the proud Japanese. It was forced upon them in 1866, when the country was in the throes of a revolution, when the government of the Shogun was falling to pieces, and the emperor was not yet able to maintain his sovereignty.
The enforcement of the provisions of the treaties as to exterritorial jurisdiction was equally as objectionable to the Japanese. Not only were foreigners tried by their own consuls for offenses committed against Japan and its people, but the natives were required to prosecute their suits against foreigners in the consular courts of the defendants. It was humiliating enough even when the consuls had a legal education and were competent to administer justice, but often the persons who held these positions were ignorant of law and utterly unfitted for judicial duties. In the latter case the consular judges were in marked contrast to the Japanese judges, who were trained in their profession and independent of executive control.
Even when the consuls were qualified in other respects for their duties, it was not always easy to divest themselves of partiality for their own countrymen, and this influence sometimes led to remarkable decisions. An example was that of an English merchant detected in trying to smuggle a large quantity of opium (a prohibited article) through the custom house, who was brought by the Japanese authorities before the British consular court. He was acquitted on the ground that it was medicinal opium," and might be freely imported by paying the duty of five per cent, levied on medicines.
