convict becomes insane, or condemned female is pregnant, and designates the witnesses that may be admitted to the execution. Oregon ['03 p.66] adopts a law quite similar to that of North Dakota. It requires executions to be conducted in the State Penitentiary by the superintendent within 30 days after judgment. Penalty is inflicted by hanging by the neck.

Washington ['03 ch.35] enacts that in felony cases, if no appeal be taken, the term of sentence shall run from the date of judgment, if appeal be taken, from the date of filing remittitur of affirmance in lower court.

Wyoming ['03 ch.13] requires clerk of the court in which a person is convicted to furnish the State Board of Charities and Reform a copy of mittimus of sentence and the warden of the penitentiary to furnish the board in writing, the name, date of sentence and commitment, nature of crime and term and place of confinement. The sheriff of county must furnish the warden with age, sex, color, religion, nativity and ability of convict to read and write.

Jury. Colorado ['03 ch.135] requires the jury in all convictions of crime in a justice's court to fix the punishment by its verdict.

Minnesota ['03 ch.196] entitles state to 10 peremptory challenges and the defendant to 20, in cases punishable by death or imprisonment for life; in other cases the state and defendant are entitled to 3 and 5 respectively.

Criminal jurisdiction. Arkansas ['03 ch.168] confers power on Circuit Court or a judge thereof by writ of prohibition to prevent inferior courts from exceeding their jurisdiction.

New Hampshire by constitutional amendment has given police courts jurisdiction to try and determine, subject to appeal and trial by jury, criminal offenses not punishable by imprisonment in state prison.

Vermont ['03 ch.46] permits any magistrate when a person is charged with an offense beyond his jurisdiction, on the defendant's waiver of examination, to commit him for trial by the County Court.

CRIMES AND OFFENSES

SAMUEL J. BARROWS, UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER, INTERNATIONAL PRISON COMMISSION

An annual review of criminal legislation in the United States inevitably reveals two things. First, the effort of legislators to extend the area of protection to society by new prohibitions, or by new penalties attached to old offenses; second, the utter confusion in distributing penalties and the lack of any fundamental principle by which deterrent or punitive values can be determined. Much of our criminal legislation seems to be a game of blind man's buff. Legislators grope round vaguely in their efforts to paste a label on the offender before they can catch him. A part of the skill of the offender consists in eluding the law as well as the police. So long as the present system prevails of trying men for specific acts there will be need for exact definition of offenses, and as society continues to develop and becomes more complex the categories of offenses will be swelled by new denominations of felonies and misdemeanors. This creation of new offenses goes on in some of our Legislatures with great industry. It is not possible to tell without accurate police and judicial statistics how far these new laws for the protection of property and other interests represent the foresight of legislators holding up threateningly an aegis of penalties to deter possible offenders and how far they are the result of reactions against offenses already committed.

It is not surprising that this modern tendency, specially prevalent in this country, of creating new crimes and attaching heavy penalties to light offenses should have engaged the attention of Governor Pennypacker of Pennsylvania, who in his message of Jan. 20, 1903, said:

The modern tendency to invent new crimes ought to be curbed. To obliterate the marked line which distinguishes between mere breaches of contract and crimes is to bring the law itself into disrepute. To threaten with imprisonment him who has filled a bottle intrusted to him, the contents of which he has bought, or him who sells a railroad ticket, the evidence of a right of transportation for which he has paid, is no doubt a convenience to corporations and others enforcing their contracts, but it takes from the prison much of its effect as a restraint on those who do evil. Juries refuse to convict where they believe the charge ought not to be sustained, even though the facts come within the terms of a statute, and thus men are taught to disregard the law

...

Crimes against the government

Anarchy. The dangers of anarchy and the need of legislative action with reference to it was the subject of messages from the governors of Connecticut, New Mexico and Utah. Legislative action on this subject was taken in four states: California, Connecticut, Washington and Wisconsin. In California it is made a felony to conspire to commit any crime against the person of the president or vice president of the United States, the governor of any state or territory, any United States justice or judge, or the secretaries of any of the executive departments of the United States. It is likewise made a felony to attempt to kill any of the persons named above, and the penalty in either case is not less than 10 years' imprisonment ['03 ch.55].

In Connecticut the new law is limited to three lines: "Every person who shall wilfully and maliciously attempt to cause the death of the president of the United States or of any foreign ambassador accredited to the United States shall suffer death" ['03 ch.106].

The law in Washington on the other hand embraces a definition of criminal anarchy which is identical with that adopted in New York '02 [ch.371]: viz“Criminal anarchy is the doctrine that organized government should be overthrown by force or violence " [Wash. '03 ch.45]. It is likewise as in New York made unlawful to teach or spread such doctrines or to organize societies for their propagation and the penalty is also the same, a fine of $5000 or imprisonment for 10 years.

The Wisconsin law ['03 ch.343] is identical in text and penalty with that of Washington, but it goes beyond it and follows the New York law in imposing a penalty for permitting premises to be used for assemblages of anarchists, which penalty is imprisonment in the county jail from three months to one year, or a maximum fine of $100 or both. In the New York law for 1902 the penalty is a maximum of two years' imprisonment or a $2000 fine or both.

Bribery. The new Nevada law ['03 ch.106] declaring any form of bribery a felony is interesting because of the great pains taken to define bribery and to hunt down the offense under whatever disguise it may assume. Any form of remuneration whether a money gift or payment, release of debt, payment of board, lodging or transportation, furnishing food or clothing, promising or giving employment, increasing or maintaining wages, promising appointment to any public office or position either for the voter or for any other person or swapping votes for candidates, may constitute bribery; and the voter, delegate, or member of the Legislature who accepts any such consideration is considered guilty of bribery together with the person making the offer. It is likewise made bribery for a candidate for the United States Senate to pay the campaign expenses of a candidate for the Legislature or for a candidate to accept such payment. It is also declared to be bribery for an employer to threaten an employee with loss of employment if he votes or fails to vote for a certain candidate or measure. The penalty for these various forms of bribery is imprisonment from 1 to 11 years and forfeiture of office. It would be interesting to know why the maximum is made 11 instead of 10 years in usual deference to the decimal system.

In Oklahoma the new law ['03 ch.13 art.1] is less specific in definition, but the penalty for corrupt voting is from 10 to 20 years together with disfranchisement.

Desecration of flags. Governor Otero of New Mexico in his message strongly recommended the passage of a law imposing a severe penalty for desecrating the American flag by using the same for advertising purposes. Agitation on this subject has been going on in various states for several years. In 1903 Delaware, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York and Utah passed such laws. These laws are identical in Delaware, Missouri, Nebraska and Utah, and in New York a previous law on this subject has been amended so as to conform to the text used in the states mentioned. New Mexico has an independent and less carefully constructed law ['03 ch.63].

Crimes against public order and security

Concealed weapons. An endeavor to extend the area of prevention in offenses against public order and security resulting from the use of weapons is the subject of two governors messages and of laws in seven states. Governor Jelks of Alabama in speaking of the carrying of concealed weapons says: "The habit may be decreasing in Alabama. I have not seen the statistics of convictions. If decreasing at all, the reform has not been of such magnitude as to attract attention. The only fault I find with the law is in its execution. As we progressed in other respects, the thoughtful and law-abiding have looked forward to a day when the carrier of a deadly weapon would meet a public opinion ready to consign him to a year or more in the state penitentiary. As it is, if he has money, he can pay out in any county in the state except one..."

Governor Durbin of Indiana says: "I am convinced that there is a need for legislation looking to the licensing of designated officers to carry revolvers and prohibiting the sale thereof to other persons. Highwaymen, footpads and burglars can freely purchase revolvers, and yet by law we make it a felony for them to carry the same. We must strike at the root of the evil and regulate the sale as well as the carrying of such weapons..."

Florida amends its laws so as to grant licenses to carry firearms "to such persons only as are 21 years of age and of good moral character." In Kansas the maximum penalty for carrying concealed weapons is a fine of $100 or three months' imprisonment in the county jail ['03 ch.216]. In Montana the penalty is $25 to $200 or imprisonment from 10 to 30 days or both. The penalty for carrying weapons in public assemblies of any kind is from $50 to $500 unless permission is given by a district judge. But the provisions of the act are not to apply to any county which the