The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-07

witnesses to lie with greater frequency than. they Go- at present. Secondly, the mere fact of informing witnesses 'li"s they could be sworn with uplllteu hatlu if they so desired would result m so much waste of time that the puslness ol a busy police court would never pc sot through At Marlborough street pollce court it is not at all unusual to iiiiu t' charge list containing sixty or seventy different items This means that two hundred persons are required to pe sworn before the end or the lisl ID reached. To inform each person sepa- rately that he could choose between IWo forms of oath would mean sitting or interminable length.
 Many magistrates clerks do not know that the kissing of the pook mas become a mere matter of form Wlh many persons Others dodge the KISS ing process by putting their thump 'o the lips, and quite a large sectlon or tue public always open the book to clean page and kiss the inside. In almost eV- cry police court magistrates are Ire quently issuing instructions to those who are appointed to administer tue oath with regard to the necessity ol impressing upon witnesses the solemhl- | ty of the occasion.
 It is recorded at one police court that an usher while administering the oath, turned round to a constable at the back i of the court and shouted "Confound you. Shut that door,! AL Marlpof ough street the books are ehangeo | ks or a about every nine or twelve months, alu 1 it cannot be wondered at that persons | have good grounds for objection agalhs' | kissing the book when it is known tha'
 a testament is put to the lips thirty thousand times before it is replaced Persons professing the Roman Cathoil' faith are known to be exceedingly par tioular on the question Of being sworn It is not uncommon for such witnesses
 to absolutely refuse to kiss the Testa
 ment because the cover has not thi
 cross upon 1t.
 The swearing of n Chinaman m al
 English court of law is quite an event
 Very recently fifty Chlnamen put m al appearance at Marlborough street DO lice court, and before they could b | sworn fifty saucers had to be requlsi
 toned from a neighborlng china shoI
 As each Chinaman was put into th witness box a saucer was given to nm
 and the following oath administered
 "You swear to speak the truth tn
 whole truth, and nothing but the truth
 and if you do not speak the truth you
 soul will be cracked like that saucer.
 Each witness was then required [
 kneel on the floor and smash the sau
 cer. A difficulty arose. when the hrs Chinaman came to break the sauce Twice did he fling it to the ground, bt the saucer refused to break. The mag . istrate (Mr Fenwick) told the aston lished Chinaman to eXpend a little mor
 force, and at the third attempt the sat cer flew in little pieces about the cour , It was decided, in view of the fyin crookery, not to swear the remainin I forty-nine Now the usher has laid h a stock of saucers that are warranted break at the fret encounter with tf floor.
 $ To carry ones own Testament to . court of law is becoming quite con
 mon practice. This plan is to be recon
 mended, because 1t does away with tf
 necessity of having to handle and ki
 book that has been used by sever T. thousand persons. .-London Telegrap