Evening star., 1909-05-15

enee with him and given you some idea
of his mental caliber. He is merely a
figurehead. and has no power whatever
outside Of his immediate court. The man
| met today is under the direct control
of the Emperor of Japan and he is now
exercising supervision over all affairs in
Korea. The country is nominally gov
erned by the local officials. but they act
as the resident general directs and neith-
appointments nor dismissals can be
made without his consent.
BY the agreement between Japan and
Korea. when the emperor was deposed
and his son put in his place. it was stip-
ulated that the resident general should
reform the administration and that the
government of Korea should not enact
any law or do any important thing with
out his approval. 1t was provided that
il should appoint Japanese to such Off
cial positions as the resident general rec
commended. and that no foreigner should
he engaged without his consent In
short, il meant the turning over Of the
Korean government almost absolutely
into the hands of Japan, and this is the
condition today.
Niscount Some is we'll known as an adj
ministrator. He has been several times in
the cabinet OF the mkado and has been
a real working force in Korea He knows
all about the country: and while conserv-
ative in his statements. evidently believes
that the Japanese will be able to handle
it successfully. During my talk OF today
/ asked bim whether he thought the
Koreans were capable of self-government
He replied:
They are not so. now. All their tradi-
tions and training have been along the
lines of oppression and corruption. They
have been numerically squeezed by their
rulers and do not know what good gov
ernment means. 1t will take some time
to educate them to it, We shall have to
teach them to crawl before they can
walk. and it will be years before they are
nble to govern themselves"
is it the idea of Japan to make the
country Independent?
Yes, when the conditions are such tina t
it can maintain an independence which
will be for the good of the people and at
the same time not injurious to the in
terests of Japan"
what is the situation today your ex-
cellency9 l understand that many of the
Koreans are not in favor of the new re-
gime?"
That is true" replied the resident gen
eral These people cannot appreciate the
fact that Japan is anxious to benefit them
and their country. They have been op-
pressed by foreigners through a series of
years and not fairly treated. For a long
time they were under the protection Of
the Chinese government, which largely
directed their affairs for its own benefit.
Then the Japanese. after their war with
China. took charge of many things and
the Russians did likewise. The result is
that the people suspect our sincerity.
They cannot believe that their rights and
property are not to be taken away from
, them. or that their country is not even
tually to be a second Japan. 1t will take
long time to eradicate these suspicious.
and it cannot be done by pronuncsamentos
and speeches. 1t will have to be accom-
plished by works. and that is what we
propose to do. We shall build roads es-
tabish industries and introduce improved
agricultural methods. We have already
wiped out most of the corrupt courts,
and are seeing that the people have JUS
tiee among themselves. We have reform