NOTES AND ABSTRACTS 285
condemned no hope of escape in case of a relapse. If the penalty were not fixed in advance, one might hope to escape the penalty for the first offense through disap- pearance of the witnesses, failure to preserve the evidence, etc. With the penalty fixed in advance, it is a menace more certain and consequently more efficacious. In France the suspension can be applied in case of all sentences to imprisonment and the period of probation is five years. In Belgium the suspension applies only where the penalty is not more than six months' imprisonment. The duration of the proba- tion is left to the discretion of the judge.
Statistics as to the result of this policy in the several countries are incomplete in that some countries have no correct record of the number of relapses.
However, the progressive application of the system and the low rate of relapses where statistics are available, testify sufficiently to the good results of the policy. In France about one-fourth of the criminals entitled to the suspension have had it applied to them. The number of suspensions has increased from 11,807 i n 1891. to 28,497 in 1899. The relapses in 1899 amounted to only 1.4 per cent.
The French system has been adopted in Portugal, Norway, Switzerland, and other countries. R BERENGER, " Des re"sultats de la condamnation conditionelle," in Bul- letin de V Union Internationale de Droit PJnal, Vol. X, No. 2, p. 302.
J. D.
The Formative Principle of Sociology. Every science has a great forma- tive principle. It is ever at work transmitting constructive energy. The lines of its operation may be new to men, but in reality are as old as creation. Wherever on the face of the earth two or more men and women have lived and labored and loved, there the rudiments of the science are traceable. All the time they have throbbed in the social body and moved it on to destiny.
The present need of understanding as clearly as possible the formative principle of the science is very real. There are many voices in the air seeking to make the matter plain. The practical effect of one is this : Separate out the really good people, and consign the rest to dealings of an uncertain providence. This is the old argument of "the remnant." It has always resulted in failure for all concerned. Another says : "Begin society anew; wipe out the past, and begin on a new basis." There is no such thing as freeing the present from the past : tomorrow, today will be a part of it.
The unseen cords of moral gravitation bind all members of associated life together. A particle of lifeless matter might as well try to escape the power of gravitation exercised on it by all the rest of the round world, and of the stars in heire course, as for one to attempt to cut the invisible cords of connection and influtenc which vitally make him one of the social body. One particle of reality touches every other particle, whether it be of matter or spirit. So that the social problem is this : How can I and my neighbor live and work together for mutual advantage ?
The purposed disregard of this great social fact has often resulted in making some of the bloodiest and most uncalled for pages of history. It was the custom in France and all continental Europe, not many generations ago, to regard all the good things of the earth as predestined for the few ; the many did not count. This self- imposed delusion developed into a social tornado. The Civil War was waged to scourge out and beyond the republic the pagan contempt of labor and the laborer. It conclusively proved that the other man, the seller of muscle and skill, whether white or black, could not be eliminated.
There never was a profounder yet simpler statement of necessary sociological relation than the words of Paul : " None of us liveth to himself." Love is the belief that I and my neighbor ought to live peaceably and advantageously together, ripened into conviction. With every inch of social gain it makes more clear and certain that out of present discussion shall come more satisfying views of mutual obligation, and these in turn shall give foundation to a perfected society. The law of love is the formative principle of sociology. REV. BURNETT T. STAFFORD, in Bibliotheca Sacra for April, 1903. A- B.
Effects of the Conditional Reprieve in France. From 1892 to 1899 the annual number of reprieves granted by the courts of assizes was 61, 36, 25, 32, 24, 43, 48, 51. These figures are insignificant except as showing a tendency to increase.
