Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-09-24
n CHINESE Law COURT.
1t Very Often Presents n Scene nj
Wild Confusion

From the North China Herald.
For peaceful people the Chinese annaar
TO be most litigious race. The moment
that quarrel begins to become serious
one or the other of the parties is likely to
shout excitedly: Il will go to the cttyr'-
that IS to pres mt his formal accusation at
the yarnen- The other side threatens the
same and while in a large percentage of
cases outsiders contrive to suppress the i'm
mediate execution of the menace every one
recognizes That the trouble is ONLY tenn
porarlly patched up, and may break ont in
an aggravated form at any time If the
accusations presented in Chinese courts
We're confined to anything like the facts in
the case, there would be no case at all for
nlne-tenths of them. Therefore. 1t is con-
sldered indispensable to blend with the real
me from 40 to % per cent of fiction.
me plalntin does this as routine practic,
so does the defendant. When the nas+s
uate happens to feel in a good humor he
Calls up the case, or quite as likely he does
SO "h.n ne Is IN very bad humor, which
pcdes III for one side, and not infreuuently
for both The first part of a Chinese trial
Is likely to be something like the proceed
lHBs III one OF our own courts, a great deal
OF iorniallty' ana an apparent respect for
the majesty of the law, and especially for
us representative. the district magistrate.
VINO Is the Chinese unit of government
But 1t IS not long before all resemblance to
OCclueHtdl procedure fades into thin air.
1f.ere are no lawyers to protect the clients
II there really Is any law bearing on the
case III hdnd, no one but experts such as
the yamen secretaries knows what it is
ne magistrate is himself civil and criminal
judge, jury, and practically the appeliate
court. There Is no manner of restraint
upon him in his mode of asking uuestions
in the subject of his inquiries or in his
treatment OF the principals or witnesses.
The greater part of the matter brought
a CnlneSe lawsuit no
ruled out of any British court as fatally
irrelevant to the main issue But in a
Chlnese case there often is no main issue,
or issue Of any kind, except the impatient
shout of the official: Get out with youn'
Chsia-ch'u LAP. whereupon all the parties re-
tire and not improbably not one of them
has the smallest idea where the case has
row got to. Neither, perhaps has the
magistrate. but for the time he has had
enough OF 1t, and wants to smoke a pipe or
TWO OF opium and will hear them again
when he has mora convenient season
But before the case has been dismissed
the respective parties have by no means
been idle Each of them has told false
hoods enough to shock a company pros
pectus- maker, and as each party delivers
himself of these fabrications the other
1lIdS IL impossible to restrain himself and
hcarsely bawls: That is lie." To this it
Is necessary to reply, which is done with a
volubility greatly in contrast to the quiet
of the preliminary stages, when each re-
piled in a few monosyllables only. From
ejaculatory Interruptions giving the other
party the lie, it is but a stage to angry
colloQuies of soma length, in which each
party struggles to be heard, each revies
the ether vociferously, and neither party is
interrupted or reproyed by the magistrate
who is now engaged in the process of maxi
ing up his mind on the basis of what he
sees and hears as to which side has the
most OF Ii, or reason. In the worst stages
of d case it often happens that the magis-
trate himself does the reviling, and, Chinese
human nature being what it is, it also
sometimes occurs that the worsted party
in the suit reviles the magis trate, although
this is rash, for he may beat them severely
for so doing, and then decide the case
against them.