The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1886-11-27
CHINESE JUSTICE.


Met by Proxy.
1t may be of interest to know tina
in one country, and the largest on,
at that, there are no lawyers. Tn,
methods of reaching a conclusion
in questions of law in the Chimes,
Empire are perhaps too direct ant
speedy to require the Intervention
of that profession. There is no tria
by jury and no continued cases OF
long accumulated dockets. There
are no circuits or specially convened
courts to dispose of accumulatinf
causes. The country is divided
into three jurisdictional districts
with judicial head for each. and
these in turn are subdivided into
smaller districts, with local resident
magistrates, who reside permanent.
ly in the courts, or ''ya mens," as
they are called, and are ready al
any hour of the day or night the
year round to hear and decide any
and all cases, civil and criminal,
that may come up.
There are no established police
apart from the army and navy. All
cities are enclosed in substantial
walls, with four gates or entrances,
and these are closed at 8 o'clock at
night and a guard Of soldiers placed
on duty to prevent any one from
passing in or out without a pass
port. Every citizen has the right
to arrest an offender on the spot,
and it is no uncommon sight to see
a commotion in the street caused
by a merchant or shopman leading
some luckless devil to the office of
the mandarin, or magistrate, to
lodge a complaint, which consists
simply in relating the transgression
of the defendant.
The magistrate Immediately con-
venes court and asks the defendant
to explain himself. If he does not
at once confess, which is generally
the case, process of the most rigid,
direct questioning brings out the
story. If the witness does not talk
with fluent tongue a little stimu-
liant is administered in the ante
room, in the shape of a well-sea-
soned bamboo applied not infre-
quently on the bare back. This
never fails to elicit the facts in the
case. Such penalty as is judged
proper is then pronounced and ex-
ecuted on the spot. There is no
appeal.
The most common cases are those
of petty pilfering, and the penalty
in such cases consists in a given
number of lashes and so many days
in the "cangue." This is a square
wooden yoke, about two feet across,
with an opening in the center to fit
around the neck. This is adjusted
and locked, and a wax seal is affixed
in such a way that the yoke cannot
be removed without breaking the
seal. The convict is then required
to patrol the locality of his crime
for the required time, say thirty to
sixty days, at the end of which term
he returns to the ''court" and the
seal is examined and, if all right,
removed. There are no jails, and
it would be worth a mans life to
tamper with the seal or attempt to
escape. 1t is common sight in
any Chinese city to see these men,
with sullen, subdued countenances,
standing idly on the streets, the
unwelcome cynosure of passers-by.
Collection of debts is not under
the cognizance of the courts. If a
man sells goods on credit he takes
his chances on getting. his pay. A
strictly cash basis in all CONNER
cial transactions is the result. The
credit system is practiced only
where the fullest confidence is felt,
and credits even then are low, and
one failure to pay destroys ones
chances for any future credit. The
"sitting OUT method of collecting
small debts is practiced. l went
three different times in the course
of one day to a shoe-mender to get
my boots cobbled, and the shoe
maker was absent and stranger
sat speechless and glum in the shoe
makers bench. Urgent appeals to
the lady of the house elected the
that her cold man"
owed the stranger a little bill and
he was waiting for the money-and
he waited until the debtor paid him
in order to get rid of him.
When controversies arise as to
the dividing lines between estates,
application is made to the magis-
trate, who sends committee of
his official attaches, Of whom every
officer has a score or more, who in
quire into the case, and if the case
is complicated they most generally
strike q general average and plant
corner-stones, which are painted
white, and this decision is final.
There is no appeal.
Capital punishmentis the severest
penalty for malefactors, and, as far
as I was enabled to discover, there
were no specified degrees or class