INCENDIARISM, or ARSON (from Lat. incendere, to set on fire), the criminal malicious voluntary burning of the property of another. In common law the term is confined to the burning of houses or buildings of what ever kind. In Roman law the penalty of death was provided for the incendiary; and in all civilized countries provisions have been made for the severe punishment of criminals of this class. The Saxon law of England also pro vided the death penalty for incendiarism; and even as late as the reign of King John the law remained, in this respect, unchanged. In Saxon times, and probably even later, the sen tence of the court was carried out by burning, and later by hanging. Under the Tudors, any one convicted of incendiarism was deprived of the right of clergy, and even in particular cases was held to have committed high treason. The English Malicious Damage Act of 1861 defined as incendiarism (and as such, felonies), the setting fire to any church, chapel, meeting house or place of divine worship, to a dwelling house, any person being therein, to a house, outhouse, manufactory, farm buildings or any other similar building, with the intention of defrauding any one; to buildings belonging to railways, ports, docks or harbors; or any public building. Any one convicted of any one of these crimes may be imprisoned for life, or for a shorter term, not however less than three years. The burning of grain fields comes under this act and provides for punishment of the same sort, not to exceed 14 years' imprison ment at hard labor; but the penal servitude may be for life in case of the setting fire to peat or coal or stacks, provisions or stores of straw, grain and like products, at the dis cretion of the court; while if the coal be in mines, the extreme penalty is 14 years. Death
Is the penalty provided for maliciously and wilfully setting fire to government ships; docks, magazines, arsenals, ammunition stores or build ings connected therewith. Other vessels, stores, and so forth, come under the Malicious Damage Act already mentioned. The laws against in cendiarism in the United States are very much the same as those in England; but each State has its own regulations on the subject. The death penalty is provided only in case death results from the crime, in which case the crimi nal is prosecuted not for incendiarism, but for murder. In general, the laws of all of the States provide that something must actually be burned before the crime of arson may be charged. In the United States it is. in most States, not considered incendiarism or arson to burn one's own property even when it is dearly proved that the act was done with the intention of defrauding an insurance company or other interested party, or to get rid of goods or evidence. In this case special laws have been provided for the crime. But here again each State has its own particular laws on the subject. Consult Holdsworth, 'History of English Law' (London 1910) ; Pollock and Maitland, 'His tory of English Law' (Boston 1899); Russell. 'Treatise on Crimes and Misdemeanors' (Lon don 1896) ; Stephen, 'Digest of the Criminal Law' (London 1894).