Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-08-07
n. B. HuIburt Tells How Japan
Is Running the Country it Has
Taken Control of.
NATIVES GREATLY ANGERED
American Back From Seoul Declares
Emperor Never Gave Consent to
the Protectorate.

Gently by Homer B. Hulburt, who ar
rived at New York on the Hamburg
American liner Deutschland with his 1
| family. For many years Mr.. Hulburt
has been engaged in educational work
in Korea, and it is his purpose to bring
| to the notice of the United States the
conditions which now exist there, says /
the New York Times.
Korea is thoroughly outraged over
the injustices which the Japanese are !,
heapng upon her." he said. The peo- !
pie are angered beyond words, but the. !
feel the utter hopeleSsness of appeal /
ing They are insulted, but they can |
do nothing.
1.-THE forced abdicatOn of the emper- i
or of Korea is the retort which the Japa- /
nese make to his desperate attempt to
secure a hearing at The Hague. The
emperor never gave his consent to the
japanese protectorate, and his reasons
We're cogent ones. They We're not en-
tirely selfish ones either, for he fore
saw that the SeiZure-the progressive
seizure-of Korea by Japan would re-
sut in Just that series of bungling at
tempts at reform which would do more
harm than good. He fOresaw that the
rapacity of private japanese would
find no adequate check at the hands of
their own authorities; that the unrea-
sonable contempt which the Japanese
feel for the Koreans would result in
the trampling of property rights be-
meath their feet and the spoliation of
the country. 1t was two years ago. or
| .Ix I1-hn hold of
Korea, and every fair man is in honor
bound to ask whether the fears of the
emperor were justified.
During these two years the Japa-
nese have not picked out the better
class of Koreans for office. but have
kept in office the same old venal
crowd that has always cursed the
country. These men are willing to act
. as puppets for the Japanese, and for
this they are almost universally loath-
ed by the Korean people. There is no
, more cleanliness in government circles
than before. The venality of the 10
reans has not been checked. but they
firmly believe that the Japanese are as
open 10 bribery as themselves.
"a hundred thousand Japanese have
; try, working their will upon the com
mon. people, could fill q volume with
cases of monstrous injustice that have
come within my own notice during the
past year and a half In the north
japanese are selling morphine with
hypodermic syringes for injection. The
unsophisticated Korean knows no bet
ter than to buy, and enormous quantl-
ties of this drug are being sold. One
japanese caught in the act of selling
was excused by the japanese authori-
ties because he said he would not do
1t again.
Patrons of Vice.
. 1.-THE japanese have started q satur-
MALTA of vice. which will do ten times
as much to degrade the nation as all
!. the trumpery reforms about which
the japanese boast. Just as l was
: | leaving Korea in May l succeeded In
saving Korean from having q $4,000
: piece of property seized by q gang of
\ Japanese, who intended to erect upon
1t disorderly resort. l saved it only
by buying the property myself and
standing upon my rights. The desper-
ate attempts made by the Japanese
authorities to break down my case and
force that Korean to sell his property
for $1,000 would form sufficient ref
utation of the oft made claim that the
japanese are trying to give the Kore-
ans even justice.
"In another case the mayor Of Che
mulpo, to whom l appealed to get the
case of an outraged and robbed Ko-
rean before the local Japanese authori-
ties. replied that unless could get a
note from my consul general asking
the Japanese to investigate the case
there was no use in trying to do any
thing.
LAST February Viscount Tanoka
came to Korea as special envoy of the
emperor of Japan to the wedding of
the Korean crown prince, heard of a
beautiful pagoda in Korea and wanted
to get 1t for his private collection of
curios! In spite of the categorical and
point blank refusal of the Korean en-
peror he sent gang of eighty armed
japanese, who spent eight days tearing
down and carting away this priceless
: relic, which was erected in 1856 and
bore the same relation to Korea that
Melrose abbey, for instance. holds to
Great Britain. If man of Tanoka's
political and social standing can per.
: petrate such an unspeakable atrocity
m under cover of an imperial mission ia
|N Korea, who will expect that the com
NJ mon Japanese will be more restrained
N or indeed that they will not take this
W case as an apology for all sorts of in
N direction?
" "The American people need to be
M awakened to the facts of the case in
W Korea. I am but one whose voice is
n heard In protest against such a state
" of things. Scores of Americans and
N English have passed through Korea
W during the last year, and SO far as
W have discovered they are unanimous In
expressing condemnation of japanese
X cupidity and selfishness there.