INTERPRETATION. Tl'i securing consistency in the judicial process of construction. Some of the most important of these rules may l>c slated brielly as fnllows; (1) When the laiigua},'!! of a viilin<; is plain and unciiuivo- cal, there is no opportunity lor interpretation. Kven thoufih the court may believe that the langua)ic does not express the intent of the writer, it will not forre upon wonls a meanin;; which they cannot fairly bear. When words admit of but one meaning, to put another upon them is not to construe a writing, but to alter it. In case of a statute, it is not to interpret a law, but to make one. {'2) The <;raiMinatical and ordinary sense of words is to be adhered to, luiless that would lead to some absurdity, or .some repug- nance or inconsistency with the rest of the instruKient, in which case the granimatieal and ordiiuiry .sense of the words must be UKidilied, so as to ftvoid that absurdity or inconsistency, but no further. Eminent English judges have called this the golden rule of construction. It is a corollary from this rule that when it appears, either from the instrument it>elf or from the circumstances attending its ori;;in, that certain words are used in an abnormal, or peculiar, or technical sense, they shall be interiueted in such sense. ^lany modern statutes contain an inter- pretation clause in which the legislature carefully explains the exact meaning which is to be ascribed to certain im])ortant terms of the text. It is a helpful expedient for remedying to some extent the ambiguity of ordinary language. In England a general Interpretation Act was passed in 1889 (S-i-.'j:) Vict., ch. (i:i) with a view to clearing up obscurities in existing and future statutes. (.'?) In construing any part of a writ- ing, regard should be had to the entire instru- ment. Other jiortions may throw nuich light upon the one under special investigation, and greatly modify the meaning which it would hear as an independent clause. Every ])art of a writ- ing should be brought into action in order to collect from the whole one uniform and con- sistent puri)ose. if that is possible. Accorilingly, if one construction will give reasonable ell'ect to c^'ery part of an instrunient. while another would require the rejection of a part, the former will be preferred. (4) In the case of private writ- ings, such as contracts and deeds, the language is to l)e construed most strongly against the party who is n'sponsible for its use. Of course, this applies only to cases of andiiguity either in the words themselves or in their legal cfTi-ct. Even then it will he enforced only whi-n other rules of construction fail, for it is deemed some- what harsh and rigorous. (5) As between con- structions otherwise equally balanced, prefer- ence is to be given to that which renders the instrument most, fair and just and reasonable. (C) In construing doubtful language, the court is entitled to consider all the circumstances con- nected with the oriprin of the instrunient. Proof of these circumstances is not excluded by any rule of evidence (q.v. ). It is not offered to contradict or var- an instrument, but to put the court, as nearly as possible, in the place ot the parties at the- time they agreed upon this language as the formal expression of their intentions. (7) The construction put upon nn ambiguous instrument by the acts of the parties is entitled to great weight. The literature upon this subject is quite ex- INTEBROGATORIES. tensive, although far from satisfactory. Most of the treali.scs arc limited to sjiccial topics, such as constitutions and statutes, contracts, deeils, wills, and are conlincd mainly to an ex- position of the art rather than to the science of interpretation; they stale the practical rules for the construction of various classes of writings, rather than discuss the principles on which the process of interpretation should rest. The best theoretical treatment of the subject is found in lyieher, Legal tiiid I'oliliciil )lrrmfii<iilir8 (Ham- mond ed., Saint Louis, 1880) ; Hawkins, I'lin- ci/ilcs of Lcijal Intrrpnluliun, 2 .luridical .Sj- ciely Papers (London, I8liO) ; Tiuiycr, I'nUnii- vary Trcaliie on Eiid<iici chapters v. and x. and Appendi.x C (Bostim. 1S98"). Among the latest and most valuable jiractical treatises ore the fol- lowing: Beal, Cardiiinl Hulcs of Lcijal Inter- pnlalioti (London, 18i)0) ; Black, Coiislruclion iiiid Interprelulion of Lairs (Saint Paul, iS'.Xi) ; llardcastle, Itiiles which llovern the Const ruvtioii and Lffcvt of Utalntory Law ( Liaidoii. l'.IO(l) ; Maxwell, Intrrprclation of Slalules (London, 1890) ; Sedgwick, Statutory and Constitutional l,aic (New York, 1874) ; Sutherland, Statute's and Statutory Construction (Chicago, 1891); Jones, Construction of ('ommrrcial and Trade Contracts (N'ew York, 1880); Elphinstone, Nor- ton and Clark. Ilulcs for the Interpretation of Deeds (Philadelphia, 1889); Hawkins, Inter- pretation of Wills (Philadelphia, 18.S.'>) ; Wigram and O'llaru, Interpretation of Willn (New York, 1872). INTERPRETER, Mr. A character in Bun- yan's I'ilgriin's Progress, typifying the Holy Spirit. INTERREGNUM (Lat., period between reii.'iis), I iiK (iuio.M. The name given to the pi'- riod of ticrman history between the death of Conrad IV'., in 12.54. and the elect iou of Uudolpli of Hapslnirg, in 1273. It is often called the age of 'list law' (Faustrecht) . During (his tinu' Germany had no ruler who was generally recog- nized. William of Holland had been elected as nn anti-king, in 1247. by the opponents of l'"red- eriek II. (q.v.). After Conrad's death William, with the aid of the confederation of Khenish cities, stieceeded in restoring order in a portion of Germany. His death, in 1250, led to greater confusion. Some of the electors, iu 1207, chose Richard of Cornwall, the brother of Henry HI. of England: the other electiirs chose Alfonso X. of Castile. Richard spent but little time in (!er- many: Alfonso never visited it. Neither one acquired any real power, and neither was crowned Emperor at Rome. When Richard died, in 1272, Alfonso's claims were set aside by common con- sent, and the Pope ordered the electors to pro- ceed to a new election. This resulted (127.'?) in the choice of Rudolph. One of his first acts was to annul all laws passed by the rival kings since the death of Frederick II., in 12.')0. For this rea- son the Great Interregnum is sometimes made to include the years between IS.'jO and 127.3. Con- sult Kempf, Geschichte des deulschcn Ueiehcs irMhrend des grossen Interregnums (WUrzburg. 1893). INTERROGATORIES (from Lat. interroga- iarius. consisting of questions, from intcrrogare, to question, from inter, between + rorinre, to ask). Questions in writing prepared for the
