The Western news., 1907-01-30
WHEN is A MAN 21?
Think n Moment Before You Attempt
to Answer the Question.

TO answer the question.
s'It is often said that law is applied
common sense" said professor of the
Yale Law school the other day. "While
1t is true that law principles originated
In common sense, the law itself is the
combined experience of many men, for
no two men uninstructed in law will
agree as to what is applied common
sense.
'Then there are many rules of law
which undoubtedly have a common
sense origin, but conditions having
changed, history fails to disclose this
origin. Yet these very rules must be
retained in order not to shake personal
and property rights. Therefore no man
can depend on his own uninstructed
common sense to know the law.
"To drive this statement home have
frequently put to an incoming law
class the question, when does an in
FAINT become of ageT The answer is
always unanimous, When he is twen-
ty-one years old
"The next question appears ridicu-
lous to some and makes them laugh,
sense at work and never with correct
result, when is man twenty-one
years old?
"One student says, 'On his twenty
first birthday but of course he does
not mean it, for he is about year out
of the way. Another ventures, 'On the
twenty-first anniversary of his birth
day This sounds better, but even if
correct is not specific enough. When
he has completed his twenty-frst ami
versary,' AT the beginning of that day
and 'On his twenty-first anniversary,
at the precise hour of his BIRTH are
other answers.
"And then I surprise the guessers by
saying that they are all wrong.
"In computing time it is a general
rule that the law disregards part of
day. In applying this rule, suppose a
man was born just one minute before
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 consid-
cred him one day old So in computing
the twentyone years which man
must live in order to reach his majori-
ty we do not begin with the moment of
birth, but with the commencement of
the day Of his birth.
"Now, since we must start with the
first moment Of Jan. 2, 1880, it is per-
haps natural to say that this man did
not become twenty-one years old until
the close of Jan. 1, 1901. Mathematic-
ally speaking, this is true.
'"Twenty -one years in that sense re-
quires that the last moment of jan 1,
1901, should have arrived in order to
make the man CT age, and obviously
he was of age at that point Of time
But here again the rule is applied.
"As the man was of age on the last
moment of Jan. 1, the law disregards
the entire part Of the day intervening
between the first moment and the last.
and consequently he became in law
twenty-One years old on the first mo-
ment of JAN 1, 1901, the day preceding
the twenty-first anniversary of his
birthday.
'"This rule is part of what is known
as the common law and is applied in
this country in all states where the
common law Of England has been
adopted and remains unchanged by
statute. man may vote or make a
valid will on the day preceding the
twenty-frst anniversary of his birth
day, although the right in the one case
and the capacity in the other are given
only to persons who have reached the
Of +xr-o
Sun.