States from malicious injury, and for other purposes," approved July 7, 1898. Section 2 of the act is in form a substitute for section 5391 Revised Statutes, but omits the words "or may hereafter be," which were inserted by the act of April 5, 1866.

It follows that the present statute, seeking to give effect to the laws of the States where the laws of the United States are silent, can not be invoked as to offenses committed on territory ceded to the United States after July 7, 1898. This is perhaps of less consequence than the difficulty which arises from the inability of Congress to give effect to laws subsequently enacted by the States, and from the grave doubt whether the United States can properly enforce a State law after it has been repealed by the State itself, as provided by section 5391 of the Revised Statutes and the amendment of 1898.

It is the inevitable conclusion from the premises which we have recited that the United States, having exclusive jurisdiction to punish offenses upon large and in some instances populous areas, should have as complete a criminal code as any of the States. It should cover every conceivable act or omission which it is the policy of our laws to punish, whether of a high or low degree; it should be comprehensive, symmetrical, and consistent, which can not be said of the existing laws, and in the adjustment of penalties it should be abreast with the most advanced stage of modern penology.

In compliance with the provision of the act of Congress that requires us to "indicate any proposed change in the substance of existing law," we submit the following, premising that we do not here note changes of phraseology only which are designed to secure uniformity or greater precision of expression. Neither is it regarded as important to direct attention in all cases to the changes of penalties, which have been made in some instances to mitigate the severity that characterized former times, and in others to respect the principle of proportioning the punishment to the relative gravity of offenses.

OFFENSES AGAINST NEUTRALITY.

Title LXVII of the Revised Statutes, entitled "Neutrality," is essentially penal. At the same time it contains some sections which do not prescribe penalties; but these are, nevertheless, supplementary and auxiliary to those that provide for the punishment of violations of our neutral obligations. The latter are accordingly inserted in this chapter.

Section 5284, Revised Statutes, which is found in the chapter with the above caption, is addressed to offenses that have no connection with neutrality, and is here omitted and inserted in the chapter, "Piracy and other offenses upon the seas.

OFFENSES AGAINST THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE AND CIVIL RIGHTS OF

CITIZENS.

It has been decided that section 5507, Revised Statutes, is unconstitutional, on the ground that the power of Congress to legislate upon the right of voting at State elections rests upon the fifteenth amendment and is limited to prohibitions against discriminations on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and is further limited to prohibitions of such discriminations by the United States, or States and their officers or others claiming to act under color of laws within the inhibition of the amendment.

Section 5508, Revised Statutes, is directed against persons conspiring to injure, etc., any citizen in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States. The injury, etc., is an offense that might be committed by a single person, but no provision now exists for punishing it under these circumstances. Section 19 is inserted to supply this deficiency.

Section 20: Section 5508, Revised Statutes, is amended by striking out the words "and shall moreover be thereafter ineligible to any office or place of honor, profit, or trust created by the Constitution or laws of the United States." It is obvious that the offense denounced in this section is one that admits of large differences in the degree of criminality. This is recognized by Congress in fixing no minimum to the fine and imprisonment imposed, so that the statute would be satisfied by a fine of $1 and imprisonment for one day. Nevertheless, as the law now is, the disqualification to hold office must be inflicted, however venial the offense may be under the peculiar circumstances of the case.

Section 21: Section 5509, Revised Statutes, reads:

If in the act of violating any provision in either of the two preceding sections any other felony or misdemeanor be committed, the offender shall be punished for the same with such punishment as is attached to such felony or misdemeanor by the laws of the State in which the offense is committed.

The objections to the adoption by the United States of the criminal statutes of the State have been considered supra. In consideration of the views there presented, we have substituted a provision which is, in effect, that in the cases referred to the United States shall impose the penalty fixed by its own laws when the offense is committed within its territorial jurisdiction.

Section 5516, Revised Statutes, is omitted, the offense which it defines being sufficiently covered by a section in the chapter entitled "Offenses against public justice."

Section 5517, Revised Statutes, is omitted for the reason that the fine imposed is not so much in the nature of a penalty as in the nature of liquidated damages suffered by the person aggrieved.

Section 23: The considerations recited in connection with section 5508 have led us to insert a section here which provides for the punishment of the offense when committed by one person as well as when it is committed by two or more persons under circumstances constituting a conspiracy.

Section 5519 has been held to be unconstitutional. (United States v. Harris, 106 U. S., 629.)

Sections 28 and 30: After the words "military or naval service" the words "of the United States" are inserted. This is done for greater precision and in consideration of the doubt whether the legislation is competent except by virtue of the power of the Federal Government over its Army and Navy.

Section 31: Section 5532, Revised Statutes, visits disqualification to hold office upon anyone convicted of any of the offenses specified in certain preceding sections. This penalty is omitted for the reason set forth in the notes upon section 5508, Revised Statutes.

While the commission is of the opinion that the enactment of adequate legislation for the punishment of fraud, bribery, etc., at elections for Representatives in Congress would be highly proper, especially as some of the States have no laws for the punishment of such offenses, it did not feel justified in reporting the same in view of the fact that provisions of that character previously adopted were repealed in 1894, and that no subsequent effort has been made by Congress for their reenactment.

OFFENSES AGAINST THE OPERATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT.

Section 33: Section 5479, Revised Statutes, is from an act passed some years after the act from which 5418 was taken, and is manifestly a reenactment and amplification of the former. Only the latter is inserted.

Section 35: "Offering false or forged instruments to be filed or recorded," is new, being designed to reach an offense not otherwise provided for.

Section 36: Section 5322, Revised Statutes, is amended by striking out the words "at the discretion of the court" and inserting words making the punishment specific that is to say, a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.

Section 42: In construing section 5440, Revised Statutes, the Supreme Court of the United States said in United States v. Hirsh (100 U. S., 33): "Something more than the common-law definition. of a conspiracy is necessary to complete the offense, to wit, some act done to effect the object of the conspiracy." Except as to certain acts that are specially provided for, there is no existing law to punish a conspiracy against the United States as defined at common law. To supply this omission section 42 is here inserted.

OFFENSES AGAINST OFFICIAL DUTIES.

Section 58, "Disbursing officer unlawfully converting public money:" Section 5488, Revised Statutes, is amended by adding the words" or clerk acting as such" to cover cases where clerks are authorized by law to serve ad interim.

Section 59, "Failure of treasurer to safely keep public moneys:" The same change is made in section 5489, Revised Statutes, as in the above and for the same reason.

Section 69: In section 5500, Revised Statutes, after the words "for the delivery or conveyance of anything of value to him" the words "or anyone designated by him," are added.

Section 84, "Falsely certifying, etc., as to record of deeds," is new, there being no other provision against the offense specified. Section 85, "Other false certificates," is also new.

OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.

Section 87, "Perjury:" The words "or affirmation" are inserted after the word "oath," where it occurs in section 5392, Revised Statutes. Section 1, Revised Statutes, provides that "a requirement of an oath shall be deemed complied with by making affirmation in judicial form," but it is feared that this would not be sufficient to attach the penalty of the present law to one who took an affirmation only.

In the same section the words "and shall moreover thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed," are omitted in pursuance of the policy of recent legislation to remove the disqualification upon conviction of crimen falsi which was imposed by the common law.

Section 88: In section 5393, Revised Statutes, defining subornation of perjury, the words "as defined in the preceding section" are inserted. As the section is found in the Revised Statutes it would cover the crime when committed in a State court, which is plainly not cognizable in a court of the United States. In United States v. Reeves et al. (92 U. S., 214), the Supreme Court held that a court could not introduce words of limitation into a penal statute so as to make it specific when as expressed it is general only. Under this decision it is feared that the section as found in the Revised Statutes is unconstitutional.

Section 90: In section 5403, Revised Statutes, language is inserted with a view to making the definition of the offense sought to be denounced more comprehensive and exact.

Sections 92, 94, 95, and 96, "Destroying evidence," Fabricating evidence," "Using evidence known to be false," and "Deceiving witness," are inserted to cover offenses not defined by any existing law of the United States.

Section 97,"Bribery of a judge:" Section 5449 is limited by its terms to "any judge of the United States." It is to be questioned whether this would include, for example, an examining magistrate or master in chancery. More comprehensive language is accordingly inserted. For the present penalty of fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court, a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment not more than ten years, or both, are substituted.

Section 98: Section 5499, Revised Statutes, "Judge accepting a bribe, etc.," is amended upon the same lines and for the same considerations mentioned in the previous section.

Section 99: Section 5399, Revised Statutes, denounces the corruption or intimidation of witnesses or officers, and section 5404, Revised Statutes, denounces like offenses respecting grand and petit jurors. The two sections named are consolidated. After After "witness" the words " or any person about to be called as a witness are added. It is quite conceivable that the offense here denounced might be committed with respect to a person whom it is known would be called as a witness upon the trial of a case, but is not yet summoned. Some doubt may exist as to whether the present language would be sufficient to cover an offense committed under such circumstances.

Section 100: In section 5405, Revised Statutes, "Attempt to influence juror," the words "of any court of the United States are inserted for the reasons set forth in the paragraph concerning subornation of perjury.

Sections 101 and 102: "Juror, etc., accepting bribes," and "Witness accepting bribes," are inserted to cover offenses not otherwise provided for.

Section 103: Section 5400, Revised Statutes, is amended by reducing the penalty from death to imprisonment for life in pursuance of the policy of recent legislation to attach the penalty of death only to treason, piracy, and murder. The words "in any court of the United States" are inserted for the reasons already set forth.

Sections 104, 105, 106, and 107: "Rescue of prisoner," "Prisoner escaping," "Attempt to escape from penitentiary," and "Aiding prisoner to escape," are inserted to cover offenses not otherwise provided for.

Section 5402, Revised Statutes, is omitted on account of the omission of section 5340, as explained elsewhere.

Section 110, "Concealing escaped prisoner" is new, the offense not being otherwise provided for.

Section 112, "Conspiracy to defeat enforcement of the laws:" Section 5407, Revised Statutes, is amended by words limiting it to places under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States in conformity with the decisions of the Supreme Court.

Sections 114 and 115, "Compounding crimes" and "Refusing to aid officer in making arrest," are new.