pleaded for a little time in which to summon a lawyer. The judge said:
"I have no time to fool with this case." The lawyer arrived in haste
and pleaded for a little time in which to prepare the defense. The
judge said to the lawyer: "You shut up, or I'll have you imprisoned
for contempt of Court." He awarded the slave to the care of her
master.
This and other such cases led to a valuable alteration of the law at
the point of the protection of minors. We will explain the change in
the words of Miss Cameron:
"In years past it was necessary in each case to in a way break
the _letter_ though not the _spirit_ of the law when we rescued a
Chinese child, for there was no written law to uphold us in
entering a house and carrying off a child--then, too, before
it was possible to carry out guardianship proceedings, the
ever-available writ of habeas corpus would in many cases deliver
the child back into the care of the Chinese, until the matter
could be settled in the Superior Court--in such instances we
seldom won our case. Our attorney saw wherein the difficulty lay,
and proposed an amendment to the law of the State in the matter of
the guardianship of minor children, which would give power to a
presiding judge to sign an order to the Sheriff, commanding him
immediately to take into custody the child whose name appeared
on the warrant and place her in the care of those applying for
guardianship, until such time as the hearing could be had."
This means of protection for minors was secured by the combined
efforts of mission workers and their friends. This explanation will
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