Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-12-13
INJUSTICE IN CoREA
IS SHAME OF JAPAN
Statement BY the Rev. DR.. Viii
ton Merle Smith Criticises
Treatment of Missionaries.

New York-Special: The ReN. VIII
ton Merle Smith, of this city; who has
lust returned from Japan, emma. N
Corea last night in his church. the
,.ontra1 Presbyterian, preached on
conditions i'm Japan. After the serv-
ice he dictated Il statement. touching
upon .Japan's treatment of the Corean
Christians, based upon very careful
observations and inquiries. He said:
"The great trial in corea. wniem M. IS
icised. one hundred and twenty-three
of he most prominent pastors and Of
ficers of the Protestant Christian
churches were charged with an at
tempt to assault the governor general.
Nearly 100 We're convicted ana sen
fenced to Imprisonment of from five
to ten Years.
..The sole evidence upon which the
Judgment against the prisoners was
given was their own confessions, which
they all repudiated at the trial and
said were wrung from them by the
police by torture. Mr.. Kennedy. the
representative of the Associated Press
i'm Japan who has been decorated by
the Japanese government and is known
as strongly pro-Japanese. does not be-
lieye torture was used to a large ex-
tent.
...As MIR. Kennedy represents the
case, Prince Ito. the former governor.
was ASSuSSlIl0LCu ny a. ICIIcSdOc fIO-
man Catholic Christian. Two other
attempts st assassination We're made
by Christians, go called. These at
tempts made the Japanese government
suspicious of the Christians. The pres
ent governor general of Corea was at
the head of the Japanese spy system
during the war. File sent spies every
where in Corea. These spies testified
against these pastors.
These spies caused this large num-
Der of pastors and Christian officials
to be arrested, n these men who
We're arrested confessed to the police
that they We're engaged in a plot to
eral. which confessions they ali repu-
dated at the trial, declaring they were
made under torture. They simply said
yes to anything they We're asked.
Some of the missionaries even take
a Japanese view of the trial. The
feels that there must have been some
measure of justification for the CON
h other view is that these
confessions We're extorted under tor
ture n the Japanese judges had no
c~orroborative evidence whatever. Z
n physician who treated these
prisoners who said he saw the marks
of torture on them. Several of the
prisoners died in prison.
Whichever view may be taken in
matter there is one criticism that
justified. The court refused to
allow most of the prisoners to present
rebuttal testimony. This is Japan's
that her Judges gave no fair
for the prisoners to prove their
innocence. She has convicted 100 OF
the leading pastors and officers of the
church upon evidence not worthy OF
the name. 1t is difficult to see how
in the splendid galaxy of Japan's NO.
BILE achievements this one act cam ever
be known as anything else but Japan's
shame"
MIR. Nobu Watanabe. the Japanese
chief Justice of the supreme court of
Corea. h is stopping for a few days
Mt the Hotel Netherland. On a round
the world tour by special commission
of his government, with his attache.
Mr.. Tokitara Auju. was entertained at
a dinner given by MIR. kokichi Mid
zuni, the Japanese consul general.
Mr.. Watanabe denied the charge that
his government had relieved him from
duty i'm order that a less sympathetic
Judge might officiate in the trial OF
the Carean Christians