the mother and any person whose relations have been sufficiently intimate with her to warrant the conclusion. It may also be established by the confession or admission of the father, when not denied by the mother; and when not so established it shall be susceptible of proof in such manner and of such character as the court before whom an action for that purpose is brought may determine. The mother of the child shall be admitted as a witness in support of the complaint, and may be compelled to Complaint. testify. No complaint shall be withdrawn, dismissed, or settled by agreement of the mother and putative father. mide when. 600. SEC. 2. The parent of any illegitimate child who Parent abandons, refuses, or neglects to support such child shall be guilty of guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be fined not meanor, less than fifty ($50) dollars, nor more than three hundred ($300) Punishment. dollars, and in default of the payment of such fine, shall be imprisoned in the county jail until such fine shall be paid, at the rate of two dollars per day for the term of such imprisonment. The court may also adjudge that the putative father stands charged with the maintenance of said child, with the assistance of the mother; but nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to take from the mother the custody of her child. Custody of Whenever the court shall make such order, any refusal or neglect of said putative father to comply with the order of the court, shall be deemed a contempt of the court, and punished as other cases are for contempt. child. An Act to provide for the adoption of children. Approved February 20, 1885, 29. any for adopting minor 601. SECTION 1. Any minor child may be adopted by Conditions adult person or by any husband and wife, in the cases and subject to the provisions prescribed in this Act. The person or children. persons adopting a child must be at least ten years older than the child adopted; provided, that in the case of a husband and wife adopting a child, if only one of them shall be ten years older than the child, it shall be sufficient. 602. SEC. 2. The person or persons adopting a child, and the child adopted, and the other persons, if known, if within or residents of this state, whose consent is necessary, must appear before the District Judge of the county where the person or persons adopting reside, and the necessary consent must thereupon be signed and an agreement be executed by the person or persons adopting, to the effect that the child shall be adopted and treated in all respects as his, or her, or their own lawful child should be treated, including the rights of support, protection, and inheritance. Obtaining necessary consent. 12 married Unlawfully 603. SEC. 3. A married man, not lawfully separated from separated his wife, or a married woman, not thus separated from her huspersons shall band, cannot adopt a child without the consent of the other spouse; provided, the husband or wife not consenting is capable of giving such consent. not adopt. Illegitimate children. Rights of adopted child. May take name of adopting party. If abandonment of child be shown, consent not necessary. 604. SEC. 4. A legitimate child cannot be adopted without the consent of its parents, if they be living and known, nor an illegitimate child without the consent of its mother, if she be living and known, and not without the consent of the father of such illegitimate child also, if he be living and known, and if he shall have adopted such illegitimate child as his own, by the acts and in the manner prescribed by section eight [nine] of this Act; provided, that such consent shall not be necessary from a father or mother deprived of civil rights, or adjudged guilty of adultery, or cruelty, abandonment, or for either of said causes, divorced, or adjudged to be a habitual drunkard, or has been judicially deprived of the custody of the child on account of adultery, drunkenness, cruelty, or neglect; and provided further, that no child over the age of twelve years shall be adopted without his or her own consent in writing. 603. SEC. 5. The Judge must examine, under oath, all persons appearing before him under the provisions of this Act, and if satisfied that the interest of the child will be promoted by the adoption, he shall make an order declaring that the child shall henceforth be regarded and treated in all respects as, and have all rights, including the right of support, and of protection, and of inheritance, of a lawful child of the person or persons so adopting the child. 606. SEC. 6. A child, when adopted, may take the family name of the person or persons adopting, and after adoption the persons adopting, and the child, shall sustain towards each other the legal relation of parent and child, and have all the rights, including the rights of support, maintenance, protection, and inheritance, and be subject to all of the duties of that relation; and the natural parents of an adopted child are, from the time of the adoption, relieved of all parental duties toward, and all responsibilities for, the child so adopted, and have no rights over it. 607. SEC. 7. If the persons whose consent is necessary to the adoption of the child are not within this state, their consent, in writing, if they be known and their whereabouts can be ascertained, must be obtained and filed with the Judge, duly executed and acknowledged, in like manner as conveyances of real estate are required to be executed and acknowledged ; provided, that if the Judge shall find that the person or persons whose consent is required have abandoned such child, or if such persons are unknown, or their whereabouts cannot be ascertained, then in that case the Judge may, in his discretion, ceed to make the order of adoption without such consent; but in that case it shall be the duty of the Judge to cause to appear before him, by citation or otherwise, the persons in whose custody pro the child is, and may also bring before him, in his discretion, such of the next friends of the child as he may deem proper, and shall examine them under oath, and if he deem it for the best interests of the child, he shall make the order of adoption. 608. SEC. 8. The District Judge shall file in the office of the County Clerk all papers presented before him, or copies thereof, in the matter of the adoption of any child, and shall cause the order of adoption to be entered in the minutes of the district court of the county where the proceeding is had, and a certified copy of such minute entry to be filed and recorded in the office of the County Recorder of said county, and such records shall be notice to the world of such adoption of the child. mate child father be 609. SEC. 9. The father of an illegitimate child, by pub- An illegiti licly acknowledging it as his own, or receiving it as such, with acknowl the consent of his wife, if he is married, into his family, or edged by otherwise treating it as his legitimate child, thereby adopts it comes legiti as such; and such child shall, thereupon and thenceforth, be mate from deemed, for all purposes, legitimate from the time of its birth. The provisions of the foregoing sections of this Act do not apply to such an adoption, except as specified in section four of this Act. its birth. 610. SEC. 10. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to Shall not any Mongolian, either as the adopting or adopted party. apply to Mongolians. An Act concerning apprentices. Approved March 8, 1879, 93. be bound as apprentices. 611. SECTION 1. Any male person under [under] the age Minors may of eighteen years, or any female person under the age of fifteen years, may be bound until they arrive at those ages respectively, or for any shorter period, to serve as a business clerk, or as an apprentice to any mechanics' trade, or business of skilled labor in manner herein provided. dren may be 612. SEC. 2. The Boards of County Commissioners in the Orphans and several counties in this state are hereby empowered to bind out other chil any orphan (not otherwise provided for by law) or any destitute bound by child, or the child of any person who shall not provide for the missioners. support and tuition of such child. County Com how and by 613. SEC. 3. SEC. 3. The indenture or covenant for a term of Indenture or apprenticeship or service shall be signed and sealed by the covenant, father, or, in case of death or inability of the father, shall be whom signed. signed and sealed by the mother or guardian, or in case of an orphan or destitute child, by the District Judge of the district in which such orphan or destitute child resides, of the one part, and by the master, mistress, or guardian, of the other part. Form of indenture and covenants. Contents of indenture, etc. Children to be taught. 614. SEC. 4. The indenture or covenant for apprenticeship or service, shall contain a statement of the age and time of service of the minor, and if such age shall be unknown, then it shall be inserted according to the best information obtainable, which age shall, in relation to the term of apprenticeship or service, be deemed and taken as the true age of such minor. 615. SEC. 5. The indenture or covenant by which any minor may be bound shall contain, in case of a female, bound to serve for four years or more, a covenant on the part of the master or mistress to teach, or cause such female minor to be taught, to read and write the English language, and also Clothing, etc. the first four rules of arithmetic; and in all cases the master or mistress shall covenant to furnish such female minor with an At expiration ample supply of decent clothing, and wholesome food, and at to be fur- the expiration of the term of service to furnish the said minor nished with with two full suits of female wearing apparel, and fifty dollars in money. of time child necessaries. Duties of master or mistress. Teaching. Food and clothes. Record of 616. SEC. 6. In case of a male minor being bound to serve five years or more, the master or mistress shall covenant to teach, or cause such minor to be taught to read and write the language, the rules and principles of common English grammar, and so much of arithmetic as will include the single rule of three. And in all cases to furnish such male minor with substantial food and decent wearing apparel; and, also, at the expiration of the term of service, to furnish the said minor at least two suits of common clothing, each suit being of the value of not less than twenty-five dollars, and the sum of one hundred dollars in money, and the said master or mistress shall further covenant that all money or property stipulated to be delivered or paid by the master or mistress shall be secured to and for the sole use and benefit of the minor. 617. SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the master or mistress covenant, etc. to cause the indenture or covenant of service to be recorded within thirty days from the execution thereof, by the Recorder of the county in which the master or mistress resides, and on failure so to do the said minor shall be discharged from his or her service or apprenticeship, and the master or mistress shall remain liable for the payment of all property stipulated to be paid by his or her covenant. County Recorder to record all copies. Fees of 618. SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of the County Recorder to record all indentures or covenants of service or apprenticecovenants,etc ship, in a book to be by him provided for that purpose, and he shall indorse the date of the receipt and the time of recording Certified the same, and shall furnish certified copies of the same when required, for which service he shall be entitled to such fees as Recorder and are provided by law for such labor, the same to be paid by the person or persons requiring such certified copy; and a certified copy of the indentures shall be prima facie evidence of the existence and stipulations of said indenture; and any County Recorder who shall neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, how paid. Penalty of the Recorder. and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not less than one hundred dollars nor exceeding five hundred dollars. missioner' 619. SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of the County Commis- County Comsioners, in the county where any minor is bound, as provided duties. in this Act, to inquire as often as once in every three months into the usage of any minor bound as aforesaid, and to defend such minor or child from the cruelty, neglect, or breach of Cruelties, etc. covenant of the master or mistress, or any parent, guardian or trustee, or friend of any such male or female minor bound as aforesaid, as well as the Board of County Commissioners, may enter complaint against such master or mistress before any Complaints. Justice of the Peace, in the county where any such master or mistress resides, and such Justice of the Peace shall summon Summons. such master or mistress forthwith to appear before him, and if he can reconcile the parties to each other he shall make such order therein as the equity and justice of the case may require. 620. SEC. 10. If said Justice of the Peace shall be unable Jury to be to settle and adjust the difference in dispute between the summoned. parties, he shall issue a venire to any Constable of the township to summon five disinterested citizens, to be therein named, to meet at a time and place, certain not to exceed three days thereafter, and the five jurors, or such other persons as the Justice may appoint, in case of their failure to attend, when met and qualified, shall proceed to hear the evidence in the case, and if they find such master or mistress guilty of a breach of his or In case of her indenture or covenant, or neglect or refusal to furnish necessary food or clothing, or of cruelty towards such minor, they shall render their verdict in writing accordingly, and shall assess the damages such minor or child may have sustained. breach of contract. etc., made 621. SEC. 11. Whereupon the Justice shall enter the verdict and verdict in his docket, and shall render judgment thereon for judgment. the damages so found by the jury, and costs against said muster Costs. or mistress, and award execution accordingly; and the indenture or covenant of service shall be void from the rendition of Covenant, judgment; but if the jury shall find the defendant not guilty, void. the Justice shall render judgment for costs against the parent, Complainant guardian, trustee, friend, or other party or parties who have to pay costs made the complaint (when such complaint has been made with- cases. out probable cause), as the case may be, and shall issue execution accordingly. in certain 622. SEC. 12. When the conduct and habits of the minor Bad conduct apprentice, clerk or servant shall become immoral and dissolute, of child. and when such minor shall act in disregard of the reasonable commands of his or her master or mistress, when the authority of such master or mistress shall be exerted for his or her reformation without effect, the master or mistress may complain to any Justice of the Peace in the county, who shall give notice to the Board of County Commissioners, and to the parent, guardian, trustee or friend of such minor, as the case may be, and such proceedings shall be had as to summoning and impaneling a jury, provided in section ten of this Act; and if upon such |