Sunday Washington globe., 1902-04-27

with fine display of American wit and
humor the Manila .4meTicQH publishes an
illustration of the Filipino idea of the ad-
ministration of justice and very properly
holds it up to the ridicule of all Caucasians.
In the same newspaper we 6nd by way of
contrast the Anglo-Saxou's superior ad-
miudstration of the article, and all uucon-
sciously, the Manila editor preserves both
in imperishable type for the enlightenment
and pity Of an unprejudiced world.
Hear this pure blooded Caucasian of the
Manila AmsricaH and note his pleasing
humor:
The moods of the genus Filipino are
many and peculiar, but when one Of the
gentry gets a little brief authority he is
worse and more of it. In the festive suburb
of Pasay, where nightly are heard the click
of the rolling cubes and the sing song voice
OF the roulette man. there resides Justice
Of the peace who in legal procedure shows
the originality Of genius
There also reside in Pasay several persons
who compose the "dramatis personae" of
the present comedy. One of these is a
native named Carel, who was kept pretty
close under surveillance by the military
authorities a year or so ago. He owns a
small plot of ground near the race track,
which he rents to a gambling concern. Ad.
joining his place is another lot owned by a
Mrs. Haynes and rented to a man named
Rees. There is large we'll or cesspOol on
Rees' lot and when the habitues of the
nearby resorts lose their equilibrium they
have playful habit of falling into the
well. Rees finally became tired of getting
out of bed to haul them out and placed a
fence of three bamboo rails along a row of
rrrhs rt~ac aar,wraad hvf hfsr, ss, arf-
the party line.
Then appears Carel with an axe and de-
molishes the fence and with viole Mt gestures
threatens Rees with the same fate. Rees
abstaiued from any violence, but lodged a
complaint before the justice, to which not
the slightest attention was paid Then Carel
lodges his complaint and in short order
Mrs. Haynes, whose only ofense was her
ownership Of the property. was notified
that she had been tried and found guilty of
"usurpation" and sentenced to pay a fine
including costs, of II pesos.
Next appears on the scene Mephis-
topheles in the person Of Charles George, a
Hungarian. who tells the widow that he
thinks be can fix it so that she can get off
by paying the costs. Instead Of accepting
his magnanimous offer she hies herself to
Manila and cOnsults a lawyer This, it
would seem, struck terror to the heart of
the village justice and he sent word that
the hne had been taken from the widow
and placed on Rees.
The justice, when interviewed recently,
stated that Mrs Haynes had been at his
Office and that he had read the complaint to
her and stated that he himself had visited
the scene Of the trouble and had seen that
the property line was usurped. He then
told her that her fine was fixed at II pesos,
and asked her what she had to say in her own
defense She had nothing at all to say and
his honor didn't seeem to understand that
her standing mute was equivalent to a plea
of not guilty and therefore necessitated the
introduction of testimony. Moreover Mrs.
Haynes denies that she was ever questioned
on the subject
The substance Of the matter is that with
out the slightest formality Of hearing, the
judge has on a complaint made against
Rees, assessed a fine against Mrs Haynes
and then when he found that she had a
little fighting blood transfers the fine to the
original defendant. Probably such a legal
hocus pocus was never heard Of before
II IS claimed that the auimus Of the whole
matter lies in the fact that Rees and Mrs
Haynes are supposed to have given infor-
nation against an insurgent agent at Pasay,
but II of course cannot be imagined that
a person holding an Office under the Amer.
lean Government would make his authority
the vehicle for the vengeance of insurgents.
Having recovered from the merrimeut
with which the Manila editor designed his
readers should enjoy from perusal OF the
foregoing we invite the readers Of the
GLOBE to read the following sample of the
more enlightened justice administered by
the superior race. Justice Willard, who
wrote the opinion, is, Of course, and ueces-
sarily, one of the highest types of the per
fected AnglO-Saxon race. Here is the case
L.
paper, which had such fun with the Filipino
Justice of the Peace:
The first sentence of death imposed by
the present Supreme Court Of the Philip
pines was pronounced yesterday upon
Teodore de Leon for the murder Of Don
Julio Banson in 1897. The case came up on
appeal by the defendant from a sentence of
life imprisonment imposed by the Court Of
FIRST Instance Of Bataan Province, but in
stead of relief he got heavier sentence.
The records OF the case show that on June
z8, 1897. Don Julio was kidnapped from his
house by two men known as Fabian and
TOlome, who bound him and took him to a
sequestered place where they were Joined
by DE Leon, who was concealed there As
they appeared the latter exclaimed: Thank
God you are now in my graspp
The party guided by De Leon then pro-
ceeded to a swamp, collecting on the way
thither five laborers, servants Of their pris-
Oner. In the shelter Of the forest they
made the prisoner kneel before these FIVE
servants and 60 through various degrading
performances, at the same time beating him
savagely with the butt end of a gun.
De Leon then sent one of the men TO Don
lulio's wife with a demand for 81 900 as
ransom for her husband. Soon after this
DE Leon, with two of the servants, took the
prisoners further into the swamp and a few
days later his headless body was found
there.
In commenting upon the case Justice
Willard, who wrote the opinion. says that
the evidence shows not only generalization
bat indicates cruelty, torture and hate, all
Of which make the Ottense very grave. The
court therefore, reverses the decision of
the lower court and adiudges the defendant
guilty Of 'assasinato." or murder, and sen
teuces him TO death aud to pay a fine of
81 900 to the widow or heirs Of his victim.
In this opinion all of the justices concur,
except Justice Mapa, who dissents."
DC Leon, no dogbt, deserves death ior his
atrocious crime Of which there Is but little
doubt Of his guilt, but his appeal from a
sentence Of life imprisonment thought
sufficient by the trial court aud jury, is met
with the supreme penalty Of the law and re
must die, as II were, by his own hand or
d