New-York tribune., 1900-01-14
IN 4 JAPANESE COURT.
CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE
NEW TREATY ARRANGEMENTS.
TRIAL OF AN AMERICAN MURDERER-FRENCH
METHODS OF SECRECY AND OF WEIGH
ING EVIDENCE.

Yokohama correspondence of The London Mall
Japanese law methods have lately acquired a very
En,rf me Old treaties glimpse of the Toxic appeal
OF the globe trotter, to be taken after exhausting
the usual weary round of temples, teahOuses and
tions Civil and erin; Criminal afecfing Guropeans and
Americans must come before Japanese judges. the
longer be regarded with mere idle curiosity.
mitted by an American citizen on the very day
on which the revised treaties came into operation
Illustration of the operation of the criminal code.
worthy in its sordid features of the Choice quar-
ter in which it was committed, the Blood Town
count Ia OF Yoke Yok9hama The murderer, in fit Of
American who nad supplanted him in the affections
OF one of the women. He was at once arrested by
Il the day of the trial nothing further could be
Neither the inquest nor the preliminary examina-
lions, were public, for Japanese justice is based
task with mystery and secrecy that make an
Angio-Saxon uncomfortable. The mise au secret
tied by the public prosecutor who comes alone
his best to entrap him into making admissions. In
deed /! Is still an open question whether physical
lessons Of crime One very ugly case of the kind
be wholly singular experience
Thus is the acte daccusaton prepared. It Is
the the whole details of the charge in fine and gran
as he had wnesP it, abG W the
CORY passages in a style that the author of
art is launched at the prisoner at the opening of
his trial. and the president of the court takes it
the basis OF his examination.
And now as to the court and the bench The
big modern building of brick of the best of its
kind IN the empire and OF course, immeasurably
SUPERIOR TO most courts in the provinces. 1t is
arranged in European style. In the criminal sec.
table and the Judges bench ali as thev might be
In an English court. But. at the same time. there
in their native rchitecfm+e fbe{r e y % dr d
gardens. ,dDdneSe homeless
when they do things a TEuropeenne. In this fine,
are scribbled over with foolish and dirty nonsense,
gendarmes and police smoke cigarettes in the cor
even sees the barristeIs table garnished with
The court consists of three judges. and the pro-
curator and the clerk OF the court occupy seats
as can he exnact3 of oHcia Who fuf E we We
judicial functions at salaries Of from $50 to eco
year. They wear gowns much like those of Eng
lish barristers, but instead of the h9rsehair wig
the head is crowned by a black cowl. something
like m6st 6at be G5 w6oe aaoe o b RTes is in the
hands of the president. The bar has very sub
gesting questions and making applications they do
themselves examine witnesses-aIl questions
Of any query the latter may think to put IS ap-
BpppeaTing to be very much less pugnacious and
much more overawed by the court than his British
confrere Less time is probably wasted than in an
English court but there is no question as 70 which
system is the more fair f to the pris0rer T. m
be any criterion the president of the court Is
literary powers. The sentence on this American
citizen-he was condemned to be hanged-occupied
reams of Japanese characters and its anslation
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 disregarded by
cay one long argument, with the purpose of prov
ing the correctness of his decision. 1t is marked
with very fine writing. The accused In TINS case
was sailor, and the weapon he used Is oescrloed
as being welded by that for thirty years
had wrestled with the angry wave" The scene OF
the murder hit off in this word picture: Bones
If 6eSh dVfD about brains scat
tered around. red blood welling forth. long hairs
drifting the CORY stream" The prisoner had
suffered a disappointment of some selfish eXpecta-
tons and he is described as being plunged from
the airy heights of hope into the dismal depths or
grim despair" What Camberwen penny-a-lin
could compare with this judicial paragraphist?
received the attention 1t deserves. The nudge re-
marked of the three murders the most serious
was that of the young American; that there were
exteuuating circumstances In the case OF Jhe Two
Japanese girls, and that IL they only had been In
question justice would have been satisfied with
sentence Of penal servtude This is peculiarly jap
redeeming feature in the doing to Heath OF
these unfortunate women. But one of them nap
pened have been living with the murderer as
his mistress, and had afterward deserted him,
and that in Japanese eyes, is some Justhcatoh TOT
II Is a remnant of the feeling of old Japan
great censure If he killed woman who had heen
false and the old sentiment is still strong enough
views we'll versed in the legal systems of the West
1t is a point which illustrates the truth or what
have so frequently Contended-that however
complete a code of laws Japan may nave, and now
her Judges may possess, japanese justice VIII
never be the same European Justice The bias
tradition race, patriotlsn' anu temperament
has to be reckoned with