Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-02-05
ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
IN KOREA AND MANcHuRIA
ARE NOTED.
coLoNlZING AND DOMINATING
COUNTRIES SHE CON-
cUERED.


tics since the deluge of such works
Immediately after the close of the
RussianJapanese war has just been
published in Paris by NJ. Leo ByTam
under the title, Petit Jap deyiendrS
grand" What he writes about Korea
is especially interesting,
According to his story. the NOM
ent one sets foot on Korean soil at
Fusan, Japanese domination becomes
apparent. Korean coolies work on the
new dyke under the direction of Jap
anese bosses. In way this is said
to be a characteristic note of what
one will observe throughout the coun.
try, On the road to Seoul Korean
porters are seen burdened with huge
weights and whipped on their way by
Japanese gendarme. A little fur
Their on a Korean yang bane imam
darin) lodges to one side to let the
lowest of Japanese coolies pass.
This sovereign spirit of the Jap
anese NJ, Byram says. is more appar.
ent and more openly affected in the
ancient Korean capital than In any
other place. For at Seoul memoir es
Of the fallen dynasty and the events
which led TO It's fall give rise at
times to melancholy developments.
The quicker life which the new oc,
cupants have substituted for the slug.
gard past Of the Country of the
Morning Calm" is wildly presented
by Byram in description Of one Of
those popular military festivals con
secrated by the victors 20 the com
memoration Of the late war. An arch
of triumph spans the principal street
and kirmess is in full swing. Gen.
Nodzu, formerly commander of the
Fourth army at Mukden; Prince Ito
and Admirals Kamimura and Inouya
mingle with the promenaders, laugh
at the geishas, laugh at the Korean
maidens, and, despite their age and
their titles, frankly play the roles Of
their youth.
"And It is an opportunity, M.
Byram writes, ito admire aga,n the
simplicity, the indebtedness and the
familiarity of these men. The NOM
ent the official cortege is broken they
slip into the crowd, mixing and fra.
ternizing with the common people.
! Ii seems as though there are no bar
rlers, no longer any difference of
rank, each of them expecting no less
and no more than what may be ex-
pected by the humblest citizen"
This equality of all before all the
author finds again in the patriotic
sentiment which animates the JAP
anese emigrants on their way to The
north. lie travelled with them to the
"Manchurian Switzerland" that
mountainous region which the theater
lrsfs- the ~efferrsivp~ march of Kuroki on
Mukden. He goes by way of the
military railway, bold Japanese en-,
! terprise which picturesqueIy worms
Its way from pass to pass These
migrants. veterans for the most
part, refreh their memory by aid OF
popular maps distributed gratis In
the country by thousands. and which
are understood by everybody.
my companions writes the au.
recalling the scenes OF glorious
recalling the scenes OF gIoriau>
episodes. They point to right and
left, to ruined pagoda, toward vii.
lage with it's roofs still unmended. to
ward peaks still SCARED by empty
trenches. 'Rouski! rouski!' they cry.
and then, again, Nippon. Niponi'-
and then in a curious blend of Jap
anese, English and French. Nippon
make Rouski toujours go backL'"
This sentence, where three Ian.
guages are mixed up in a half jargon
can be accepted. says the author, as
the vry formula Of Japanese i'm
perialism
But II signs OF the recent conflict
are not wanting along the road all
traces Of 1t disappear with the ar
rival at Mukden. Here the Japanese
are working like conquerors and mas
ters. They evidently have no regard
| for Mukden as historical monument
nor as a witness to ages which have
disappeared. They care little for the
| past, being so absorbed with the pres
emf and future. The city was toe
small for present necessities. They
are transforming IT, They dig. tear
down and build up and clean away
even 10 the ancient walls half buried
IN centuries Of accumulated nth
They are changing the sordid cess
pools, which used TO be called streets
into broad, clean avenues. For thi'
purpose they dig deep and Ivy thell
foundations on solid stone. They arr
evidently building for eternity
These vast undertakings, NJ Byran
says, show the pol tical and militar,
importance which the Japanese at
tach to Mukden. And, in fact, few
cities In the world present such prs
sibllities. II Ia the center Of railroad
lines from Port Arthur and Dalny
prolonged toward the north to Har
bin; OF the line from Niu-Chwang 4
| Kin-Chau: Of the Yalu railroad, an
OF the Mukden-Si Mintun branch, tn
latter town being only two days iron
Peking by the Chinese line. All 0
these railroads have been relaid Of
the Japanese standard. They are a.