Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-16
CHINESE JUSTICE.
Stern Dealings Held to Be Necessary by the
Government of That Country.

Stern Dealings Held to Be Necessar y by the
Government of That Country.
From the Detroit Free Press
The marrying in" of sons and .'marryins
out" of daughters gives rise to the great clans
who all bear one name and follow one line of
trade. They make up the villages usually, and
sometimes compose whole towns and got in.
frequently become notorious for their lawless-
ness and depredations. Almost every distric,
has its solve" or "Gold" clan, which names
are as common as Smith and Jones are with US
The government takes this clan system into con-
sideration in q curious way in dealing with
criminals. There is no detective system in
China and it would become a rather puzzling
affair to hunt out an individual in a whole vii.
lage OF the same name, and So instead of search
ing for criminals, their presence at court il
simply demanded Of their kinsmen or clan II
the culprit Is not forthcoming at the appointed
time fearful punishment is visited upon them.
their houses being burned and their crops de-
stroyed, even though the offense has been but q
petty theft When the line of telegraph was
run from Pekin TO Canton the people Of the
turbulent Human province, believing that the
poles interfered with the sacred influence of
the elements" went out in companies and cut
them down. Upon failure to deliver up the
criminals many villages were wiped from the
face OF the earth, every man, woman and child
being murdered
Justice is no hair-splitting affair in China
Petty ofenses are punished by the stocks or
dinarily and graver crimes by fogging, slicing
and beheading, but the dealing out of punish
ments is left largely to the discretion of the
magistrates and in some unruly districts crimi-
mails Of all grades are beheaded promiscuously.
long imprisonpents and corporal punishment
Is deemed cheaper and more effective. The
slicing process is explained in the following ex-
tract from the North China Daily Ne,cs of
March q, 1892:
1.-TWO rebel captives were executed this morn
rapid stsbkes down either arm and either breast
Of the pinioned captive, followed by thrust
through the heart, and not taking over few
seconds"
Suspected criminals are tortured into confess
sion. The poor fellows who, il ia generally be-
lieved, acted innocently as clerks for Mason, the
young Englishman who conspired against the
government and aided the rebels in the late re-
bellion to obtain firearms. are now undergoing
the most horrible tortures in the Shanghai Jail
Each day heralds afresh their suherings and it
would seem that there was nothing too diabol-
tcal for the authorities to cause them to submit
to. All the cruelties of the inquisition cannot
surpass the methods used to make them confess
completely in the Mason affair and one Of them
now lies with both thighs broken across and
another with both limbs paralyzed, the result of
the terrible ordeals they have gone through In
o southern port, noted in former years for its
piracy, and where justice now bears down upon
her offenders with . heavy hand, the following
incident occurred only last December:
A number Of thefts had been committed upon
the foreign residents, and, although petty in
their nature, were exceedingly aggravAtins.
The British consul lost Q kitchen clock and de-
cided TO put stop 70 the depredations by COM
planning to the mandarin. The clock was re-
covered and nothing more was thought Of the
matter. Upon Christmas day the firing Of guns
was heard and the consul asked his lookout II q
gunboat had come in.
"No, sir, said the man with . Triumphant
emile. 'but the man who stole your clock has
Just been beheaded.''