The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-11-28
NOTES. EROM JApAN

points, it is true, are practically certain,
but many things are still only proba bill
ties or more or less reasonable inter-
ferences.
The death of the queen has been def
nitely announced in an apparently official
dispatch from Seoul, but the details of
her taking off have not yet been made
public, and perhaps would better not be
published. 1t is now stated that the Tai
Won-kun did not enter the palace until
about 80 minutes after the disturbance,
and was then escorted by Japanese
guards. In that case he may not have
had any direct connection with the as
sassination of the queen and other Ia
dies. His unsavory reputation, however,
renders pretty safe the inference that
even if he did not lead the band of assas-
sins he was implicated in the whole affair
to such an extent as to make his respon-
sibility no small matter.
The incident was in itself sufficiently
horrible, but has received n much more
brutal aspect from the fact that the king,
knowing of the death of his consort, but
Withholding the official announcement,
deliberately deposed her by the follow
ing edict:
sour reign has already lasted two and
thirty years, and yet it grieves us to
think that the country has not been suf-
ficiently benefited under our sway. Our
queen, of the Min family, collecting
around our throne large numebr of her
relations and partisans, has obscured our
intelligence, robbed the people, con-
fused our orders, bartered official ranks
and practiced all sorts of eXtortion in
the provincial localities. Bands of law
less robbers roamed in all parts of the
country, and the dynasty was placed in
perilous situation. That we have not
punished her, though knowing her wick
cdness, may perhaps be ascribed to our
lack of wisdom, but it is principally ow-
ing to the fact that she has surrounded
us with her partisans. In order to i'm
pose restraints upon the evil we made Il
| vow to the spirits of our ancestors IN
| December last to the effect that the
queen and all her blood relations should
henceforth be prohibited from meddling
with state affairs. 1t was our hope that
the queen would repent of her errors.
But instead of repenting she continued
to favor her followers and to keep at
a distance those of our own family. She
| also prevented the ministers of state
from directly approaching the throne.
| She further conspired to cause n dis
turbance by falsely making it known
that it was our wish to disband our
troops, and when the disturbance arose
she left our side, and, following the
method pursued by her in 1882, she hid
herself beyond the reach of our search.
Such conduct is not only inconsistent
with her rank as queen, but is the acme
of crime and Nervousness. We, there
fore, in pursuance of our family pre-
ccdents, are compelled to depose our
queen and to degrade her to the level OF
the common pople.'
1t is mentioned. however, that the king,
after thus "ruthlessly cataloguing the
misdceds of his Spouse for the sake of
the crown prince allowed her to retain
the rank of royal mistress! And, III or
der to ease the minds of the Min faction,
| he issued another edict:
1--WE regard all our loyal subjects with
equal benevolence and unbiased humanl-
ty. Neither our rewards nor our pun
ishments shall be influenced by party
considerations. We, therefore, enjoin
upon our subjects to forget their private
feuds, and in view of the difficult posi-
ton in which their country is now placed,
to unite their efforts tremendously with
ours for the furtherance of the great task
of reform
In Justice. however to the king, it must
be said that in the whole affair he may
have been the mere tool of the Tai Won
kun. his father. This is the view taken by
two or three foreign representatives, who
have made joint proposal to the Korean
government, that, as the --latest re-
forms" were carried out against the
kings wishes, and even the deposition OF
the queen was not his desire the assas-
sin should be arrested and sentenced to
condign punishment This, moreover
would seem to be the only coures die.
tatcd by the demands of justice, and VIII
unquestionably be pursued, unless inc
power of the Tai Won-kun is sufficient to
shield the assassin.
There is, moreover, another element
of perplexity The report comes on seem
ingly good authority that the actual per
pctrators of the deed were dressed IL
European costume and armed with Jap
anese swords. Although such disguise
might naturally have been assumed by
Woreans in order more easily to gain ac
cess to the palace, yet the suspicion. Is
prevalent here that that the assassins
may have been japanese desperaodes. IL
is well known that soshit flocked to Korea
in large numbers, especially after the re-
strictive measures first adopted by the
japanese ceased to be ncforced. ina,
this suspicion is not entirely baseless Il
evident from the fact that the emperor
of japan has found itn eccssary to issue
n special imperial ordinance forblddinl
Japanese subjects. with the exception oil
civil and military officials, to travel t.
travel to Korea without obtaining per
mission from the local governor within
whose jurisdiction they reside.
According to article VIII. of the Japan
csc constitution, such an ordinance may
be- issued by the emperor when the lmpe
rial diet is not sitting, in consequence OF
an urgent necessity to maintain public
safety or to avert public calamities. Thai
the situation il critical is evidently rccog