kind or any promise or agreement therefor, upon any agreement or understanding that his vote, opinion, action, judgment, or decision, shall be influenced thereby, or because of any such vote, opinion, action, judgment, or decision, shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than two years, or both,"

creates offenses that were unknown to the old statute.

§ 123a. Indictment-Who is Officer?-An indictment must show, as must also the proof, that the act charged was an official act. U. S. vs. Birdsall, 195 Federal, 980. The person charged with violating this statute, must at the time of the violation have been an officer as within the statute provided and described. U. S. vs. Birdsall, 206 Federal, 818.

An "officer" within the meaning of this section where applicable, and Section 117 of the Code, means one who is either appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or by the President alone, the Courts of law, or the heads of some executive department, and a special officer appointed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the suppression of the liquor traffic among the Indians is not an officer of the United States. U. S. vs. Van Wert, 195 Federal, 974.

§ 124. Witness Accepting Bribe.-Section 134 of the new Code, which reads as follows:

"Sec. 134. Whoever, being, or about to be, a witness upon a trial, hearing, or other proceeding, before any court, or any officer authorized by the laws of the United States to hear evidence or take testimony, shall receive, or agree or offer to receive, a bribe, upon any agreement or understanding that his testimony shall be influenced thereby, or that he will absent himself from the trial, hearing, or other proceeding, or because of such testimony, or such absence, shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than two years, or both,"

is likewise an entirely new statute, without any parallel in the Statutes of 1878.

§ 125. Members of Congress Accepting Bribes, Etc. -In the next Chapter, under the head of Offenses Relating to Official Duties, will be found a discussion and citation of the statutes of the new Code, that inhibit members of Con

gress and other United States officers from accepting bribes, such statutes and treatment, however, being in a different Chapter, for the reason that they do not relate directly to offenses against public justice.

CHAPTER VII.

OFFENSES RELATING TO OFFICIAL DUTIES.

§ 126. Extortion, Generally; Definition, Etc.

127. Extortion as a Federal Offense: 5481-85.

128. Receipting for Larger Sums Than are Paid: 5483-86.

129. Species of Embezzlement: 5488, 5489, 5490, 5491, 5492, 5493, 5494, 5495, 5496, and 5497-87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, and 101.

130. Disbursing Officers Unlawfully Converting, Etc., Public Money: New Code, 87.

131. Failure of Treasurer to Safely Keep Public Funds: New Code, 88. 132. Custodians of Public Money Failing to Safely Keep: New Code, 89.

133. Failure of Officer to Render Accounts, Etc.: 90.

134. Failure to Deposit, as Required: New Code, 91.

135. Provisions of the Five Preceding Sections, How Applied: New Code, 92.

136. Record Evidence of Embezzlement: New Code, 93.

137.

138.

Prima Facie Evidence: New Code, 94.

Evidence of Conversion: New Code, 95.

139. Banker, Etc., Receiving Deposit From Disbursing Officer: New Code, 96.

140. Embezzlement by Internal Revenue Officers, Etc.: New Code, 97.

142.

Officer Contracting Beyond Specific Appropriation: 5503-98. Officer of United States Court Failing to Deposit Moneys, Etc.: 5504-99.

143. Receiving Loan or Deposit from Officer of Court: New Code, 100.

144. Failure to Make Returns or Reports: 1780-101.

145. Aiding in Trading in Obscene Literature, Etc.: 1785-102. 146. Collecting and Disbursing Officers Forbidden to Trade in Public Funds: 1788 and 1789-103.

147. Judges, Clerks, Deputies, Marshals, and Attorneys, and Their Deputies Forbidden to Purchase Witness Fees, Etc.: 29 St. L., 595-104.

148. Falsely Certifying, Etc., as to Record of Deeds: New Code, 105. 149. Other False Certificates: New Code, 106.

150. Inspector of Steamboats Receiving Illegal Fees: 5482—107.

151. Pension Agent Taking Fee, Etc.: 5487-108.

152. Officer not to Be Interested in Claims Against United States:

5498-109.

153. Member of Congress, Etc., Soliciting or Accepting Bribe: 1781 and 5500 and 5502-110.

154. Offering, Etc., Member of Congress Bribe: 5450-111.

155. Member of Congress Taking Consideration for Procuring Contracts, Offices, Etc.; Offering Member Consideration, Etc.: 1781-112.

156. Member of Congress Taking Compensation in Matters to Which the United States Is a Party: 1782—113.

157. Member of Congress Not to Be Interested in Contract: 3739114.

158. Officer Making Contract with Member of Congress: 3742-115. 159. Contracts to Which the Two Preceding Sections Do Not Apply: 3740-116.

160. United States Officer Accepting Bribe: 5501 and 5502-117. 161. Political Contributions Not to Be Solicited by Certain Officers: New Code, 118.

162. Political Contributions Not to Be Received in Public Offices: New Code, 119.

163. Immunity from Official Proscription, Etc.: New Code, 120. 164. Giving Money, Etc., to Officials for Political Purposes Prohibited: New Code, 121.

165. Penalty for Violating the Provisions of the Four Preceding Sections, New Code, 122.

166. All of the Above, Civil Service Act: I Sup., 396.

167. Government Officers, Etc., Giving Out Advance Information Respecting Crop Reports: New Code, 123.

168. Government Officer, Etc., Knowingly Compiling or Issuing False Statistics Respecting Crops· New Code, 124.

169. Counterfeiting Weather Forecasts Interfering with Signals, Etc.: 33 St. L., 864.

§ 126. Extortion.-At the Common Law, extortion was one of the forms of malfeasance in office. Mr. Bishop, in his second volume of Criminal Law, at page 225, says that those who assume official position place themselves thereby in circumstances to exert a certain power, which brings with it corrseponding obligations, cognizable by the Criminal Law, and among wrongful official acts, extortion is particularly reprehensible. Hence it is, that the law separates it from the rest under a name of its own. Anderson, in his Dictionary of Law, defines extortion to be "that abuse of public justice which consists in an officer's unlawfully taking, by color of his office, from any man, any money or thing of value that is not due to him, or more than is due, or before it is due, obtaining money or other valuable thing by compulsion or force of motives applied to will." Wharton, in

his second volume of Criminal Law, paragraph 1574, defines extortion as any oppression by color of right. Bishop, in his second volume of Criminal Law, page 225, defines it as the "corrupt demanding or receiving by a person in office of a fee for services which should be rendered gratuitously; or, where compensation is permissible, of a larger fee than the law justifies, or a fee not yet due." Corruption, as used in these definitions, and as applied to the offense of extortion, implies an evil mind; hence it is not committed when the fee comes voluntarily, in return for real benefits conferred, by extra exertions put forth. Second Bishop's Criminal Law page 226; State vs. Stotts, 5 Black., 460; Rex. vs. Baines, 6 Mod., 192; Williams vs. S., 2 Sneed, 160; Evans vs. Trenton, 4 Zab., 764.

§ 127. Federal Offense.-The general statute against extortion was old Section 5481, which limited extortion to an "officer" of the United States. Under the authorities of United States vs. Schlierholz, in 137 Federal, 616, and United States vs. same, in 133 Federal, 333, and the cases therein cited, it appeared that the various bureaus of the Executive and Judicial Departments of the Government were administering their respective affairs through so many agents and clerks and employees, who, in turn, could and did practice extortion and such sort of malfeasance, but who are not really "officers" within the meaning of the Act and the decisions and authorities above referred to, that Congress passed the Act of June 28, 1906, amending Section 5481, which is now practically re-enacted in Section 85 of the new Code, which is in the following words:

"Sec. 85. Every officer, clerk, agent, or employee of the United States, and every person representing himself to be or assuming to act as such officer, clerk, agent, or employee, who, under color of his office, clerkship, agency, or employment, or under color of his pretended or assumed office, clerkship, agency, or employment, is guilty of extortion, and every person who shall attempt any act which if performed would make him guilty of extortion, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."

The above statute includes not only every officer of the United States, but every clerk, agent, employee, and every other person.