The Japanese Constitutional Party sent Mr. Konosuke Morya to investigate the situation on the spot. He issued a report declaring that the disturbances were due to the discriminatory treatment of Koreans, complicated and impracticable administrative measures, extreme censorship of public speeches, forcible adoption of the assimilation system, and the spread of the spirit of self-determination. Of the assimilation system he said, "It is a great mistake of colonial policy to attempt to enforce upon the Koreans, with a 2,000-year history, the same spiritual and mental training as the Japanese people."
By this time the Japanese Churches were beginning to stir. The Federation of Churches in Japan sent Dr. Ishizaka, Secretary of the Mission Board of the Japan Methodist Church, to enquire. Dr. Ishizaka's findings were published in the Gokyo. I am indebted for a summary of them to an article by Mr. R.S. Spencer, in the Christian Advocate of New York:
"Dr. Ishizaka first showed, on the authority of officials, missionaries and others, that the missionaries could in no just way be looked upon as the cause of the disturbances. Many Koreans and most of the missionaries had looked hopefully to Japanese control as offering a cure for many ills of the old regime, but in the ten years of occupation feeling had undergone a complete revulsion and practically all were against the Japanese governing system. The reasons he then sketches as follows: (1) The much-vaunted educational system established by the Governor-General makes it practically impossible for a Korean to go higher than the middle schools (roughly equivalent to an American high school) or a technical school. Even when educated Koreans were universally discriminated against. In the same office, at the same work, Koreans receive less pay than Japanese. (The quotations are from the translation of the Japan Advertiser.) 'A Korean student in Aoyama Gakuin, who stayed at Bishop Honda's home, became the head officer of the Taikyu district office. That was before the annexation…. That officer is not in Taikyu now. He is serving in some petty office in the country. The Noko Bank, in Keijo (Seoul) is the only place where the Japanese and Koreans are treated equally, but there, also, the equality is only an outward form.' (2) The depredations of the Oriental Improvement Co., the protégé of the government, resulted in the eviction of hundreds of Korean farmers, who fled to Manchuria and Siberia, many dying miserably. The wonderful roads are mentioned, it being shown that they are built and cared for by forced labour of the Koreans. That most galling and obnoxious of all bureaucratic methods, carried to the nth power in Japan—the making out of endless reports and forms—has created dissatisfaction. Dr. Ishizaka relates how an underling official required a Korean of education to rewrite a notice of change of residence six times because he omitted a dot in one of those atrocious Chinese characters, which are a hobble on the development of Japan. This last opinion is mine, not the doctor's. (3) The gendarmerie, or military police system, is mentioned, 13,000 strong, of whom about 8,000 are renegade Koreans. Admittedly a rough lot, these men are endowed with absolute power of search, personal or domiciliary, detention, arrest (and judging from the reports, I would say torture) without warrant. Bribery is, of course, rampant among them. (4) Associated closely with the police system, indeed controlling it and the civil administration and everything else, is the military government. The Governor-General must be a military officer. Dr. Ishizaka says: 'Militarism means tyranny; it never acts in open daylight, but seeks to cover up its intentions. The teachers in primary schools and even in girls' schools, that is, the men teachers, wear swords.' (5) Lastly, Dr. Ishizaka speaks of the method, which we can easily recognize as to source, of trying to 'assimilate' the Koreans by prohibiting the language, discarding Korean history from the schools, repressing customs, etc.
"In conclusion Dr. Ishizaka points out that not alone must these errors be righted, but that the only hope lies in the assumption on the part of Japanese, public and private, of an attitude of Christian brotherhood towards the Koreans. He announces a campaign to raise money among Japanese Christians for the benefit of Koreans and their churches."
The Japanese Government at last came to see that something must be done. Count Hasegawa, the Governor-General and Mr. Yamagata, Director-General of Administration, were recalled and Admiral Baron Saito and Mr. Midzuno were appointed to succeed them. Numerous other changes in personnel were also made. An Imperial Rescript was issued late in August announcing that the Government of Korea was to be reformed, and Mr. Hara in a statement issued at the same time announced that the gendarmerie were to be replaced by a force of police, under the control of the local governors, except in districts where conditions make their immediate elimination advisable, and that "It is the ultimate purpose of the Japanese Government in due course to treat Korea as in all respects on the same footing as Japan." Admiral Saito, in interviews, promised the inauguration of a liberal régime on the Peninsula.
The change unfortunately does not touch the fundamental needs of the situation. No doubt there will be an attempt to lessen some abuses. This there could not fail to be, if Japan is to hold its place longer among the civilized Powers. But Mr. Hara's explanation of the new program showed that the policy of assimilation is to be maintained, and with it, the policy of exploitation can hardly fail to be joined.
These two things spell renewed failure.
XIX
WHAT CAN WE DO?
"What do you want us to do?" men ask me. "Do you seriously suggest that
America or Great Britain should risk a breach of good relations or even a
war with Japan to help Korea? If not, what is the use of saying anything?
You only make the Japanese harden their hearts still more."