The various codes of laws which are considered of authority are, according to Crawfurd,[45] the Shwe-men, or Golden Prince, the Wan-da-na, and the Damawilátha, to which may be added the Damasat or Damathat, a Burmese translation of the Institutes of Manu. In these law courts, however, all codes whatever are dead letters, for to none does any judge ever refer. Malcom observes:[46]—“As a great part of their income is derived from lawsuits, they [the rulers] generally encourage litigation.”
The flight of a debtor does not relieve his family of the liability; but no wife can be obliged to pay the debts he has contracted during a former marriage. When a loan is entered upon, each of the securities is responsible for the whole amount, and the lender can force the first person to pay that he can catch. The property of insolvents must be equally shared among the creditors without preference. The eldest son inherits the arms, wardrobe, bed, and jewellery of his father; the rest of his property is divided into four equal shares, of which the widow has three, and the family, exclusive of the eldest son, take the remaining fourth.
The different punishments for offences are these, increasing with the enormity of the crime:—Fines, the stocks, imprisonment, labour in chains, flogging, branding, maiming, pagoda slavery, and death. The last, which seldom occurs but for murder and treason, is inflicted by decapitation, drowning, or crucifixion. But killing slaves is not criminal, and is atoned by fines. A libel is punished by the infliction of the punishment corresponding to the crime unjustly charged upon the plaintiff by the libeller: however, if the truth of the charge be proven, it is not a libel. In our country, it is a well-known fact that the truth alone is a libel, a falsehood needing no refutation. Judgments, as in England, go by default of appearance, though that is no rule in Burman practice, whatever it maybe in theory.
The husband has power to chastise his wife for misbehaviour, after repeated admonitions and remonstrances in the presence of witnesses. In the event of continued offences, he has the power to divorce her, without appeal. A woman whose husband has gone away with the army is at liberty to marry at the expiration of six years; if his object were business, she must wait seven years; and if he was sent on any religious mission, she must wait ten years. The slave-laws are very strict, yet favourable on the whole; but I should imagine that judge’s opinion settled the matter.
Changing a landmark is heavily punished. Betting debts are recoverable from the loser, but not from any person in any way otherwise responsible. A person hurt in wrestling, or any other athletic exercise, cannot recover damages: but if he be mortally hurt, the other must pay the price of his body. An empty vehicle must give place before a full one; and when two loaded men meet, he that has the sun at his back must give way. The following value is set upon men, women, and children:—
| £. | s. | d. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A new-born male infant | 4 | ticals | = | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| A female infant | 3 | ” | = | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| A boy | 10 | ” | = | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| A girl | 7 | ” | = | 0 | 17 | 6 |
| A young man | 30 | ” | = | 3 | 15 | 0 |
| A young woman | 35 | ” | = | 4 | 2 | 6 |
Rich persons pay in proportion to their wealth and importance. Of course the high officers of the administration thus become very valuable men, in one respect at least.
The Burmese code, in its various aspects, seems most strangely inapposite for the land in which it is placed; or, it might be more correct to say, for the officers by whom it is dispensed. The police magistrate’s position is in Europe a responsible and disagreeable one; but the case is far otherwise in Burmah, and indeed in all Oriental governments having native ministers. For, though there may be amongst them some few scrupulous men, yet, as a whole, we cannot look upon the magisterial office as otherwise than an engine of extortion, and as a means whereby to turn the weaknesses of the human disposition to the best advantage. It is, however, not very remarkable that a country should exist with good laws and bad administrations, as it is not impossible for a nation to continue under the rule of obsolete ordinances and quibbling sinecurists. Many of the grievances are, however, chargeable on the inactive and unenergetic disposition of the people. I am not, however, prepared, with all this, to go the length of Crawfurd, who thus speaks:[47]—
“The police is as bad as possible; and it is notorious that in all times of which we can speak with certainly, the country has been overrun with pirates and robbers. Responsibility is shifted from one person to another, and a general ignorance and want of intelligence pervades every department.[48] It is a matter well known, however contrary to theory, that in consequence of this state of things even a royal order will often fail of commanding respect or attention at the distance of five short miles from the seat of government.”