The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-11-07
DEATH WITHOUT TRIAL
4 NOW LAW IN MEXICO


4 NOW LAW IN MEXICO
| That Mexico is in more or less of a
state of anarchy, extending into the
very capital of the Republic, is made
plain by a manifesto dated October 8
and issued over the signature of the
de facto President Carranza, a COPY
of which reached Washington ten days
ago.
| The proclamation amounts to pruc-
tically an abrOgation of the bill of
sights in Mexico, allowing the death
penalty without trial upon all Grim.
tnals caught, except petty violators,
and allows the Imprisonment of these
for terms up to ten years. o..
FeKt Of Decree's Preamble
| The preamble to the decree is as
| follows: F..
Whereas, brigandage has been de-
veloplng in the country as an newt
able consequence of public upheavals
which have taken place during recent
years, produced by the struggle it was
necessary to carry out; first to over
throw the power which has usurped the
government of the Republic, and later
! to- suppress the characterization Of the
division of the north and to EXTERN.
nate the hordes which had invaded
the State Of Morelos;
Whereas bandits still remain in va
rious parts of the Republic and rem
| nants of civil war no longer have any
political significance, standard or pre-,
text which can justify them in their
looting expeditions and raids, since it
IS the sole purpose Of such bands to
attack villages and hamlets with the
object Of sacking them, Of committing
outrages and assassinations, or TO shoot
up, attack or dynamite moving trains
for the purpose of robbing the passen-
gers, or burn bridges, stations, ware
houses and so forth, or to tear up the
racks, or destroy the telegraph and
telephone lines of federal eompa MES
and corporations;
Railway Trafic Hindered
Whereas, railroad traffic is hinder
ed in this way on many occasions or is
rendered uncertain, since a. though the
government takes the greatest care to
protect the running of trains and to
give all possible protection to travellers,
it is impossible to avoid these Grimm
alities because of the large number of
galway lines and the facility with
which the malefactors elude the repre-
5ive action of the authorities, as much
because of the great extent of the ma
tional territory as because of its broken
character and because of the protection
which these bands frequently find
among the rural population, which is
due particularly to the fear inspired
by them;
Whereas, brigandage in all its mani
iestatiOns has brought about insecur-
Ity in the country districts, forcing the
inhabitants of haciendas, ranches, ham
lets and other small communities to
leave them and seek personal safety in
the larger centers of population, which
IS notably injurious to agriculture,
! commerce and other sources of national
wealth, and since the consequences of
re evil we have been discussing have
appeared recently in the principal
iG"S, for even in the capital itself per
sons who were walking the streets have
been attacked at nights; suburban
trains have been held up and the pas
sengers robbed; burglaries, accompanied
by violence, have been of frequent oc-
euIrcnce in private residences; all of
which has greatly alarmed the people
so that it is an urgent necessity that
such serious state of affairs be put at
an end by means of extreme measures
which may be eficaciOus in this in
stance and which, in fact, had excel.
lent results in analogous circumstances
in other periods of the nations history.
rs was the case after the three wars
in the time of President Benito Juarez. :;
whereas, measures of this kind al.
| ways have consisted in the application
of the death penalty to all offenders
taken in fagrante delicto, or whose
guilt is sufficiently proven;
Whereas, the extraordinary provi-
Slons of this law are also applicable to
accomplices and accessories after tho
act as well AS to cutpurses, pickpoekets
| and petty thieves in general, and fur.
Their establishes the obligation under Sc
we're penalties of a great number Of
people to report these acts to the au.
| thOritics;
whereas, it is necessary, in order
| that the measures embodied in this law
] may be etficaciOus, that they be applied
promptly by the judicial authority in
the place in which the crime is com
| united, upon occasion even without
the form or semblance of a trial, when
the offenders are taken in fagrante
dehcto, or after a most summary in.
Vestigation when such is not the case !;
whereas, by these measures ], the
first chief, hope soon to re,estabHsh
peace and give protection TO the lives,
honor and property Of the inhabitants,
again giving birth, safety, confidence
land work.