The daily Alaskan., 1917-01-03
SOME QUEER LAWS
When New France, In This Goun.
 try, Was Ruled From Quebec.
JUSTICE IN EARLY MICHIGAN.

In tho Pioneer Days or Sho territory as
 It Was Then, the Judges Were Not
 LaWySrs, ana the Jurors Were EWI-
 dsntly Pretty lndsPShdent.
 Before there was any Michigan" from 1922 to 1763, that part of our country was a part Of New France and was governed from the seat of government in Quebec. Our laws came from the French King and from the local council at Quebec, and many of them were quite absurd.
 For instance, while they did not at- tempt to regulate the length of sheets on hotel beds, they did declare that besides white bread and light brown bread all bakers shall. make dark brown bread whenever the same shall be required" Another of the old French laws. probably lobbied through by some long dead cattle baron, was:,
 whereas, The people of thls province raise too many horses, which prevents them from raising cattle and sheep, being ignorant Of their true interests. Now, therefore, we command that each inhab- itant of this government shall hereafter own no more than two horses or mares and one foal, the same to take effect after the sowing season of the. ensuing year mo, giving them time to rid themselves of their horses in excess of said number, after which they will be required to kill any of such excess that may remain in their possession.
 Another law was meant to stop the congregation of the population in the cities before 1t really began. It was a law
 To Promote Agriculture and Protect
 Morals. 10. ..'' We prohibit and forbid all farmers from removing to this town, Quebec, under, any pretext whatever, without our permission in writing, on pain of being expelled and sent back to thelr farms, furniture and goods being confscated and fne of 50 l francs for the benefit of hospitals. And, furthermore We forbid the inhabitants' of l this town, Quebec, letting houses or rooms to persons coming in from the country on pain of a fine of loo francs, also for hos pitals.
 A law forbidding profanity provided the punishment for the first ofrense to be 0 peeuniary fine, for the second, third and fourth repetition the fine was to be doubled, tripled and quadrupled, for the fifth offense they shall set in the pillory on Sunday and other fesd- val days, there to remain from in the morning till in the afternoon, exposed to all sorts of approbrium and abuse" The sixth punishment was that "they be led to the piIlory and have the upper lip cut with a hot iron" For the seV- enth they were to have the lower lip cut in the same manner. The law fur ther provides:
 And if by reason of obstinacy and in- veterate bad habit they continue after all | these. .punIshments to utter oaths and blas- phemies 1t is our will and command that they have the tongue completely cut out so that hereafter they cannot utter them again.
 The Judiciary portion of Michigan territory in the early days was com posed of county courts" and justices , of the peace" The courts" consisted of three judges, none of whom were lawyers. Their jurisdiction, both civil and criminal was limited. It is need less to say that the justice courts were conducted without much regard to cer- emony.
 In one suit brought to recover the amount of a note of hand jury of six was impaneled, the foreman of which was a large and portly individual who bore the title of colonel. Probably on account of his assumed military rank ha was permitted to wear his hat dur ing the entire trial
 One of the witnesses made repeated ] statements that were irrelevant and contradictory, and one of the counsel as often rose and took exception, but each time be was overruled by the Jus tice. At each objection the colonel manifested a great deal of annoyance by fidgeting in his seat and talking in loud whispers to his fellow jurors.
 Finally the witness made state ment that was so opposed to every rule of evidence and common sense that the P attorney who had so often attempted to exclude this sort of evidence could no longer silently submit. He again rose from his seat and respectfully appealed to the court, protesting against such statements going to the ) jury as testimony.
 ' Thereupon the worthy colonel i'm pressively rose from his seat and swore he would no longer sit there and hear that Lawyer feller make fuss" Be said he had taken the oath as a juror to decide the ease according to the evi- dence, and if he could not hear the whole story from the witness be should leave the courtroom.
 He accordingly made several strides toward the door when the justice arose and, approaching the trate juror, placed a hand on his shoulder and, begged him to return to his seat with the jury, promising that the trouble some attorney should not again be al lowed to interfere with the evidence.
 After some persuasion the colonel consented to return. Pressing his hat .I.n-- T