The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-05-25

control and whose clerks are almost
all Japanese.
Not tar from where am living in
the foreign section of Seoul is the new
Hnance department. hi is a fine
tWo-story brick structure covered with
stucco. 1t is built on an elevation.
overlooking the palace in which the
retired emperor lives. SO that tn
clerks can see all that goes on insid.
the palac grounds. This is very of
fenslNe 10 his majesty, Who has al
ways objected to any one looking over
MS walls. and has bought several
foreign structures because they com
handed such a view. He paid 5000
QUO Tor the French legation for this
very reason and he has. | am told. sew
eral times tried to buy the American
consulate, which is on q hill, lower
down. Some men have ever bougn,
lots and started buildings in order t
make his majesty buy them at high
prices.
Another fine government building is
that OF the Supreme court. This i
somewhat similar to the structure OF
the finance department. It is situated
on the main street, which runs be
tween the east and west gates, and not
tar from a big tWo-story brick which
is being built for a native Korean
bank.
How the Officials Raised Money.
That bank, by the way. marks one
of the most wonderful changes which
is going on here. Until lately no ko-
rean was supposed to nave ans money
that the king was bound to respect.
Every official squeezed the man below
him, and il he did not give up a share
OF his goods upon demand, had him
whipped or tortured in some way or
other until he did so. The most com
mon persuader was a flexible paddle
about as wide as the palm of your
hand and ten or twelve feet in length.
h MAJ to be squeezed was stripped
to the skin and laid face downward
on the ground and held there by men
or he was tied to q bench SO that it
was impossible for him to move. Then
the paddlers would strike him so many
blows on the thighs. h second or
third always brought blood, and an
hundred was supposed to mean death.
Burning and bone crushing We're 9TH
er methods of torture, and men We're
kept for years IN prison on false
charges as a means OF extortiOn. I'm
der such conditions the man who
showed he had none was sure of per
secution and all loans We're secretly
made. The Japanese have done away
With this squeezing and the thousands
of officials who lived upon it have now
gone to the wall.
The New Currency.
The money is changed. During thai
trip across ountr to Seoul, | had tC
have an extra man to- carry the money
to pay the coolies at the end of the
trip. n for my expenses in the cap
ital | got an order upon a merchant IN
Seoul. The coinS were OF copper with
a square hole in the center, and it too
one thousand of them to equal the
value of an American dollar. They
We're Struns upon strings of one hun
dreC each. and whenever / went out
shopping t had to take a servant
alOng to carry my purse. Such cash
We're in use here when ] crossed kO-
rea in 1894, and they continued for
some time after the Japanese-Chinese
war. Then the Korean nickle was
made; but this was cOunterfeited both
here and in Japan to such an extent
that it fell to half its original value
The Japanese have now introduced
their own coinage. accepting this ko-
rean nickle at the market rate, and
from now on the country will be on a
gold basis. Japanese bank notes are
everywhere taken. and japanese silver,
nickle and ODper are COINS IN com
mon use. This reorganization of the
finances has been n OF he great
problems that the Japanese nave had
to Teal With, but the vice minister of
finance, Mr.. Arai, tells me that it is
now practically solved and that he
Anticipated 10 further trouble. He
says the government has lost money
in taking the Korean nlckles at nall
rate. and tina the counterfelts they
have had to accept have amounted to
millions. They nave already eNchang-
| ed about seven million yen of them,
| the average nickle being worth some
| thing like three-ffths of its value in
| stead Of the twenty-five flftleths at
which it is aiken.
4 Modern Banking System.
Mr.. Arai has organized a banking
system for Korea. The central treas
ury is now the Dai Ichi bank. and
| there are in addition industrial banks
which are loaning money against land
- 10 farr,arc They make long loans