The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-04-01
The FATE OF The
HERMIT KINGDOM
IN All Its Troubles Korea Has
Never Ceased to Be a
Separate Domain.
IT is A LAND OF BEAUTY
Physically, tho Koreans Are a Finer
People Than the Japs and Visitors
Speak of Them as Being Much
Handsomer Than Chinese.

tined to be the sacrif1cial victim In the
Tar eastern struggle. Manchuria has
long ceased to be an Independent polit-
ical entity. From being the conqueror
or China, Then the present dynasty In
vaded and subdued the middle kingdom
In 1914, Manchur!a steadily sank to the
status OF a somewhat neglected outly-
Ing dependency, the most backward
part of a backward empire. It's hold on
the Chinese imagination lay In the
presence, at Mukden, OF the tombs Of
Ch1na's foreign onquerers, and as
Manchus are even today an armed n
hostile garrison In China, the relics of
their ancestors are not very dear to
then native Chinese. Korea has never
ceased to be a separate and distinct
kingdom, with q defined social, moral
and political life Of its own, in spite of
the rival claims Of suzerainty alter
nately put forth by China and Japan.
Korea has a historic history Of intense
Interest II value, and stands as the
bringer Of light, religion and art to the
Japanese.
Physically, the Koreans are a finer
people thar their n%eighbors Of Japan,
and visitors to the hermit kingdom
speak of them as being much handsom-
er han the Chinese, who, in their turn,
are in physique superior to the mi
kado's subjects. The Koreans have
been devastated again and again by
ruthless Japanese invasions, and to the
last of these all historians unite in as
cribing the present fallen fortunes and
broken courage of the hermit kingdom.
Korea gay Japan the art OF letters.
science and religion, as well as the
best model and craftsmen in all those
arts Of painting and design which we
think Of as characteristically japanese.
In return for these great gifts. the Jap
| n,,aSn a cni in an1 a gain Snrp9d. 1pSOl1-
ton through her fertile valleys. NO
eastern people detests another so
strongly as the Koreans detest the Jap
ancse.
A Land of Beauty.
Korea Is a and Of extreme beauty
and fertility, though it has for years
suffered from certain political evils
stand as they have analogies near
home. 1t has a and question almost
identical with the Irish lane question,
except that, In Ireland, the landlords
were additionally odiOus as representa-
tives of foreign conquest and foreign
domination, the rule Of an allen race
n an alien faith. Eut in both Korea
and Ireland, the heart Of the land ques-
ton, economically speaking, was the
same: a year-to-year tenancy, which
| gave the landlord the right to raise the
rem every time the tenant improved his
holding by clearing, draining, building
Or fertilizing. This system, in Korea,
as in Ireland, kept the peasant class
In perpetual poverty, and made all hope
Of progress for them impossible. The
absenteeism Of the Irish landlords was
repeated in Korea, as the land-oWning
class invariably streamed to the cap
ltal. to take part in its pleasures and
hmusements, and to participate in the
court life, for splendor of p~ageantry,
H~q F~,- I N,,~ -" 71+1t1- 80
was a close second in the court Of
Vienna in the days before Sadown and
the legislative secession of Hungary.
A second evil, and q very serious one,
In Korea, we can best realize by what
we have recently read Of Bulgarian
Macedonia under Turkish rule; 1t is the
evil Of tax-forming lined with extor-
Of much acuteness has spoken of the
Constantinople hierarchy in the
Roumanla of olden days as "a cas-
cade of extortion." The peasant groans
and pays the bill, just as he does in the
practically feudal India of today. But
the Korean peasant Is further the vic
tim of a cruel and barbarous criminal
law, with punishments as capricious
RS they are severe, n here the Indian
ryot has immeasurably the advantage,
since. In the British-India empire, the
law can neither be bought nor delayed.
Japan in Korea.
Add to this that the central govern
ment has never assimilated the modern
doctrine tina governments exist for the
good Of the people, M to develop and
distribute the of the country:
and that the Korean army was a cost
ny luxury of the court, out wholly In
bfficacious against foreign foes, and we
have a fairly true estimate Of the
Internal condition Of the hermit king
aom. Nor car 1t be doubted that
Japan was inspired by genuine mis-
slonary zeal, accompanied. without
doubt. by feelings less disinterested, in
her attempt to modernize Korea, i'm
medlately before and during the war in
China in 1894. Japan had then some six
teen years Of civilized existence, in our
modern democratic sense, to her credit.
and a certainly lone wonders within
that time. Her intentions towards
Korea involved an equally sweeping
reformation for the land Of Morning
Calm" But more than sixteen years
Or national life are needed before a
kingdom can safely become the mentor
of another, especially If that other
s~trenuously objects and has already,
through fifteen centuries Of calamitous
lnvasions grown to distrust and hate
the Would-be reformer.
The Japanese went at their task with
~" 4 b aLlu llC H.
prisonment Of the Korean sovereignty,
and the murder Of the Korean queen
were symptomatic Of their strenuous
methods. They drew up schemes of re-
form which read admirably, but which
took no root among the Koreans, and
within three or four years the whole
fabric Of New Korea" thus violently
born under Japanese auspices, toppled
and fell to pieces. The Japanese had
secured settlements In various parts Of
Korea, such as Fusan and Chemulpo,
and they had built the rudiments of a
postal and telegraph system which are
undoubtedly Of benefit: but, at the
same time. they managed to add to the
keen animosity with which the Koreans
viewed everything japanese, and the
work of civilization in Korea was thus
set back and hindered.
To Try Again.
Japan is now determined to try again
In spite, of all treaties guaranteeing
Korean independence and sovereignty;
and Korea is likely to learn some rude
lessons concerning the modern applica-
lion of martial forces. Good ma re-
yult from this to Korea. provided that
To no Nc f,sfolc pa Z e onI,v go