The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-24
JAPAN'S VAIN TRIUMPH
May Be Compelled to Relin-
QuiSh the Last of Its
Conquests.
THE BEAR READY TO STRIKE.
Advantage Taken of the Present
Weakness of the Mikado's
Navy.

TOXIC, JAPAN, June As the days
pass they bring no alienation of the IN
easy feeling that pervades the East with
regard to Korea. So long as Japan was
mistress of the situation; so long as the
Koreans saw only that she had utterly
crushed China, and that the reed on which
they had leaned for so many centuries was
bruised out of all capacity to stand upright,
they listened to the new powers counsels
with apparent attention and showed some
docility in entering the progressive routes
indicated by it. Blu: when Japan, in turn,
was compelled to bow to the interference
of three European states, among which the
principal, indeed the only, power in
Korean eyes was Russia, then politicians in
Seoul began to think that Japan might not
be, after all, as strong as she seemed, and
that Russia was the real dictator of the
Orient's destinies.
Among all the phases of national char
acter developed in Korea by the vicissi-
tudes OF recent years, no symptom of patri-
otism has been discernible. Indepen-
dence seems to be meaningless abstrac-
ton to the people of the peninsula. So
com pletely. have the upper classes been
absorbed in the business of intrigue and
self-enrichment, SO entirely have the lower
been occupied with attempts to evade OPP
preston and peculation that there has
been no room for any idea of state indie
pendence or national integrity. In short,
the Korean mind is imbued by ira
ditional tenet that foreign guardianship in
So,
ing been freed from Chinese dominance,
the people might have accepted that of
Japan submissively enough had not the
overshadowing finger of Russia doomed on
the horizon just as they were beginning to
learn that japanese sway involved a
shockingly radical departure from the
pleasant old routes of official robbery and
universal self-worship.
The war, having anticipated Russian
forecasts by fully five years and placed
Japan in the position of Korea's guardian
the statesmen in st. Petersburg had to
cansider how the situation might be saved.
They resorted to a device with which the
growth of the great northern empire has
always been associated, and for the exer-
else of which Korea is an ideal field-in-
trigue.
When Japan put her hand to the pillow
of Korean reform she had necessarily
to enlist cooperation There were two
parties to choose between-that of the Tai
Weon-kun, the Kings father, and that OF
the Queen, represented by the Bin family.
Both alike had always been hostile to Jap
anese influence, but of the two the palm
for corruption and oppression lay with the
Bins, whereas the Tai Weon-kun's partisans
possessed some elements of robustness and
public spirit. The Tai Weon-kun was &C
cordingly selected. But he, mistaking his
country's opportunity for his own, organ
lied conspiracy to expel the Japanese
from Seoul, opened reasonable CORE
spondence with the Chinese generals at
Ping Yang, and fomented the Tonghak re-
bellion.
Then the japanese had recourse to more
direct methods. They employed agents
personally pledged to reform; men whose
previous efforts to regenerate their country
had involved prescription and flight to
Japan for refuge. The chief of these, Boku
Eiko, had not long held the portfolio of
home affairs when the crafty Queen man
aged to draw him within he circle of her
influence. The speedy result was Cabinet
crisis and the paralysis of administrative
reform.
Gradually the Queens party commenced
to raise their heads again, and once more
the Russian legation began to be visited
asslduously by politicians intriguing for
the overthrow of Japanese sway and the
restoration of the Bin family How far Rus
STA has fomented these intrigues or to what
length they have been carried remains still
uncertain. But it is generally understood
that the Bin chief, long a fugitive in
Hongkong, has been invited home. This
man, commonly known as Ming Yongik,
is the elder brother of the Queen and has
given proof of exceptional ability. Rumor
alleges that his position is compromised
by the fact that he owes large sum of
money to the Russian Minister, and that
his estates have been pledged as security
for the debt. BE that as it may, there is a
general sense that Russia is intriguing in
Seoul, and that she may at any moment
call upon the Japanese Government to
fulfill its pledge of recognizing Korean
Independence pledge that might easily
be declared incompatible with continued
interference in the little Kingdoms do
nestle administration and with the main
tenance of q large body of japanese troops
in the peninsula.
Public uneasiness is aggravated by the
news that Count Inouye, japanese repre-
sentative in Korea, is about to return
home. Count Inouye is past the physical
prime of life and does not enjoy robust
health. For many years it has been a
medical necessity that he should enjoy a
period Of rest and a-bathing in midsum-
mer.. But his countrymen know that il a
statesman so conspicuously endowed with
holiness, insight, tact and decision leaves
Seoul re infecta, the world will see failure"
written upon Japan's banner, and they
know also that considerations of health
alone would not weigh with Count Inouye
against such result.
There is further the consciousness that,
if Russia does not seize this occasion. she
will never find another so favorable, and
that she is thoroughly sensible of the fact.
Five years hence Japan will have navy
that Russia could not grapple with at such
a distance from Europe, and on shore the
japanese troops are already more than a
match for any armies that Russia could
l.