If a person catches a man in the act of robbing his house or his property and takes the thief into custody, his evidence will not be sufficient to convict the robber. He must have two witnesses who saw the thief in the act. The evidence of members of his family, or of servants employed by him will not be admitted. The burden of proof rests with the prosecutor, and not with the accused. The slow operation of the law is also responsible for a lack of the enforcement of statutory provisions. There are so many delays and difficulties incident to securing the conviction of a criminal, that honest people frequently refuse to follow to a conclusion cases in which they are personally interested. When convicted and sent to prison, the fact has no detrimental effect upon the social standing of the convict in the community in which he lives. Like a horse that has made a record upon the turf, his performances furnish a fruitful topic of conversation to his friends, the details of which are discussed with animated interest. When released from prison, and he returns home, which is invariably the case, the convict becomes the hero of the community. There is no shame or disgrace connected with his imprisonment. The question of treatment, the quality and quantity of beans served in the prison fare, are discussed as if they were common phases of everyday life. If a thief is killed and his friends and accomplices secure possession of the body, which they invariably try to do, the skin is cut from the face of the corpse, and all clothing removed from the body. These precautions are taken for the purpose of preventing identification. It was once a common custom, and still prevails to some extent in the rural provinces, to liquidate the crime of a wound or even murder by cash payment. It is claimed that the law is slow of execution, expensive and unsatisfactory, giving nothing to the victim or his family. If a poor man is killed, the assassin or his representatives will settle the affair for a few dollars, sometimes not more than five or ten dollars. If a man of means and social standing in the community meets a violent death, the price is from twenty-five to fifty pesos. These liquidations in former times were not private. Public interest was often aroused and the neighbors entered into the negotiations to see that a fair price was paid. If a person was stabbed a few times it was not considered of sufficient importance to require a money payment; a few drinks canceled the account for damages. So notorious has become the commission of crime, in recent years, that _El Mercurio_, the most widely circulated and influential paper in the country devoted much space to the subject a few years ago. The following is an extract and translation from an article appearing in that journal in February, 1903: