The Legal System of Old Japan. The last case mentions a journey of the accused to Yedo with the headman. This was one of the common incidents of Tokugawa justice, — the departure of all the par ties to Yedo, in cases of importance, to at tend on the court there until the suit could be brought to a conclusion. It was an ex pensive matter, to be sure; but it doubtless had its pleasures for the rustics, and it played a great part in familiarizing the rural inhabi tants with the ways of the busy metropolis. The headman or some other officer must al ways accompany the litigants, as has been said, and probably served as an adviser both of the court and the party. But each man was supposed in theory to advocate his own cause. To obtain payment of a claim on be half of another, taking a share as a fee, was a penal offence. Nevertheless, many made a business of thus acting for others. They would claim a relationship with their client, and represent that he was sick and unable to attend. It was a business in which much money was made. But the receiving of a fee was clandestine, and ostensibly the service was rendered as a favor. There were no court fees, before either the headman of the village, the reeve, or the magistrates. There was a large staff of clerks and assistants at every town magis trate's and reeve's office, and also in the Chamber of Judges; and to these skilled permanent officials rather than to the mag istrates themselves was owed the systematic and consistent treatment of litigation. The .legal training they received was found in the ordinary political and moral precepts which, together with a stock of historical informa tion relating to their own country and China, they obtained from the Confucian books stud ied at the schools for samurai, and in the ex perience which they gained in subordinate grades of their calling. These, as well as the rural administrators (or reeves, as it seems best to call them), in fact formed a special class trained for this life. The reeve was usually a knight or one of the lesser barons, and had usually received a fair education for 61
his office, and was thoroughly acquainted with the customs of his district and its spe cial requirements. The directions given in one of the official manuals were that these officers should be men trained to the keeping of accounts, should have a general knowledge of civil and criminal law, and should be fa miliar not only with the customs of the local ity over which they presided, but also with those of adjacent regions. In the towns there was always a wellorganized police system. Ordinary watch duty was performed by the townsmen them selves, under regulations arranged at the ward-meetings; while the regular police were attached to the magistrate's office, and their duties were rather those of bailiffs and de tectives. In the country this portion of the work, by old custom, was in the hands of one of the outcast classes, called bantaro, or watchmen. These formed a sort of volunteer police, who could be hired by villages and towns, or by private persons, for the protection of their property. The large cities had their own police systems, but the reeve and lesser feudal lords usually employed bantaro. In a village the bantaro went every morning to the headman to inquire if there was any thing to be done. They had no power to arrest without an order, unless flagrante de licto. When an order was desired, it had to be obtained from the reeve, the headman having no authority in criminal matters. A small prison stood near the bantaro house, and was used as a temporary place of con finement until the proper official arrived. Arrested persons were bound with cords, differing according to the kind of offence, — in case of murder with a blue-black one, in case of theft with a light-colored one. Sa murai were always bound with iron clamps or wristlets, never with cord. The bantaro were very skilful in capturing criminals. When a criminal escaped from Yedo, a let ter was sent on to the first bantaro In the direction taken by the fugitive. Search was begun, and the letter sent on rapidly to the
