RECEIVER. 74T RECIDIVISTS. purpose of preserving the property and continu- ing it in business by issuing receiver's certificates, which are made a first lien on the property. This will ordinarily be done only when some public in- terest will be subserved by the continuance of the property in business, as in the case of railroads or other public-service companies. Such certifi- cates, when issued, are non-negotiable securities, payable out of the fund in the receiver's hands. They create no pei-sonal liability and their valid- ity depends upon their compliance with the order authorizing their issue. If issued below par the holder can recover only the amount actually re- ceived for tliem by the receiver unless he was authorized to issue them at a discount. One who indorses a receiver's certificate does not become liable as an indorser of negotiable papers, but as a mere assignor only. The holders in general will not be allowed to sue upon them, but may in a proper case obtain an order of the court directing their payment. See Chancery ; Equity. Con- sult: High, Treatise on the Laic of Receivers (3d ed., Chicago, ISO-t) : Short. Railroad Bonds and Mortgages (Boston, 1897) ; Cababe, Receivers hy Way of Equitable Execution (3d ed., Lon- don, 1900) ; Kerr, Treatise on the Law and Prac- tice as to Receivers (4th ed., ib., 1900). RECEIVING SHIP. In' the United States Xavy, vessels are stationed at each navy yard for the enlistment of men and to furnish quarters for men from the time of their enlistment until drafted into sea-going ships. While on board these receiving ships the men are drilled and trained as far as the time of their retention and other circumstances will permit. On some re- ceiving ships there are schools for yeomen (ship's clerks ) . petty oflicers, etc. RECEIVING STOLEN GOODS. A criminal ofl'ense which consists in taking possession or control of stolen goods with a guilty knowledge of the fact and wfth the frau<lulcnt or dishonest intention of continuing to deprive the rightful owner of the possession of his property. 13y the early common law in England, the ofl'ense was merely a misdemeanor, but by statute it has been made' a felony. In the majority of the United States it is a "distinct criminal offense, classed as a felony, and is punishable with about the same se.verity as larceny. A number of States classify the offense under the general head of larceny. Consult the authorities referred to under Ceim- ix.i, L.wv. RECENT PERIOD (Lat. recens, fresh, new). In geology, the name given to the epoch that has elapsed since the Pleistocene and the beginning of history. Jilany geologists now- incl ude it under the Pleistocene period ( q.v. ) . trace with an}- definiteness either their origin or histor}-. According to II. Kings x. I5-2S, Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, displayed great zeal for the Yahweh worship in the days of Jehu. In the days of Jeremiah the Rechabites are found in .Judah and the.v took refuge in Jeru- salem when Kebuchadnezzar invaded the land (■Jer. XXXV.). In Xehemiah iii. 14, Malchiah, the son of Rechab, is mentioned as one of those who assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. The Rechabites represent the extreme conserva- tive element -of the Hebrew and allied clans which maintained the old nomadic customs and rites and opposed the higher foims of culture. They con- tinued to live in tents, and their antagonism to agriculture manifests itself in their scruples aljout drinking wine (Jer. xxxv. 6-10), w-hieh in the ancient Orient was a .symbol of agricultural fertility. This element was probably not limited to any single clan; the same conservative tend- ency appears in various incidents in the Old Tes- tament. For example, in the narrative of Cain and Abel a distinct preference is shown for Abel, the pastoral nomad, over Cain, the agriculturist. And again in Genesis ix. 20-27 the Rechabite point of view is represented in the story of Xoah and the vineyard which he planted. Consult the Old Testament theologies of Oehler, Schultz, and Dillmann; also Smend, Altlestamentliche Reli- gionsgeschichte (Freiburg, 1893) ; Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites (2d ed., London, 1894) ; Bennett, Commentary on Jeremiah (ib., 1895) ; Budde. The Religion of Israel to the Exile (New York, 1899). RECIDIVISTS (from Lat. recidivus, falling back, from recidere, to fall back, from re-, back again, anew -|- cadere, to fall ) . The term ap- plied in penologTi' to those who have been more than once sentenced for crime, i.e. old offenders. It is a striking commentary on the eft'cctiveness of penal systems that according to official returns from the leading nations of the world the recidi- vists are 40 per cent, or moi-e of the prison popu- lation. Z. R. Brockway estimated the percentage in the prisons of Xew York at not less than GO; while W. D. Jlorrison, of England, estimates that the percentage is not less than 70, It is even possible to find an individual who has been ar- rested 1000 times, while in the large cities, even of America, individuals who have served more than 100 short sentences are by no means unknown, H, il. Boies estimates that "at least tw-o-thirds of the crimes in America are committed by recidi- vists and that the vearly cost of their incarcera- tion could be estimated" at .$400,000,000," Yvernes in his work, La Recidive en Europe, gives the following table : HELAP8ED Once .. Twice. Thrice England, 1871 Prisoners 387c 18% «% Sweden, 1871 Tbieres 51% 28-;o 16% France, 182G-74 Tried 45% 20% 35% Italy. 1870 Tried 60% 30% 10% Scotland 16% 13% RECHABITES, rek'a-blts (Heb, RekShim, from Rekah, Rechab). A Kenite clan (see Kexites) who retained their nomadic habits and mode of life in the midst of agricultural Palestine. The notices of them in the Old Testament are too few to make it possible to Vol. XVI.-48. According to the census of 1890 the percentage of recidivists in the United States was 2G.42. This is undoubtedly far too low, as criminals in America conceal their identity by passing from State to State. None of the foregoing figures can be accepted as absolute, and comparisons between
