Lower coast gazette., 1909-03-20
Can a Corporation Commit a Grime2

All law Is intended to protect first the person, and next the
property Of persons. This naturally divides the administration OF
law into two sections, criminal and civil. On the criminal side OF
law it is again divided, to control actual crimes and so-caned mis-
demeanors, The civil law, and by this we do not mean the Ro-
man civil law, but the laws protecting property as between per-
sons, ordinarily involves the values Of property and damages OF
property and incidental damages only.
Corporations have been seriously objected to in the beginning
in nearly every civilized country. The power OF the individual
man, such as came to him by Inheritance or by his personal ac-
auirements of property Or influence was regarded as sufficient
power to be placed in the hands Of any one person. AS civiiza-
ton advanced, it was soon seen that the average men could not well
engage in any undertaking excepting by combining with other
men. On this account and to enable such combinations, the laws
permitting the incorporation of companies were secured. The
laws of every state indicate in a general way just what powers are
granted to corporations and the chief right secured to them is that
the individual factors making up corporation shall not be held liz
able for any loss resulting from the corporate business, provided
that their stock is full paid in accordance with the charter. Every
.seffort is made by legislatures to carefully guard the public against
{ any improper powers in charters to corporations. In fact, in most
Of the states Of the federal union charters can not now be granted
by special legislation, there being prohihitc constitutional pro-
visions therefor, and, hence, all charters granted under a general
law. These general laws preclude, Of course, any possible sane
ton of criminal action on the part Of the corporation as such.
In the. recent cases against the sugar trust, the Standard Oil
Company and others, for q violation of the law, the verdict rem
s.dered resulted in fines against the corporations which seem to ad-
NIT the possibility Of a corporation as such, committing a crime
The New York Journal Of commerce in recently discussing the re-
yersal of Judge Lands decision in the famous rebate case,
wherein he fined the Standard Oil Company Twenty-Five millions
of dollars, which decision has now been lost in the second trial be-
cause Of a lack of proof, adverts to the fact that the plea has been
now made that a corporation cannot commit a crime The decision
Of Judge Day, concurred in unanimously BY the other judges, was
to the effect that while some of the earlier writers on common law
held that corporation cannot commit a crime, the modern courts
J, universally held to the contrary, thereby creating many decisions
SIN the case
To US this seems to be a retrogressive decision. It is scarcely
presumable that the Legislatures Of the land have been willing t.
build up corporations that can control enormousc capital, and which
could incidentally commit great crimes, and even Judge Day ad
mits that under the apparent decisions of the common law it was
formerly held that corporations could commit no crime. It is nov
nantes. that the change of opinion in the courts which is perhaps
justifedhy q change in popular opinion, has come about by thu
yast iinarease in the number Of corporations carrying on ames