Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-01-14
ABOUT COREA.

ABOUT COREA.
Corea, the country about which the
Russo-Japanese imbroglio turns is a
peninsula containing about az much
area as Great Britain and a popu.
lotion estimated at about ten millions
The prominent physical feature Of the
country Is a mountain chain, cOnstitut-
ing It's backbone, with numerous spurs
thrown out in every direction and en-.
closing number of pleasant and fer.
tile valleys.
OF the people. travellers generally
speak with contempt. They resemble
the japanese more than the Chinese,
but they are taller and stronger, They
are said TO be neither industrious nor
cleanly, although they dress in white
cotton clothes, and spend a great deal
of energy In keeping these white. one
traveller in that country says;
"rhe people are so busy keeping their
clothes snowy white, that their mines
must needs go undug, their forests UNI
felled, their fields untitled There Is
no land on earth, perhaps, where the
women work harder with the especial
purpose In view Of keeping the men
looking dappcr Although soap Is not
used, the results of laundry and lye
are wonderful. When the COreans be-
gin to emigrato 10 our country, they
may drive the Chinese out Of business
The women boil the clothes three times,
clean them with lyc, wash them IN
running water and then, after drying
begin that tedious process which re q.
quircs them to toll during the Ions
hours Of the night. The characteristic
sound which one hears while travelling
through the unighted streets Of Co.
rean town, ie the beating Of the clothes
on fiat board with q wooden ruler
Every traveller 10 the country mentions
this a 3 The sound which Kept him sleep
les during The first few nights OF his
stay in the kingdom
Concerning the government OF the
country, Colonel CockerilL after visit
to Seoul, the capital, made his own
estimate. He said In part;
"Our maintenance OF legation In
Seoul necessitates, In the matter OF CO.
nifty the keeping Of Corean minister
and a stan of well paid idlers in Wash
lngton city. and Corea IL too poor to be
subjected TO such extravaganza, II Is
fair to say that not since the begin
ming Of our diplomatic relations with
Corea has there been q time when a
man on salary Of 5000 year could
not have attended to all the real busl-
ness that the Land OF the Morning
Calm has had within the confines OF our
republic. Certainly Corea Is not en-
titled to the cOnsiderat lion we give her,
and the probabilities ut her rise to i'm
portance, with both Japan and Russia
preparing TO rend her, are limited in
deed As n matter Of fact. the whole
governmental system Of Corea IL and
has been farce The tax about a
ministry minister of justice, a
minister Of education minister OF
communications etc--is about az drOll
az II the Grow Indians of Montana
should begin setting up lord chamber
lalns, lord chancellors and archbshops
on big salaries.
This estimate Of the importance OF
the country Is corroborated by the tes-
timony OF former Corean minister IN
Washington The queen had been muir
dered. and her amiable representative
here took occasion to say that her death
was an advantage to the country
She obtained money he said, unfairly
and oppressIyely, by selling govern
ment offices and titles And the sale
was, 1t seems compulsory for the per-
son to whom an office or q title was
offered could not refuse 10 buy II un'
less he was willing 70 be imprisoned
for contempt, We are further inform
ed by the same authority that the ioyaI
lady had a force Of private detectives
scattered throughout The country and
II they heard any word Of roproacf
against the queen Tor her operations
the people utterlng them were put II
prison and killed there without theil
friends knowing H. Because she knew
she had done 20 much wrong the min
lister said, she was always afraid q
assassination. II was her custom 10 si
up all night. and she never went L
bed until five or six o'clock in IN,
morning. She had several bedrooms, $,
that no one knew where she slept. ex
cept her own intImates Under he
bed chamber there was a trap door
with steps leading down TO room be
low, where she kept always on guar,
40 nect-fooied courlers, with a vehicle
always in readiness, 80 that she coul,
fly at a moments notice"
This was years ago, but changes ar
few and FAR between IN those conser
vatIye, not to say stereotyped coun
tries. Some ciylll2ng influence from
abroad II needed In Corea, And as tn
world goes, wars and conflicts seem 4
be leyelng forces that prepare the wa!
FOR the structures Of civilization, TN
influence OF either Japan or Russil
may possibly, be a necessary factor o
advancement In the history Of Corca.
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