The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-27
COREA AT SCHOOL.Bv7 Frank c. c~peuey
Seoul, corea

Crown Prince of Corea. He is the brother of the present emperor, and he Is now being educated in TolKo after Prince Ito's directions. In him and Prince Ito lie the possibility of Corea's maintaining its national existence and not being swal- lowed up in Japan. There is a strong Japanese party which would like to see this country under a military government appointed from Toxio. They want Corea for the Japanese, and believe in exploit ing it for all it Is worth. Prince Ito backed by the mikado, is anxious that the Coreans should have fair show and he has done all that he could to bring that about. He does not believe that the Coreans should govern themselves, but he wants them to have a share of the offices and to maintain their individuality as a nation under the direction of Japan In doing this he Is opposed to the money grabbers and land-grabbers. The lower classes of the Japanese are coming over here In crowds and they would swallow the country and oppress the people If their own officials did not prevent. Prince Ito has so far been the chief safety valve and he Is training up the little crown prince in order that he may be C
 The Crown Prince of Corea.
 have had good chance to study the present emperor. through my audience with him and talks with the officials who know him best He is a weakling in the hands of the Japanese. He Is compos mentis, but his mind Is so little that a wooden man, if he could be automatically worked, would have as much force, and he would, moreover be cheaper to keep. Inc io fho nf ha ra1 emperor by the late queen. His father Is bright intellectually, but he has no more backbone than & jelly-fish. He is incapable of ruling efficiently or honest ly and his long administration has been one of cruelty and crime.
 The little crown prince Is the son of this retired emperor. He is the half brother of the man on the throne, his mother being the notorious Lady Om, favorite consort, but not the wife, of his majesty. After the empress was as- sassinated this Lady Om, who had been brought into the palace as one of her attendants, became the favorite in the re- tired emperor's harem. She has busted all the other ladies of her class, and she holds the old emperor in the hollow of her hand. Her power was strength ened upon the birth of the little crown prince, about 12 years ago, and she Is still at the head of the retired emperor's establishment
 The crown prince has been going to school for the past five or six years, and he is being educated along western lines. He Is learning Japanese, and all of his studies are carried on in that language. His chief work Is being done at the Nobles school in Tokio, but he has also private tutors, and he will have as good education as any prince of Japan It is whispered here that l.s falr nTafa of the Japanese princesses to wife, and that when he comes back to Corea, at the age of 20 or so, there will be another shuffle of the imperial cards, and this boy will be put in the present emperor's place. Such a change would undoubtedly benefit both Corea and Japan. The peo- pie here will then have emperor who can speak Japanese well as Corean, and who will be abreast of the new civtli- zation. He would have the good of his own people at heart, and will be able to act for them, and at the same time be an efficient lieutenant for the mikado.
 A Brlnght Young Prince.
 Prince Ito tells me that the crown prince has extraordinary ability, and he predicts that he will make good mon- arch The little fellow Is just the op- poste of his half-brother, who is now on the throne. The latter had hardly been outside his own apartments until he was oyer 30 years of age, and today his only exercises are walking about his palace grounds with now and then a short horseback ride in them. He looks pale and enemic, and his flesh seems to be putty. This crown prince could hold his own with little Charlie Taft or Quen- tin Roosevelt He is fond of athletics and likes to shoot, fish and play ball. At the same time he stands high in his classes, and is not averse to study. The Corean papers are full of what he Is do- ing in Japan, and the people of the pal aces have been delighted with some biograph pictures which have just come showing the little prince on the hunt. The papers describe the palace which the Japanese have given him. They state that his little highness sleeps In & European bed in room kept warm by an electric stove. His palace is furnished through out in foreign style, and he has mechani- cal toys of all kinds. He has riding horses and all sorts of gymnastie appliances, from punching bags to parallel bars His palace is guarded by IS foot soldiers and ten court policemen, and when he goes out he has an escort. His instructors are selected from high-class Japanese professors. The Mikado himself is inter ested In him, and altogether the Japanese are trying to make of him man as well as a monarch
 Corea'e New Schools.
 When this boy becomes Emperor of Corea he will have a new nation to govern. These people are just begin ming to appreciate our civilization. Their almond eyes are opening to the needs of modern education, and schools are being started in all of the cities. Those of the missions, which have been in existence for years. are overcrowd- ed, and the new ones of the Japanese government have more than they can do. There are several thousand boys and sas many girls now in attendance at the public schools of Seoul. They ell wear uniforms, and night and morn ing the streets are filled with boys wearing caps and gowns. and barefaced and barheaded girls with their books in their hands, Each boy has a little brass badge on his cap which marks the school to which he belongs All the boys have their hair cut short, in stead of wearing 1t in long braids down their backs, as was the old Corean custom, and the girls wear no veils, which is quite contrary to the ideas of the older Coreans.
 The government school buildings are much like those of Japan. They are equipped with furniture like ours and each has It's gymnasium. There is large manual training school run by the Japanese government, and there Is a Japanese academy where young men are taught Corean in order that they may act as advisers to the native officials Our mission schools are scattered over Corea There are all told, 450 primary