El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-29
MANY KOREANS
ACCUSED OF
PLOTTING
Most of the 1O3 Now in
Prison Are Christians, All
Crowded Into One Jail.
TO KEEP CHURCH
AND STATE SEPARATE

Seoul, Korea, June 29--The cases Of
the Koreans charged with plotting
against the government. and the lfe OF
the governor general are to come up
for hearing shortly. The evidence in
the hands of the public prosecutor is
understood to be vOluminOus- In all
1O3 persons are held
The interesting feature OF these ar
rests is that nearly all Of the accused
are protesting christians. This has
caused mich comment. and the accuse
ton Eas been made that the japanese
government was directing a campaign
especially against christians because OF
uneasiness lest the influence of the
church might become unpleasantly pow
erful IN Japan's new possession
Officials Surprised.
The official Of Korea, including the
governor general express surprise at
the attitude taken by a number Of the
leading missionaries. The governor
general, count Terauchi. himself has
said that there did not exist in the Of
fetal mind the faintest suspicion of any
completely or fOreknOWledge on the part
Of the missionary body in connection
with this plot. He declared that it was
the desire Of the government to CO.
operate heartily with the missions, and
said I and my successor will always
I've up to the promises and the program
Iald down when Japan first assumed the
control and government of Korea The
instructions Of the emperor are tnat re-
Igion and politics must be kept apart.
In other words the state and church
from two different branches. Both
however, tend 10 the same goal, which
IS the betterment Of the people, and both
must cooperate"
Evidence of Plot Conclusive.
Gen Akashi, the chief of the po-
lice, said that the evidence of a plot
was, he believed, conclusive, but the
great difficulty was to secure truthful
statements from the Koreans concerned
These were mostly young men with ad-
vanced ideaS-students-an he ad-
mltted most Of them were students in
the mission schools he said that in
the past large numbers of Koreans had
pro1esSed christianity in order 10 Sc
cure the protection and the assistance
of the foreign missionaries against the
abuses and injustices of the Korean
government After the Japanese had
annexed Korea, there existed a large
element of discomfort And because OF
the sympathy felt by the missionary for
his Korean scholars. or sOcalled con-
Terts, these latter believed that the mis-
slonaries would support them even
InOugn Ihey might plot SedltOn- Gen
Akashl, who had been accused Of much
harshness in dealing with this case,
said that he did not believe state
ments made by prisoners who asserted
that the missionaries had actutIly at
teended meetings where this conspiracy
was discussed
All Prisoners Crowded Into One Jail.
The prisoners are all confined in a
jan IN the center Of Seoul, where some
400 other prisoners are confined The
prison is crowded The prisoners sit
closely together and occupy each Just
sufficient space to enable him to lie
down However, the Korean in his own
nome lives and moves in small space
The cells are clean and thoroughly well
ventilated The prisoners all appear to
be clearly clothed and to be in good
health One or two of the better class
Of prisoners are confined in more spa
N ~ har
formerly minister Of education, has a
cell to himself with mating and am
pie bedding
The accusation has been frequently
published, and is believed by many OF
the missionaries, that torture has been
used IN the preliminary examinations to
elicit testimony which might prove the
case Tor the police The governor
general and Gen. Akashi positively de-
ny the use OF any form of torture or
Of violence in the prison
Some prisoners who have been re-
leased have shown marks which they
declared were caused by torture, such
as hanging by the thumbs, 1ogging and
mental influences. Analysis of their
stories does not prove the truth of the
statements Certainly none of the
prisoners now confined shows any out
ward evidence of torture
4 number Of missionaries EXPRESS
themselves as satisfied that a plot did
exist
Prisoners Can Appeal
The trial will be open and the pris-
oners will be given counsel. The evil
dence viii all be read in open court.
and appeals to two higher courts are
permissible.
The common belief is that the case
VIII develop a conspiracy in which a
number OF educated young Koreans
have been connected as the leaders. It
IS asserted that Koreans now living IN
America and certain other persons who
nave been connected with KOrea's past
but who are now living in America. will
be shown to have contributed money
and advice Certain OF the prisoners
were the recipients of these funds, and
are known to have distributed them
There is reason to believe that some
plot
The revolution in China gave a con-
siderable impetus to this particular con-
spiracy, which sought a revolution and
the restoration of Korean independ-
ence- The assassination Of the governor
general was discussed as a part of this
SaSSlnat1on of prince Ito, Durham White
stevens and the attempted assassination
o. the premier OF Korea, all believed to
have been the work of christian con-
verts, lend considerable credence to the
present charge
The governor general has made
personal request to the chief Of police
and prosecution that these young men
De dealt with as leniently as possible.
Inc missionaries in Korea almost
without exception pay tribute to the
present administration while some OF
them are disturbed lest the work OF
the christian church in Korea should
receive too heavy q blow as a result OF
these prosecutions
CROWDS WATCH THE