Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/819

UNITED STiTES V. SNYDEE. ���805 ���The United States v. Snydee and another, �(Gircuii Court, D. Minnesota. September, 1881.) �1. Criminal Law— Falsb Retdbnb bt Postmasteks — Accessoriks— Act op �. Jdmb 30, 1879. �One who aids and abets a postmaster in committing the ofiEence protided against by the provisions ot the aet of June 17, 1878, which declares that a I)ostmaster malcing a false return shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, etc., is guilty of the same oiience, and liable to the same punishment, as hia principal. �Wm. W. Billson, U. S. Atty., for the United States. �C. D. O'Brien, for defendant Bertram, �Nelson, D. J, The prisoners, Snyder and Bertram, were arrested on complaint, charging — �"That Snyder and Bertram, the said Snyder being postmaster, did unlaw- fully and knowingly make to the auditor of the United States, for the post- oflace, in said Snyder's name, a false return, * * * for the purpose of fraudulently increasing his compensation as such postmaster, under the pro- visions of the act of June 30, 1879," �The act referred to declares "that the postmaster making a false return shall bo deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction, punished," etc. �An application is made for the dispharge of Bertram, ■who,, it is admitted, is not a postmaster. He was arrested as an aider of the postmaster in the commission of the offence. �The defendant's counsel insist that no person but the postmaster can commit the act made orirainarby the statute, and be puuished under it. The general doctrine that in misdemeanors all connected with the offence are principals, iscpnceded; but it is urged that the polioy of congress in respect to the postal System, as shown by the numerous laws creating offences, would limit this one and the punish- ment affixed in this statute to the postmaster. I cannot assent to this view of the law. The act of the postmaster being declared a misdemeanor, it was evidently the intention of congress to make it 80 for all purposes. �An employe of the postmaster, or a person not connected with the office, has no right to procure or aid in the commission of this offence, and it is not reasonable to suppose congress intended to change the general principle of the law. If it had been enacted that the post- master who made a false return should be guilty of a felony, the new felony created by the statute has all the incidents it would have at common law, and an accessory before the fact could be punished, ��� �