The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-08-11

WHEN Is A MAN 81?

"It is often said that law is applied
common sense" said a professor of
the Yale Law School the other day.
while it is true that law principles
originated in common sense, the law
itself is the combined experience Of
many men, for no two men unin-
structed in law will agree as to what
is applied common sense.
"Then there are many rules of
law which undoubtedly have COM
mon sense origin, but, conditions
having changed, history fails to dis
close this origin. Yet these very
rules must be retained in order not
to shake personal and property
rights. Therefore no man can de-
pend on his own uninstructed COM
mon sense to know the law.
"To drive this statement home 1
have frequently put to an incoming
law class the question, When does
an infant become of age?' The
answer is always unanimous, When
uC ID LWCuly -OhC ySolo OA0'
"The next question appears ridic-
ulous to some and makes them
laugh, while others set their alleged
common sense at work and never
with correct result, when is a man
twenty-one years old?
Zone student says, On his twen-
ty-frst birthday but of course he
does not mean it, for he is about a
year out of the way. Another ven
lures, 'On the twenty-frst anniver-
sary of his birthday This sounds
better, but even if correct is not
specific enough. When he has
completed his twenty-frst anniver-
sary, AT the beginning of that day
and On his twenty-frst anniversary,
at the precise hour of his birth, are
other answers.
"And then I surprise the guessers
by saying that they are wrong.
"In computing time it is general
rule that the law disregards part of a
day. In applying this rule, suppose
man was born just one minute be-
fore midnight on Jan. 2, 1880.
"At midnight he had lived but
one minute, yet the day on which he
was born was ended and the law
considered him one day old. So in
SQmRptingg %GPGRl i g.at the .us stwsnatyone ay g years
reach his majority we do not begin
with the moment of birth. "Now,
since we must start with the first
moment of Jan. 2, 1880, it is perhaps
natural to say that this man did not
become twenty-one years old until
the close of Jan. I, 1901. Mathe-
matical1y speaking, this is true.
"Twenty-one years in that sense
requires that the last moment Of Jan.
I, 1901, should have arrived in or
der to make the man of age, and OBJ
viously he was of age at that point
of time. But here again the rule is
applied.
GAS the man was of age on the
last moment of Jan. I, the law dis
regards the entire part of the day
intervening between the first mo-
ment and the last, and consequently
he became in law twenty-one years
old on the first moment of Jan. l.,
1901, the day preceding the twenty
first anniversary of his birthday.
"This rule is a part of what is
known as the common law and is ap-
piled in this country in all states
where the common law of England
has been adopted and remains un-
changed by statute. A man may
vote or make valid will on the day
preceding the twenty-frst anniver-
sary of his birthday, although the
right in the one case and the capac-
ity in the other are given only tc
persons vino have reached the age OF
twentv.one years. ."-Wea0 York Sun