MINNESOTA
330
MINNESOTA
establish the iiriiicijilo tliat tciumcies from year to,
year are estates at will. The laws further provide
thai every estate of inheritance shall continue to be
lernied a fee simple, or fee; and every such estate when
not defeiisible or conditional, shall be a fee simple
alisolute. All estates which would at common law be
considered a-s estates tail are deemed and adjudged to
l)e fee simple estates in the person who would, other-
wise, be seizetl t hereof in fee tail. Every future estate
is void in its creation, which suspemls the absolute
power of alienation by any limitation for a longer
period than iluring the continuance of two lives in
being at the creation of the estate, except that a con-
tingent remainder in fee may be created on a prior
remainder in fee, to take effect in the event that the
persons, to whom tl'.e first remainder is limited, die
under the age of twenty-one years, or upon any other
contingency by which the estate of such persons may
be ileterminetl before they attain their full age. The
rule in Shelley's case has been abolished. With a few
express exceptions, no corporation, unless organized
for the construction or operation of a railway, canal, or
turnpike, may acquire more than five thousand (5000)
acres of land, l^ses and trusts, with a few exceptions,
have been abolished.
Religiol.s Corporations. — In furtherance of the liberal principles regarding the exercise of religion contained in the state Constitution, the laws of Minne- sota provide for the creation of religious corporations and special statutory provisions enable a bishop of the Catholic Church, in association with the vicar- general and the chancellor of his diocese, to create such diocese a corporate body. The bishop and vicar- general, in association with the pastor of any parish, are likewise authorized to create parochial corpora- tions. These corporations have the right to acquire and to hold land to the same extent as have individu- als. Every person (and the term includes married women) may dispose of his estate, real and personal, or any part thereof, or right or interest therein, by a last will and testament, in writing. There is no limitation on religious bequests, and full force and etfect have been given thereto by the decisions of the courts.
Ch.irit.^^ble Societies and Institutions. — The laws of Minnesota contain the most liberal provisions for the founding and incorporation of charitable societies. Under these provisions, many Catholic hospitals, orphanages, refuges, and reformatories have Iieen established. The public charitable institutions of the state are various and manifold. Provision is made for the care and treatment of all insane persons, not only in great general hospitals, but also in various institutions equipped w-ith buildings on the "cottage group" plan for the custody of the harmless and in- curable insane. The state prison is situated at Still- water and is a most admirably conducted penitent iary. The state reformatory is at St. Cloud and receives for correction, rather than for punishment, offenders whose ages range from sixteen to thirty years. This institution Ls managed upon the benevolent plan of in- struction of the mind and the rehabilitation of charac- ter. For boys of waywanJ tendencies who have re- peatedly violated the laws of the state, is provided the state training school, at Red Wing, which is not only a school of moral and mental discipline, but also a manual training school. Wayward girls are accom- modated and placed imder moral restraint at a similar institution. Each county provides for paupers in a county alms-hou.se, and also distributes out-door re- lief to the poor. .411 public charitable institutions and agencies are under the watchful care of the state board of control, consisting of three members ap- pointed by the governor. The board of control not only has visitorial powers, but is aLso invested with administrative functions. It has proved highly efficient. The public charities of Minnesota are
famous throughout the world for their advanced
humanilarianism and general excellence.
MARiii.\(iK AND Divorce. — The statutes of Minne- sota declare that marriage, so far as its validity in law is concerned, is a civil contract, to wdiich the consent of the parties capable in law of contracting is essential. Every male person who has attained the full age of eightci'ii years, and every female person who has at- tained tin- full age of fifteen years, is capable in law of contracting marriage, if otherwise competent. No marriage may te contracted while either of the parties has a husband or wife living; nor within six months after either has been divorced from a former spouse; nor between parties who are nearer of kin than first cousin, whether of the half or full blood, computed by the rules of the civil law; nor betw'een persons either one of whom is epileptic, imbecile, feeble-minded, or insane. Marriage may be solemnized by any justice of the peace in the county in which he is elected, and throughout the state by any judge of a court of record, the superintendent of the department for the deaf and dumb (in the state school for the deaf and dumb), or by any licensed or ordained minister of the gospel in regular communion with a religious society. Before any persons are joined in marriage, a license must be obtaineil from the clerk of the district court of the county in which the woman resides, or, if not a resident of the state, then from such clerk In the county where the marriage is to take place.
The statutes of Minnesota are liberal in regard to divorce. A divorce from the bonds of matrimony may be adjudged by the district court, for any of the follow- ing causes: (1) adultery; (2) impotency; (3) cruel and inhuman treatment; (4) sentence to imprisonment in any state prison or state reformatory subsequent to the marriage, and in such case a pardon will not restore conjugal rights; (5) wilful ilesertion for one year next preceding the filing of the complaint; (G) habitual drunkenness for one year immediately preceding the filing of the complaint. Limited divorces, extending to a separation a mensa et toro permanently or for a limited time, may be adjudged by the district court, on the complaint of a married woman, between any husband and wife who are inhabitants of the state, or in cases where the marriage has taken place within the state and the wife is an actual resident at the time of filing her complaint; or in cases where the marriage has taken place outside the state and the parties have been inhabitants of the state at least one year, and the wife shall be an actual resident at the time of the filing of her complaint. The grounds upon which limited divorces may be granted are: (1) cruel and inhuman treatment by the husband; (2) such conduct on the part of a husband toward his wife as may render it unsafe and improper for her to cohabit with him; ('A) the abandonment of the wife by the husband and his refusal or neglect to provitle for her.
Public Education, — The public property of the state consists of realty used in connexion with the various public institutions, and also of a large public domain consisting of lands granted to the State t!ov- ernment by the General Government of the United States at the time when the State of Minnesota was admitted to the Union; such grants having been made for the benefit of the state university, for the support of the common school system, and for the purpose of making internal improvements. The title to such lands is vested in the State of Minnesota, and the care and control of such lands is vestetl in the auditor of the state, who is ex officio Land Commissioner of Minne- sota. The portion of the grant assigned to the support of public education has been estimated by competent authority to be sufficient to yield ultimately a fun<l of $250,00(j,000. The educational sy.stem of the state is organized as follows: School districts are divided into common, independent, and .special. Among .schools are distinguished .state rural .schools, state
