CRIME 



1636 



CRIME 



English cricket clubs to make alterations that 

 would quicken the game and add to the spec- 

 tators' interest. All such appeals have failed, 

 because as one noted player remarked, "It 

 would not then be cricket." 



In Canada, cricket has suffered to a certain 

 extent by the competition of baseball, which is 

 growing in popularity in the Dominion, but 

 there are many excellent clubs which produce 

 teams that can hold their own with some of 

 the best in England. The game of cricket has 

 probably reached its greatest stage of perfec- 

 tion in Australia, where on account of the 

 climate it may be played all the year. w.c. 



Consult Spaldtng's Cricket Guide, for details of 

 the game. Warner's Cricket in Many Climes and 

 Cricket Across the Seas are Interesting descrip- 

 tive books. 



CRIME, any offense against the peace, order 

 or laws of a state. Such acts as burglary, 

 arson, forgery, bribery, counterfeiting and mur- 

 der are obviously injurious to the welfare of 

 society. There are other crimes, however, 

 which are not necessarily injurious; these are 

 usually acts of omission rather than commis- 

 sion. For example, a factory owner may neg- 

 lect to provide fire escapes on his building. 

 His factory may burn while he is miles away, 

 and the lives of employees may be lost. He 

 actually did nothing to cause the disaster, yet 

 the law may say that he was guilty of man- 

 slaughter. As a general rule a crime of omis- 

 sion is an act which would not be a crime 

 if it were not especially declared so by a 

 statute, whereas a crime of commission is obvi- 

 ously shocking and harmful. 



The Essential Elements. The first essential 

 element in any crime is the criminal intent. 

 The law considers the intention of the person, 

 on the basis of the evidence. An act of vio- 

 lence, even murder, is not a crime if it is 

 committed in self-defense or as the result of 

 an accident, or if it is committed by a public 

 officer in the discharge of his duty. The law, 

 too, regards certain classes of persons, such as 

 young children, imbeciles and lunatics, as in- 

 capable of having criminal intentions. Under 

 certain circumstances a crime committed under 

 compulsion is considered justified. The phrase 

 criminal intent, therefore, is somewhat mislead- 

 ing, for the courts really consider all the evi- 

 dence and the obligation of an individual as 

 well as his intention, in fixing the responsi- 

 bility for a- crime. 



The definition of crime has varied greatly 

 in different ages and in different countries. 



Even to-day there are many acts which are 

 counted crimes in one land and not in others. 

 In the earfy stages of society all wrongs 

 against individuals were considered matters for 

 private vengeance. The modern idea is that, 

 since the state guarantees protection to all its 

 citizens in the pursuit of life, liberty and hap- 

 piness, any offense which threatens the security 

 of all members of society becomes a matter 

 for public concern, even if aimed against an 

 obscure citizen. If the injury is not strictly 

 anti-social in character like trespass or false 

 imprisonment, for instance it is called tort, or 

 private wrong, and is punishable by civil law 

 (see TORT). There are some acts, such as 

 assault and battery, which may be prosecuted 

 both by the state under criminal law and by 

 the individual under the law of torts. 



Three classes of crimes are recognized in 

 common law treason, felonies and misde- 

 meanors although the present tendency is to 

 class treason under felony. Felonies are crimes 

 which are punishable by death or imprison- 

 ment in a state prison for more than one year. 

 All other, offenses are included under the head 

 of misdemeanors and are punishable by fine 

 only, by a short term of imprisonment in a 

 workhouse or by both fine and imprisonment. 



Criminal Law. Criminal law defines public 

 wrongs, or crimes, and endeavors to mete out 

 punishment according to the degree of guilt, 

 just as civil law protects against private 

 wrongs. The tendency of present-day criminal 

 legislation is away from the old idea of retri- 

 bution for wrong-doing and toward the newer 

 idea of reforming the criminal and protecting 

 society. During the past century there has 

 been in all civilized countries a strong current 

 in the direction of less severity in the inflic- 

 tion of punishment, particularly where the 

 death penalty is concerned. 



The criminal law has a certain elasticity by 

 means of which the presiding judge is given 

 considerable power of discretion in regard to 

 the sentence. That is to say, the law pre- 

 scribes a maximum and a minimum penalty, 

 and upon the judge is placed the responsi- 

 bility of deciding the degree of the prisoner's 

 guilt. This naturally leads to 'a great lack of 

 uniformity in the allotment of prison terms. 

 There is strong agitation at present on the 

 subject of the indeterminate sentence, and 

 many of the more advanced states are pass- 

 ing new laws which aim at keeping the crim- 

 inal under treatment in prison until he is 

 pronounced fit for freedom. W.F.Z. 



