Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1895-01-08
BURDENS OF COREANS.
The People Grievously Imposed
Upon by Government Officials.
High Priced Offices Bought by Them
Are Afterwards Paid for by the Mer-
chant and Farmer Through Ex-
tortionate Taxation.

A residence of eight years in Corea,
says Seoul correspondent in the New
York Sun, has given me the opportuni
ty of studying the character and dispo-
sition of this and neighboring peoples
which comparatively few strangers
have had. The characteristic which is
most marked in the Coreans is their
patience. We hear of their turbulence,
their uprisings in one section or
another, the lawless outbreaks of the
mobs, but most people fail to examine
the causes of these disturbances. Here
is an illustration:
A governor is appointed to the south
ern province of Kiung Sang. He has
paid twenty million cash for the Office.
That twenty million cash means about
eighteen thousand dollars. Now, if
you take into consideration the rela-
tive cost of living in Corea and America
YOU will find that eighteen thousand
dollars means to a Corean what two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars
would mean to an Ameri can-a princely
fortune. Well, the governor goes
down to his provincial capital. About
! him gathers an immense retinue of his
! immediate and mere distant relatives
who live off his bounty during his term
OF Office. The term averages perhaps
three years. During that time the gov
ernor has just four things to do. First,
he must get back the twenty millions
cash which he paid for his office. Sec
| ord, he must forward to the central
| government one-tenth of the total
product of the province. Third, he
must support his immense retinue and
| the district magistrates and their suites,
who, by the way, have paid for their
offices and carry out the same plan as
the governor, only on smaller scale.
| And fourth, he must lay up enough
money to support himself in ease after
| he has retired.
The question arises, from whom does
this money come? 1t comes out of the
| farmer and the merchant, and, as be-
tween these two, the farmer pays prac-
tically the whole. l suppose it would
be conservative estimate to say that
every producer in the country is
mulcted to the extent of sixty per cent.
of his gross eernings. l do not say
sixty per cent. of his savings, but of his
gross earnings. Can an American con-
ceive of the patience and forbearance
of a people that will endure such
treatment? You may ask in what way
are these enormous taxes collected.
The governor is surrounded by body
OF men whom we usually call yamen
runners. whose business it is to collect
the money. If a merchant has made
successful transaction the yaman run
ners, who are spies as well as tax col
lectors, are sure to know of it, and
they come to him and ask him to I'M
load. If he refuses, which he is gen
orally too wise to do, be is likely to be
arrested on false charge and thrown
into prison and beaten every morning
until the sum is paid, and in such a
case the sum increases every day.
Americans say that this is an exag-
| gerated statement, but knowledge of
the workings of things here would
show that my language is conservative.
A Corean friend of mine had one thou
sand dollars which he wanted to in
vest, and he was thinking of buying
from the government the right to cut
! firewood on a certain tract of govern
ment land and sell it in Seoul. As I
was acquainted with the president of
the foreign Office put him in the way
of buying the franchise. He estimated
he would realize ten per cent. on the
investment. He paid the money to the
president of the foreign office, who, in
addition to his regular duties had
charge of the government woodlands
Now, before this -Corean could begin
| work he received word from the for
eign office that the same franchise had
been sold again and that he must di-
vide the work with the other purchaser
Of course he was ruined. 1t may be
asked what my Corean friend did
about it. Did he rave and tear his
hair, mediate revenge, or curse the
| existing order of things? Not bit of
it. He shrugged his shoulders and
/ said: ''Halsu espo," which means: at
can't be helped" and went to work to
earn living for himself and large
family on a salary of six dollars
month. Now do you see why 1 say the
Coreans are among the most patient
of people?
/ But there are limits to the patience
even of Corean. When they are driven
to the wall they will turn and show
their teeth. The one essential quality
! in successful Corean official is the
ali1i<v- 70 con i,,c+ !, o,,- 6 L 49,.