[702] By the _Code of N. C._ (1883), 444, the age is ten; raised to fourteen by _Pub. Laws_ (1895), 374; but the crime is only "punished by fine _or_ imprisonment at the discretion of the court, provided she has never previously had sexual intercourse with any male person."
[703] The _Code of Ala._ (1897), 460, punishes the abuse of a girl below fourteen, at the discretion of the jury, either by death or by not less than ten years in prison; but an act of 1897, also in the _Code_, punishes carnal knowledge of a female between ten and fourteen only by a fine of $50 to $500, and the offender "may be imprisoned in the county jail for six months." This provision appears to reduce the protection of a child above ten to little more than a pretense: _Acts_ (1897), 944.
[704] _Comp. Laws of N. M._ (1897), 344: penalty, five to ten years' imprisonment.
[705] For Georgia, in 1895, the age of consent was reported as fourteen, or any younger age if the jury finds that "by reason of her intelligence she knows good from evil": see GARDENER, in _Arena_, XIV, 415, 416; but I have not been able to find this provision in the present _Code_. The penalty for rape is death, unless the jury recommend to mercy, when it is one to twenty years' imprisonment at hard labor: _Code_ (1896), III, 36, 39. This penalty applies when the girl is under ten: 11 _Ga._, 227.
[706] _Ky. Stat._ (1899), 516: penalty, ten to twenty years in prison.
[707] _Ann. Code_ (1892), 372: penalty, death, unless the jury fix the punishment at life imprisonment. There is in Mississippi an abduction law to protect girls below sixteen: but the age-of-consent law stops at ten. _Cf._ GARDENER, _loc. cit._, 416.
The most enlightened legislation regarding the age of consent is found among the states of the middle and western group. Kansas[708] in 1887, and Wyoming[709] in 1890, set a good example by raising it to eighteen years. The same limit was adopted by Nebraska,[710] Colorado,[711] Idaho,[712] and New York[713] in 1895; by Utah[714] in 1896; by Washington[715] in 1897; and by North Dakota in 1903.[716] Until 1889 Delaware sanctioned the barbarous age of seven years. It was then advanced to fifteen, and in 1895 to eighteen, for both sexes; but the penalties prescribed by the statute are far too lenient to guarantee entire protection beyond the age of seven.[717] Next come ten states and districts in which the age is actually or nominally placed at sixteen years. Minnesota[718] in 1891, South Dakota[719] in 1893, Michigan,[720] Montana,[721] and Oregon[722] in 1895, Ohio[723] in 1896, and California[724] in 1897, each advanced to this limit from fourteen. Sixteen is also the age in Alaska.[725] But in 1902 Ohio took a backward step, so lowering the penalty for the offense as nearly to destroy the force of her law. Pennsylvania[726] and New Jersey[727] each raised the age from ten to sixteen in 1887; but in Pennsylvania the girl must prove previous good character, and in both states the penalties are too lax to secure adequate protection beyond the age of ten. Since 1896 the age of consent has been fifteen in Iowa.[728] In Illinois[729] since 1887, Nevada[730] since 1889, Indiana[731] since 1893, Wisconsin[732] since 1895, and in Porto Rico by the code of 1902,[733] it is fourteen; while in Hawaii it is but ten years.[734]