Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-08-10
WHY THE COREANS RE.
VOLTED.

peIWeen Cnlna ana japan over 20
rea, stories of the terrible misrule Of
the peninsula are coming out. II
has boon reported that the assassina.
ton of Kim Ok. Hum was the real
cause of the uprising of the Togaku
to, or seceders. Nothing could be
further from tho truth. This society
was formed at least two years before
Kim came to his end, aud it was
brought into existence solely to TO
dress grievances which had become
insuppnrtable.
An erroneous impression of the in
ilucnce of Kim in Gorea has been
given by Japanese writer's. The sim
pie fact WAS that Kim had been in
exile in Japan so long that lie had no
strong partisans left in Corea. He
had dropped out, and his name was
only used as sort of rnllying cry by
young men who were dissatisfied
with the government. His relatives
counted for nothing, as they were
obscure and poor. His cath Great
ed sensation merely because it was
tho climax of years of espionage and
trenchery.
Tho Togaku to was formed of
prominent politicians who were fro
zen out of public offices, and by mer
chants and others, who had been
ruined by the cxictions of the palace
officials and the district mandarins.
What these exactions were can only
be appreciated by one who has lived
III the Orient, and seen the utter dig
regard of personal rights shown by
the district magistrates, and tho Gym
icul contempt for legitimate com
plant exhibited by higher officers,
who are supposed to look out for the
interests of the people. In Corea
this oppression of the class that has
no influence with the authorities
went beyond anything over seen in
China. Here is an instance of tie
ruin brought upon man by the in
trigues OF those in power:
In one of tho remote prefectures,
near the Chinese line, lived farmer
who had owned for years small
tract Of land and n COW. They mere
y sufficed to give him an ordinary
living. The Governor, learning of
his ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS tie farm
er m honorary officer of the district.
Or course, tho plan was 10 force the
farmer to return this favor with u
present, as the Governor supposed
he had saved money. and was, there.
fore II good subject for squeeze. So
the Yamen runners, who carried the
Governors commission to the farm
on, was instructed to bring back
money, or, ii he refused to yield, to
torture the man until he gave up his
hoard
These runners are the curse of CO.
roa, as they arc of Ch,,u. Their uui-
form and position I'll chem with iu.
portance, and their greed is some
thing which fills tho country people
with fear. They are always expected
to bring back to tho Yamen GER
tnin amount of money, but the Man.
darins wink Mt any exnctions Oh their
own account.
In this case of the Corean farmer
the runners first devoured every
thing he had in the way of eggs and
chickens. Then having eaten up his
food they demanded considerable
sum for the Governor. The poor
victim, instead of bringing out the
coin from his secret hoard, was fore
ed to go to tie ncighboring village
and sell his land and cow Thi, left
him with the commission of honor
AIRY officer, but without any means of
livelihood. The Governor, however,
had not exhausted his resources for
evil, az he followed out precisely the
same tactics with the man who Ind
purchased the land and the COW.
This victim in turn had to sell the
land. The process of "sqneeaing"
went on three times, till no one had
the courage to buy the land. Then
the Governor seized tho land ms I'm
claimed property and added it to his
possessions.
This is said on good authority to
have been M actual occurrence in
Corea recently. 1t simply serves to
show why even lollg oppressed
people will rise ut last and strike one
blow for their rights. The Coreans
have nothing TO hope from China, for
the methods in vogue on the Penins
ula are precisely the same as those in
the middle KIN dom, s,ve that in
Corea the magistrates arc more
shameless in their exactions than
they dare to be in China. What the
Coreans who lately rebelled wished
to accomplish was to overthrow the
present dynasty and got ruler who
would appeal to foreign powers for
protection. Even the rebels do not
want Japanese rule, for the name of