property; and so also is all property acquired after the Act of 1893 by a woman who married previously.

Formerly, as regards the disposition of real property by a married woman, it was necessary for her to sign a "separate acknowledgment" prior to the registration of the deed by which the land, etc., was conveyed; that is, a statement to the effect that she executed the deed of her own free will, without any coercion from her husband or any other person.

AS PLAINTIFF IN AN ACTION.

A married woman may sue for debts due to or on contracts made with her, and also for personal wrongs, as if she were single; and any damages or costs recovered by or against her will become her separate property or be payable out of her separate estate-according as she succeeds or fails in her action.

AS DEFENDANT IN AN ACTION.

(a) AS TO DEBTS, ETC., OF, AND WRONGS DONE BY THE WIFE BEFORE MARRIAGE.

The plaintiff may sue the wife, whose liability is confined to the extent of her separate property; or he may sue the husband, whose liability is confined to any property he may have acquired through his wife; or he may sue the husband and wife jointly, in which case, if the husband is not found liable as above, he gets his costs of defending the action.

(6) AS TO DEBTS AND CONTRACTS OF THE WIFE AFTER MARRIAGE.

The Act declares that the wife is to be deemed as contracting with a view of binding her separate property, unless the contrary be shown, and therefore she must be sued in the first place. The husband's liability in the above respect is limited to debts contracted by her in respect of necessaries suitable to her station in life, or to cases in which he has given her authority to pledge his credit.

(c) AS TO WRONGS DONE BY THE WIFE AFTER MARRIAGE.

In respect to the above the wife is liable to the extent of her separate property, and she may be sued for any wrong she may commit as if she were single. But the husband is also liable for such wrongs as a general principle of law, for, were it otherwise, a married woman having no separate property might commit wrongs for which the party injured would have no redress.

THE WIFE'S POSITION IN GENERAL.

For the protection of her separate property (not otherwise) she has now the same remedies against all persons (including

her husband), and whether by way of action at law or criminal prosecution, as she would have if single. But, as regards a criminal prosecution, she may not employ this remedy against her husband except in cases where her property is wrongfully taken by him, or endangered by his conduct, when he is leaving or deserting, or about to leave or desert her. The husband also may, under the same conditions, prosecute his wife in respect of like conduct on her part in regard to his property.

In regard to disposition of property by will, a married woman might formerly exercise this power in certain cases only, but, under the present law, she is no longer under any disability in this respect; and the statute further expressly declares that the will of a married woman shall, like that of a man, "speak from the death of the testatrix," that is to say, shall be an effectual disposition of any future property she may acquire as well as of that which she possessed at the time the will was made.

But, in spite of the power which a married woman has now acquired over her property, it is still advisable that a proper marriage settlement should be made in order to counteract, as far as possible, the persuasion or other influence which her husband can exert upon her; otherwise her property would be liable to be swallowed up in worthless investments, or dissipated in extravagant living and the like. In most settlements the property of the wife is subjected to a restraint upon alienation, that is to say, while she has the sole enjoyment of and dominion over the property during coverture, she has yet no power of herself to alienate it; though the Equity Court may, in cases where such a course would be clearly for her benefit, dispense with this fetter.

POLICY OF ASSURANCE FOR BENEFIT OF WIFE OR HUSBAND, ETC.

Under the statute of 1893 any policy of assurance effected by a married woman shall enure for her separate use; and any such policy effected by a man on his life (either before or after the Act) and expressed to be for the benefit of his wife and children shall create a trust in their favor, and shall not be subject to his debts while the trust remains unperformed; and any such policy made by a wife on her own life and expressed to be for the benefit of her husband and children is subject to the same provision.

MONEY, ETC., LENT BY WIFE TO HUSBAND.

The Act also provides that any money or other estate lent or entrusted by her to her husband for the purpose of any trade or business carried on by him, or otherwise, shall, in case of his bankruptcy, be treated as assets of his estate. And the wife