New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-07-11
THE LAW OF KING MENELlk.
AN ENGLISH CORRESPONDENT FINED
BY RAS MAKONNEN.

nj the trial by jury of European in an Abys-
snian court / was the European, Hi"y nnen
ton. Some days before, while enjoying SUCH
sport as was afforded within two-mile radiuS
Of the town. had the ill-luck to put penet III
the eye of one of my servants, VINO was houei,
in the Jungle l doctored him successfully, ou'
the eye was gone. However, ne MADE 10 GULL
plant. ,,
This morning he was absent unaccountaDiy-
At an Abyssinian appeared at my door, ana m
vited me to proceed before the Ras fortnwtn.
Some half dozen other messengers followed Jul
ing the ensuing half-hour to hurry me up, thousn
none indicated in any way the reason Tor the
summons. Escorted by them / climbed the hilI
on which stands the palace" OF the Ras, ana "
my surprise found that all the other Europeans
in the place were either already there or on
/ their way-called summarily from tnelr prean
fasts and business wi hout any explanation DC,
ing vouchsafed. When the forty odd Greeks anu
! Frenchmen and Armenians had duly obeyed, the
Ras and half dozen officials took their seals-
the former reclining on divan the o.heIS
squattng on the ground. Then my servant ap
peared. and II dawned on me suddenly that
was destined to appear in the next HaEiar iel-
add tif there had been one) as "a young news
paper man. Described on the charge Snuet
we'll educated. and Of English hatlonahty.
charged with fClonio usly woundinS o. faprlei,
ctc.-perhaps with the quite original aIu'''o'
that / appeared to feel my position acutey,
There was foolish formality about me pro-
cedurc Gabriel came forward and told n twenty
words how had bndtd his left eye; cidy , hlais
in proof OF which he walked round ana shos "e
the eye-and then was invited to state my case
| | admitted the binding but pleaded accidehl'
| urging moreover. that had promis'd adequate
compensation and continued to support 'he un-
fortunate lad Such things would happen wneh
out hunting. | confidently argued-the Has MN
self had lost a hundred men whiie engagea
| in destroying a dozen elephants | thought that
unans werable.
| But then the storm burst. Half a dozen
Abyssinians. Greeks. interpreters. all rose 10 ex
pound their views which were various one Oh
| the many matches" officials. denounced me
for having gone outside the town unaccom-
panied by a soldier. The chief OF poiice com
| planned that had stated in conversation ttat
| / should decline to recognize him If he sum,
moned me. \ third accused ne OF having taken
| photographs without leave Then Kas haran-
gued me. He recapituated many Of the aiSu-
| ments against me- and ended by calling on the
Cadi to expOund the law. 1t was lald down. the
Cad said, that for any member permanently
! injured 10 dolls. must be paid 10 me owner
| thereof, and as much more to the klhS lailne
| PAYMENT he who caused the injury mist suffer
"Ycu hear" said Ras Makonnen: you must
| pay f25 dolls. to your servant Ana hencelorlh
| no European may 90 outside liarraT without
| my leave. or without a soldier
| | begged to point out that the ton "te~H stoic-
| keeuer sitting there in the corner, VINO was IN
| tentionally shot by an Abyssnan soldier "A year
ago and all but killed. had been offered ID, dos-
as amends at which rate l2J dolls. for an acciden
| tai binding seemed dear The Observation evOh"
| another tumult The Greek rose ana poured O
his vial Of wrath against the Abyssinlans TOT
quarter Of hour; the native oiHciaiS "nou1c,
| their counter-arguments; the Ras said tnat II
| served the Greek right; in Greek. Arabic. French
| and Abyssinian there was an attempt AT ihter-
| pretation TO the less-lettcred Europeans MY
! little affair seemed quite Forgotten. Al iehSe"
silence was restored.
! Are you going to accept my judgieht? the
| Ras demanded, shortly. acquiesced. i0r.seelne
| possible letters pending the interference or my
! Government. GabTiers coed eye gilttCred with
! joy MT, ...os r-...,rs do.
parted discussing their few rights ard many
! wrongs under the half-savage Abysslnlan'
regime for in the upr0ar these had been Venti-.
/ lated to a quite unaCcustomed degree. felt like
! sort Of Hampden for the moment. I'll ! thought
! Of the f15 was the poorer hardy had !
reached my house when couple OF soldiers came
! to demand my guns, which had already, days De
| fore been seized by the customs. Five minutes
later two other soldiers followed with a counter
! or Ter And during the afternoon confidant of
the Ras called to say that Makonnen, MY judge,
had paid my fine! .
Was ever such travesty Of justice heard of!
You who read may feel little Britannia on
| learning that il was my nationality that saved
me from much worse treatment Greek. or
Arab. or Frenchman. would have had to
not only indemnify the plaintiff, but pay
similar sum to the state plus as much more Tor
speaking contemptuOusly OF the police Less
than a month ago a Mecca trader here was fined
20 dolls for much less Some priests called at
his shop 10 sample his olive oil. They smelt it,
| creased their hair and boards literally, and then
declared it was too dear. AS they refused to pay
for what they had appropriated ne told them TO
quit-"Harri." in Arabic. "Harri, in Amharic,
means a donkey They summoned him, and de-
spite his explanations the fine was eXtorted.
Should wish to arrest man in the street
for theft or assault, or insut-to obtain help /
must bawl "3a Makonnen" (by the head OF Ma
konnen) The bystanders who refuse to aid in
the pursuit or arrest after the third invocation,
are liable severally to fine or I2O dolls II three
witnesses appear against them. Their offence
does not lie in the omission to assist. but in wish
ing i'll to Makonnen when his name was pro-
nounced. Last week Armenian, intimate
with the Ras caused half dozen butchers to be
so mucted. because some one insulted him in the