and to liberate him. Innumerable petitions
were signed headed by the Archbishop of
Manila praying for his release as his term of
imprisonment had nearly expired. Upon
the payment of his fine of $2,500 in gold, he
was discharged and soon sailed for Spain.
Ruiz still remains in confinement. It is said
that he prefers to stay in Manila rather than
go back and face a Spanish court martial.
The trial of the Spanish newspaper editor,
Antonio Hidalgo, for seditious libel in vio
lation of the laws of war, was an exceedingly
important case. The accused published
many articles reflecting upon the American
authorities and upon General Otis's manage
ment of matters in the Islands. He was
defended by Captain Eager of the ist Ne
braska, U. S. V., an officer of merit, and a
lawyer of marked ability who rose to the
rank of Lieutenant Colonel before he was
mustered out of the service. He made a
most eloquent defense for the accused, who
was found guilty, sentenced to pay a fine of
$500 in gold coin of the United States, —
"that he be placed and kept outside of the
lines of the territory now occupied by and
within and under the jurisdiction of the mili
tary forces of the United States, and that
the press, type, furniture, material, and all
appurtenances of the printing office of La
Voz Española be confiscated and sold for the
use and benefit of the United States." Gen
eral Otis upon a petition that was signed by
the foreign consuls and leading residents of
Manila, mitigated the sentence so much as
related to confiscation of property and to the
deportation beyond the lines occupied by the
military forces of the United States. The
fine was reduced to $250. It was subse
quently paid and Hidalgo was released. The
newspapers stopped their abuse which at the
time was coarse and vulgar, and reflected
severely on General Otis's course which
any impartial person is bound to acknow
ledge has been one of ability and wise ad
ministration.
The trial of the cases was a novel scene
not only to the inhabitants, but to the Span ish lawyers, judges and clergy, most of whom knew little or nothing of the methods of American courts or the administration of justice in accordance with our procedure. The commission was pre-eminently judicial. On doubtful questions they invariably ruled in favor of the accused. On one occasion the commission refused to follow the Com mon Law rule that upon the trial of the hus band, the wife could not be a witness either for or against him. They held that inas much as the rule had been abrogated in most States of the Union, and that as the Philip pines were nearer California which was a Code state and would no doubt form a part of that judicial district, that they would over rule the objection of the Judge Advocate and permit the accused to testify. This decision and a subsequent acquittal of Amerych gave the Spaniards great confidence in the impar tiality and integrity of the commission. Many persons are of the opinion that the exercise of martial law is a species of govern ment little short of tyranny. This is not true. Martial law has its limits. As was well said by Mr. Justice Blackburn in his famous charge in the Jamaica case, " Al though martial law dispenses with the forms and delays which appertain to the ordinary criminal jurisprudence, it does not, therefore, authorize or sanction every deed assumed to be done in its name. It stops far short of that. For if it did not, lawless men, under color of and putting forward the pretence of authority, might commit acts abhorrent to every principle of humanity. They might gratify malice and revenge, hatred and illwill, lust and rapacity. They might peq^etrate deeds from which the sun would hide its face. No greater error exists than to sup pose that the subjecting of a district to the military power authorizes excess on the part of those u'/¿o administer that power." All the records and proceedings in these various cases have been preserved, filed in the office of the Judge Advocate General at
