Arizona republican., 1919-04-03
Full Text of Document
 Which the Japanese Ru- lers Made Strenuous Eff forts to Keep from World
IRepubIican A. p. Leased Wirel

| when it first was publicly distributed March l, was brought here today by V.
 $. MeClatchy, director of The Associ- ated Press, returning from the orient 1 on the Steamer Shinyo Maru. l The translation was forwarded by messenger to The Associated Press Bu reau at Tokio and by it given to Mr. | McClatchy to bring to the United 1 States
 | The Japanese according to informa | tion accompanying the proclamation
 searched persons on the street the night the proclamation first was dis | tributed, including some Americans, in an effort to find and seize all copies 1 of it.
 The proclamation is signed by 35 men, all of whom later were placed un- der arrest.
 l The Signers
 The signers of the proclamation are 1 all men of influence in Korea. They in ! clude Buddhist leaders, literary men of note and leaders in the three Christian denominations, Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal and Roman Catholic.
 Song Tyung Hi, whose name heads the list, is head of a new Korean sect, known as the s-Chun-do-kyo~ or Ina | to number hundreds of thousands. His income is said to have been great and until recently he flourished under Jap anese protection and encouragement
 ''This work of OUTS is, in behalf truth, religion and life" the proclamation de- clares undertaken at the request or our people in order to make known their desire for liberty. Let all things
 be done decently and in order. so that our behavior to the very end may De
 honorable and upright"
 The proclamation declares that @hay- ing back of us 10000, GOO of united. loy-
 al people," and ~5.oo0 years of history, the signers herewith proclaim the in dependence Of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people"
 , This is the clear leading hand of God, the moving principle of the pres
 ent age, the whole human races just claim. 1t is something that cannot be
 supplied by any means
 This Proclamation
 The text of the proclamation follows:
 s-We herewith proclaim the indepen- s dence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people. We tell it to the world , in witness of the equality of all nations and we pass it on to our posterity as [ their inherent right.
 We make this proclamation having :, back of us 1000 years of history and 20 900 900 of a. united loyal people. We : take this step to insure to our children for all time to come, personal liberty l in accord with the awakening con- I sciousness of this new era This is the .t clear leading of God. the moving prin- t ciple of the present age, the whole hu- v man races just aim. It is something that cannot be stamped out, or stifled, or gagged. or suppressed by any means.
 arVictims of an older age. when brute force and the spirit of plunder ruled. Ii we have come after those long thou- sands of years to experience the agony
 of ten years of foreign oppression with every loss to the right to live. every n restriction on the freedom of thought, every damage done to the dignity of
 life. every opportunity lost for share n in the intelligent advance of the age : lin which we live.
 4 This Is the Time = Assuredly. if the defects of the past !, are to be rectified. if the agony of the
 present is to be unloosed. if the future
 impression is to be avoided, if thought / is to be set free, if right of action is to
 be given a place, if we are to attain to , Iany way of progress, if we are to deliver 7 our children from the painful, shame . fuf heritage. if we are to leave blessing
 and happiness intact for those who sue , ceed us, the first of all necessary things I, lis the clear-cut independence of our ' people What can not our twenty mil , lions odd, every man with sword in his . heart in this day when human nature
 land conscience are making a stand for truth and right? What barrier can we
 tp0f l. xt-ho y1Ilrn0ca can we not n accomplish?
 s we have no desire to accuse Japan : of falsehood when she charged China S with breaking her treaty of 1636 as an S excuse to absorb us, nor to single out
 Especially the teachers in the schools or government officials who treat the
 heritage of our ancestors as colony
 ] of their own, and our people and their
 civilization as nation of savages. find
 ing delight only in beating us down and
 bringing us under their heel. Silent As to Japan
 'We have no wish to find special
 fault with Japan's lack of fairness or
 | her contempt of our civilization and the principles on which her state rests
 we, who have greater cause to repri-
 lmand ourselves, need not spend precious
 time in finding fault with others, neith- S CT need we, who require so urgently tc IS build for the future spend useless hours n over what is past and gone. Our UT g gent need today is the setting up oi d this house of ours, and not discussion N of who has broken it down. or what d has caused it's ruin. Our work is tc 5 clear the future of defects in accord witt if the earnest dictates of concience. Lei d us not be filled with bitterness or re- d sentiment over past agonies or past oc-
 casions for anger.
 ,- Our part is to influence the Jap x, anese government. dominated as it is .i1, by the old idea of brute force whicf .ii thinks to run counter to reason ana = universal law, so that it will change :. act honestly and in accord with thi s' principles of right and truth. lo The Annexation
 "The result of annexation brough about without any conference with tn T. Korean people is that the Japanese q indifferent to us, use every kind O ,n partiality of their own, and by a fals to set of figures show profit and los
 account between us two peoples mos es untrue, digging a trench of everlatsin, KS resentment deeper and deeper the far y ther they go.
 Ought not the way of enlightene, Id courage to be to correct the evils of tn fe past by ways that are sincere and b is true sympathy and friendly feelin ed make a new world in which the tw ae peoples will be equally blessed? ed
 le- (Continued on page two)