HUSBANDS AND WIVES

Evening Star, Issue 21079, 16 April 1932, Page 17

HUSBANDS AND WIVES

NAPOLEON'S CIVIL CODE PURCHASE OF LUXURY. It is claimed by some of the admirers of Napoleon Bonaparte that one of his greatest achievements was the drafting of the civil code. Among its provisions is that a married woman cannot purchase luxuries without the consent of her husband. This code has been invoked in a case recently before the courts in Paris. A woman who visited a furniture store was so charmed by a certain dining room suite that she ordered it at once on condition that the purchase was approved by her husband. She made a deposit of 30s for an option on the furniture for forty-eight hours. But after the husband had seen it he refused to buy the suite, and demanded the return of the deposit. The dealer, in reply, declared this sum forfeit since he had kept the goods unsold as he had promised to do. The judge pointed out, however, that under the Napoleonic code a married woman had no right to engage in a transaction of this kind on her own authority. The furniture dealer protested in vain that he could not be expected to ascertain the exact social status of every customer, and asked if some arrangement could not be made. “ Certainly,” replied the judge,” “ hand back the sum paid on deposit.” The dealer reluctantly did so in court, but his disappointment was increased when he found that he had also to pay the costs of the case. Napoleon’s will in matters of this kind must still be respected in Franco.