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The question, “What is the law?” on this or that subject, was so frequently asked in our Council meetings when discussing various topics that relate to women, and so much delay was incurred in coming to any conclusion till the question could be answered, that I thought it advisable to prepare a brief synopsis of such laws as especially affect women.

In publishing these notes and extracts there is no idea of offering them as a legal guide; quite the contrary, for the more one studies law the more one realizes that a little law, like a little learning, is a dangerous thing to act upon. The aim of this pamphlet is to interest Canadian women in the laws that control their affairs, and to give them a general idea of their legal position.

To bring the price of the pamphlet within the reach of all, the extracts are of necessity of the most condensed character, but in most cases chapter and section from which the extract is taken are cited in order than anyone wishing further information can easily secure it at a public library. Permit me to say that a woman desiring to have her interests legally guarded should consult a qualified lawyer and not depend on any knowledge she may acquire through this pamphlet, or elsewhere, as “it depends” is truer in law than in anything else.

It will be seen by these extracts that the law differentiates between man and woman, sometimes in her favor, sometimes against her.

The extracts from the laws of each province have been submitted to distinguished lawyers in the respective provinces for supervision, in order that, if there were any mistakes in the condensation or interpretation, they might be corrected. While feeling deeply grateful for the kindness shown me by these eminent members of the legal profession and by the librarians of the different parliamentary libraries, I realize that it was as friends of the National Council and its workers that they gave so readily of their time and knowledge to aid me in a work undertaken for it, and that the thanks of the Council as well as my own are due them.

MACLEOD, ALBERTA, MARCH, 1908.