POLITICAL OFFENCES 



POLK 



291 



Economy neicli/ expounded ; Jevons, Theory of Political 

 Economy ; Sidgwick, Principle* of Political Economy ; 

 Marshall, Principlei of Economic* ; Roscher, Grundlayen 

 dtr Nationalokonomie (Eng. trans.); Adolf Wagner, 

 Grnndlfyutiy ; Schaffle, Bau und Lfben den Sozialen 

 Korpers ; Schonberg's Handbuch dtr National- 

 okonomie, which is really an encyclopaedia of the sub- 

 ject Manuals and smaller works : Fawcett, Manual 

 of Political Economy; Mrs Fawcett, Political Economy 

 for Beginneri ; Marshall, Economics of Industry ; 

 F. A. Walker, Political Economy ; Joseph Gamier, Trait/S 

 oT Economic Politique; Laveleye, Elements d' Economic 

 Politique (Eng. trans.). Histories of political economy: 

 Roscher, Oeschichte der Nationalokonomik in Deutsch- 

 land ; Kautz, Die getchichtliche Entwiclcelung der 

 Nationalokonomik ; L. Cossa, Guide to the Study of 

 Political Economy ; 3. K. Ingram, History of Political 

 Economy; Dictionary of Political Economy, edited by 

 R. H. Inglis Palgrave. See also the articles BANKING, 

 BOUNTY, CAPITAL, COMMUNISM, CONSUMPTION, CO- 

 OPERATION, CORN LAWS, DIVISION OF LABOUR, 

 EXCHANGE, FREE TRADE, LABOUR, LAND LAWS, 

 MONEY, MONOPOLY, PROTECTION, RENT, SOCIALISM, 

 TAX, TRADE-UNIONS, WAGES; and the articles on the 

 more important economic thinkers Smith, Malthus, Ri- 

 cardo, Mill, Carey, Ijassalle, Marx, &c. 



Political Offences are usually exempted 

 from treaties of Extradition (q.v. ), by which a 

 government agrees to arrest and surrender persons 

 who have broken the law of a foreign state. A 

 political offence may \>e defined as an offence com- 

 mitted in carrying on civil war or open insurrec- 

 tion. In November 1890 the English judges had 

 to decide whether the Swiss government could 

 demand the extradition of one Castioni, who was 

 proved to have shot a member of the ministry 

 during a revolution excited by the Liberals in the 

 canton of Ticino. There was some evidence that 

 the prisoner was moved by private malice ; but the 

 judges held that his act \\aaprimAfacie political, 

 and gave him the benefit of the exception in the 

 treaty. The Conspiracy Bill of 1858, introduced 

 after Orsini's attempt on the life of Napoleon III., 

 proposed to make conspiracy to murder a felony 

 instead of a misdemeanour. It was intended to 

 secure the French emperor against plotters in Eng- 

 land, and caused the fall of Palmerston's govern- 

 ment, as being contrary to English traditions. 

 As between a government and its subjects 

 political offences have often been treated with 

 extreme severity, as may l>e seen on referring to 

 the Roman law relating to perduellio and Tcesa 

 majestas. In France and Scotland the law of 

 treason was framed on the model of those laws 

 which had been made to protect the person and 

 government of the Roman emperor and the interests 

 of the Koman state ; the old English law of treason 

 was also extremely severe. In modern times the 

 tendency is to treat offences against the state 

 according to the ordinary principles of criminal 

 law. There are, however, two kinds of crime 

 which raise political questions of some interest. 

 ( 1 ) Crimes committed in the territory of one state 

 against the government of another. The Foreign 

 Enlistment Acts were passed to enable the British 

 government to deal with persons who levy troops 

 and prepare armaments against a foreign govern- 

 ment within British territory. Some writers of 

 authority have censured the American government 

 for permitting Fenians within its jurisdiction to 

 levy war against the British empire. (2) Crimes 

 committed by persons who honestly think they 

 have a grievance against the government of their 

 own country. In such cases the political motive 

 is not, in law, regarded as an excuse ; if e.g. a 

 member of parliament incites to a breach of the 

 law, magistrates and prison authorities must deal 

 with him as with any other offender. A humane 

 government will often extend special indulgence to 

 political offences. Whether such indulgence should 



be granted (whether e.g. an Irish member in 

 prison should be exempted from ordinary prison 

 rules) is a question of discretion, not of legal right. 

 The dynamiters who in 1882-85 attempted the 

 destruction of English public buildings were 

 properly treated as mere criminals, without regard 

 to any alleged political aims. 



Politics (Gr. polls, 'city' or 'state'), that 

 branch of ethics which has for its subject the 

 proper mode of governing a state, so as to secure 

 its prosperity, peace, and safety, and to attain, as 

 perfectly as possible, the ends of civil society. 

 Among the subjects which political science em- 

 braces are the principles on which government is 

 founded, the hands in which the supreme power 

 may be most advantageously placed, the duties 

 and obligation of the governing and governed por- 

 tions of society, the development and increase of 

 the resources of the state, the protection of the 

 rights and liberties of the citizens, the preservation 

 of their morals, and the defence of the independ- 

 ence of the state against foreign control or con- 

 quest. While the philosophy of governing con- 

 stitutes the science of politics, the art of politics 

 consists in the application of that science to the 

 individual circumstances of particular states. The 

 ancient Greek writers treated politics with refer- 

 ence to an ideal perfect state, which each pro- 

 pounded according to his own speculative views, 

 pointing out the variation of every existing govern- 

 ment from his standard. The 'politics of a coun- 

 try ' implies the course of its government, more 

 especially in its relations with foreign powers. 



In the articles on the several countries a sketch of the 

 constitution is in most cases given. See also AMBASSADOR, 

 ANARCHISM, ANTHROPOLOGY, ARISTOCRACY, BALANCE OP 

 POWER, CABINET, CONGRESS, DEMOCRACY, ENGLAND 

 (HISTOKY OF). FAMILY, FEUDALISM, GOVERNMENT, IN- 

 TERNATIONAL LAW, NIHILISM, PARLIAMENT, REPUBLIC, 

 REPHESENTATION, SOCIALISM, TRIBE, WHIGS AND TORIES, 

 \t: ; and the articles on the expounders of famous politi- 

 cal theories Plato, Aristotle, More, Machiavelli, Ben- 

 tham, Lassalle, Marx, lie. 



Poliziaiio. See POLITIAN. 



Polk. JAMES KNOX, eleventh president of the 

 United States, was born in Mecklenburg county, 

 North Carolina, November 2, 1795. His ancestors, 

 who bore the name of Pollock, emigrated from the 

 north of Ireland ; his father was a farmer in moder- 

 ate circumstances. Polk was educated in the 

 University of North Carolina, and studied law with 

 Felix Grundy of Tennessee, an eminent lawyer 

 and statesman. Admitted to the bar in 1820, he 

 was three years after elected a member of the 

 legislature of Tennessee, and in 1825 returned to 

 congress by the Democratic party. In 1835 he was 

 chosen speaker of the House of Representatives, a 

 position he filled during five sessions with firmness 

 and ability. After serving fourteen years in con- 

 gress, he was in 1839 elected governor of Tennes- 

 see ; but he failed to secure re-election in 1841 and 

 1843. In 1844 lie was nominated as a compromise 

 candidate for the presidency, against Henry Clay, 

 and elected l>v a popular majority of only 38,000, 

 but by 175 electoral votes to 105. His cabinet 

 included James Buchanan as secretary of state 

 and Bancroft, the historian, as secretary of the 

 navy. Folk's firm attitude with regard to the 

 annexation of Texas had mainly secured his elec- 

 tion, and he carried out the policy to which he was 

 committed with promptness and vigour. In his 

 first message to congress, in December 1845, he 

 announced that the western bank of the Nueces 

 River, beyond which Texas had not exercised 

 jurisdiction, was already occupied by American 

 troops. On 29th December Texas was admitted to 

 the Union; on the 31st jurisdiction was extended 

 to the disputed territory beyond the Nueces. 



