Morning journal and courier., 1884-04-05

QOWn ali En0 way from I1ent6ln, twenty-five
hundred miles from here, making one round
trip year They come down with the IA
voring monsoon during the winter months,
and returning the following summer when
the winds blow steadily from the south.
For these huge, unWieldy craft to beat
against head wind would be impossible.
In previous letter I alluded to the cor
ruption of these Oriental colonies. I do not
maintain that this corruption is universal,
but it is SO overwhelmingly general as to i'm
part tone 10 society and to the colonial in
stitutions 1 have discovered additional
phases Of this corruption in the venality of
those in Office, and especially in the admins
tration of justice In the courts. Each city
has a corps of European constables Usual
ly the number is small, the main body of the
police being natives, of whom the Sikhs and
Malays are best liked. The number of Eu-
ropeAn police in Singapore is but ten. There
is tacit understanding whereby a drunken
European who is seen reeling along the
streets is not to be arrested unless he Is actu-
ally endangering the lives of persons in the
community. AS the natives are as a rule re-
markably temperate, the Europeans are the
principal offenders, and it is no uncommon
thing, particularly at Hong Kong to see
scores of sailors and ship officers staggering
about the streets in state of beastly intoxi>
cation. The effect of this unbridled Euro
pean dissipation Is most painful upon one
fresh from home, and unaccustomed to such
partiality IN the administration of the lava.
When native does the same thing he is
snaked into prison without mercy. 1t is also
significant fact that when a native gets
drunk it Is usually upon foreign wines and
spirits. Sometimes an influential seaman
will get SO disorderly that q policeman will
be constrained to arrest him for the sake of
the peace of the community; but he is al
ways let off without the infection of an ade
quate penalty. Such a case occurred while I
vas in Singapore. An officer of ship got
disgracefully drunk, maltreated passers by,
and blasphemed in a voice that could be
hsard two hundred yards away. He was be-
coming dangerous and four policemen had to
effect his arrest. The man, who was power
fully built, struck right and left, seriously
wounding the policemen, who did not dare
to use their batons because, forsooth, the Of
fender was European! After a great deal
of trouble the arrest was consummatsd, but
the man had to be kept in the stocks all that
day to prevent his actually killing the at
tendants, whom he had already injured
When the case came up in court the judge
inquired as to when the prisoners vessel
sailed. "Dsy after Tomorrow" answered
the prisoner. "Well, we will require you to
tarry with us until that time said the judge
That was all And whom the ''day after to-
aorrow" arrived the prisoner was honorably
escorted to his ship. The same limitations
in kind, though not in degree, which hamper
the poor native policemen, affect the corps
of Eropean constables, whose avocation de-
grades them in the eyes of the community
almost to the level of the natives. There is
this difference, however. What the Malays
and Sikhs will endure for the sake of the all
powerful dollar fires the blood of a Europe
an policeman and leads him to indignant mu-
tiny. Thus designations are continually
taking place. and it is a constant care with
the police board to keep the vacancies sup
piled. These European policemen get forty
dollars a month. When board is made to
cost them only twenty dollars per month, it
is considered that the price has been reduced
to the lowest possible figure. There is Eu-
ropean constable lying sick here in Penang
as the result of two terrible stabs given him
By a drunken rowdy of some influence,
whom he was arresting according to his duty.
1t is now believed that he will recover. The
man who inflicted this nearly fatal punish
ment got six months in Jail, and has already
been released! In striking contrast with
this alleged Justice" " let me say that have
seen ChinamRn sentenced to six months of
hard labor for stealing six torches worth two
cents apiece when they were new. So, also,
have seen a native sentenced to two weeks
imprisonment because ths light on board his
anchored barge went out during the night
while he was asleep.
The system of punishments in vogue i'm.
presses an American strangely. Flogging is
q very common mode of punishment. The
victim ia bound to stout frame Rork, his
bands are tied above him, his ankles are tied
together, his pantaioons removed, and nine,
eighteen, twenty ty-seyen, thirty-six or forty
eight blows of the rattan administered, ac-
cording to the gravity of the offenss. A
doctor stands by, and as soon as the punish
ment is over takes charge of the man, who
then lies upon his stomach in the hospital
for several weeks or months, according to
- S,,s,, Sr,Af akol H.
tions of the body are plastered and daily
treated. The victim is thus incapactated for
work for weeks to come. Great care has to
be taken not to let blow fall in the small of
the offenders back, since that is q dangerous
place in which to hit a Chinaman. There
several other kinds of ply sical penalties
inflicted, including the shot method, the
stones and the crank. The first of these
consists in lifting a series of cannon balls
The balls are placed in sockets arranged in
the form of square upon the ground. The
prisoners are made to form a procession and
travel around and around this square, each
man transferring ball from one socket to
the next one In advance. For attempting to
throw Cne of these shots at warden, man
recently recsived forty eight blows with the
rattan, each one administered with all the
strength at the command of the punishers
The fogRing is not administered with all its
systematic severity in the case of the most
trivial offenses, few strokes applied
without the formality of binding the guilty
party. The second punishment consists of
forcing two prisoners to carry between them,
supported from a bamboo pole, stone
which weighs ninety pounds. Then there is
a loaded machine in the cells set apart for
solitary confinement the crank of which has
to be turned fifteen hundred times per min
ute. These three systems of discipline are
enforced in the case of minor offenses In
the case of a man sentenced to long term
of years, they are employed only by way of
preface to the learning of q regular trade.
There are great many trades learned by the
hordes of Chinese prisoners who are con-
stantly incsrcerated in these prisons. The
proceeds from the sale of the articles manu-
factnred 90 into the public treasury