New-York tribune., 1893-12-31
KOREA'S HARD PROBLEM.

SINCE SHE THREW OPEN HER PoR1S
THE CHINESE AND JAPANESE HAVE
ALMOST OVERWHELMED THE
COUNTRY.
Seoul, Korea. November -
The little Kingdom Of Kova became knows -
w AZ tho Hermit Kingdom" only after II had ~
nounced the title and doTei the habIlimenes q ~
ascetic. The curiosity excited By LIS. e,nerssoeo
from It's Rip Van wnkle iethargy has largely 49,
out and has left the rcal the tangible fact o. W
national standing among the treaty powers.
There is no such thing a. handicap IN the ~
for commercial or national success Korea hee
thrown herself into the sweeping current. ano ~
must take her chances with the rest. 70 sm1 ~
swim. as she can. II 10 Interesting to note aeW
things that might have been. but which proseeV
were not, anticipated BY the Korean people wheo
they contemplated the important stfp. 1t 10 poo.
-lble that she may have realized that ny fosmlnS
treaty relations she In soire sense entering
upon n competition, but she did not realize mat
shc entering UPON struggle for the posses-
sion ard enjoyment OF the products OF her owo
soIl other things being equal. population Will as
tribute itself exactly In accordance with the abluV
~ the soil and other environments 70 support poes
ulaton. Last winter. In the city OF Tten TNas
across the Yellow Sea from kora. there were ~
oc bcggars In Korea beggar Is an unusueS
sight, In the whole Of North China not two-nftns
OF the population can afford TO eat rice. while -
Korea u is the common staple Of food even amo7B
tho lowest classes excepting In the extreme NORTH
where II cannot be grown. On the other sac os
Korea lies Japan. which. with territory soous
the same In size. supports population three ums~
as great. There stands out In clear relief the W
cvitahe consequence that In the long run the NJ
rcans cannot hope to live better or c!othe them
selves better than their neghbors on either nanos
The restless. avariclous Chpaman. with his Keen
scent for dollars. IL pushing the Korean merchants
gradually 10 me wall even here In the metroposn
of the country. Japanese enterprise ID npsoU
$ izing upon every salient point for the deve'oo-
\ m.rt OF lucrative trade. These two contisuoo
peoples came In bringing with them the open -
anne of successful busin.ss--the view that 'aree
trade on small margins Is better than sman usos
with enormous profits. a fact which Koreans nave
but Just begun to grasp now In the eIeventh year
of their treaty existence. Now ana again Japs"
finds herself with moro dollars than rice. 80 sne
sends her dollars TO Korea and outoids tne "a"vs
FOR the produce OF his own fields. CHINA mas ner-
self now and again with more men than Ioou eho
no money into the bargain. and so they overflow
into Korea where. being willing TO live on the tooo
that Koreans Deem NJ only for cattle. they nat
urally outbid the natives for the LABOR. In s"0
open ports japanese and Chinese lnoor mas prsc~
tically made Korean cooiie the exception ratnee
than the rule. In Seoul the foreign residents ioo6
TO the chnaman the Jap to do their brcx-lay"
the Korean workman. equally ski'fu'' stanos ~
with fol!ei arms. because he will not do equaov
thorough work for the same m 'ncy
the fact Is that with comparatively small pop
u.aon and fertile country the Koreans WINE
iso itei from the rest OF the world were aoe 10
liy. better than they can now when less fortunase
peopl. are pr. ssng In for the purpose OF sharing
their COOL things Strange as II may seem, tnoN
problem in Korea Is like the one IN the Cn"eo
States. namely. how to secure 10 our own peop'
tsct ourscivss while here in Korea they have rot
II M tn IN tn'i Nm"rcs ~T mh, a ma It Is hard keep the
agsressve cinnamon out as + In k1ren; n,.d,st.,x
set up 'h} native Korean money in s.mpss,ls,os sa:;
r".s ~ r,ors chrapy IN English and American cot.
than !" hs nnys Ersusa sna ana WAS ssn, ou. q
the country 10 buy the cotton. Soon they oeesn -
ny pai for the cotton but OF cours: this drove
Of fsoi here The prc. ,n Ss eyrry,e,aS W yea
aga. and the korean complains of nsrd "me:: ne:
% n~ truth or Is s s! snc 'fs the ar PRICE no Of
has risen ther- Is require Larger amount cf CIR,
rs,'ns mr IN ~ probsm ,n the uon Of which
viii require the closes, attention and care ns OF sns
|n ."m our ,nine.e and japanese labor. and there.
fore they must compete with IT. AMI that too. ~
Tn, american people have looked upon Kosss ,ss
with gre, deal more OF sentiment tnan nan naTs r",s.s W
a. .SkA1 =
opening mean, dollars In the way ot trade' wmS
the American trade with her ~ inslenncant. Am3-
leans have talked great deal about the new mcm:
her Of the family of treaty powers ana & nov -
,h,y we're 10 weicOm. her Others nave ouut "
Lnwns gained conc ssions. laid their hands upcS
Tho rrins ~ commerce AMI. without saying mwcns
have accomplished con siderable results. -.
In some ways the opening or kores has nCv$
proved unmlxed hiessng TO her LIE nerS ~
hc harder. there Will be ne~t oc more dtli9euc2
and more economy There VIII be no n,e,c,,os mc,c
when food was plenty that the traveller neeoeo
io tax. no money with him on his way wh~ "
called ctvz ,ion annihllates some people, ,nsx
cannot stand the wear anil tear. both phyncsi sn9
Intellectual. which civilization entails ana VIZ
The schooling OF III" present and the comIne e6 ~
ado her power IL select from tne Nmxe
products of civilization those which Will be TOT W.
intimate. benefit. Much that IL meretrsctoos tnS
hnlnw will necessarily I've burned away, but w.
The real stun Of which KOREANS are , mace , W. ~
merely the denixens Of the city OF Heoui. ovt W.
rural population who form the backbone o. snan3
AZ of MI natlons' is brought to tnc susa ;,,,r"~
,n.rit which will tide u over this chanee Oh VIZ
and bring II out purlfei though a. ~ nfe.