The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-21

barristers' table garnished with a row OF
teapots,
The court consists of three judges, and
the procurator and the clerk Of the court
occupy seats beside them. Their lord
ships are all comparatively young men
and apparently as able and intelligent as
can be expected of officials who fulhH
grave judicial functions at salaries OF
from ESQ to ECO a year They wear gowns
much like those of English barristers, but
instead of the horsehair wig the head Is
crowned by a black cowl, something IKE
that of Catholic priest
Almost the whole of the examination IS
I'm the hands of the president. The bar
has very subordinate part Barristers
limit themselves to suggesting questions
and making applications; they do not
themselves examine WitnesseS-aH ques-
lions are put through the presiding Judge
The propriety of any query the latter may
think fit to put is apparently never ques-
toned the Japanese barrister appearing
10 be very much less pugnacious and
much more overawed by the court than
his British conferee. Less time Is prob
ably wasted than In an English court but
there is no question as to which system
is the more fair TO the prisoner.
Lastly. the judgment itselffs a curiosity
If this case be any criterion the president
of the court is at least as anxious as the
procura tor to exhibit his literary powers
The sentence on this American citizen-he
was condemned to be hanged-occupied
reams Of Japanese characters, and IT'S
translation would run into six columns Of
the Times The advice of the English
Judge, who said to a younger colleague,
Give your conclusions, my dear fellow,
but never your reasons" Is totally dis
regarded by the Japanese official, whose
| Judgment Is practically one long argu-
ment, with the purpose of proving the cor
Of iz niGin = ig ms cd u
very fine writing The accused in this
case was a sailor, and the weapon he
used is described as being 'wielded by an
arm that for thirty years mad wrestled
with the angry wave" The scene of
the murder was hit off in this word pic
ture: Bones splintered, pieces of flesh
| lying about, brains scattered around red
blood yelling forth, long hairs drifting on
the CORY stream" The. prisoner had suf-
! fered disappointment of some selfish ox-
pectations, and he is described as being
plunged from the airy nights to hope into
the dismal depths of grim despair" What
Camberwell penny-a-liner could compare
with this judicial paragraphist?
One peculiar feature of this judgment
has not received the attention 1t deserves.
| The judge remarked that Of the three
murders the most serious was that Of the
young American; that there were extern
suating circumstances in the case OF the
| had been IN question justice would have
been satisfied with a sentence of penal
servitude. This is peculiarly Japanese.
No English judge would have found any
redeemng feature in the doing to death
of these unfortunate women But one of
them happened to have been living with
the murderer as his mistress, and had aft
erward deserted him, and that, in Japa-
nese eyes is some justification for blood
shed
It is a remnant of the feeling of old ia
pan. Forty years ago man was not
exposed to any great censure IL he killed
a woman who had been false, and the old
sentiment is stlll strong enough to sway
the minds of three Judges OF enlightened
views well versed In the legal systems of
the West 1t Is a point which illustrates
the truth of what ! have so frequently
contended-that, however complete code
of laws Japan may have, and however
good a theoretical knowledge Of those laws
her judges may possess. Japanese Justice
will never he the same as European JUS
tice. The bias OF tradition, race, patriot
ism and temperament has to be reckoned
xntgih