The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1907-11-07
KOrea'S Downfall
Deserved and FOfedOOIned.
By WILLIAM Il. BRILL.

peror weaker even than himself. the
act of abdication marked the end Of
korea's brief period of independence
and probably of the nation itself. The
final outcome is inevitable. However
greatly one may sympathize with
Korea and the Koreans, he must rec
0gnize the Justice of the sentence
which has been pronounced under
civilizations unalterable law of the
survival of the fittest. Fer Korea is
q decadent nation, her people a de-
generate people. Her governing
class, by reason of centuries of ex-
eesses, are untitled for their duties,
VI Hieung, the Indicating Emperor
IS weak and vacillant, the new EN-
peror, vi Sick, is little better than an
lmbecile. An alien people hold the
reins of government, and there is no
force left to protest. With as beau
tiful and as fertile country as was
eyer given to man, the Koreans chose
Seciusion and stagnation in preference
to progress, and the inevitable result
is upon them.
LIZ picturesqueness could give a ma
ton life then would Korea live for
ever. A country of rugged mountains
and broad. green valleys, of verdant
meadow lands, wooded slopes, and
snow-capped peaks, country fertile
to an unusual degree-one must look
far for more beautiful landscapes.
Add to natures gifts the graceful ma
tive architecture, the pretty temples
half hidden among the trees, the
strange pagoda-like monuments, the
odd memorial tablets mounted on the
backs OF huge stone tortoises, and
scores of other things unfamiliar to
the Western eye, and there is an in
terest aroused that no mere wild
landscape could induce Place among
these surroundings the strange, white
clad natives, and even the jaded tour
list is aroused to enthusiasm.
Perhaps ones most persistent mem
DRY of Korea is of these white-garbed
figures, for practically every Korean
dresses in white. The only break in
the general dress is when the nation
IS IN mourning and the white gauze
hats of the men, resembling old-fash-
Toned >fy-traps more than anything
else, become black The only color
TO be seen in the dress of the ordinary
natives is in the light-green cloaks
which women of the higher classes
wear over their heads, concealing
their faces. At first one notices only
the costumes, and it is not until they
lose their strangeness that one looks
at the faces of the natives. The first
look brings surprise, later comes
amazement, finally realization. For
in the faces Of the people is written
The fate of the nation There one
reads lack of intelligence, lack Of
ambition, effeminacy, degeneracy
Particularly weak are the faces of the
men, in most cases the women show
ing more character than their lords.
When one seeks in the customs of
the people and the history of the ma
ton for the reasons for Korea's back
ward condition, they are not hard to
ind. One cannot expect much of
people in whose country concubinage
is still legal institutions; where, un-
til the other day, mans wife. and
Sften his mother and daughters and
his male relatives, to the fifth degree.
suffered with him to the penalty of
his crimes. Concubinage is practiced
in Korea among all classes, even the
poorest. and is responsible for much
of the decay, both physical and moral,
in the nation. Until they reach man s
estate, and sometimes even then, it
is practically impossible to tell boys
from girls. SO effeminate are the
formers faces.
The Korean man is ignorant, i'm
moral, unprogressive and lazy. He
works because he must have food.
He does as much work as is necessary
TO keep him alive, but his principal
10y in life is to stroll idly along the
roads, or squat In the sun smoking
his long pipe. When one reads of the
mighty deeds of the Korean warrior
OF the olden times, he cannot believe
that this degenerate. lolling along the
roads or on the ridges between the
paddy fields, belongs to the same race.
TO vi Hieung, the retiring mon
arch. who assembled. the throne in
1864, is due most of the credit for
the downfall of his country, although
he has been ably assisted by corrupt
ministry and debauched advisers.
For years he has been controlled en-
tirely by the Lady ON, whom he mar
ried after the murder of the Empress.
the instigation of which crime is laid
at the door of the Japanese. Lady
0m's intrigues have since been MANY.
almost as many as her love affairs
before her marriage with the Emper-
OK, about which the Koreans sang
ribald songs until they were prohibit
ed by imperial decree. Her sole am
bition has been to secure for her son
the throne which rightfully belongs
to VI Sick. Surrounded by her in
trigues and those of the degenerate
and vicious mobiles who composed the
court, and welded to the pleasures
OF his harem, vi Hieung has for years
been little better than cipher.