Walton v. Cotton/Dissent Curtis

Mr. Justice CURTIS dissenting.

I cannot concur in so much of the opinion, just delivered, as construes the word 'children,' in this act of Congress, to mean children and grandchildren. The legal signification of the word children accords with its popular meaning, and designates the immediate offspring. (Adams v. Law, 17 How., 419, and cases there cited.) It may be used in a more enlarged sense to include issue; but the intention so to employ it must be manifested by the context, or by the subject-matter. I see nothing in the context or the subject-matter of this act to carry the meaning of the word children beyond its ordinary signification. Nothing has been suggested, save the conviction felt by some members of the court, that grandchildren are proper subjects of this bounty of Congress. This consideration is, in my opinion, too indeterminate to enable me to construe the act to mean what it has not said.

Mr. Justice DANIEL and Mr. Justice CAMPBELL concurred in the above opinion of Mr. Justice CURTIS.