Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-28
THE FATE OF KOREA
X-Forces of Modern Progress
By Frederic j. Haskin

lighting of the coast was begun eieht
years ago as result of the pressure
brought by Japan upon the Korean
government which at that time had
more than a fictitious existence. The
present plan of improving the coast
includes the erection of fifty light
houses, light buoys, beacons and fog
signals that will serve as guide posts
to vessels approaching the Korean har-
bors. Most of the work has AREA ly
been done.
Road building was understood by the
Koreans during ancient times There
were, however, few roads worthy of
the name. The appropriations for road
making were inadequate and the sys-
tenn of administering the funds was
sodden with graft. 1t does not apnear
that the road building projects for
which Japan is responsible are FREQ
from the evil of extravaganza which
constitutes graft, but under the jap
anese Korea will have a system of
roads that will facilitate agricultural
development. That Koreans are not
unrespoqsiVe to movement is plain
from the fact that many land owners
have donated rights of way for high
ways
The Japanese took control of the pos
tai service, the telegraph system and
the telephones of Korea under an
agreement" in 1905. The three serv-
ices are not now self-supporting, but
they are a decreasing burden and as
modern conVeniences they are not un-
appreciated by Koreans. The three
systems are being widely extended,
Railways in Korea are creditable to
Japanese enterprise. The beginnings of
railroad building date back to the time
when Americans secured concessions
from the emperor of Korea, but the
present standard gauge lines-much
better than the narrow gauge lines in
Japan-represent the recent improve
ments which must be credited to
Japan. American built coaches and
eight wheeled freight cars are drawn
by Baldwin locomotives, while in
Japan proper the coaches are small, the
freight cars are four-wheelers and the
engines are diminutiVe.
Public buildings in course of construc-
tion in Seoul are being built upon mod
ern plans and Korean bricks are being
used. A government printing bureau
is turning out stamps, bonds and pub
lie document blanks in Seoul and a
few Koreans are employed in the es-
tablishment
Forestry undertakings which must
result in material benefits to Korea are
being pushed by Japanese enterprise
through the Korean government. There
are important timbered areas along the
banks of the Yalu and Tu-men rivers
which have never been exploited COM
mercially until recently. These forests
are now being developed. A more i'm
portant work which the Japanese have
taken In hand is that of reforesting the
denuded areas. Half of the total acre
age of Korea is mountainous Owing
to indiscriminate timber cutting the
mountains, except along the Yalu and
Tu-men rivers, the Chilisan range and
the island nP ,.t
Skinned" of tree growth. The result
is that there is lack of water for ir-
rigation in the dry season and great
damage from floods during the rainy
season. Japan has caused So, 800 acres
of model forests to be established and
100000 trees have been imported
from Japan and planted. To aid in
the work of afforesting the mountains
a course in forestry has been added to
the school curriculum that young Ko-i
reans may learn the rudiments of the
science. Laws are to be enacted to
preserve both public and private for
ests as protection against floods and
land slides. and public lands are to be
sold and leased under limitations in
the interest of forestry.
Model farms have been established to
encourage agriculture, and literature"
from the Washington department of
agriculture is extensively used to dis
seminate information. Berkshire pigs
are being introduced to supplant the
Korean razor back" which resembles
a cross between a jack rabbit and
wild boar. Chinese ducks, Belgian
hares, Cochin China chickens, Ameri-
can upland cotton, European sugar
beets and cattle from the British isles
are down upon the program for intro
duction in Korea. 1t is proposed to in
stitute training schools to revive the
Korean arts of dyeing, weaving, metal
work, pottery making, applied chem
istry, carpentry and wheelwright work
Sanitation and education were neg
lected by Korea when the country con-
Quoted its own affairs. Epidemics of
cholero and typhus were fostered by
the use of bad water, and no means Of
fighting contagious diseases existed.
Medical schools, waterworks, hospitals
and. other much needed improvements
now existing or to be established are
to be credited in part to Japan.
The educational system of old Ko-
rea was poor Japan is attempting to
establish good public schools and nor
NAL schools, and the residency general
has encouraged mission schools by pro-
claiming a policy of freedom of re-
ligious teaching and giving registered
mission schools a footing with public
schools as to governmental aid.
That Korea, under the thumb of
Japan, will be modernized and i'm
proved in many respects is unques-
tionable, but when the improvement is
completed it will probably be Japanese
territory.
Tomorrow-The Fate Of Korea-xI: The
Vanguard of Reform.