Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-11-22
THEPF1ILIPPINES

The courts established by the Unit
ed States Government in the Philip
pines appear to be giving general sat.
isfactlon and are surely accomplishing
vast amount of work. They are un.
questionably a great improvement up
on the former judicial system and
methods. although up to the present
time the great body of laws definin'
the rights of the people and fixing the
penalties for crime have not been
changed. The substantial part of the
law is still Spanish; but the laws regu.
lating the procedure or practice of the
courts is now purely American. The
organization of the courts corresponds
as nearly as possible to the judicial
system existing In the States. There
is. first, the Supreme Court-a body
here OF great dignity, presided over by
very learned and able Judge. Cage.
tano Arellano. considered by some the
greatest of all the Filipinos Of the
present generation; next' below the
Supreme Court are the Courts of First
Instance. corresponding to our Circuit
or District Courts. and below these
are the Justices of the Peace and Pres.
identes of the Pueblos or townships.
American Judges.
The judges of the district courts for
the present are Americans; and as
there are no juries 1t is of the utmost
importance that tAey should be men
of the highest character. and II Is pre-.
sumed that such they are, especially IL
His Honor. Judge E. Finley Johnson.
who presides over the District In Luz
zon comprising the Provinces Of Ben.
guet, Union. Pangasinan and Zamba.
les, be taken as a type. An able rep
resentative of justice and law, Of fine
physique and great capacity for con.
tinuous labor. and endowed with re.
markable degree of penetration and a
thoroughly judicious mind. he makes
an excellent Judge. Although of be.
nevolent disposition, his reverence for
law and justice leads him to a most
solemn and effective discharge OF the
duties Of his very responsible office.
He is now on his first round, and
during the nine months In which he
has exercised his office, he has tried
more than 700 cases and pronounced
the death sentence on no less than
fourteen persons. The population of
the district over which he presides
numbers about $50. 900, and the district
contains seventy-hve local magis.
trates, who have tried within the same
Judge, making the whole number of
cases heard not less than 1900. The
local magistrates have power to i'm.
pose fines up to one hundred dollars
and Imprisonment for term not ex.
ceeding six months. The presidentes
Of the towns have power also to try
and punish offenders against the town
ordinances. A large percentage Of the
cases tried before the district courts
relates to robbery, frequently Of cara.
baos and horses.
Laymen as Counsel.
|. Your correspondent visited Judge
Johnson's court at Iba, Province Of
Zambales. and noted the gravity and
seriousness of the proceedings. There
were no lawyers present except the
fiscal, an officer corresponding to our
district attorney; but a layman pos
sessed of considerable knowledge OF
the law was allowed to act as counsel.
In the examination OF witnesses. the
fiscal appeared to PROFOUND his ques-
ton in very perfunctory and stereo
typed manner, while the counsel for
the accused had one set OF questions
for REORGANIZATION which were
used on all witnesses with possibly
very slight variations. The result
was. that the Judge himself was gener
4, ally compelled to examine the wit
nesses de novo and by direct and per
sistent and patient questioning ELECTED
from them what they knew, or did moi
know. of the case. In this term. occu
plying. about three weeks. there have