The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1904-01-18

Thought which have directed the con.
lduc ani the ideas Of the people Tor
ages
The whole social system rests upon
tho family relation; and The great part
lof their religion consists in the wor-
ship Of and sacrifices TO ancestors.
whose happiness in the unseen world
depends on the faithful performance
lof this duty by their descendants
I. From fhis social and religious sys-
tenn there has developed a legal sys-
Item of marvellous completely 1t is
characteristic of the oriental mind.
with its peculiarities, its sinuosities
and vermiculaiions AS a system it
stands by itself. never having receiv-
/ ed any ail or additions from outside
sources. IL is thoroughly Chinese.
1t is significant that the first at
tempt az law of which there Is any
tradition, is shat relating to marriage
which is claimed to be nearly FIVE
thousand years Old But leaving out
of consideration this mythical tradi-
lion. there is well authenticated evil
ldence OF successive codihcations Of
! the laws, down to the year 1403 Of orr
era. where o complex body of laws,
1.-THE results of the accumulated work
lof unknown ages was definitely formu-
Hated and published; and continued in
] force until the establishment of he
Mancbus in power two hundred years
later; and again revised and adapted
! to the new dynasty. supplemented ANA
/ Explained by imperial DEGREES, il has
continued in force 10 the present day
arfI Of
military organization and public Of
| fee, taxation and public works. the
/ law of rites and ceremonies which
governthe daily life, conduct and do
mestic relations of the people adm
| most important of all, a system Of
| criminal jurisprudence which in pro
| hibitioEs and regulations, in minute
distinctions, in defining almost every
conceivable sort of offense and pre-
lscribing an elaborately graded system
! of punishments. constitutes the great
er and the most effective part of the
code
There is hardly any exact system as
| to civil cases and commercial law
but this is made up, in part at least
| by making almost every violation of
the civil rights of others a criminal
offense with a definite punishment
Thus. if a debtor refuses to pay his
debts the creditor may present a pc
tition to the magistrate who will is-
sue a warrant on which the debtor is
arrested and confined until he does
lpay, and If he still delays payment he
may from time to time, be brought
before the magistrate TO be ilogged
with a view of eXpediting his action
The real estate law has provided a
system of registration. The purchaser
must present his deed to the local Of
dcer to receive the stamp of the gov
lernment and pay the tax imposed on
transfers ond must register the land in
his own name upon the tax rolls. His
failure to do 50 may render the con
veyance invalid and in any event will
subject him TO castigation at the hand
of the criminal Judge
Negligence causing injury to anoth-
er is severely punished, and II Il cause
death is in most cases a capital Of
fense In short, the criminal code at
tempts to provide for almost every
violation Of civil rights by punishing
the offender and for this reason the
law of crime and punishment is the
principal part of Chinese jurisprud-
ence
Crimes are defined and punishments
fixed with absolute certainty. If the
law is an exact science anywhere, it
Icertainly is in China. Thus. there is
a special article for every known form
of killing; for example, deliberately
Iplanned killing, killing with intent to
kill, killing without intending to kill
the person killed, killing in the course
of an ARRAY killing by utter charce,
etc etc. To each of these varieties
a different penalty at aches.
II is curious TO note thar insanity
Is no defense to a charge of crime, SO
far at least as the sentence Is con
cerned, although in ordinary cases
the sentence will be committed to
some minor form of punishment, un-
Hess the lunade has committed some
crime against his parents or grand
lparents or some of his elders, In
which event the sentence may be car
ried out And IL you will permit me
10 cite precedent ! viii call your at
ltention to the case Of Chang Chutien
reported I'm the 44th volume of Hsing
An Hui Ian at page "a, where Chang,
while insane. killed his father and was
In turn killed on the spot by his mo- h.
er. Nevertheless he had a post NOR
tenn trial and condemnation and his
dead body was sliced TO pieces.
The right or even the duty, under
leertain circumstances, 10 commit sui
lcide SIS recognized by law; and Grim
inal responsibility attaches to the per
son who Is the indirect cause of the
suicide
# creditor proceeds to dun his
ldebtor and the latter commits suicide
lin consequence. the creditor will be
held eriminally liable for causing his
death. Where the suicide results from
a slanderous attack upon the virtue OF
a lady, the author of the slanler is
FURNISHED capitally. (P A. S. p, Vol
~ p. 2S) A wife Is held responsible II
iaha rrtuu "a nsuaw frrrs, lar Hsruhnna