Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-07-24
IN QUAINT COREA.
A KING WHO IS ALLOWED NARROW
LIBERTY IN GOVERNING.

4 Country M tittie hn"~" '"s' 49,
.f Queer s,sris. Ar. reid Concerning
n. r..rl.-Ths Que Great iJ"''''"
I'r.ssissd.
In the Grst place Cprea Il Admitted mon
archy. There IL a written constitution.
which 1. not, perhaps. absolutely bindihg
an the King. but which l. seldom deviaied
rum his Il a fact which Il not gener'
.lly known, even by many ~ the foreign
ers resident In this city. but have u on
the hest Of evidence. Corean monarchy
cannot IL said 10 H. limited In the sense
that the people are rcprcscntci IN any
couucll or parliament. but there arr rule.
lald down which even his majesty wiz
NOT oysrstsp, excepting under most un.
usuAl circumstances And wOrd nght
her, IN regard 60 the practical power on
lie Ming. Somo have said that he has no
power AZ all. but Is imprisoned In his
nalar. and ohcys his councillors Others
say that he Il perfectly untnmmeled IN
the execution ~ any design whAisoc'er
Roth Of these statements strike Wide oI
the truth. although on opposite sides OF
n. To D. SURE. the king 81 corea, AZ
oorllng 90 the sacrcd and unwritten Ia"
Of this and All the kindred nations. 10 oon.
sldercl In one sense . sArred pcrsonagc'
and cannot b. exposed 10 the gAIe OF The
nopulane except 0n certain state oocasions.
la, his seclusion II voluntary. Almost
every night tho noblemen congrcgate AZ
the palace. aud the king holds his court
practically tho same A. any western
sovereign.
but n i In rcgari 20 social questions
thai the greatest Misunderstanding eS'
i.ts Corsans arr not barhaTiAns or saya'
Cos. they arr not nomads. bat they D.
long 10 the great family % civilized na.
lions. a. distinguished from enlightened
nations II system % government
reaching even 90 the minutcst details.
complicated social system. knowledgc
Of arts and industries. q religious Aiii
e,lucationAl system. n literature and the
cnncomltanis 81 thcsc Imply CIVILIZATION
then surely Cora Il civilized Her civil
lIatlon dates back 10 time when Japan
was covered with savage irshes-
II l. amusing 90 us out here In C0rca to
watch the papers and rcad what IL sald
about this little country Some one said
that suicide was extremely common. when,
in fact. IL l. almost unknown. Even tho
physician In charge u the royal hospital
during three years las only heard 20 QUO
eass Then we will rad something about
the second story windows being AL closed
when tho king gocs By. when. In fact,
there arp not half dozen two story
houses in Corca. or about the king Dis
Icnslng Justice ~ he travels through the
country. While. In fact. be never yet has
gone ten miles outside tho gates - Scoul.
There arr plenty 81 unpleasant features
about the social condition - thee pcoph
without filling tho minds % outsiders
with imaginary oncs. Much has been said
about the natives tcing gruAt eaters 81
dogs hesh After personal observation
81 tho habits 81 The people Tor tSo year, !
can truly say that u u only the over
CLASSES that Indulge In that luxury Iy
the milils and upper classes u u olnsii.
er,.l a. dsto.iable ~ BY Americans. How.
ever. Wlisn one gus through SOME ~ tie
poorer parts - the city and s..s people
absolutely starving 90 death II does 40,
cause any surprise that such food u male
uss ~ Dog hcsh u absolutely unknown
IN Corean fcasis 4 foreigner could sit
down % the C1rCan table and eat II
almost every dish that l. brought him
without fear ~ dog meat
In vgarl 10 the position and social
status ~ woman tho most various Ideas
prevail II L. true that the women q
Corra arr secluded. but not more 80 than
In zone moru favored empire. Turkey.
f0r Instance. sh0ss "a vastly mov
piiiable state ~ things In this inspect
than Cor,a. Women ARE not slaves herr.
a. they have lcru pictured Their sccln.
sion Il IA romo senses q blessing 90 them.
Their lack ~ soclusiou In Japan has lei 90
tho most dcmorallIing results In that
country IL u imposslblo that women
shDnh D. regarded with the same
chivairic spirit herc that thcy arr in tho
enlightened countries. AMI their sccluai0n
1. painful necessity rather than en- cvi.
dcnoe ~ tyranny. And yet. ~ | have
said. women ara not hearty - secluded
herr ~ they ARE in Turkey. II IL only
women % tho highest classes that aru
allowed a. b. SEN by ans man excepting
the husband and father la law thou.
sands - women can b. se,u CA the str,sts
oi seoul Ia brad day az any time. Ia
walking on any street hcre good prupor
ton ~ the people you meet are women
Many belonging 30 the middle class have
q art - apron thrown over the head and
held In front 81 the mouth. leaving a
space through which they can zee and 30
seen. Women u the lower elias. tho
common working class. 40 entirely VA.
ycilcd
The COrcans arr slngularly mild and
inohcnkivo peOplc Their language con.
tAius no stungcr epithct ~ hatred %
anger than "Mccchin. anon" which means
crazy fellow. one can ~ o. any part u
tho city 90 country AZ any time without
the least fear Of molcstAilon. and YOU
never hear u knock down Gght OF
murder Tho criminal class l. extremely
small. and yasrAncy aud mendicancy arr
almost unknown. Now all thoso points
have bcen brought up against these
people. and they DO not bar tho light 10
Investigation. bat no one seems 10 have
mcntioncd tho one gr,At social evil ~
Cora. aud one which must surely D.
changed beforc Corca can fairly begin any
such progrvSs a. Japan has made
This evil has 10 DO with tho recognized
rule u all enlightened nations that the
Individual must b. bccurc Ia tho lawful
possession Of his own property and DO
must D. allowed 90 accumulate prUperty.
In Corca the strung prcy upon the weak
Tor instance, when n man u made an u.
heial, which l. the highest ambition u |
tbe CorcAn. certain extent 81 territory |
- ~st"hNs1 - TINT htINlthIN
ho h roquircd 20 end a ocrtAln number II |
bags u rice 10 the grAnATy Of the central
and Tor himself ho Las al |
the rvst that lac can squecze out % the
population. Ills power l. unlimited Ia his
own district, and be can seiIo any ones
property and appropriate II. II be 10
hc uses this power % al
extent that u m0nstrOus In IT, Injustice.
lie hears u man who has saved q
score % bags % rice over AMI alovo what
his family needs for the season Som
bis mini0ns cOme down on the mans law.
ful savings and sweep the whole away.
leaving simply enough Tor the man 10
struggle through the year With. Can
lis morc doadening 20 enterprise
aud Thrift than thisi Who can blame
than Tor saying: I'VE will raise lust
enough rtce 10 live on and no morc. Tor
Why should We accumulate properly to DO
swept a~ayf'-scoul lCoreA) Cor. New
York World
Al A.. AZ