consume  an  hour  in  charging  the  jury.  By  a  slip  of  the
tongue  he  may  say  something  or  several  things  which  are
not  good  law.  If  the  prisoner's  counsel  is  free  to  put  in
a  general  exception  to  the  entire  charge,  the  judge  will
not  have  his  attention  called  to  those  matters  in  which  it
was  supposed  he  was  wrong.  If  they  were  brought  to  his
notice  he  would  have  had  an  opportunity  before  the  jury
retired  to  correct  the  mistakes  he  had  inadvertently  made.
128.  The  Jurisdiction  of  District  Courts  Over  Suits  for

Federal  Penalties,  Forfeitures  and  Seizures.
As  we  have  seen,  the  District  Courts  are  given  juris-
diction exclusive  of  the  Courts  of  the  States  of  all  suits
for  penalties  and  forfeitures  incurred  under  the  laws  of
the  United  States  and  of  all  seizures  under  the  laws  of
the  United  States  on  land  or  on  waters  not  within  the
admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction.
129.  Suits  for  Penalties  and  Forfeitures  and  to  Enforce

Seizures  Are  Civil  Proceedings.
There  are  a  number  of  statutes  of  the  United  States
which  impose  pecuniary  penalties  for  various  breaches
of  the  Federal  law  and  provide  that  such  penalties  may
be  enforced  by  suit;  as,  for  example,  the  penalty  for
importing  under  contract  an  alien  laborer  ;'^  and  the
penalties  imposed  upon  a  railroad  for  violating  the
Safety  Appliance  Act  or  the  Hours  of  Service  Act.^  A
suit  to  collect  such  a  penalty  is,  when  the  liberty  of  the
defendant  is  not  imperiled,  a  civil  proceeding.  A  verdict
should  be  given  upon  a  preponderance  of  evidence.  The
Court  may  instruct  the  jury  to  find  for  one  party  or  the

91.  Hepner  vs.  U.  S.,  213  U.  S.  103;  53  L.  Ed.  720;  29  Sup.  Ct.  474.
