The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-31

Corea, and that he is able to wield 1t If the same should be ordered.
 The main object of my visit to Yong san today was to meet the general and have a talk with him. My audience took place in his headquarters, and we drank tea and smoked cigarettes we chatted together through the medium of MT. Kouroda.
 General Hasegawa is now 59 years of age. He began his life in the army at % as a major, and rose to be a colonel six years later. He was a major general in 1886, and he commanded A brigade in the Japanese China war. At that time he was noted as a hero of Port Arthur, and fin the war with Russia he again won his spurs as the commander of the irn- perial guardsmen under General Kuroki, leading it to victory at the Yalu and the battle of Liayang. He was made a gen eral in 1904, and after that battle was ap- pointed head of the army in Corea. He Is now practically at the top of the Jap anese military regime, and should there be war with any foreign power the probability is that he would be in com mand.
 General Hasegawa looks a soldier In- deed, he reminds me much of our General Dawton, who was killed in the Philip pnes. He has the same slender figure, the same erect bearing and an eye which is equally piercing. He has a jaw of iron, high cheek bones and high, broad, but rather receding forehead. His eyes are almost straight, and his nose is larger than that of the ordinary Japanese. His face is full of red blood, but it is bronzed from his life in the field. He wore today his military uniform, which Is the color of khaki, and on the breast of his coat l noticed eight silk loops, upon which he hangs his principal decorations of honor when he appears before the Emperor and upon state occasions.
 Gen Hasegawa Talks.
 During our conversation, which lasted for perhaps half an hour, I asked the general to tell me something of the mili- tary situation in Corea. He replied that the situation was steadily improving and that the rebels who are such on patriotic grounds had practically disappeared. Said he:
 "The actual conditions of Corea as to law and order have never been known to the world, and they have not been ap- preciated even by the government at Seoul For generations bands of brig ands have infested the mountains, and have come out now and then to prey on the people of the lowlands. They have held up the farmers and blackmalled the villages. If they were informed upon the informers were sure to meet with death sooner or later, and the village might be burned as matter of vengeance. These bands are generally without or ganization, but there is one chief who has many followers. His home is In the mountain fastnesses between here and Gensan. We know who he is and hope to catch him. At present our soldiers are after these robber bands. They are so scattered that 1t will take a long time to wipe them out, and we believe that there are thousands of them. When we have disposed of them the country will be practically quiet"
 corea's Idle Officials.
 Do you mean that the Coreans will stop fighting and go to work2'
 Not altogether was the reply. '"They will stop fighting, but, many of them will never work. This is so as far as the present generation is concerned. The mo- bilty have considered 1t disgraceful to work, and the hangers-on of the official circles who have lived-by squeezing the common people, are the most difficult element we have now to deal with. We have tried to give them work, but they will not take it. I asked one of the mis- sionaries how he would settle the ques- tion. He replied that he did not think they could be made to labor and that the trouble would continue until they died off and gave the workers free field for themselves. At present the brigands are being recruited from this idle class. They fight not so much on grounds of pariot- ism as because they will do nothing else"
 corean Soldiers.
 What will Japan do as to the soldiers of Corea? Will 1t train the boys here so that they may form part of Japan's army of the future? The Coreans num- Der about 15,o0o,0 900, and if they will fight they will make quite an addition to your a1rpadV 1arQa v The general laughed as he replied
 q should not encourage such a plan, and 1t is not In accordance with our scheme for bringing about the independ- ence of Corea under Japanese protection. The Corean soldiers might do well enough in the rear, and we could use them for the heavy work of our military opera tions. as transports and laborers. We would not dare put them at the front"
 Flow about the charges that your sol ders are expressing the people and kill ing them without cause?"
 'There is no truth in such statements" said General Hasegawa. "We have to be severe in our treatment of the rebels in order to maintain peace and keep the unruly element in check. War Is 8 se- rious matter, and such conditions have to be handled in a serious way Other wise we could do nothing with the coun- try. We wipe out the Insurgents when they are IOunu, dHu It may De lilAt WHeH we are misinformed as to who are insur- gents some innocent man may be killed. At present we are using many Coreans in our police force, and the pro-Japan- csc Coreaxs are aiding us to put down the rebellion.''
 'Is it true that band of your soldiers recently killed 20 such Coreans, suppos- ing them insurgents?
 q know the case to which you refer" said General Hasegawa. I've are not yet sure whether those people were in- surgents or not. The killing occurred in a part of the country where there were bands of rebels, one of which contained about 35. Our troops were on the track of that band and had been informed that 1t was in a certain inn. The officer in command caught one man coming out and he had papers on him showing that he was an insurgent. He then ordered those within the building to come out or he would shoot. \They did not reply and he commanded his soldiers to fire. Upon going in later % were found dead. We still believe that they were largely insur- gents. They certainly should have an- swered when the soldiers ordered them out.''
 '1s not Corea a difficult land to poice?"
 s'Yes, exceedingly so. The country is covered with mountains. There are no roads whatsoever over which troops can be marched. The only routes from one place to another are bridle paths, which become streams and rivers whenever it rains. There are practically no bridges and the country is so poor that it Is difficult to provision the troops except by carrying food everywhere with us. Another annoyance to which the men are subjected is the universal presence of