National Republican., 1879-08-25
Law without LAWYERS.

A scene in o court room in Balize Honduras
is related by Mr.. John l.. Stephens as follows,
in his Incidents of Travel in Central
America" in 1889: "Trom the negro school
we went TO the Grand court 1t had been
opened about half an hour when entered
On the back wall, in massive mahogany
tablet, were the arms OF England; on q high
platform beneath was q circular table. around
which were heavy mahogany chairs with high
backs and cushions. The court consists of seven
judges, five of whom were In their places.
One of them, Mr.. Walker invited me to one of
the vacant seats. / objected, on the ground
that my costume was not becoming so dignifed
position; ho insisted, and | took my seat, in
roundabout jacket, upon chair exceedingly
comfortable for the administration of Justice
AS before remarked, five of the judges were in
their places one of them was muatto. Tho
jury was empanelled and two of tho Jurors
were mulattOes. One of them, as the Judge
who sat next me said, was u Sambo, or of the
descending line, being the son of mulatto
woman and black man. j was at q loss TO
determine the caste OF third, aud inquired of
the judge, who answered he WAS his, the judges,
brother, and that his mother was a muatto
woman. The judge was aware of tho feeling
existing In the United States with regard to
color and said that in Balize there was, In
political life, no distinction whatever, except
on the ground of qualifications and character,
aud hardly any in social lie,even in contracting
marriages.
l bad noticed the judges and jurors but /
missed an important part of au English court.
Where were the gentlemen of the bar? Some
of my readers will, perhaps, concur with Cap
tain Hampton (the name Of the commander of
the vessel with whom Mr.. Stephens saled)
thuf Rnli ths lagf ,1In 40 ,l,,, I
tell them that there was not II single lawyer
in the place, and never had been but lest
some of my entcrprising professional brethren
should forthwith be tempted TO pack their
trunks fUr descent upon the exempt city, /
consider it my duty to add that do not be-
lieve there is the least chance for one.
As there is no bar to prepare men for the
| bench, the judges of course, are not lawyers
| Ofthe five sitting, two were merchants, one a
| mahogany cutter, and the mulatto-second to
| none Of the others in character or qualifca-
tions'-a doctor. This court is the highest tri-
bunal for the trial of civil causes, and has uris.
dicton of all amounts above 4l5 Balize is u
place oil large commercial Transactions Con-
tracts arc daily made and broken, or misun-
dcrstood, which require the intervention of
some proper tribunal to interfere and compel
! their iulhllmeut. And there was no absence of
| litigation. The calendar was large, and the
courtroom crowded. The first cause called
was upon an amount, where the de-
tendant did not appear, and verdict
was taken by default. In the next, the plain
| tif stated his case aud swOre to IL. The de-
fendant answered. called witnesses, and tho
case was submitted to the jury, There was no
case of particular interest," In Que the parties
became excited, and the defendant interrupted
the plaintiff repeatedly, on which the latter,
putting his hand on the shoulder of his an.
tagonist said, in a coaxing way, Nov don't,
George wait a lttle-you shall have your
turn. Don't interrupt me and won't you"
All this was done in familiar aud colloquial
way; the parties were more or less known to
each other, aud judges aud jurors were greatly
influenced by Knowledge Of general character.
| remarked that regularly the merits the case
were 80 clearly brought out that, when it was
committed to the jury, there wns no question
about the verdict, and 80 satisfactory has this
system proved that though an appeal lies to
the Queen ia council, rs w. Evans, the fore
man, told me, but one case has been carried up
in twenty-five years. Still, it stands as al
anomaly in the history of English jurispru'
dence, fOr l believe that in every other place
where the principles of the common law
govern, the learning Of the bench and the
ingenuity Of the bar are consiIored necessary
to elicit the truth.