The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1916-02-24
SENATE To PROBE
ROOTS HANDLING
Of KOREA AFFAIR
Democrats to Reply to Root
BY Citing Alleged Facts Re-
Iating to Jap Grab of
Hermit Kingdom.
WOULD BRING OUT FACTS
Charged Correspondence Was
Held UP While Japan Com
pleted "Protectorate"-
Ask For Records.
WOULD BRING OUT FACTS

Washington, D.. c.. Feb. 22.-The
Senate today adopted a resolution by
Chairman Stone, of the foreign rela-
tons committee asking President Will
tween the United States and Korea,
when Japan occupied the Hermit
kingdom during the Russo-Japanese
war. Administration leaders, it was
Sald, want to use the information in
reply to Elihu's Roots attack on the
president because no protest was made
against the occupation of Belgium.
Basis of Inquiry.
1t is charged that there is a certain
similarity in the cases of Korea and
Belgium. 1t was in 1905, during the
administration of Roosevelt hat Japan
absorbed Korea. Japan wanted to
cross Korea to strike at Russia. Japan
had guaranteed the independence of
Korea just as Germany guaranteed the
independence of Belgium if permission
were granted to cross. Korea granted
the Japanese permission to cross their
territory. Japan it is charged, ignored
her promise and finally absorbed
Korea.
The charge has been made that
Roosevelt not only did not protest in
assisted Japan indirectly. Homer B.
Hubert, of Springfield, Mass, who has
spent many years in the orient in i'm
p~ortant capacities, discussing charges
upon winch the congressional
investigation is based, said:
Eat the moment when Japan was
just crouching to spring at the throat
of Korea, the emperor of Korea called
upon President Roosevelt to keep
Americas treaty with alma treaty
which held in it's first clause the prom
Use that if Korea were endangered by
any third party this government would
Use it's good offices to affect az amic-
able arrangement,
r. RS Alleged Part.
Roosevelt refused to read or eve to
| receive the written message sent to him
from the emperor of a friendly power
| with which we were supposedly on
friendly relations. That written mes
IA was taken to the state depart
| ment, but the secretary of state refused
to receive it for As hours. Meanwhile
| Japan at, the point of the sword had
forced her 'protectorate' upon Korea.
! President Roosevelt had hurriedly ac-
| knowledged that seizure without 81
| word of warning to the Korean govern
l ment nor a word to the Korean lega-
| ton in Washington, and had cabled to
our legation to get out of Korea. The
| state department then offered to see the
| written message from Korea, and the
| writer has in his possession q note from
| the secretary of state saying that the
message is too late 1t was there As
hours before President Roosevelt took
action and he knew it's contents. for
one of his secretaries at the White
House told me SO with his W lips.
when that written message was
handed to the secretary of state he
leaned over the table and said to the
envoy of the emperor: DO you want
to get us into trouble with Japan This
he said as Roosevelt's secretary of state,
and it shows the cowardly state of
mind to which the administration was
reduced by the distant possibility of a
clash with Japan. We did not dare to
assert our treaty rights nor live up to
our treaty obligations"
Root Was Secretary.
Mr.. Root was secretary of state
when Japan took Korea.
Senator stones resolution calls up
on the president to transmit, if not
incompatible with the public interests,
correspondence or so much thereof as
in his opinion may be made public, be-
tween official representatives of the
United States government and the rep
resentatives of Korea, relating to the
occupation of Korea and establishment
of a protectorate over that country by
Japan during, or as an incident, of the
R~usso-Japanese war in is04-1905.'