the rules of the Department, acts for the United States in an official function within the meaning of Revised Statutes No. 5451, making it a criminal offense to bribe any such person, to induce him to do or to omit to do any act in violation of his lawful duty.

§ 161. Political Contributions Not to be Solicited by Certain Officers.-Section 118 of the new Code reads as follows:

"Sec. 118. No Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Congress, or Senator, Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner-elect, or officer or employee of either House of Congress, and no executive, judicial, military or naval officer of the United States, and no clerk or employee of any Department, branch, or bureau of the executive, judicial, or military or naval service of the United States, shall, directly or indirectly, solicit or receive, or be in any manner concerned in soliciting or receiving, any assessment, subscription, or contribution for any political purpose whatever, from any officer, clerk, or employee of the United States, or any Ďepartment, branch, or bureau thereof, or from any person receiving any salary or compensation from moneys derived from the Treasury of the United States."

§ 162. Political Contributions Not to be Received in Public Offices.-Section 119 of the new Code reads as follows:

"Sec. 119. No person shall, in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by any officer or employee of the United States mentioned in the preceding section, or in any navy-yard, fort, or arsenal, solicit in any manner whatever or receive any contribution of money or other thing of value for any political purpose whatever."

§ 163. Immunity from Official Proscription, Etc.Section 120 is in the following words:

"Sec. 120. No officer or employee of the United States mentioned in section one hundred and eighteen, shall discharge, or promote, or degrade, or in any manner change the official rank or compensation of any other officer or employee, or promise or threaten so to do, for giving or withholding or neglecting to make any contribution of money or other valuable thing for any political purpose."

i

§ 164. Giving Money, Etc., to Officials for Political Purposes Prohibited.-Section 121 of the new Code is as follows:

"Sec. 121. No officer, clerk, or other person in the service of the United States shall, directly or indirectly, give or hand over to any other officer, clerk, or person in the service of the United States, or to any Senator or Member of or Delegate to Congress, or Resident Commissioner, any money or other valuable thing on account of or to be applied to the promotion of any political object whatever."

§ 165.

Penalty for Violating the Provisions of the Four Preceding Sections.-Section 122 is in the following words:

"Sec. 122. Whoever shall violate any provision of the four preceding sections shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than three years, or both."

The above sections are taken from the First Volume of the Supplements, 396, and were what was originally known as the Civil Service Act. The case of the United States vs. Thayer, in 154 Federal, 508, originated on that portion of the original law which is now Section 119, above quoted, and was a prosecution based upon the sending of letters by mail to the Federal employes, soliciting political contributions for use by the Republican State Committee, such letters to be delivered to such Federal employee in the Federal building at Dallas, Texas. The lower Court held that the sending of such a letter addressed to an Internal Revenue employee at his office in the Federal Building, by a defendant who was neither an officer nor an employee of the United States, did not constitute an offense within the Act. The Government sued out a writ of error under the new statute, authorizing the United States to go direct to the Supreme Court of the United States under certain conditions, and the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the judgment of the lower Court, and held that,

"solicitation by letter, intended to be received and read by an Internal Revenue employee in the Post-office Building, and which was so received and read in such building, is embraced by the provision of the Civil Service Act now under discussion, that no person shall in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by any officer or em

!

ployee of the United States mentioned in such Act, solicit in any manner whatever' or receive any contribution of money or any other thing of value, for any political purpose whatever."

In the course of the opinion, the Court says:

"The solicitation was made at sometime, somewhere. The time determines the place; it was not completed when the letter was dropped into the post. If the letter had miscarried or been burned the defendant would not have accomplished the solicitation. The court below was misled by cases in which, upon an indictment for obtaining money by false pretenses, the crime was held to have been committed at the place where drafts were put into the post by a defrauding person, but these stand on the analogy of the acceptance by mail of an offer, and throw no light...... Therefore, we repeat, until after the letter had entered the building, the offense was not completed, but when it had been read. The case was not affected by the nature of the intended means by which it was put into the hands of the person addressed. Neither can the case be affected by speculation as to what the position would have been if the receiver had put the letter in his pocket and had read it later, at home. Offenses usually depend for their completion upon events that are not wholly within the offender's control, and that may turn out in different ways." U. S. vs. Thayer, 209 U. S. p. 39.

In the case of United States vs. Smith, 163 Federal, 926, District Judge Jones held that the personal delivery to a postmaster, in his office, of a sealed letter containing a request for a contribution for a political campaign constitutes a criminal offense under the Act under discussion.

§ 167. Government Officer, Etc., Giving Out Advance Information Respecting Crop Reports. The new Code, at Section 123, contains an entirely new statute, which is the fruit of stock exchanges and the alternate rage of the American bull and bear, and is in the following words:

"Whoever, being an officer or employee of the United States or a person acting for or on behalf of the United States in any capacity under or by virtue of the authority of any Department or office thereof, and while holding such office, employment, or position, shall, by virtue of the office, employment or position held by him, become possessed of any information which might exert an influence upon or affect the market value of any product of the soil grown within the United States, which information is by law or by the rules of the Depart

ment or office required to be withheld from publication until a fixed time, and shall wilfully impart, directly or indirectly, such information, or any part thereof, to any person not entitled under the law or the rules of the Department or office to receive the same; or shall, before such information is made public through regular official channels, directly or indirectly speculate in any such product respecting which he has thus become possessed of such information, by buying or selling the same in any quantity, shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both: Provided, That no person shall be deemed guilty of a violation of any such rule, unless prior to such alleged violation he shall have had actual knowledge thereof."

§ 168. Government Officer, Etc., Knowingly Compiling or Issuing False Statistics Respecting Crops.Section 124 of the new Code is likewise pioneer legislation, and is in the following words:

"Whoever, being an officer or employee of the United States, and whose duties require the compilation or report of statistics or information relative to the products of the soil, shall knowingly compile for issuance, or issue, any false statistics or information as a report of the United States, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

§ 169. Counterfeiting Weather Forecasts, Interfering with Signals, Etc.-In the 33 Statute at Large, page 864, there was annexed to the Agricultural Department Appropriation Act the following statute, with reference to the protection and reliability of weather reports and forecasts, including signals issued by and under the control of the Agricultural Department:

"Any person who shall knowingly issue or publish any counterfeit weather forecasts or warnings of weather conditions, falsely representing such forecasts or warnings to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau or other branch of the Government Service, or shall molest or interfere with any weather or storm flag or weather map or bulletin displayed or issued by the United States Weather Bureau, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, for each offense, be fined in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not to exceed ninety days, or be both fined and imprisoned, in the discretion of the Court."

CHAPTER VIII.

OFFENSES AGAINST OPERATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT.

§ 170. New Code Generally Under This Head.

171. Forgery of Letters Patent.

172. Forging Bond, Bid, Public Record, Etc.

172a. Covers Civil Service Examination, Etc. 173. Forging Deeds, Powers of Attorney, Etc.

174. Having Forged Papers in Possession.

175. False Acknowledgments.

176. Falsely Pretending to be a United States Officer.

176a. Intent to Defraud, Etc.

177. False Personation of Holder of Public Stocks.

178. False Demand or Fraudulent Power of Attorney.

179. Making or Presenting False Claims.

181. Conspiracies to Commit Offenses Against the United States; All Defendants Liable for Acts of One.

181a. Indictment.

182. Sufficiency of Description.

183. Venue.

183a. Special Charge on Venue.

184. Illustrative Cases.

184a. Illustrative Cases Continued.

185. Bribery of United States Officer.

185a. Officer-Meaning of.

186. Unlawful Taking or Using Papers Relating to Claims.

187. Persons Interested not to Act as Agents of the Government.

188. Enticing Desertions From the Military or Naval Service. 189. Enticing Away Workmen.

190. Injuries to Fortification, Harbor Defenses, Etc.

191. Unlawful Entering Upon Military Reservation, Fort, Etc. 192. Robbery or Larceny of Personal Property of the United States. Embezzling, Stealing, Etc., Public Property.

193.

194.

Receivers, etc., of Stolen Property.

195. Timber Depredation on Public Lands.

196. Timber, Etc., Depredation on Indian and Other Reservations. 197. Boxing, Etc., Timber on Public Lands for Turpentine, Etc.

198. Setting Fire to Timber on Public Lands.

199. Failing to Extinguish Fires.

200. Breaking Fence or Gate Enclosing Reserve Lands, or Driving or

Permitting Live Stock to Enter Upon.

201. Injuring or Removing Posts or Monuments.