PUBLIC WRONG AND PRIVATE ACTION.

The article discusses the question that when does the violation of a criminal statute or ordinance make the wrongdoer civilly responsible in the U.S. Criminal statutes may be classified in all sorts of ways, according to the point of view from which the matter is approached. One basis of classification, however, naturally suggests itself when civil responsibility is under discussion, that is, the distinction between a statute, which forbids an act, and one, which requires affirmative action. This corresponds with a fundamental distinction in the law of torts, and as different principles are involved it will be well to deal separately with these two classes of statutes--those prohibiting action and those requiring action.