Landmarks of Chinese Law. pen and paper and bade him write his depo sition : when I saw immediately that he was the copyer of the original petition. The three wooden instruments were brought into play and he acknowledged that the body^ snatching plot had been hatched and carried out in another district (Lan's jurisdiction was strictly limited to his own district) by an old pettifogger named Chen Wei-tu, and that even Wang Shi-hi did not know the actual spot where the corpse was deposited. Chen Wei-tu was arrested and turned out to be an old scoundrel ten times more crafty than Wang Chuo-ting. Chen swore that he was innocent; that Chen Tien-wan was his cousin, and that the two Wangs were trying to ruin Chen Tien-wan. Noticing that Chen Wei-tu had restless eyes, I counselled him to make an open con fession. He kept silent, but Wang Chuoting gave him away entirely, and called me a second Judge Pao. "If these two men," said I, " were trying to ruin your cousin, how is it you came to be eating and drinking with them on friendly terms at an inn? " " An accident," replied Chen Wei-tu. My next step was to exam ine Wang Chuo-ting as to the room they had occupied. I also examined the landlord and his son. There being no doubt now as to the conspiracy, I put Chen Wei-tu to the torture, and he confessed that he had em braced an opportunity to vent his spite on Chen Tien-wan, in consequence of a quarrel. He admitted that he had buried the body outside the Black Stone Fort, four or five feet deep. I sent Wang Chien-ting, under the charge of runners, to the place indicated. Ahsiung's body was found wrapped in a mat, but my experts who examined it (externally only, note) reported no unnatural cause of death. Chen Tien-wan wept when he saw Chen Wei-tu. I was advised to report the case to
the higher magistrates, and by so doing make 579 a great name for myself, but I said : " The Pu-ming district has been suffering from bad harvests. I have been here only a month, and my affairs are unsettled. The three body-snatchers would certainly be put to death, and my report would involve the at tendance at the provincial capital of a large number of persons, who need to attend to their families at home." I therefore ordered the three culprits to receive the full legal tale of blows, and caused an account of the crime to be written on a board in large char acters. This was borne aloft in procession, and the three men were exposed in the cangue at various points. Thus were the people of Pu-ming satisfied. As a rule, official attention is not paid to crime until the wronged person brings up the matter. There are four or five days in a month when complaints may be legally entered; on other days there is recourse to those proverbs which Adele N. Fielde cites in her admirable little sketch," Suits at Law"1 "When the moneyless speak, the hearer hastens away "; " If you have enough money, you can hire a demon to turn your mill." Five cents is charged for a sheet of paper bearing the official stamp of the magistrate, and one dollar for the work of the notary heretofore described. The clerk may de cline to forward the document, if the plain tiff is lacking in money and social influence. If he is rich and powerful, and the charge is against a person who has friends at the yamun, the defendant will receive unofficial notice and the case will be settled privately. The amount of bribes determines the speed of getting a hearing. No money, no magis trate. Perhaps the complainant, who has been dis regarded the first time, is persistent enough 1 A Corner of Cathay.
