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FORGERY (derived through the French f...

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 663 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FORGERY (derived through the See also:French from Latin fabricare, to construct) , in See also:English See also:law, " the fraudulent making or alteration of a See also:writing to the See also:prejudice of another See also:man's right," or " the false making, or making male animo, of any written See also:instrument for the purpose of See also:fraud or deceit." This See also:definition, it will be seen, comprehends all fraudulent tampering with documents. "Not only the fabrication and false making of the whole of a written instrument, but a fraudulent insertion, alteration or erasure, even of a See also:letter, in any material See also:part of a true instrument whereby a new operation is given to it, will amount to forgery,—and this though it be afterwards executed by another See also:person ignorant of the deceit " (See also:Russell on Crimes and Misdemeanours, vol. ii.). Changing the word See also:Dale into See also:Sale in a See also:lease, so that it appears to be a lease of the See also:manor of Sale instead of the manor of Dale, is a forgery. And when a See also:country banker's See also:note was made payable at the See also:house of a banker in See also:London who failed, it was held to be forgery to alter the name of such London banker to that of another London banker with whom the country banker had subsequently made his notes payable. As to the fraud, `` an See also:intent to defraud is presumed to exist if it appears that at the See also:time when the false document was made there was in existence a specific person, ascertained or unascertained, capable of being defrauded thereby; and this presumption is not rebutted by See also:proof that the offender took or intended to take See also:measures to prevent such person from being defrauded in fact, nor by the fact that he had or thought he had a right to the thing to be obtained by the false document" (See also:Stephen's See also:Digest of the Criminal Law). Thus when a man makes a false See also:acceptance to a See also:bill of See also:exchange, and circulates it, intending to take it up and actually taking it up before it is presented for. See also:payment, he is guilty of forgery. Even if it be proved as a See also:matter of fact that no person could be defrauded (as when A forges a See also:cheque in B's name on a See also:bank from which B had withdrawn his See also:account), the intent to defraud will be presumed. But it would appear that if A knew that B had withdrawn his account, the See also:absence, of fraudulent intention would be inferred. A See also:general intention to cheat the public is not the See also:kind of fraud necessary to constitute forgery. Thus if a See also:quack forges a diploma of the See also:college of surgeons, in See also:order to make See also:people believe that he is a member of that See also:body, he is not guilty of forgery. The See also:crime of forgery in English. law has been from time to time dealt with in an enormous number of statutes. It was first made a statutory offence in 1562, and was punishable by See also:fine, by See also:standing in the See also:pillory, having both ears cut off, the nostrils slit up and seared, the See also:forfeiture of See also:land and perpetual imprisonment.

It was made See also:

capital, without benefit of See also:clergy in 1634. The most notable cases of those who have suffered the extreme See also:penalty of the law are those of the Rev, Dr W. See also:Dodd in 1777, for See also:forging See also:Lord See also:Chesterfield's name on a See also:bond, and See also:Henry See also:Fauntleroy, a partner • in the banking-house of See also:Marsh, See also:Sibbald & Co., for the See also:appropriation by means of forged See also:instruments of See also:money entrusted to the bank, in 1824. " See also:Anthony See also:Hammond, in the See also:title Forgery of his Criminal See also:Code, has enumerated more than 400 statutes which contain provisions against the offence " (See also:Sir J. T. See also:Coleridge's notes to See also:Blackstone). Blackstone notices the increasing severity of the legislature against forgery, and says that " through the number of these general and See also:special provisions there is now hardly a See also:case possible to be conceived wherein forgery that tends to defraud, whether in the name of a real or fictitious person, is not made a capital crime." These acts were consolidated in 183o. The later statutes, fixing penalties from penal See also:servitude for See also:life downwards, were consolidated by the Forgery See also:Act 1861. It would take too much space to enumerate all the varieties of the offence with their appropriate punishments. The following condensed See also:summary is based upon See also:chapter x1v. of Sir J. Stephen's Digest of the Criminal Law: 1. Forgeries punishable with penal servitude for life as a maximum are (a) Forgeries of the See also:great See also:seal, privy seal, &c.

(b) Forgeries of transfers of stock, See also:

India bonds, See also:exchequer bills, bank-notes, deeds, See also:wills, bills of exchange, &c. (c) Obliterations or alterations of See also:crossing on a cheque. (d) Forgeries of registers of See also:birth, &c., or of copies thereof and others. 2. Forgeries punishable with fourteen years' penal servitude are (a) Forgeries of See also:debentures. (b) Forgeries of documents See also:relating to the registering of deeds, &c. (c) Forgeries of instruments purporting to be made by the account-See also:ant general and other See also:officers of the See also:court of See also:chancery, &c. (d) See also:Drawing bill of exchange, &c., on account of another, per See also:procuration or otherwise, without authority. (e) Obtaining See also:property by means of a forged instrument, knowing it to be forged, or by See also:probate obtained on a forged will, false See also:oath, &c. 3. Forgeries punishable with seven years' penal servitude:—Forgeries of See also:seals of courts, of the See also:process of courts, of certificates, and of documents to be used in See also:evidence, &c. By the Merchandise Marks Acts 1887 and 1891, forgery of See also:trade marks is an offence punishable on conviction by See also:indictment with imprisonment not exceeding two years or to fine, or both, and on conviction by summary proceedings with imprisonment not exceeding four months or with a fine.

The Forged Transfers Act 1891, made retrospective by the Forged Transfers Act 1892, enables companies and See also:

local authorities to make See also:compensation by a See also:cash payment out of their funds for any loss arising from a See also:transfer of their See also:stocks, shares or securities through a forged transfer. See also:United States.—Forgery is made a crime by See also:statute in most if not all the states, in addition to being a See also:common law cheat. These statutes have much enlarged the common definition of this crime. It is also made a crime by a Federal statute (U.S. Rev. Stat., ch. 5), which includes forgery of See also:national banknotes, letters patent, public bid, See also:record, See also:signature of a See also:judge, land warrants, See also:powers of See also:attorney, See also:ships' papers or See also:custom-house documents, certificates of See also:naturalization, &c.; the See also:punishment is by fine or by imprisonment from one to fifteen years with or without hard labour. In See also:Illinois, fraudulently connecting together different parts of several banknotes or other genuine instruments so as to See also:pro-duce one additional note or instrument with intent to pass all as genuine, is a forgery of each of them (Rev. Stats. 1901, ch. 38, § 1o8). The alleged instrument must be apparently capable of defrauding (See also:Goodman v.

People [1907], 228, See also:

Ill. 154). In See also:Massachusetts, forgery of any note, certificate or bill of See also:credit issued by the See also:state treasurer and See also:receiver general, or by any other officer, for a See also:debt of that See also:commonwealth, or a bank bill of any bank, is punishable by imprisonment for life or any See also:term of years (Rev. See also:Laws 1902, ch. 209, §§ 4 and 5). In New See also:York, forgery includes the false making, See also:counterfeiting, alteration, erasure or obliteration of a genuine instrument (Penal Code, § 520). An officer or See also:agent of a See also:corporation who with intent to defraud sells, pledges or issues a fraudulent See also:scrip, See also:share certificate, is guilty of forgery in third degree. Falsely making any instrument which purports to be issued by a corporation bearing a pretended signature of a person falsely indicated as an officer of the See also:company, is forgery just as if such person were in truth such officer (id. § 519). Counterfeiting railroad tickets is forgery in the third degree. Falsely certifying that the See also:execution of a See also:deed has been acknowledged is forgery (id. §511).

So also is the forging a fictitious name (People v. See also:

Browne [1907], 103 N.Y. suppl. 903). Punishment for forgery in the first degree may be twenty years, in the second degree ten years, in the third degree five years. In See also:Pennsylvania, fraudulently making, See also:signing, altering, uttering or See also:publishing any written instrument other than bank bills, cheques or drafts, was punishable by fine and imprisonment" by See also:separate or solitary confinement at labour for a term not exceeding ten years " (L. 186o, See also:March 31); forging bank bills, &c., for a term not exceeding five years. Defacing, removing, or counterfeiting brands from See also:lumber floating• in any See also:river is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine (L. 1887, May 23). Fraudulently using the registered See also:mark of another on lumber is punishable by fine or imprisonment by solitary confinement for a term not exceeding three years (id.). In See also:Tennessee, forgery may be committed by typewriting the body of and signature to an instrument which may be the subject of forgery (1906; State v. See also:Bradley, 116 Tenn. 711).

In See also:

Vermont, the act of 1904, p. 135, no. 115, § 24, authorizes licensees to sell intoxicating liquors only on the written See also:prescription of a legally qualified physician stating that it " is given and necessary for medicinal use." It was held that a prescription containing no such statement was invalid and the alteration thereof was not forgery (1906; State v. McManus, 78 St. 433). FORGET-ME-NOT, or See also:SCORPION-GRASS (Ger. Vergissmeinnicht, Fr. gremillet, scorpionne), the name popularly applied to the small See also:annual or perennial herbs forming the genus Myosotis of the natural order See also:Boraginaceae, so called from the See also:Greek Os, a See also:mouse, and ovs, an See also:ear, on account of the shape of the leaves. The genus is represented in See also:Europe, See also:north See also:Asia, North See also:America and See also:Australia, and is characterized by oblong or linear See also:stem-leaves, See also:flowers in terminal scorpioid cymes, small See also:blue, See also:pink or See also:white flowers, a five-cleft persistent calyx, a See also:salver-or See also:funnel-shaped corolla, having its mouth closed by five See also:short scales and hard, smooth, shining nutlets. The common or true forget-me-not, M. palustris, is a perennial plant growing to a height of 6 to 18 in., with rootstock creeping, stem clothed with lax spreading hairs, leaves See also:light See also:green, and somewhat shining, buds pink, becoming blue as they expand, and corolla rotate, broad, with retuse lobes and See also:bright blue with a yellow centre. The divisions of the calyx extend only about one-third the length of the corolla, whereas in the other See also:British See also:species of Myosotis it is deeply cleft. The forget-me-not, a favourite with poets, and the See also:symbol of constancy, is a frequent See also:ornament of See also:brooks, See also:rivers and ditches, and, according to an old See also:German tradition, received its name from the last words of a See also:knight who was drowned in the See also:attempt to procure the See also:flower for his See also:lady. It attains its greatest perfection under cultivation, and, as it flowers throughout the summer, is used with See also:good effect for See also:garden See also:borders; a variety, M. slrigulosa, is more hairy and erect, and its flowers are smaller.

In M. versicolor the flowers are yellow when first open and See also:

change generally to a dull blue; sometimes they are permanently yellowish-white. Of the species in cultivation, M. dissitiflora, 6 to 8 in., with large handsome abundant See also:sky-blue flowers, is the best and earliest, flowering from See also:February onwards; it does well in light cool soils, prefer-See also:ring peaty ones, and should be renewed annually from seeds or cuttings. M. rupicola, or M. alpestris, 2 to 3 in., intense blue, is a fine See also:rock plant, preferring shady situations and gritty See also:soil; M. azorica (a native of the See also:Azores) with See also:purple, ultimately blue flowers about See also:half an See also:inch across, has a similar See also:habit but larger flowers; M. sylvatica, 1 ft., blue, pink or white, used for See also:spring bedding, should be sown annually in See also:August.

End of Article: FORGERY (derived through the French from Latin fabricare, to construct)

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