Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-21


Then came Jove with his thunderbolts
Nobody out here. or elsewhere, apparently,
had paid any particular attention to the
creation by Congress last year of new
United States circuit court for China. SO
its staff the scene before the sig
nifcance Of the event at all understood
| The judge appointed by the President was
| the one man above all others pre-eminently
| qualified for his task. Judge Whitley had
gone with Gov. Taft to the Philippines as
| district attorney He had set the legal ma
| chinery in motion there. and had run out Of
| the islands lot of vicious camp followers
| big and little. who were exploiting the
F'ilipinos and soldiers, and making trouble
generally. Judge Whitley is quiet man.
| with a goodly frame a square Jaw and an
even disposition: a man not given TO de-
| lvering homiles from the bench or an
Eouncing his intentions beforehand or eX-
| planning his actions afterWard. He is the
| sort of man to scour the United States
| escutcheon in Shanghai. where it has been
| more than a little furnished in times past
| by Americans official and unofficial.
| The day after his arrival he calmly an
| nounCed that American lawyers who eX-
| pected TO practice in his court must pass
| examination as to their professional quail
| fcations and present certificates of their
| moral character. That would seem an in
| nocent enough procedure, warranted by
| practice in the United states, until one has
| heard described the type Of legal shysters
| who for the most part mfest Shanghai.
| making its badness worse. Eight men at
| tempted the examination. Six of them fail
! ed ANONYMOUSLY to attain an average of
| 90 out of a possible 10o. 1t is said by those
| close to the judge that had these men
| passed the examina ion. all but one of them
would have been disbarred on the basis Of
character. At least one of them is a rene
gade from the Philippines and lad before
| felt Judge Wiltieys hand.
! Here was sensation for Shanghai The
I rejected men had been doing business In
| this city for many years; their records
! We've presumably, an open book, so there is
| significance in the fact that l had been able
to find nobody to question the essential
| justice of the courts action. Naturally,
| the men cannot practice in the British
court. and their face is gone utterly This
| swift. summary. omnous action set Shang
| hats underworld agog. What would this
as yet uncomprehended judge do next?
Nobody had to wait long to discover. Bas-
| ing his action on the common law, Judge
| Whitley summoned before him eight pro-
| prietresses of the most influential resorts.
! One escaped by pleading Spanish citizen
| ship which the distr dt attorney was UNI
| able to disproye The Spanish consul is-
| sued certificates for two american girls,
but they were ignored by the court, and he
afterward attempted 10 withdraw them
| The girls pleaded guilty, thus leaving the
Spanish consul in an unpleasant predica-
| ment So all the accused except one were
! given fine of 5000 each, which more
| eloquent than many lectures. The imme-
| date result was to send post-haste out of
Shanghai and out of China more than half
| a hunded American frls," whose reign
| in the east seems now to have been for
ever broken. OF course all this is revolu-
tonary here. When supposedly respectable
Brtishers and Americans objected, the
judge dryly remarked that America is will
ing to surrender the monopoly of this sort
of trade and reputation.
Then notorious character, a man
higher up fell into the tolls on the charge
of running a gambling den and house of
designation. He is now spending six months
in Jail. with leisure to contemplate the adj
visibility of leaving China Another man,
hotel keeper and crook, was up before the
judge on a civil charge; he had rented to
syndicate of Chicago certain gambling priv
ileges at the race track after he knew full
we'll that gambling had been interdicted
by the municipal council Hearing these
facts the judge, in open court, ordered a
criminal information lodged against the
man. Now he is spending year in Jail.
-.
| Before this article is printed certain other
| eminent Shanghai rascals will have got
| their dues, and the court will have moved
| on to Tientsin to repeat the same procedure
| there, and later to Hankow and Canton
I Judge Whitley has a court staff after his
| own mind-Dr. Frank Hinckley, a Column
| bia gradual tie. clerk of court; j. Bassett
as district attorney, and o. r. Leonard as
| marshal. In the collection of evidence he
| has been largely dependent upon one mem
| Der of the missionary body here, and at
Tientsin expects another missionary to per-
! form like service.
All this has a relation to missions to the
| boycott, to the American reputation gen
| orally and to the relations between China
| and America. The manner in which Chi
nese have been treated by Americans here
as well as by the immigration authorities
| In the states. has been a potent factor in
| inflaming them against America From
| such acts the throwing overheard of
| their Chinese boatman, instead Of paying
| him, by three American sailors (this hap
pened near the anchorage of the u. 8. g.
| Quarus, at Chinkiang, the night 1 arrived
/ there), to the wholesale defrauding of the
| government and native investors by rail-
| way concessionaries, the Chinese have come
| to regard Americans with suspicion and
! hatred. By compelling justice and good be-
[ havior on the part Of his countrymen
| Judge Wiley is certain to work vast
! change in the attitude of the Chinese to-
| ward America.
| The American missionaries will be among
| the first to feel this. With insignificant ex-
! ceptions they personally do only good to
1 af tha,,, yha how f.