CHINESE JUSTICE.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 34, 6 February 1878, Page 3

CHINESE JUSTICE.

You can easily tell of what rank a mandar-hv is by the number of- at^. teudants he has. When one of the high officials goes abroad, he takes *as many as a dozen sedan -bearer s v and, : Jn additioni, a company 6^' ser* vants, some of whom exhibit boards an /which his titles are; inscijibed, or direotions wha.t the people are to do as he passes j others have \yhips with j whioh" they unmercif ul>y '*belabau,r any of tlie- unfortunate passei^-by who do not happen to moveo.ut of tfee way quijokly enough. In : order to show due respeot 'to. those- e-xalted personages, those on horseback must ; dism.ount,; signboards projecting into, the street mast be removed, ordinary individuals m sedans mus:t stap, aiiA : many other ceremonials must be periorßaed* at thie- risk- of puiiisliment Ifor disrespect. Well, these genlle- ! men occupy responsible positions, fdrwhteh they get paid by the. state- ; j buY the- matudamis do. lkat bear a 'very good character- for- honesty and i uprightness, and! are said. to. make large fortunes by means of bribes received froni, those, vsho. wish to. secure their good" offices. Supposing, for; instance, a mandarin received '^1:00; a, year by y/ay of salary, he would be able to make ten,, or^tvxentv;,. lor even a hundr.e«l! ttnies as rnuch^ according, to his cleverness m extorting bribes m return for overlooking offences or giving favouratUe- jud^-. ments. Let m take> a visit to a Chinese court of justice, and see what is going on. Seated on a: raised 1 platform; is the maKtdarin, ! surroun.decl| by- Ibis advt^ecs, engaged :in administering the law to those I who are brought before him for trial. . At* tli^,f oot o£ the steps leading up to the dais wher^r lvesits is the prisoner, chained and kneeling. In the body of the qpur,t are the ysiitneefieft 1 who give thei>evi#eia£es: for oragainst the accused- In ease the mandarin thinks the psigoner, is not fully confessing, hfe. misdemeattjow, he orders l9ti"m, to be whipped, when the matt is seized 1 am/3! chastised much or little, according to. the instructions given. If he has money, and fees the officials, h& will probably be let o|f easily and 1 general!!?, the more money he can expend the lighter his punishment; m fact, had he been able to ,b.i;ibe-ajlaroTibnidviit is very unlikely fie would have foun^ himself m a cowt of justice- at aJI,. unless his offence- had) been« of a/ very serious nature. Of course there are- some ngh-tecH*3 judges, huib these an^ew? and far betvßeeft. However, wnen sufiJi. a one leaves the. province where he- has been stationed", -it is thecustom, to. present him with anj elaborate and? costly umbrella, or ; more valued even, thaji: this is the , gprgeou.a garmen<b wWfchi w giveii int exceptional cases. The mandarin • who has so fargained the love of the people- as to have .such, an honour conferred on hmi, Wo/iild' ppoba<biy beentreated" tOi'feave his boots behind; • him.: to be pWedi m, one of tho temples of the^ city.-^-'Liitlo- Folks " ios October