Ulrich's Case

Citations

• 267 Pa. 233
• 109 A. 922
• 1920 Pa. LEXIS 841

Syllabus

<p>Husband and wife — Separation—Desertion—Support—Feme sole trader — Acts of May k, 1855, P. L. J¡S0, and May 88,1915, P. L. 689 —Statutes—Repeal.</p> <p>1. The Act of May 4, 1855, P. L. 430, declaring that a wife shall have all the rights and privileges of a feme sole trader if the husband, from drunkenness, profligacy or other cause, shall neglect or refuse to provide for her or shall desert her, was not repealed by the Act of May 28, 1915, P. L. 639, which authorizes a decree declaring a wife a feme sole trader, where the husband and wife have not been living together for one year or more and the husband has not supported his wife.</p> <p>2. The manifest purpose of the Act of 1915, was to provide for a case where a husband and wife were not living together, and the wife was receiving no support from him, but the circumstances of the separation are not such as to establish a wilful desertion on his part. It merely supplied an additional ground for the application for a certificate by the wife, and was not inconsistent with the earlier act.</p> <p>3. Where a conflict exists between an early statute and a subsequent statute dealing with the same subject-matter, the presumption is the latter statute was intended to repeal the former, although it contains no repealing clause. If, however, the two statutes can be made to stand together, effect should be given both as far as possible.</p> <p>Appeal — Order declaring wife feme sole trader — Oeriiorari—Review — Evidence.</p> <p>4. An appeal by a husband from an order of court declaring his wife a feme sole trader must.be treated as a certiorari and therefore the merits of the case are not before the appellate court for review.</p> <p>Feme sole trader — Evidence—Witnesses—Husband and wife— Act of May 8,1887, P. L. 158, Sec. 5.</p> <p>5. The wife is not a competent witness in a proceeding under the Act of May 4, 1855, P. L. 430, to have herself declared a feme sole trader, on the ground that her husband had deserted her; a