Ladies have done much for the cause of temperance, and in all philanthropic movements they are busy; they have organised schools for the deaf, dumb, blind, and crippled, and look after night shelters, mothers' unions, ragged unions, rescue homes, working homes for children, benevolent societies, etc.
The pamphlet, speaking of unmarried women, also says--
_Rights of Unmarried Women enlarged._--In 1864 (on the 31st of October) _the position of unmarried women_ was improved. According to the law that was then enacted, an unmarried woman--
1. When she has reached her fifteenth year, may take charge of whatever she may earn.
2. When she has reached her twenty-first year she may manage her own property, if she chooses to do so, provided that she informs the court of her intention.
3. When she has reached her twenty-fifth year she is of age, and may manage her own property without informing the court thereof.
_Rights of Inheritance._--In the beginning of the Swedish rule our country probably conformed to the old Swedish laws and regulations, according to which women had a right to _inherit property_ only in cases where there were no male heirs.
_Legislation of Birger Jarl: Women inherited one-third._--In the middle of the thirteenth century, Finnish (as well as Swedish) women were awarded the right of inheriting _a third part_ of the property left by their parents, whereas two-thirds accrued to the male heirs. For this improvement our women were indebted to Birger Jarl, the great Swedish legislator and statesman, who bears an honoured name in our history.
Many exceptions, however, were made to this rule. Where the father was a landowner, for instance, the principal estate always descended to the son, whereas the daughter had to be content with some smaller estate of less value, or with part of the personal property.
_Legislation of 1734: Daughters and Sons of Town People, etc., inherit Equal Shares._--Such was the state of things for several centuries, till it was at last changed somewhat for the better when the law of 1734 came into force. This law decreed that the sons and daughters of commoners living in towns, and those of the clergy, were to inherit _equal shares_. The daughters of the nobility and of all landowners in the country, however, remained in the same position as before.