Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-23
NOTES AND QUERIES.
The Constitution on Points Suggested by
the Political Situation-When Man Is
ofAge-The Scotch Jury-Bits of Curl
Inform

The Constitution on Points Suggested by
of Age-The Scotch Jury-Bits of Curl
Gus Information.
The peculiar political situation this year
leads to many questions about what will
happen if the presidential electors fail to
give majority to any one man. The Con-
stitution reads:
The President Of the Senate shall, in the
presence OF the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives, open all the certificates, (sent in
from the several States), and the votes shall
then be counted, the person having the
greatest number OF votes for President shall
be the President If such number be ma
3ority of the whole number of electors ap-
pointed; and If no person have no such ma
jority, then from the persons having the
highest numbers, not exceeding three, on
the list of those voted for as President, the
House OF Representatives shall choose i'm
mediately, by ballot, the President. But i'll
choosing the President the vote shall be
taken by States, the representation from
each State having one vote. a quorum for
this purpose shall consist OF q member or
members from two-thirds of the States, and
MAJ ority OF all the States shall be neces-
sary to a choice. And If the House OF Repre-
whenever the right of choice shall devolve
upon them before the 4th day of March next
following then the Vice President shall act
as President, as in the case of the death or
other constitutional disability of the
President.
Applying this law to the case in hand,
Mr.. Cleveland,-NIr Harrison, and probably
Mr.. Weaver would be the eligibles from
whom the House would be compelled to
choose President, and, as o matter of
course, Mr.. Cleveland would be elected
Following close upon the direction as to
the choice of President by the House,
comes this:
The person having the greatest number of
votes electoral votes] as Vice President
shall be tho Vice President, II such number
be majority of the whole number of elec.
tors appointed; and If no person have II ma
jority, then from the two highest nnmbers
on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice
President; quorum for the purpose shall
consist OF two-th1rds OF the whole number
of Senators, and majority OF the whole
DumDer shall be necessary to q choice. But
no person constitutiona1ly ineligible to the
office of President shall be eligible to that
of Vice President OF the United States.
In accordance with this constitutional
provision, in the event of no election by the
people this year, the Senate would uudoubt-
edly elect Whitelaw Reid Vice President
A correspondent asks if the Senate could
choose Vice President from the same State
from which the House has chosen a Presi-
dent The House of Representatives chooses
the President from the persons "havIng the
highest numbers not exceeding three on the
list of those voted for as PRESIDENT" and the
Senate chooses the Vice President from the
two highest names of those voted for as Vice
President That would seem to allow the
Senate to choose Vice President from the
same State as the President; but the first
clause of the XII amendment to the Com
stitution says that no elector shall vote for
candidates for President and Vice President
from the same State; and the last clause
SAYS that person constitutionallv ineligi-
BILE to the Office of President shall not be
eligible to that of Vice President. The in
tention Of the makers clearly was that the
two men should not be citizens OF the same
State; and it is barely possible that the
Supreme Court Of the United States would
restrict the Senate's choice, and compel it
to select Vice President from another
State than the President.
Why is person "of age" when he is 2l
years old? R..
He is of full age, able to do everything
for himself, that is, to contract and legally
act for himself The period of full age is
obviously based on the old idea of climac-
teric period Of years In which, it was
believed, the body was entirely renewed.
Thus at the end of the third climacteric the
person was fitted tor the duties of life, and
became of age to undertake them. The
21st year Is not invariably that at the end
of which person attains his majority The
Romans did not consider youths of age un-
til they were 20 years DID,; on the other
hand, many persons, especially Kings and
Queens, have been declared of age when
much younger than 81. In France 21 is the
age of maj jority; in many parts Of Germany
"a is the age. In this country 81 is the age
tor males in all the States: come of the
States declare women of age when they are
18 years old. In Scotland between his 14th
and 21st years youth may do good many
things legally which he could not do in
England; but even there he, is not of full
age until he is 81.
A strange and inconsistent point of the
law is that person is of age Immediately
after midnight on the morning of the dav
preceding his 21st birthday; that is, person
81 years old on November may vote on
November 8. That is due to the rule oflaw
that "the law does not consider small
things" so that part of a thing is consid-
cred, under some circumstances, as equal to
the whole thing; thing that happens on
q certain day is considered as happening at
any time of that day, and therefore at the
earliest moment as well as at the latest; and
If at the earliest moment of one day, as pos
sible at the latest moment of the preceding
day, and so at the earliest moment of that
day. OF course, if the law went on consist.
emily, a person could be q years old on the
very day he was born; but the law stops
short on the morning OF the day before his
21st birthday.
What is the ordinary revenue OF the
United States, from customs and internal
revenue, and what the ordinary expendi-
turef G. G.
From customs, the United States received
in 1891 $219, 500, 900, decrease Of 10,0O0,-
900 since 1890: in the same year internal
revenue collections provided S145, ,6S6, 600,
an increase of So, 0o0, 900, and the total rev.
enue amounted to s392, ,612, AT. The total
ordinary expenditures for 1891 were $685.
773, 905, leaving surplus of over SGT, 6,000,-
000 In the receipts are included S27, ,000,-
600 Of 'Sales Of public land and other mis-
cellaneous items" The Postofiee Depart
ment has not paid expenses since 1883; the
Treasury. which handles both customs and
internal revenue receipts, is the only other
department to pay its own way. The In.
terror Department pays out too much
In psuaions snd the State, War, Navy,
Agricultural and Law Departments sss not