LUCKY "INFANTS."

King Country Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 739, 23 January 1915, Page 3

LUCKY "INFANTS."

"The infant," the late Sir Joseph Chitty once said,, "is the spoilt child of the Law." And, certainly, he has more than his share of this strong arm and protecting wing ~ of the King's justice. For, ifa the maternal cj r es of the Law we are all infants" we reach the mature age of * or, more accurately, until the first-moment of the day hefore our twenty-first anniversary. Our infant i's, in fact, an irresponsible creature who can snap has fin-, gers at many of the laws his elders must obey—or pay the penalty of disobedience. Generally speaking, the Law will not hold him—and in this article the male "embraces" the female—liable for any act that is not distinctly to his advantage. If he buys a piano or motor-car he can laugh in the face of the tradesman who sends in his bill ; if he borrows money., he can pocket 'it without troubling about repayment. And even if a tender conscience leads' him . to promise.* payment after he has passed his twenty-first birthday, no action can be brought to enforce the promise, even if he has received new "consideration" for it after full ageonly an entirely new contract, which must be proved up to the hilt, can malte him responsible.

Should the infant promise a maid' to marry her, ha need not -worry about "breach" damages, though he may , have ratified his vow on becoming a '"'man." There must be a,n absolutely new promise oi marriage before a. jury will assess the damage to the lady's heart.

So jealously does x the Law guard the infant against designs on his irnoccncei, that anyone who sends him a circular, or document, tempting him) with the ofier of a loan, is liable to a fine of £IOO and three months in gaol.

. He may hold shares in a cpmpany; but if he renounces them during infancy, oi' within a reasonable time afterwards, he cannot be sued for calls on the shares ; nor, in any event, can the calls be enforced until he reaches legal maturity. Even a contract of service, such as apprenticeship, is not binding him unless its conditions are. perfectly fair and to his advantage.

An infant, when not living under the paternal roof, may contract for "necessaries" suitable to' his condition—the suitability being usually a matter for the jury to decide, and for th 3 plaintiff to prove. Such vn3cessaries" would of course include food, clothing, lodging, and education i; while in varying cases such articles as a typewriter —bought for tha purpose of earning a living—aad—for the sons of well-to-do parents—even jewellery, to a reasonable extent, have been brought within the net of ''necessariss." An infant for the first seven years of his life can commit any crime he pleases. The Law will not even allow a rod to be raised against him. Between seven and fourteen he can only escape if the jury are of opinion that he did not understand that he was doing wrong. Over the age of fourteen an infant is held as responsible for a crime as his seniors. If, however, he injures any person's property, the Law holds him liable. A parent, however, need not pay Ms infant son's debts—even for necessaries—unless he has expressly agreed to do so, of has given his son authority to incur the debt. The Law which thus shields and cares for an infant during twentyon3 years is just as solicitous for him even before he comes into the world at all. Thus an unborn child may have a legacy bequeathed to it, or may enjoy the surrender of a copyhold estate. —"Answers."