The Criminal Code of the Philippines. of the Civil Code, which is an excellent sys tem, guarding zealously the rights of minors and orphans, and infinitely more liberal in its provisions referring to the wife and widow, and far less fruitful of litigation than the common law system prevailng in the States. The abuses alleged to have heretofore ex isted under the Spanish procedure arose from the administration of and not from any defect in the law itself. The procedure being slow and tedious, the machinery of the courts cumbersome and litigation exceedingly ex pensive, these conditions as well as the al leged dishonesty of the Spanish judges and court officials brought reproach on the judi ciary of the country. When all is consid ered, the costs, the "law's delays," the exac tions, the uncertainty of securing justice, the insolence of office" to which the poor suitor was subjected by court employés, it seems strange that in any but the most press ing emergency, suitors should have had the courage or will to enter an appearance be fore the courts. A most iniquitous provision of the law was that referring disputed attorneys' fees to a special tribunal composed of practising law yers of the local bar. The unfortunate client who had the temerity to dispute his lawyer's charges, no matter how exorbitant they might be, was subjected, not only to the law's delays in the prosecution of his claim, but to the insolence of office, when robbed by his attorney, on whom the law conferred the privilege of demanding whatever he pleased for his services and of collecting whatever he charged through the good offices of his brethren of the bar. While the administration of the law under Spanish judges was unsatisfactory and in numerous instances corrupt, statements of wholesale denunciation on the part of the Filipino against the Spaniard should be re ceived with considerable allowance, owing to the natural prejudice prevailing against the
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Spanish official, by whom the native, what ever his wealth or social position among his own people, was treated with little respect. Under the Spanish regime the Filipino re ceived scant official recognition. He filled none but the minor offices in church or State. To a sensitive and extremely ambitious race the situation must have been exceedingly humiliating. I have been told that in the presence of a Spanish official a native was not permitted to seat himself. One former provincial governor was inclined to mani fest a friendly spirit to the natives and treated them with unaccustomed affability. On one occasion a Spanish naval official, calling at the governor's office, found him seated chat ting with a prominent native; the latter con tinued to occupy his seat after the entrance of the naval dignitary. The latter, feeling outraged at such effrontery on the part of the Filipino, expressed his sentiments in vig orous Castilian against the presumptuous native, as well as toward the civil official who permitted such presumption. After freeing his mind, he left the office, subsequently re porting the matter to Madrid, which resulted in the speedy removal of the offending gov ernor. I am unable to vouch for the truth of this story, and am of the opinion that the treatment of the native by the Spanish offi_cial depended largely upon the individual character of the official. The incident, how ever, illustrates a condition of affairs rad ically different from that at present prevail ing in the archipelago, when the Chief Jus tice of the Supreme Court is a native, as arc three of the Philippine Commission, several of the judges of the Courts of First Instance, nearly all the Provincial Governors, all of the Provincial Fiscale and justices of the peace. Numerous other places of trust, profit and dignity are filled by Filipino officials. The minor official places, as that of justice of the peace, is necessarily filled by natives, as it would be impractical to secure Amer icans for such positions. The annals of Fili
