Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-26
IN A JAPANESE COURT
Criminal Proceedings Under the New Treaty
Arrangements.
Trial of an American Murderer
French Methods of Secrecy and
of weighing Evidence.


| Yokohama Correspondence the London Mall.
| Japanese law methods have lately ac-
| quired a very practical interest for for
| eigners. In the days of the old treaties
glimpse of the Toxic appeal court was
| merely an extra item in the program of the
| globe trotter. to be taken after exhausting
| the usual weary round of temples, tea
| houses and theaters- But since from July
| IL all legal questions, civil and criminal.
| affecting Europeans and Americans must
| come before japanese Judges. the working
| of the tribunals of the country can no
| longer be regarded with mere idle curiosity
| Curiously enough a brutal murder was
| committed by an American citizen on the
| very Gay which the revised treaties
| came into operation, and the trial of the
prisoner has afforded a good illustration
| of the operation of the criminal code. In
| itself the crime was uninteresting-an af-
| fair worthy in its sordid features of the
| choice quarter in which it was committed,
| the Blood Town. which Rudyard kipling
| has described in his account of Yokohama.
| The murderer, in fit of Jealousy. killed
two japanese girls and young American
| who had supplanted him in the affections
| of one of the women. He was at once
| rested by the japanese authorities, and
| from that moment till the day of the trial
| nothing further could be learned concern
| ing him.
Neither the inquest nor the preliminary
| examinations were public, for japanese
| Justice is based largely on the French plan,
| and proceeds about its task with mystery
and secrecy that make an Anglo-Saxon I'M
| comfortable The mise au secret of the
| French law is adopted; the prisoner is Wis
| tied by the public prosecutor, who comes
| alone into his cell, asks innumerable ques-
tons and does his best to entrap him into
| making admissions. Indeed, it is still an
| open question whether physical terror is
| not occasionally employed to extort con-
LESSONS of crime. One very ugly case of
1 Ern1 1sr,k-
| and 1t may not be a wholly singular ex-
perience.
Thus is the acte d'accusation prepared.
! 1t is usually a very elaborate documenf
| setting forth the whole details of the
| charge in fine and grandiloquent language
| The procurator describes the scene as if he
haa witnessed it, and deals with the CORY
passages in style that the author of a
| smiling shocker might well envy This
| work of art is launched a the prisoner at
the opening Of his trial, and the president
| OIL the court takes it as the basis of his ex-
animation.
And now as to the court and the bench.
The Yokohama Chino Saibancho district
| COURT is big modern building of brick
| one of the best of its kind in the empire
| and, OF course. UNNECESSARILY superior TO
most courts in the provinces. 1t is ar
| ranged IN european style. In the criminal
section is the counterpart of the dock the
barristers table and the judges bench. all
as they might be in an English court But,
| at The same time. there is the usual Jana
/ nese air of forlOrn untidiness about every
| thlng. 1ncomparably neat and tasteful in
| their native architecture, their native dress
| ana their native gardens, the Japanese aSa
| hopeless when they do things a TEuro
| peenne. In this fine, large building. for ey
| ample, Hoors are filthy, walls are scrubbed
over with foolish and dirty nonsense on
| darmes and police smoke cigarettes in the
| corridors and throw flag ends everywhere
| ana one even sees the barristers' table gar
hlsned with row of teaootsi
Inc court consists of three Judges and
| the procurator and the clerk of the court
! occupy seats beside them. Their Iordshins
nse az comparatively young men. and ap-
| expected of officials who fulfill grave iudi
| c cnao functions. at salaries of from $50 to
tb"ee of e Er-,; Ihey wear gowns much like
the horsehair wig the head is crowned nv a
/ oiacA cowi, something like that of a Cath
| Ole priest. - ''ti-
Almost the whole of the exar,ina+io, =,
| In the hands of the president The har has
| very subordinate part. Barristers limit
themselves to suggesting questions and
| making applications; they do NOT tbe,n
| selves examine witnesses-alI ouestion. az
rut through the presiding judge The pru
| priety OF any query the latter may think
nj 10 put Is apparently never questioned
the Japanese barrister appearing to be very
| inucn less pugnacious and much more over
| a"ed oy the court than his British confrere
| less tiihe is probably wasted than in an
| EnSlish court. but there is no question as
to which system is the more fair to the
| prisoner.
Lastly, the Judgment itself is a curiosity
III this case be any criterion the nresidan+
OF the court is at least as anxious &C rbe
| procurator to exhibit his literary powers
| The sentence on this American citizen--ba
was condemned to be hanged-occupied
realms OF japanese characters and its trans
| latlon would run into SIX columns of the
| limes. Inc advice of the English Judge
| VINO said to younger colleague Give your
conclusions, my dear fellow. but never your
| reasons" is totally disregarded by The Ian
| anese official, whose Judgment is practi-
! cally one long argument, with the purpose
o. proving the correctness of his decision
II Is marked with very fine writing The
| accused in this case was sailor, and the
| weapon he used is described as being
| welded by an arm that for thirty years
\ had wrested with the angry wave" The
| scene of the murder was hit off in this
word picture: Bones splintered, pieces of
4 flesh flying about. brains scattered around
| red blood yelling forth, long hairs drifting
| or the CORY stream" The prisoner had
| suffered disappointment of some selfish
| expectations, and he is described as being
plunged from the airy heights o6 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 it deserves The
| judge remarked that of the three murders
| the most serious was that of the young
| American; that there were extenuating cir
| cumstances in the case Of the two Japan
csc girls, and that If they only had been
! in question justice would have been salts
| fled with a sentence of penal servitude.
| This is peculiarly Japanese. No English
| judge would have found any redeeming fea-
| ture in the doing to death of these unfor-
| tunate women. But one of them happened
| to have been living with the murderer as
| his mistress. and had afterward deserted
him, and that, in japanese eyes, is some
| justification for bloodshed.
1t is a remnant of the feeling of old Japan.
Forty years ago man was not exposed to
any great censure if he killed woman who
had nd he a16 SAyati 10
| still strong enough to sway the minds of
| three judges of enlightened views well
versed in the legal systems of the west. 1t
| is point which illustrates the truth of
what have SO frequently contended-that.
however complete code of laws Japan
may have and however good theoretical
knowledge of those laws her judges may
possess Japanese justice will never be the
same European justice The bias of ira
dition, race. patriotism and temperament
has to be reckoned with.
when Receipts Require stamps.
Commissioner Wilson of the internal rev.