The sun., 1918-08-18
Louis Malvy's Case
in France Attracts
Worlds Attention
to Code Napoleon
Penalty
By F. CUNLIFFE-OWEN.

Deputies and as former Minister of the
Interior, is penalty so unfamiliar 20 :he
English speaking raees and possesses IN
their ears such a sound of mediayalism
that some explanation concerning the
matter may prove of interest.
Punishment is Il punishment that can
not be found in the statutes either of the
United States or of the United Kingdom.
True, the Governments OF these two coun-
tries retain the right to expel from their
territories undesirable aliens. But from
the moment that man becomes an Amer
lean citizen or citizen oil Great Brit
ain the Governments ut Washington and
in London cease to have the power 20 de-
port him to any foreign land Gnless .hcJ
have cancelled his naturalization papers.
One of the Cherished Rights.
Among the most cherished of consti!u
tional prerogativcs of the citizen of both
these great Powers is the right to abide
in his own country. Exile Is punish
ment unknown to the common law of The
United States and Great Britain in these
modern times. Were it considered nee
essary for the welfare-of the nation 10
impose the penalty of banishment on any
United States citizen-nativc born--a
special act of Congress would have To be
passed, precisely in the same way that
special act of the Parliament would be
needed to enable the English Crown 10
Danish any of It's subjects.
In Great Britain the constitutional
rights of the citizen are so literally COLI
strucd that although within the REALM the
sovereign may command the service OF all
his lieges, vet he cannot send any one out
of the realm. even upon public ser'lc',
excepting soldiers and sailors. He actl-
allv NAV not send citizen abroad IN
dinlomatic or consular capacity against
his will, for this might be made 4 si'ecies
of honorable exile.
In Franco. however, and in other ron
tinental countries, especially those where
the Code Napoleon constitutes the basis
of law, Punishment is retained as pun
ishment for crime, and is usually accom-
panied by forfeiture of all civil nights.
II is. in the words of the Code Napoleon,
a peine infdmante. In the ease OF LOUIS
Malvy, however, he does not suffer the
forfeiture Of his civil rights.
Bani.hes Habitual Criminals.
There are several crimes and telonles
for which the French courts impose ban
ishment, sometimes to follow imprlson-
ment with hard labor and sometimes with
out Imprisonment. Habitual criminals are
hanisbcd In fact the French code seems
TO take the ground that there are large
number of persons belonging to the erlmi-
nal classes WHOM it is more profitable to
banish with what is known as civic degra-
dation than to maintain them in some
French peniten.iary or penal colony.
Then there are the crimes against the
State. such as that of which Malvy has
been convicted.
Nineteen or twenty years ago the
French Senate, sitting as high court of
iustice. also condemned the late Paul De-
rou,ede as well as the Comte de Lur-
Saluecs and Andre Buffet to Punishment
after conviction of conspiracy 10 over
throw the republic, but more especially
because they were proved to have dis
obeyed those particular clauses of the
Penal Code which prohibit citizens from
instigating either fellow citizens or ser
wants of the State TO disobey orders of
and laws Of the land. These
paragraphs are 12i and 125 of the Penal
Code, which provide that in extreme cases
the penalty of death may be imposed.
But their exile was not Of long DURATION
Their patriotism and their ardent love for
France had never been questioned. Popu-
lar sentiment exaeted their speedy am
nesty as well as the full restoration OF