The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-09-21
\ word for the Chinamam.

HrLo, August 25th, 1872.
To he EItOr of The Pacific IOBtHege3di Advertiser:
The question before the meeting Is: Shall We
believe the Chinamsn. or shall We take an exparte
judgment in the matter. and determine at once that
poor John cannot speak the truth If lie would, and
wouldn't If be could, and 50 let him get justice hap
hazard and conclude that II would have been better
had he remained at home. I have been urged by
several parties who heard as / heard, and as you
shall presently hear, 10 place this question before the
meeting, or the public. which Is the same thing
First then, Is China entitled 10 as much respect As
Hawaii For example; an equal number Of witnesses,
Chinese on one side and Hawaiians on the other are
in . case in Court and in collision Must We, other
things equal, prefer the aGiips Veracity on the dictum
that the others cannot be believed dRghoc ? Such
a dictum has been pronounced from the bench, and
il j. a serious matter, though l know that Il was
spoken In but a half earnest way, with prOSocatiOn,
and should not perhaps be taken a. final. but l also
know that . similar feeling perTades other Courts,
and in sumo instances Is rancOrOus and bitter. Now
China as n nation Is highly civilized in some respects.
powerful in itself and possessing mighty resources,
with q tolerably strong code Of morals and a rever-
euce for wisdom, and such as she IS now she has
been during ever 80 many thousand years. Her
people count by hundreds Of millions, they own some
Of the f4irest portions Of the earth. They cultivate
the arts and sciences with notorious success They
have a complicated civil and criminal code;-they
recognize and reward virtue whilst they severely
punish crime. Their social relations amongst them
selves are surely not Of = nature TO point them out
as q nation Of liars A Chinaman viii leave his
wife in China TO reside with her other relatives by
marriage and hold firm confidence in her virtue for
years that he may remain absent, making no secret
Of his re-marTiage here, TO a woman be cannot trust
out Of his sight. And then, he is euterprising and
MISUNDERSTANDING so as compared with our
islander here, until you ship him for a weary term,
during which he strives to give no more than his
moneys worth. In commerce he bears a fair repu-
tation, and he'll fight like blazcs on occasion.
Is it then DO you think, becoming Ito say the least
Of it, for any judge of a petty Court Of n petty
Kingdom like this, which the celestial dragon could
ali % a mouth f1 and NOT lant n fha Cfoutar
for it, to make invidious comparisons, and whilst
recording native testimony with a view to weight,
turn to the long tailed stranger who makes appear
ance asking for Justice for himself or friend. (having
been brought, mind you, here to assist the Sc fish
purpose Of enterprising parties who want to get rich,
and to that end have contracted to keep the poor
wretch's body and soul together for a term of years
on conditions is It manly, is it civil, is it humane,
(of course il is Christian )-when in "A broken lingo
which is his very best attempt to be understood, he
tells his tale or urges his claim. for the presiding
judge to decla'e that he don't believe a Chinaman
~Gnyhouo? Is Z that rather the drgumeRtum I'D
hOmenem of the stiffest kind?
Please to understand that | don't think such
words were used deliberately and as a conclusion
thoughtfully arrived at. L have known the same
Judge exercise the most considerate and most trying
patience, and very kindly too, to come at the truth
through Chinese evidence. But how is il possible
that justice can ever have fair-play if a whole class
in the community are TO be doubted as a rule, on
oath? / don't believe in swearing "any how
There is no solemnity in il. Familiarity breeds
contempt towards an oath as well as elsewhere. l
cannot believe that either the native Hawaiian or the
cOolie, respect or fear the oath administered to them
here sufficiently to affect their yeracity. My own
experience is that the native has no regard whatever
for it, and if Gods help shall be measured to those
who invoke it so volubly only in such proportion as
their truth-tellingj justly claims, there viii be a Gear
full reckoning hereafter.
So long as oaths are in rule, however, why not
present the Chinaman with one of his own habitudes,
which is said to lave weight with him, and so place
him on n par with the native at least? Surely, if
VIC tender him an oath ON the Evangelists because the
law requires it, the same law gives him the RIGHT to
be believed. Why he doesn't object to be so sworn is
simply that he knows no better. Now il seems to me
q very serious thing for educated men who must un-
derstand the solemn significance of the oath, 10
tender it day by day to heathens. "Thou shalt not
take the name Of God in VAIN
Last May | was on n jury in n criminal case
wherein the defense rested solely on Chinese testimo-
ny, and nine Jurors thought it sound and sufficient
and were for acquittal. One of the minority declared
that he would not believe n Chinaman in any case,
and the other two agreed with him. Now, suppose
mine jurymen had held that doctrine, how would that
agree with the ends OF justice and the rights of men {?
You will see. The subject does not interest enough
TO claim attention, and it will drop. There is n
promise though on record which may be worth con-
sidering-' With what measure ye mete. it shall be
measured to you again"