The next day, I took the child together
with Senora Bayot, the wife of the Governor's secretary, before the
local Justice of the Peace. Senora Bayot translated and the child told
the same story as had his sister. The Justice of the Peace issued an
order for the step-father to report to him on the next day. That night
my _muchacha_ told me that her step-father had threatened to kill the
child if he did not tell the Justice that he got the hurt by falling
out of an orange tree. The child did as ordered, and the step-father
was dismissed. When I questioned the Justice of the Peace as to why
he credited the second tale, he said the child was under oath then,
and was not under oath in the first statements."
It was not deemed wise at the outset to appoint a Filipino judge for
the city of Manila, as it was feared that there would be a lack of
confidence in a Filipino who had occasion to decide cases involving
large sums of money in which Americans or foreigners on the one hand
and Filipinos on the other were interested; but a few years after
the establishment of the new judicial system Filipino judges had won
such a reputation for justice and fairness as to gain the confidence
of Americans and foreigners and the appointment of a Filipino judge
for the court of the city of Manila did not arouse any opposition.
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