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4 Wyo. Law. 1 (1981)

handle is hein.barjournals/wymlawy0004 and id is 1 raw text is: I1 - THE WYOMING L YER Vol. IV. No. 1 Official Publication of Wyoming State Bar (USPS 379-950) March 1981 RICE AND DUCKS AND FORTY BUCKS (A Legal Study Tour of China) By Wm. R. Jones From November 4 to 26, 1900, I was privileged to tour the People's Republic of China with a group of lawyers. In December the year be- fore, we were notified of a con- templated China Legal Study Tour to be conducted under the auspices of the American College of Probate Counsel. Immediately we deposited a reservation fund and for the next twelve months, our thoughts, expec- tions and anxieties mounted con- stantly until departure day finally ar- rived. In preparation for the trip, we read two books on recent Chinese history - Red Star Over China by Edgar Snow and China Shakes The World by Jack Belden - to furnish a background on the Chinese revolu- tion, and also an interesting com- mentary on the Chinese legal system - Law Without Lawyers by Victor Li. The Chinese government does not issue individual visas to the visitors, rather a group visa authorizes your presence in the Republic, with one of the group designated as the 're- sponsible person. We also had a constant companion and traveling guardian, an employee of Luxingshe, the Chinese travel service, a Mr. Chao. Our responsible person was John Macmeeken, a six-foot, five- inch Scot who practices law in San Francisco. This was John's third trip to China in as many years, and his experience coupled with the tremen- ous distinction between his phy- sique and that of the average China- man made him unbelieveably effec- tive in making our tour more enjoy- able. His appearance and his win- ning personality earned for our group a special recognition and treatment by the Chinese people which I am sure was unique. Late on Wednesday night, our Boeing 747 landed in a surprisingly dimly lit Peking airport. When our pilot announced imminent landing at Peking, I eagerly pressed my nose and forehead against the window to catch the first glimpse of China's capitol city of nine million people. Surprisingly, there were only a few lights visible from what seemed like mercury-vapor street lamps and also from a few very large buildings located on street side. We later learned that only the main boule- vards had a fev. !ibhts at intersec- tions and pitifully few I 'mes (except for the new high rise opartments) had electricity. After clearing immigration, we were bussed to the East Gete Hotel in downtown Peking. The structure was nine stories high, made of granite and was as cold and fore- boding as the Peking night. We had a small room with two beds, one rug and a private bath, which reluctantly fumished hot water for about two hours per day at unpredictable inter- vals. It was cabbage harvest time in the agricultural communes on the out- skirts, and throughout the city there were established in the residential areas depots for the sale and distri- bution of cabbage. The people have no method of refrigerating their food stuffs and every roof top, win- dow sill and eave was decorated with piles of long, celery-like cab- bage which we learned was left to dry and seni-freeze outside before (continued on page 2) justice MCcuntock McCLINTOCK TO RETIRE MARCH 26 Justice Archie G. McClintock will retire from the Wyoming Supreme Court when he reaches the manda- tory retirement age of 70 on March 26,1981. Born in Sheridan, McClintock re- ceived his A.B. and LL.B. (with honor) from the University of Wyo- ming, serving one year as student body president. After his graduation in 1935, McClintock engaged in pri- vate practice of law in Cheyenne un- til his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1973. He spent two years as a Naval Reserve Officer in World War II, thirteen months of which he spent on the island of Adak in the Aleutians. In 1947, McClintock drafted a bill that was passed by the Wyoming Legislature allowing the Wyoming Supreme Court to promulgate rules of practice for Wyoming courts. He served on a special committee ap- pointed by the Wyoming Supreme Court to write a complete set of nro- cedural rules based upon the Fed- (continued on page 4) Digitized from Best Copy Available - I