Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-01-11

mousse In her escape from San Do
mingo, with her younger sister, by a
British warship, she saw her grand
| mother. who was in her party, killed
py a bullet Of one Of the revolving ne
groes. She was very beautiful wo-
man. woman of great culture, wide
reading, and a real helpmeet of Liv-
ingston in his political career there
after. He always kept open house in
New Orleans, Washington, and Paris,
and Mrs. Livingston presided in his
home with grace and charm, and dis
| tlnction that all the statesmen of the
day noted.
FROM his earliest experience in Con-
gress, Livingston had manifested an
| interest in reform of the criminal
laws, and had moved resolution for a
revision of the criminal laws of the
United States while he was still a rep
resentative in Congress from New York
lie had an interest in the humanizing
| or the criminal laws and the punishment
| OF criminals as deep and earnest as that
or Romilly Of Howard In 1921 the
Legislature of Louisiana elected him to
revise the entire system of criminal law
OIL the State. He was admirably fitted
TO do this. He had a profound under
standing of Jurisprudence, and the w4d-
est knowledge of the codes of the vari-
Gus legal systems of the world, espe-
ciaily the common law the Roman law,
the civil law, the Spanish code and the
Code Napoleon He had fuency in
felicitous, accurate, lucid terse but
comprehensive expression that was re-
n tnn1y
needed in a law-giver.
Fire Destroyed Work of Years.
With the most absorbing industry,
Livingston devoted his attention to the
preparation of what was certainly an
| opus magnum." He called his work a
penal system consisting of four codes,
code defining crimes, a code of crimi-
nal procedure. code of evidence code
of prison reform with an appendix of
definitions. He wrote in his report to
the Legislature volume of explanation
and argument to justify each code which
he had prepared. After he had devoted
three years to this labor and had pre-
pared the manuscript for the printer,
he suffered the unusual misfortune of
having his entire manuscript of which
he had no copy, destroyed by fire. But
so clearly defined in his mind had his
work become that in two years more
he was able to reproduce both the code
and his argument for 1t and his ex-
PLANTATION. No one can read even in a
cursory way as l have done, the plan
OF the code. his explanations of it, and
the style of the various sections in 1t,
without joining the world of his time
in profound admiration for his work. 1t
gave him a reputation abroad as a jurist
on the continent certainly equalling that
OF either Story, Marshall or Kent He
was made a member of the Institutes of
many countries. notably that of France,
and the great American lawyers all pro-
nounced encomiums upon his work
Bentham. the great English philosopher
and law reformer, was most pronounced
in his praise of the work
He was fifty years ahead of his day
in the liberality of his enlightened pro-
visions for punishment. In the pre-
amble of the code he proposed was this
| Vengeance is unknown to the law.
The only object of punishment is to
prevent the commission of offences; it
should be calculated to operate First
on the delinquent. so as by seclusion to
deprive him of the present means, and
by habits of industry and temperance of
any future desire to repeat the offence
! Secondly, on the rest of the commun-
ity, so as to deter them by the example
from like contravention of the laws.
No punishments greater than are neces-
sary to effect these ends ought to be
inflicted.
But penal laws should not be multi
piled without evident necessity; there
fore acts. although injurious to indi-
viduals or societies. should not be made
liable to public prosecution when they
may be sufficiently repressed by private
suit"
| Again:
"Penals laws should be written in
| plain language, clearly and unequivo-
cally expressed, that they may neither
be misunderstood nor perverted; they
should be SO concise as to be remem-
bered with ease; and all technical
phrases or words they contain should
be clearly defined.
| The law should never command more
than it can enforce. Therefore, when
ever. from public opinion or any other
cause. a penal law cannot be carried
into execution, it should be repeated"
| Opposed to Capital Punishment
| He was very much opposed to capital
punishment. and made the punishment
| hard labor for life. He was very anX-
ious to prevent contamination of GRIM
malls by association, and he provided
for separate confinement of the prison
crs. He divided them into classes.
Those under Is he sent to one prison of
reform and those above IS to another.
He provided vocational education for
the younger class. Modern penologists
may not agree with all his ideas but
the liberality of his purpose and the
general practical details that he in
serted in his code arc quite wonderful,
in view of the conditions that then pre-
I vailed. 1t is not surprising that in
view Of this work, Sir Henry Main, him
self a great expoGnder Of law. spoke of
Livingston las the first legal genius of
modern times"
| The Legislature of Louisiana was not
sufficiently progressive and courageous
to adopt his code. But many states
have borrowed from II HE codo ~