The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-21
COURTS GIVEN POWER AGAIN.
ALI CIVIL PROCEEDINGS IN PORTO
RICO sUSPENDED MAY 1.

Making Null ana N0i0 All NINtl
Litigation After That Time-Great
Hardships Brought ON by Its En-
forcement-Its Legality Question
ed-Gen. Brooke Orders IL Abolish
ed When Told of Its Existence.
Correspondence of the Associated Press.
San Juan, Porto Rico, Nov. 5.-The pro-
ceedings of the Spanish government have,
in some matters, been strange and hard
of comprehension. A case in point recent
ly came to the attention of the writer. and
with the idea of obtaining the true story
Of the occurrence an interview was OBJ
tanned with Herminio Diaz. a prominent
lawyer of San Juan and eX-president of
the Insular Chamber of Representatives
Mr.. Diaz kindly supplied the information
which is here set down
on July 26 of the present year the
Queen Regent of Spain issued royal de
cree. by which Il was ordered that retro
actively from May 1. 1898. and until the
end of the then existing war with the
United States. all civil proceedings in the
courts of Cuba, Porto Rico and the Phil
ipliu6 1HidNUS HHOulAi Dc NuiA dAi NOit
Also, that all appeals to the Supreme Court
of the nation (MadriD from decisions
handed down by the Audencia Of Porto
Rico should he suspended and void during
this specified time. Permission, however,
was granted to the governors general OF
Cuba and Porto Rico, acting in accord
with the ministers of these respective ISL
ands, and also to the governor general of
Manila, acting in accord with the Au-
dencia of the Philippines, to modify the
rulings of this royal decree as circum-
stances. such as the partial occupation
by the Americans of Porto Rico Cuba,
etc, might require. But this permission
to modify did not effect the ruling con
corning the matter of appeals to Madrid;
herein the decree was absolute and I'M
alterable.
This royal decree was not published in
Porto Rico until Sept 49, and the greatest
hardship connected with its enforcement
was its retroa ctive effect for four and
half months
Questioned as to whether this decree was
legal and whether Capt. Gen. Macias
should have enforced 1t or not, MIR. Diaz
replied:
THE only rights held by the Spanish
government in this respect are those set
forth in article 955 of the Spanish Com
mercial Code, in which Il is said that in
time of war. epidemic or revolution, litiga-
ton growing out of mercantile transac-
tons may be ordered suspended, Il being
requisite to duly notify the Spanish Cortes
of such order. The Spanish government
therefore, could not by royal decree abol-
ish these laws of civil and criminal ac-
tons without overstepping it's rights. Such
action can only be taken in Spain by
the Spanish Cortes, and by this BODY only
when they duly respect the rights which
may have been obtained under the law
which is TO be set aside. II Is distinctly
not permissible, especially in civil mat
ters, for any royal decree to have a re-
troaetve effect as clearly does the decree
to which we refer. Gen. Macias. who AZ
stated in this decree, was allowed the
exercise Of his judgment concerning its en-
forcement, should have consulted with his
ministers and prevented It's pronunciation
And this not only because peace had beon
signed, thereby bringing to an end the
ftate of war which was responsible for
The issuance of said decree. but hecause
of the serious present and future oonse-
quence that would manlfestly follow its
enforcement"
Did the Superior Court of Porto Rico
protest against this measure? ?"
The Superior Court Of the island. far
from attempting TO resist the enforcement
of this decree, which violated the consti-
tuition Of autonomy, lent itself to lis pro-
mitigation And this, Notwithstanding that
the decree was not countersigned bv the
secretary of Justice, which act was neces-
sary for its support. That is the fact that
IN fam 80 i
document was ample reason for refusal
to recognize it, This court supported the
attorney general In his views of the fair
ness and justice of the decree and of his
decision to obey IL, in spite of the fact that
he foresaw the trouble and difficulty IL
would bring to the country, and of his
knowledge that it was issued after the
war had ceased.
'"The effect of this ruling upon the coun-
try was extraordinary. 1t left Porto Rico
without courts Of justice. AS / have pre-
viously stated in a document set before
the insular government, 1t is impossible,
under this decree, to oblige a criminal TO
appear before mis- judge. All sentences
given since May 1 were revoked, and the
men serving these sentences were set at
liberty. AS for civil proceedings, even at
this day Il 10 useless to take claims before
our courts. Litigation can be started but
it very soon comes to a stop. Furthermore,
and this is the worst feature of the case,
il Is a law of the country that all judicial
decisions be subject to REPUTATION within
a period of time more or less defined Con-
sequently, all decisions handed down from
May until Sept. 16 are nun and void and
the privileges of appeal Is destroyed.
excuse myself from the recital of the long
list of lawsuits under trial and being act
lively prepared that have been annulled by
this decision; also Of the many annoyances
and damages ii caused to such men who
ha~ received certain determined rights and
privileges under the rulings of our courts
since May !.
1.-THE decree Is still In force. But we
hope that Gen. Brooke will revoke 1t in
its entirety and here correct. as he is do
ing in all other cases. one Of the greatest
errors of Spanish administration.
Gen. Brooke has promptly fulfilled the
hopes of Mr.. Diaz. Shortly after these
facts were made known to the writer Cen
eral orders No. 4 were issued from the
nalace. They are as follows:
general orders No. T. Headquarters
Department of Porto Rico. San Juan. oct.