Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-04-27
-.-.t,or Of Justice in China.

The 49, come account on thenl may pe
10 China / was about to call them
intereslifpI law. but that seemed even more
courts o. 10 than the one have adopted,
! misnoI0,Ss' + confine myself strictly to the
and snoIp should perforce take my model
subjec. Fdeeworth's chapter on the
from - ireland, and write, there are
snakes .; china" for this Is very near
.he truth. - have nothing that can be
The code or system of law. Some
esllea I gentleman in the British Con-
tear -, well qualified to make the
suiM .,;gation, attempted to ascertain what
insessan,s,nercial laws OF China are, but his
The co ,ahss were followed by no satisfac-
reseaI.snIt. There are some old usages
loIy lastorns which the magistrates follow
sna !. snits them to do so, but the purely
VIE, rsiness of the courts is very small,
cisil er husiness differences being settled
aainayromise between the parties or by
g lids of which every business or in
he has one. Even the professional
aosa5 have their organization, which is
pFstnown to the police. These guilds
sel serv considerable power over their
Dsshsrs. and, indeed, form part of the
psy a;nery of the Government. No Chi
ps IN of ordinary experience will take a
claim before a magistrate if he can
Gilt. As preliminary, he must fee
MI |" me runners and hangers-onl of the
- u,en or COURTROOM, after which he must
isa'-rppared to pay a handsome bride 10
Mhlrmaeistrate, having always the encour-
u - Consciousness that the adverse party
ss ontbid him. Even should he succeed
y m obtaining a judgment, he, is by no
y las =. certain that it will be executed, as
;udicious use of money on the other
"a NAV open the eyes of the magistrate
y s'1 NE Injustice of his first decision, and
:osnce him to treat it as nullity.
Criminal jurisdiction is exercised much
1, the same manner There is something
s !, criminal law, but it is very imper-
fsrt and of little practical value. The
ie system of bribery that prevails in
~, H., trial of civil cases is found quite as
s "a. in criminal proceedings.
TIA wealthy or influential criminal
.bonld be convicted, which is not often
ne ease, he can buy immunity from pun
;shment. except in the case OF political
oaentlers and others OF similar nature.
pssides. even in case of punishment, one
! meyer quite sure that the sutferer is really
the guilty man, for money in China can
induce poor staryeling TO take fog
ring and the convicted criminal by pay
; MA 4 few 'scash" is tortured by proxy.
This NAV seem an incredible statement,
but it is not an exaggeration.
One is constantly reminded Of the ac-
counts of the administration of justice
II the Arabian Nights Entertain
ments.n and decisions, that seem TO us
monstrous, are bought and quietly sub
mitted TO with the same stolidity which
characterizes the victims of the stories,
only here they have no hope OF the timely
interference of good roun al Raschid
Az ii to form a startling contrast to the
deficiencies of the preliminary proceed
ines. every arrangement is made for
snesdy punishment, and as the condemned
masses out of the yamen he passes into
ihe hands of The executioner, who stands
ready in the courtyard, y, with the lash,
the cangue, the cage, or the axe, as the
case may require. Perhaps can remind
your readers In no better way of how far
back in the history of civilization one
has to go in order to estimate correctly
that of the Chinese, than by describing
some of the instruments of punishment
still In use among them. .spaE
The cangue, which is used for mlnor
ofenses. is heavy board about three feet
SQUARE, having hole in the middle large
enough to fit around mans throat; the
board is made to divide in the middle,
and being placed upon the offender, is
closed and locked, leaving only his head
above the aperture Looking at the man
in sitting posture, everything below the
caDgue being concealed by it, one is re-
minded of the pictures ofthe head OF John
the Baptist on charger.
This being worn night and day allows
the man no sleep except what he gets by
resting his head backward on the edge OF
the cangue, and in the season of flies and
mosquitoes the culprit is a helpless VIC
tim to their tortures, as the cangue is oil
such proportions as to preclude all posi-
bility OF reaching the head and face with
the hands. The ludicrous element of this
kind of punishment, which TO an Anglo
Saxon would, in itself, be exquisite tor
ture, has no force whatever with a Chi
nese thief. @"@@
In the punishment of the . cage there
is no element of absurdity. 1t is literally
a cage just large enough to contain man,
inclosed with bars on all sides and on the
top, the floor only being solid. '"st
The condemned is tied by his arms, SO
that his toes barely touch the floor, with a
burning tropical sun beating upon mis- un'
protected head and he is there left, with.
out food or water, to be gazed at Ivy O
gaping crowd until death. comes TO bis re-
lief. 8t ~ikEk Ti
There is no such thing as Chinese bar
70 conduct cases in court, and the wit.
nesses are not under oath; moreover, per.
Jury, asa crime, is not recognized, al
though if witness can be convicted OF
having, by false testimony, caused serious
injury to another, he may be punished
although / have never heard OF but one
such case. That was a case in which
Chinese witnesses testified in British
court against a prisoner charged with
murder, and afterward admitted that not
only was the prisoner innocent, but thai
no murder had been committed. The
consul before whom the case was tried
exerted himself to the utmost TO have the
ialse Witnesses punished, but only sue
ceeoed In procuring a sentence OF two
months Imprisonment, and that was
probably never executed.
We have lately had a curious, not to say
mmonslrous, Illustration of the action o.
Yhlnese law and practice. An attempt
mas been made to build q railroad from
onhnghai 10 Woo-suDg, a town at The
mouth Of tue Wang poo River. The pro
Jeciors quietly bought up the land re