The morning call., 1895-01-13

| Korean. He has passed the examinatio ms
by which the King selects his officials, and
| If he can keep up his share of the Kings
revenue his Office is usually left with him.
Many such men wrote poetry and are
good takers and men of much more than
ordinary intelligence, and the whole ma
ton has the making of a very good people,
| if any method can be evolved by which
corruption may be done away with and
property rights be preserved.
had an opportunity to get inside of the
palace walls once or twice, in addition to
the trip which l made through the grounds
when called upon the King. The build
ings are surrounded by a wall, and they
are built within pens. each of which con-
talns from two to four acres of space. In
going to the King you have to pass
through from six TO dozen buildings,
and everywh ere you go you meet soldiers
and eunuchs.
The Kings bodyguard cOnfronts You st
every turn, and there are servants by the
tens Of hundreds. There are 500 of these
bodyguards and each OF these is so strong
that he has to lift bar of iron six feet
long and weighing 100 pounds from the
ground and hold it at arms length above
bis head. This Is the test which the sol
diers undergo before they are admitted to
the guard. If you will straighten out your
arm, bend over and take a rod of iron
weighing 100 pounds and attempt to lift it
above your head without bending your
arm, you will see something of the won
derful strength these men possess. A
number Of them are always close to the
King and they surround his chair as he
goes from one palace to the other, and as
they go they wall out chant which means
something like this: Soldiers. protect
your King"
The eunuchs are also ubiquitous. both in
China and Korea. These men have great
power. They are said to be wise counsel
ors, and they certainly have a great deal
to do with the administration of govern
mental affairs here. None but eunucbs
are allowed to wait upon the Queen.
and her Majesty has palaces. soldiers and
retinue of her own. They dress like
the high officials. with long gowns reach
ing to their feet, and horsehair caps. They
have long, yellow, sober faces. Their
voices have high falsetto pitch and they
move about with q snake-like qUietness.
The Koreans are very superstitious.
They have their astrologers, and one of
the prophets of the past said that the
present dynasty would last only FIVE hun
bred years. This time is now up, and the
people look upon the war to certain ex-
tent as decree of the fates. and some of
them think that the XII g's days are num-
bered. The King himself Is very pro-
gressive, and he would like to i'm
prove his people. He may be able
to do so. if he can control his Of
fcials. and he will be able to do this only
through the Japanese. There is very
little known about the Government of
Korea. and 1t will be surprising to many
people to know that it has a fixed organ
izatioD. and that there are departments in
Seoul much like those at Washington.
These are supposed to control the affairs
of the kingdom. and in times past they
have practically controlled the King. The
King, with the aid of the Japanese. is now
running the machine, and 1t is probso BILE
that some of the rebellioDs throughout the
country are fomented by the officials.
The Government of Korea consists OF
the King and his officials in Seoul. and
vast number of officials who are scattered
over the country. The kingdom is divided
up into eight different provinces. Each of
these provinces has Governor. who is
appointed by the King, and IT is divided
up into counties or districts, each OF which
has its officers. Every city or district of
ten thousand houses or less has magis-